This year all four of my entries scored high enough against the rigorous standard in the Professional Photographers of Washington print competition to be displayed as part of the exhibit at the just-concluded PPW spring conference. Two of my prints also received a “seal” that means they’ll automatically receive a Professional Photographers of America Merit when I send them on to international competition later this spring. When I’ve earned enough Merits I’ll receive the Master of Photography designation.

Why do I enter competition? It’s somewhat costly — entry fees, the expense of making prints, and shipping them to the conference for judging. The process of selecting or creating new images for competition, perfecting them in my computer darkroom (aka Adobe Photoshop), getting feedback from other photographers, and finally getting feedback from the judges all contribute to my learning to be a better photographer. That translates into better work I do every day for my clients.

One of my entries this year, “Sunset Meditation,” was from an extended on-location business portrait session I did for Chikeola Karimou of The Stellar CEO. It was photographed at sunset at Larrabee State Park. Continue reading →