I was asked to judge at the Professional Photographers of Canada (PPOC) National Image Salon which was held in London, Ontario of April 1-2nd.   This was not my first time judging a National Salon and I was pleased to be asked again!  To qualify to judge you must hold your Master of Photographic Arts.   There were almost 1000 entries this year.  Members of PPOC can submit up to 4 images in a variety of classes.    Winners of the different classes will be presented with a trophy.   All photographs entered are judged anonymously and if a judge recognizes the image or maker – they step back and do not judge the photograph.

There are two Judging Panels.  Each is led by a Jury Chair and 5 Judges (there is also a 6th Judge and every 10 minutes or so the Judges rotate so all get a chance to score the images presented).   There is a Commercial Judging Panel and a Portrait Judging Panel.   As a judge, you are allowed to enter on the ‘other’ panel.  For example, as a Portrait Judge I could not enter in the Portrait Judging but had to enter my images into the Commercial Panel.   These are two completely separate panels taking place simultaneously in two separate rooms.

In the end, there are 3 ‘winners’ of PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR - one in each category.

The “Commercial Photographer of the Year” finalists are chosen from the top-scoring entries based on aggregate rating, of four (4) accepted images in at least three (3) different Commercial classes: Architecture; Fashion; Illustration; Industrial; Editorial; Press; Fine Art and/or Free Style.

The “Portrait Photographer of the Year” finalists are chosen from the top-scoring entries based on aggregate rating, of four (4) accepted images in at least three (3) different Portrait/Wedding classes:  Portrait; Group Portrait (3 or more people); Child Portrait; Figure Study; Wedding Portrait; Wedding Group; Photojournalist Wedding; and/or one image from Fashion; Animal-Wild/Domestic; Fine Art.

The “Photographic Artist of the Year” finalists are chosen from the top-scoring entries based on aggregate rating, of four (4) accepted images in at least three (3) different General classes:  Pictorial/Floral; Animal-Wild/Domestic; Experimental/Unclassified; Fine Art; Free Style and/or (optional) ONE image from Figure Study.

All Awards for the Photographer of the Year will then be chosen by the judges, based on overall impact, technical merit, composition, presentation and overall variety of skills exhibited.

It was my understanding that as a judge you can submit images in the other panel but your photographs would not be eligible for any awards, you could just receive merits.  Well, much to my surprise, you can win awards!    So I was really blown away when my 4 images qualified me as only one of 3 nominees for PHOTOGRAPHIC ARTIST OF THE YEAR!

This was my submission of images:

New for the 2011 Image Competition was the MASTER’S  IMAGE COMPETITION.   The Masters’s Image Competition was created in an effort to encourage Master photographers to compete against other MPA’s. The intention is also to encourage non-MPA’s to continue to strive towards a higher level of achievement.

As someone who holds a 4th Bar to her Master of Photographic Arts, I decided to enter and my image (below) was also eligible for that Trophy!

The Awards Banquet is taking place on Wednesday, April 20th at the end of the National Convention coming up from April 16 – 20, 2011, held at the Fairmont Banff Springs Hotel, in Banff, Alberta, Canada.

I was one of two Nominees for Manitoba’s Photographer of the Year – Professional Photographers of Canada-Manitoba.  How exciting is that???

Last night – Friday, March 25th, the Professional Photographers of Canada-Manitoba held their Annual Awards Banquet.  It was held at “Inn at the Forks” in Winnipeg.  What a fabulous venue!

Desmond Snyman, PPOC-MB Vice President,  was the Master of Ceremonies and he did a fabulous job!  The evening also featured a tribute to Ken Duguid, a long-time Trade member that retired at the end of December.  Ken worked for Colortron, then Lifetouch Canada and before his retirement – Technicare Imaging.  Ken is a great friend and I wish him well in his retirement!

A special feature was a 20 minute Travelogue by well-known Winnipeg Photographer, Manuel Sousa.  We ‘toured’ 12 countries in 20 minutes.  I was speechless after the show, as were many of the people in attendance.  What amazing images from an amazing photographer!

There were two nominees for Photographer of the Year – Alexandra Morrison and myself!   Congratulations to Alex on her win as Manitoba’s 2011 Photographer of the Year – she is a great photographer and I have admired her work for years!

Here are my 4 winning entries.

“Masks” – taken while on vacation at Walt Disney World in Florida.  Epcot – Italy Pavillon.  A wall of Masks intrigued me – but I knew that it needed something to spice up the image – and so I added a ‘face’ into one of  the masks.  One of the judges remarked that it looked as if it was a person with a mask painted on his face!   This image received two Judge’s Choice Ribbons!  Thank you to judges:  Ingrid Misner and Milton Taylor!

The image, titled “Eight” was also taken at Walt Disney World – this time in the Magic Kingdom.  I saw the lone duck swimming around and was amazed at the ripples in the water.  I still can’t figure out where the second set of ‘rings’ were formed – but I was so pleased to see that it resembled the number ‘eight’!

“Rhythm of the Night” was photographed in Las Vegas.   I hadn’t been to Vegas in almost 20 years and found it had changed so much.  I was walking down “The Strip” at night and was amazed at the number of people and the bright lights.  But rather than do the normal photo of the casinos lit up with all the lights, I decided to try a different angle.

This was one of my favorite images.   Also taken in Nevada during the WPPI (Wedding  and Portrait Photogaphers Internationa) Convention.  I attended the convention with other Manitoba Photographers – namely Joel Ross, Trevor Brucki, Patty Boge, Jeremy Dueck and Manuel Sousa - and they called themselves “The ‘W’ List“.  We went out into the desert to do a “Trash the Dress” Session and I was asked to photograph the group.  How do you pose a group of photographers?   It’s really easy – as they do the ‘posing’ themselves!  :-)  I really love this image!

In just a few days I will be flying out to London, Ontario to Judge the Professional Photographers of Canada National Image Salon.  I’m really looking forward to that.  Seeing the wonderful work that photographers across Canada are doing is really inspirational to me.

Just an aside here… not sure how many of you know that I have another ‘business’ as well as Marlene’s Designer Portraits. It is called Redfox Designs. I did a blog post here when I had my exhibit opening after my 2008 trip to Zimbabwe and South Africa.   You can also see some Fine Art images on my webpage under the Personal Gallery.  Back to the Vancouver trip…

Nephew Steve loved my work – but nothing caught his eye in the photos I showed him. He told me that he loved the view of the Vancouver skyline and the mountains and would I consider flying out to Vancouver to photograph the scenery there? Well a few months later – I did. Firstly, here is what he wrote about the experience and following that are some of our favorite images from that quick trip.

In August of 2010 Marlene Fast of RedFox Designs made a special 21 hour visit to Vancouver to perform a selected mountain and cityscape photo shoot.  She started her shoot in Vancouver’s Kitsalano and Granville Island to take pictures of the beaches and the marvelous views of Vancouver and the mountains in the background.  The weather held out and was perfect for Marlene to take some amazing pictures of this area.

Marlene rose early the next morning before dawn to capitalize off the use of sun rising over the Burrard Inlet in Vancouver.  As I work on Vancouver’s Port Terminals she took some amazing shots of the areas basic industrial facilities.  However, her experience and skills saw something I did not.  I was amazed to see these pictures come to life when I received them later on.

Later that morning she continued on to the world famous Lions Gate Bridge. Built in 1938 the bridge is a National Historic Site.  Once again Marlene’s talent kicked into high gear and she took a really amazing angle of the Lions Gate Bridge that had the North Shore Mountains in the background.

Moving downtown to the historic east side of Vancouver to area called GasTown Marlene finished up her site tour taking pictures of the historic buildings and streets.

I was amazed at Marlene’s professionalism, talent, and ability to see abstract photos prior to printing.  I am looking forward to having RedFox Designs do more designer art for me in the future.

Steve Penner, AScT

Project Manager

FWS Group of Companies

Burnaby, BC

This view of the Lion’s Gate Bridge was done at about 6:30 am!  I just love it – and Steve loved it as well – it is a 30″ Canvas Gallery Wrap displayed in his home.

Another of my favorite images in the Vancouver Skyline at sunset taken from Spanish Bank.

Look at it on display in his home…

Some more images…  These next few were taken between 6:04 and 6:20 am – yep – like in the morning!!!!!! (I don’t ‘do’ mornings – but it was totally worth it!)

This next photo was taken the previous day in mid afternoon.  Steve loves architectural elements and the photo of this bridge was another favorite.

The job he does involves grain elevators – that’s why you’re seeing quite a few photographs with that as the ‘theme’.  He chose three favorites for his credenza in his office.

I had a blast – it was nice spending this time with my nephew – and the dinner we had at Memphis Blues Barbecue House was definitely the highlight of the trip!

Oh yes – seeing this before I went to bed was pretty amazing…

And this view during the day was pretty spectacular as well!

Yes – definitely a whirlwind trip, all-in-all … just over 24 hours – but so worth it!   If you’re interested in purchasing some of my fine art – or would like to commission me – please contact me at 204-326-1813 or toll free in Canada 1-866-604-0560.