Chairman of the Board
Doug Peninger dpeninger@SEPPAonline.com
President
George Singleton gsingleton@SEPPAonline.com
1st Vice-President
Kevin Jiminez kjiminez@SEPPAonline.com
2nd Vice-President
Mary Fisk-Taylor mfisktaylor@SEPPAonline.com
Secretary-Treasurer
District of Columbia
Florida
Janet Boschker jboschker@SEPPAonline.com
Salon Exhibition Chair Executive Director
Delaware
Jessica Vogel jvogel@SEPPAonline.com
Georgia
*** Paula Mignagna
***Anthony Maril Joe Tessmer
*** Jackson Koontz Kaye Newsome
*** Spencer Smith Jason White
Rick Gibbons ExecutiveDirector@SEPPAonline.com
S out he r n E x p o su re
Souther n Exposure magazine is an online publication of SEPPA and is published monthly. Editor V ictoria Kelly vkelly@SEPPAonline.com 919.818.0726 Ad Sales & Business Manager Rick Gibbons ExecutiveDirector@SEPPAonline.com 866.982.4856
Maryland
Mississippi/Alabama
*** Lidia Miller Steve Clark
*** Shauna Denney Gil Brady
North Carolina
*** Ellis Williamson Rose Mary Cheek
South Carolina
*** Patty Hallman Gregg Martin
Article & Ad Submissions 5th of every month OnLine Publication 20th of each month SEPPA 3710 North Main Street High Point, NC 27265 866.982.4856 Acceptan ce o f a d v e r t i si n g d oe s n ot c a r r y wi th i t en dor se m e n t b y t h e p ub l i sh e r. Opi n i o ns expre sse d b y Sout h e r n Exp osure o r an y o f i ts aut h or s d oe s n ot n e c e ssa r i l y refl ect t h e p osi t i on s of t h e Sou theaster n Pro fessi on a l P h ot og r a p h e r s A ssoc ia t io n . Asso ci ati on f i n a n c i a l i n f or m a t i on avai la b l e up on re q ue st .
Tennessee
Virginia
West Virginia
*** Jeannie Forehand Barbara White
*** Jim Carpenter Robert Holman
*** Pat Dodd Brent Kepner
*** state president SEPPA representative
Delaware
Mississippi/Alabama
District of Columbia
North Carolina
www.ppsgw.org
www.ppofnc.com
Florida
South Carolina
www.fpponline.org
www.ppofsc.com
Georgia
Tennessee
www.gppa.com
www.tnppa.com
Maryland
Virginia
www.delawarephotographers.com
www.marylandppa.com
SEPPA is a regional affiliate of the Professional Photographers of America and hosts an annual District Image Judging. To learn more about PPA, click HERE.
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West Virginia www.ppwv.org
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Become a Better Photographer... Christine Walsh-Newton, M. Photog., Cr., CPP When I first started joining professional photography associations, it was for the prestige. I wanted to have some substance behind me. My cards said “freelance photographer.” Boring.
name.
After I joined the Professional Photographers of America (PPA), I slapped their logo on my business card and inserted “professional photographer” under my
After joining a few groups, I was darned if pumping up my title was enough benefit for my membership dues and I started looking a bit closer at what else I might
I had arrived. True story. Cue laughter.
Christine Walsh-Newton, cont’d...
get out of it. I noticed that each organization had some level of achievement recognition. My state had a service award and a certification, the PPA had a certification and degrees. I evaluated each of the options and felt that PPA's Certified Professional Photographer (CPP) was the place to start. At first I wanted to be a CPP in order to set me apart from other photographers in my area. It was 2008 and there were a lot of us. So many that I got a little sick to my stomach when I thought about it. I needed to stand out, to be an obvious choice. And then there was that side bonus of getting to add letters after my name on business cards. I never once considered that it might make me a better photographer in the process. D'oh. But it did. In a major way. I'd be reluctant to show my work from my pre-CPP period. Next up was the Certified Professional Photographer of Ohio designation. Yes, we had it first. But ours was different. And harder, if you can imagine that. I was required to submit ten images that were considered above average if judged in the PPA scoring system. Great. And judged we were. Every quarter. Finally, after four quarterly judgings, my ten images passed. That was hard. And a little bit embarrassing, although I'm probably the only one that remembers it took four tries. And now you all know, too. You're welcome.
But, in that year it took me to pass, I had become a better photographer. And I could now score consistently in the above average category in competition. Most of the time, anyway. Then I was challenged to work on the Craftsman Degree, which I thought was entirely crazy. Me? Yeah, right. But when someone asked me what photographic topic I could speak on for eight hours without looking at my notes – I realized it was within the realm of not only possibility, but probability. And so I began speaking. First at affiliate dinner meetings, then a few Super Mondays, and a few small slots at my state events. And by the time the degree requirements were completed, I had become a better photographer. And teacher. I could speak from two to eight hours, knowledgeably, on a variety of topics. My speaking and teaching skills grew along with my photographic knowledge. I was becoming well-rounded. And then came the Master's Degree. My biggest challenge, yet. But again, I worked hard, and got it done. It took a couple of years, and the additional requirements for service and education merits were sometimes challenging to obtain, but eventually I earned them all. And by the time I walked across that stage for the coveted Master's Degree medallion, I had become a better photographer. By now, I was not only a better photographer, but a different photographer. The education I received in my journey to each of these achievements has incredi-
Christine Walsh-Newton, cont’d...
bly changed who I am. As a person, as a photographer, as a teacher, as a business owner. Most of the designations I set out to earn required a balance of service, education and skill. I gradually became a solid and loyal member of both my state and national organizations because of this. I saw the extended value within each of them through the service hours I worked. I became involved in competition in both organizations and have served on committees and boards. I am involved in the education of other photographers through both groups, something that never would have happened, otherwise.
alize midway through the process that I'd started the journey for a reason that was a little bit shallow – but in the grand scheme of things – no matter why you start – in the end, you will be a better photographer. So, people – the next time someone suggests you embark on the journey to a degree or certification, whether it be national, state or local – check it out. It's not all about the bling, the fees or the titles. It's about giving you a vehicle to success, to betterment, to knowledge. It's a ladder to greatness you're welcome and encouraged to climb. If the silly chick with the bad business cards from Ohio can do it, so can you.
Through my active work towards a personal goal, I have also benefited the organizations that sponsor them. That's pretty win-win, eh? I have continued to teach for the pure enjoyment of it and chuckle when I think back to how hard I thought it was going to be and how long it was going to take to reach the thirteen speaking merit mark. I have continued to enter print competition, and although I'm no longer working towards a degree, I utilize it to expand my creative skills and explore new and more challenging types of photography. What my groups challenged me to complete – I have continued. Because I wish to continue to become a better photographer. In the beginning, what appeared to be a way to get bling and titles and recognition and clients – well, it turned into much more than that. It was embarrassing to re-
Christine is a portrait photographer and owner of Gallery C in Dover, Ohio. She is a co-author of “The Daily Book of Photography” and authors “Wootness: The Big Girl and Guy’s Guide to Starting a Photography Business.”
clear the clutter! Victoria Kelly, Cr. Photog., CPP Your bags are packed…you’re ready to go. Regardless of whether you’re flying on a jet plane or driving by car, you’ve got the iUSA app on your smart device, you know the programs you want to attend… and that’s all you need, right? Not quite. There’s one more app you should drop into your online resources for use at iUSA in Nashville and FLASH in Charlotte. It’s a business card app. Yes, you heard me correctly. I always manage to come away from iUSA with a bundle of business cards— from vendors, new people I’ve met…new
writing prospects for the magazine…and there they would sit, on my desk, until I figured out what I wanted to do with them. I used to carry around a large book of business cards but I don’t do that anymore. I live in a digital world and if there’s a way for me to store that information on my iPhone, iPad or Samsung tablet…I’m there! Picture this: I’ve come back from iUSA with about 40 business cards. I’ve entered all the information into my contacts…I’m working on a project…I can “see” the card in my mind but can’t recall if the first
Victoria Kelly, cont’d...
name is “Jim” or “James” and having the information in my contacts isn’t helping here. But wait! I’ve taken 10-15 minutes each evening while at Imaging to scan the cards using Cam Card…I can put the cards into groups: iUSA, SEPPA, Rotary, Business, Personal…so NOW when I’m working on a project and need to recall some information it’s all right there in the Cam Card app…including a picture of the card. Sweet, yes? If you’re sitting there thinking to yourself that you use the cards to make notes on the back…Cam Card gives you space to include that as well. There’s even a place for me to enter MY information…and I can send it to others via email, SMS or QR code. Now, I wouldn’t be honest if I didn’t tell you that sometimes the app doesn’t read the information quite correctly. But you have the option of inputting it manually. All the cards you’ve so carefully scanned will backup to the main website at www. camcard.com so worry not…all the information you’ve collected is safe and you can even access all your cards via the website as well. So now you’re REALLY ready to go!
Be one of the first twenty-five registered and see THIS TICKET in your packet! VIP preferred seating at ALL regular programming
World Photographic Cup - How it Began Don MacGregor Print competition has been a hallmark of our association activities and each and everyone of us has submitted prints and danced the dance. It is a rewarding journey and a powerful vehicle to grow and explore style and creativity. In North America, we are pretty much in our own world and have little or no influence from other regions around the world. Having said that, there is a very vibrant community of photographers in Europe, the Pacific Rim (China, Japan Korea etc), Australia and more.
In recent years PPA’s board of directors has made the outreach to the international community a key dialogue at their meetings. There is so much that we can learn … and share from the international community. The board felt it important to do this in a way that built friendships and alliances. Four years ago, an idea was floated at a board meeting to create a print competition much like the Ryder Cup of golf where each country sends a “team” entry rather than individual submissions. The goal of course being to unite the pas-
sion in photographers around the globe in the spirit of friendly competition. From that simple seed of an idea … The World Photographic Cup was born. PPA quickly embraced a partnership with the Federation of European photographers (a major organization in Europe) and a team from both met regularly to “water the seed” and build an “Olympic” style of competition where all countries enter a team entry (no one country being able to flood the submissions). A wide variety of challenges were tackled and the key one was the actual judging methods. Countries around the world all have print competitions and the methods are everything from structured to total subjective chaos. A key concern was how to recognize the various “styles” in various global regions. We realized that we had to find a playing field that all could understand and apply. From this challenge, PPA proposed that we define a unique approach to evaluating and scoring images.
It was proposed that each image be broken into 4 categories of 25 points and each image given four scores. The total added up and of course averaged with the other judges (15 in total from various countries around the globe). The four categories are… Impact, Composition, Lighting and Creativity. One can argue that creativity and impact are
broad and perhaps alternatives considered but all involved agreed these were the key element with one condition. That is … ALL judges be given training on the system and the reasoning behind the four categories. Explanations (using PPA’s definitions and guidelines) were used. To make this playing field fair, it was decided to have 6 categories and each country can submit 3 images per category with no one individual having more than one image per category. PPA’s submission was selected from IPC entries by a separate set of qualified people such that PPA awards and this unique competition’s awards would not be duplicated or dilute the respect for each. All judging was done “On Line” with software designed by our European partners. It worked flawlessly and the 4 category evaluation was VERY popular as it established some kind of criteria to evaluate a final numerical value and of course brought all countries’ judges into a new process. Most importantly, no one judge could “skew” a score because of a bias. Each judge had to qualify each image on the 4 categories and let the software total the score. The inaugural year was a total success. 22 countries participated. A beautiful CUP was made (much like the Stanley Cup of hockey) and gold, silver and bronze medals were struck for the top 3 in each category. The results were amazing. Many of the medals were chosen by decimal points… it was that close. PPA (the US) won the
CUP… BY ONE POINT. It really was very close. Australia, Portugal and Canada rounded out the next top entries. The 2015 judging is taking place from mid December to mid January and the top ten images in each category will be announced at IUSA (not to be confused with IPC awards as a separate panel of judges made PPA’s selection of images for WPC). The actual medalists and winner of the World Photographic Cup will be announced at a conference in France in April (remember, this is an international event much like the Olympics).
Save the Date May 1-5, 2015
2016 and 2017 will see the awards presentations in Australia and Japan. PPA’s board and contributing members have a lot to be proud of. Those involved have already seen an honest and enthusiastic attitude from participants from around the world and most importantly… no politics or “attitude” … just the joy of making statements with beautiful images. The goal of building relationships with other countries regardless of language (ours is a visual world) is already showing great progress. It won’t be long before we see speakers from other countries at IUSA and of course bringing the enthusiasm and passion our PPA members to others around the globe. You can see submissions online here: www.worldphotographiccup.org.
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2014 World Photographic Cup images will be on display at FLASH2015 in Charlotte, NC May 1-5.
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Jamie Hayes ($49...) Print Competition, May 1, 2, 9am-4pm Followup, May 3, TBA
Are you new to image competition? Or maybe you’re a seasoned veteran but just need a little extra push on your journey.
Join Virginia’s Jamie Hayes as he takes you through the 12 elements of a merit print, what the judges are looking for and how to assess YOUR images as you go through the stages of selection and refinement.
You’ll put what you’ve learned to good use as Jamie handles live commentary through the judging process.
A great photograph is one that fully expresses what one feels, in the deepest sense, about what is being photographed. -- Ansel Adams