foto Priority

As the first batch of 2011 Digital SLR Photography students eagerly await their Top 30 results we have a little bit of exciting news to announce.

The Top 30 will now have a ‘Viewers Choice Award’ for the most popular image as selected by you, our supporters and photography enthusiasts.

The process is simple, just after Easter once the first Top 30 for 2011 is announced, we will create a gallery where you will be able to browse through the final  images and vote for your favourites. The image that gets the most votes within a set period of a month will receive the great prize courtesy of Lexar Media.

“To show Lexar Media’s continued support of the Australian photography industry, it is proud to support the SPW Top 30 Viewer’s Choice Award. Lexar media will be offering the talented winner of this award a professional photographer’s memory accessory prize pack, valued at $470.00″

The pack includes;

1x Professional Dual Slot Reader

2x 16GB 600x CF Cards

1x 16GB JumpDrive S70

We’re sure you’ll agree that it’s indeed a very worthy prize. A huge thank you to Lexar Media for their kind support. Make sure to check out Lexar’s Digital Photography page for some great workflow tips and lessons.

Meanwhile, do yourself a favour and check out the amazing selection of Top 30 images from 2010.

2010 “Top 30″ Galleries

2010 Intake 1	2010 Intake 2
2010 Intake 3	2010 Intake 4
2010 Intake 5

Also, don’t forget to check us out on Facebook. Make sure to ‘like’ our fan page to receive all the latest updates and inspirational tid-bits.

Sydney Photographic Workshops Fan Page

It’s nice to know that someone out there is looking out for the rights of all us photographers, pro or amateur. The Australian Institute of Professional Photography’s (AIPP) “Competition Watchdog” William Long has recently successfully lobbied Australian Tourism to change it’s “Nothing Like Australia” photo contest entry terms which were a blatant disregard for photographer’s rights.

A big thank you to William Long and the AIPP team!

Read the full press release

Enter “Nothing Like Australia” Contest

Join the AIPP

A huge congratulations to our very own SPW tutor Michael Good who recently entered a work in the Thirroul Seaside Art Festival.  Competing against over 300 other invited artworks and judged by the curator of Wollongong University Art Collection, Michael won the overall, Anita Commelli Prize .

Upon seeing the work I was immediately intrigued by the process that led to it’s creation. As it turns out the process was a collaboration of two great talents and is an alternate slant on the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) process that seems to dominate today’s photography. I asked Michael to pen a few words about his latest collaborative project.

© Michel Good

“A little over a year ago I had a chance meeting with an amazing artist Arthur Apanski, when I was commissioned to photograph his house being put up for sale.  I found it very difficult to control my enthusiasm, as every wall in this little cottage was filled with a number of Arthur’s amazing artworks.  Of course being the curious type I talked with Arthur for quite some time about his works and what he had in mind for the future.  This led to us coming up with a new challenge that Arthur believes hadn’t been done before.  I was to get some of my landscape photos printed on to large format canvas and then hand it over to Arthur for him to perform his own piece of magic on the works.

To set the context of my trepidation I provide you with two images which easily show Arthur's amazing and very intimidating talent.

Our first projects consisted of two commissioned works.  One of which was for a local builder who wanted a classic Arthur signature piece to hang on his wall.  Not being able to afford one of Arthur’s original works we offered to create an artwork especially for him.  This meant photographing his favourite landscape (East Corrimal Beach) and then handing over to Arthur for his interpretation.  East Corrimal beach is a very classic long sandy beach with small sand dunes.  A very cliche kind of landscape.

Being the first work I was going to produce for Arthur I had little idea as to how it should be photographed.  To add to the mystery I hadn’t met nor spoken with the client.  This gave me free reign over how I chose to photograph the landscape.  Having gone to the location more than a dozen times in varying lighting conditions I felt that I had a good selection to present to Arthur.  I had photographed from many varied angles emphasising many different aspects form large landforms to small detailed driftwoods.  In the end I need not have worried too much as the point of the project was that I would give my own impression of the landscape.  Arthur would then add to it without comment or input from myself.  We wanted to see how the project could work without collaboration.  i.e. I was not to produce works to suit Arthur nor would he try to enhance or compliment the landscape presented.  He would simply interpret the scene and paint accordingly.

Here is the end result of the first commissioned work. Arthur's belief is that Wollongong will be inhabited by great lizards and crocodiles in 50 years due to global warming.

The second commissioned work was for a client who had inherited the family home which would be demolished in the near future and so the theme was to show the existing house being carried away much the same way as the sand dunes come and go…

Our second commission

We have since moved on to our main project which are my selected landscape works to be exhibited in the Wollongong City Gallery in 2011. So far we have produced 8 art works, some of which you can see here. This experience so far has really made me look at landscape and people photography in a whole new light.  Not being content with cliche images the project has forced me to think in a more artistic way and really consider all the elements including composition, colour and textures and of course considered lighting and atmosphere.  This will help my future photography grow to greater heights no doubt.  Being my first exhibited work I’ve now gained a desire to enter more competitions.

© Michael Good

© Michael Good

© Michael Good

© Michael Good

© Michael Good

Hot on the heels of the PX3 contest winners, and off-course our world renowned Foto Priority Top 30 …………, Photo District News Magazine (PDN) has announced their Top 30 New and Emerging Photographers To Watch in 2010.

If their portfolios alone don’t blow your socks off, then make sure you read the interviews. Now that’s dedication!

Hi all, ok time for some inspiration (said in a heavy French accent) I was recently sent a link to The “Prix de la Photographie, Paris” (Px3) and was very impressed by the images submitted by both professional and amature photographers.

A little about the competition -

The “Prix de la Photographie, Paris” (Px3) strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and to introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. Winning photographs from this competition are exhibited in a high-profile gallery in Paris and published in the high-quality, full-color Px3Annual Book.

Check out the Px3 website for all the latest winners from each category. I especially love the series that came second titled “Aftermath of War in Lebanon”

Storybook Wolf - by José Luis Rodriguez

In an interesting twist to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year results, the ultimate £10,000 winner Jose Luis Rodriguez has been stripped of his award amid suspicion that the shot was indeed staged.

Read the full story in the Guardian

Jonathon Jones follow up on Art Blog

What are your thoughts?

Hey all, this looks really cool, Canon have come up with a monthly challenge designed for amateur photographers. Each month Graham Monro from GM Photographics will give you a brief, you then set out and submit your best shot related to that theme.

Once uploaded you have the chance to become the people’s choice winner or the judge’s winner! The winner will receive an A2 printout of their image.

For more info check out the 1wall home page where you can find lots more info including conditions of entry and the “wall” where you can start judging for yourself.

Be quick at this months challenge “emotion” ends in 7 days, get shooting!

This years Canon Photo5 competition brought many challenges. One of those being the pair of cardboard spectacles. Andrew Foo submitted the below image to Canon and has kindly shared his insight to the creation and thought process behind it. Enjoy

© Andrew Foo

Getting creative… creative flash that is!

Thinking up an idea that is both original and witty for a creative portrait is hard. Well, actually I lie. Neither isn’t terribly difficult, it’s executing on the idea where the hard yards are.

The inaugural competition Canon Photo5 competition came and went again this year and there’s nothing better than a good competition to bring out the best in your creative side.

The “portraiture” brief commanded the use of a supplied black spectacles made from thin piece of cardboard paper. How you used it in the shot, was open to the photographer’s interpretation. In keeping with the competition’s judging brief I wanted to create an image that would engage and probe more questions from the viewer. In “Think it’s time for a new pair…”, I played with the idea of a different kind of portrait and uniting fake with reality. Having worn the spectacles, the main subject could not see any better and proceeds to attempt to clean the cardboard spectacles with a lens cloth. This somewhat felt like a surreal moment, so I thought a ‘dreamy’ cast to the image would be a neat idea.

Having had the opportunity to attend one of SPW’s recent Shots @ The Arthouse (Flash Dance night) I felt more equipped to introduce some off-camera flash in getting a bit more creative. Shot inside one of my rooms in my house later in the day I didn’t have much ambient light to play with. I started by exposing for the ambient lighting for the room’s background. The idea was to keep the foreground pin sharp and in focus, so I dialed in a higher ISO to maintain a shutter speed of 1/50th of a second to eliminate camera shake. Using a wide aperture of f/2.8 allowed me to keep the foreground sharp and throw the background out of focus in emphasizing the action and the object in hand.

A radio remote trigger fired off a flashgun placed left of camera through an umbrella for a softer light. Needless to say I had a lot of fun doing this and comps are a great way to focus on a specific theme and get your creative juices flowing!

Camera and Lens: Canon EOS 450D, Canon EF 50mm f/1.8

Off-Camera Flash: Canon Speedlite 430EX II attached to stand and shot through umbrella @ ¼ power

Remote triggered by Speedlite Radio Kit

Exposure: Shot handheld at f/2.8, 1/50sec, ISO800, Flash WB

Cheers,

Andrew Foo

Check out the link to the image – Think it’s time for a new pair

Approximately every 8 weeks a new batch of SPW “Beginners DSLR Workshop” graduates go out into the world armed with their new cameras and enough new photographic knowledge and inspiration to make the most of them.

From chatting to the tutors and also the students themselves, one of the most beneficial, and I would say fitting ending to the course, is the Final Night presentations where each student brings along a selection of images created during the 8 weeks for a final slide show to music. Being able to see other photographers interpretations of the various exercises and subject matter as, well as uses of basic techniques in unique ways, often broadens the creative mind and can offer a new perspective on an otherwise familiar subject.

Images are created to be shared, to teach, to inspire and off course, to communicate the creators vision of the world. I always make a point to encourage ALL to attend this final night as the value gained from seeing the results of others often outweighs any that can be passed on verbally or by the written word. After all, photography is a visual medium.

For myself, the reward is seeing the quality of the images created and the breadth of ideas from a group who just 8 weeks earlier had little or no photographic knowledge. So it is with great pleasure that we present the first selection of our ‘Final Night Top 30′.

To view the image larger, just click on the photographers name below the thumbnails

[svgallery name="SPW09 T4 Final Night"]

This set of Top 30 Images was selected anonymously from over 800 final night images presented. In the selection process we considered; initial impact, originality of idea/concept, technical execution, composition and overall mood and feel.

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL THOSE WHO MADE THE FINAL CUT!!!

by: Daniel Linnet

Seven Snaps iPhone photography contest 2009

Have iPhone will click. Let’s face it if you have an iphone chances are you have taken 100′s of photos! I was only looking through my camera roll last night thinking to myself how did I manage to take 850 photos in only the short period that I have owned an iPhone!

Here are some details of a competition that Seven Snaps are holding, exclusively for iPhone users. The contest challenges you to be creative and share the fun of telling a story in a sequence of seven images.

The winning entries will be chosen around Christmas 2009 by a jury made up of diverse creative backgrounds including the writer Paulo Coelho, composer Max Richter and sculptor Jason de Caires Taylor. The winning entries will be used for publication and may be required to take part in an exhibition.

For more information please visit the Seven Snaps website

Happy iPhone snapping

Jose Fernandez