Just like most people at this time of the year, I have been flat out.

This is the first opportunity I have had to post on my blog in a long time and it is with a bit of wonderful news...

On Wednesday 8th December, at a regional meeting of the NZIPP in Auckland, it was announced that I had earned the title 2009 Auckland Photographer of the Year. This is a fantastic honour and I am flattered that the local judges saw fit to bestow it upon me.

The competition is open to all NZIPP members in the Auckland and Northland regions and runs for the entire year. Every month a photographer can submit 2 images, of whatever they like, and points are awarded. It is completely anonymous throughout the year although until the final announcement of the photographer that has accrued the highest aggregate score for their 6 highest scoring images.

It is all good practice for the national awards.

 

Cheers

Steve Sharp

Wedding Photographer

My entries into the 2009 Kodak Gold Awards arrived back today. What a great way to start off the the week...

The rules allow a photographer to enter 4 in the Wedding category, 4 in the People category, and 1 in the Wedding Album category. I only entered 4 into the Wedding category this year. (Didn't have the time to put an album submission in.)

So I was extremely happy to receive 3 Golds from 4 entries.

As the Kodak Gold Awards fall one month after the annual NZIPP Epson Iris Awards, I usually just enter the same prints. To give you an idea of the difference in scoring between the two competitions, at the NZIPP Epson Iris Awards I scored an 87, an 80, and a 73 for the three prints that I entered into the Kodak Gold Awards and they all won Gold.

They are completely different competitions in a number of ways...

Firstly, at the Kodaks, all print entries are judged in a closed judging session. ie. No public or photographers allowed. Whereas at the NZIPP awards, anyone can go along and listen to the judges discussing the merits (or lack of) of a print.

Secondly, the Kodaks only have three levels of award, a Gold merit, a Silver merit, or nothing. The NZIPP awards have a scoring system that combines the aggregate of 5 judges scores to give a final score between 50 and 100. There are 8 different levels of merit for the NZIPP awards:

Below Professional Standard

Professional Standard

High Professional Standard

Bronze

Silver

Silver with Distinction

Gold

Gold with Distinction

Most photographers work in a bubble a lot of the time. We don't really get to see what other photographers are doing so entering awards is a great yardstick to see how we compare when we are judged side by side.

Here are the images that I won Kodak Gold Awards for.

I have also just found out that the first image is in The Photographers Mail next month. They are doing a feature on the Kodak Gold Awards and I was asked if they could use it. So grab a copy from any camera/photo shop and have a look from mid November onwards.

 

Cheers

Steve Sharp

Wedding Photographer

www.shots.co.nz

Wow! After a very tiring week, I am finally back home again.

I took my wife Danah with me to Wellington to view the print judging and attend the conference held at The Intercontinental.

I have attended the print judging for 4 years now as it is a wonderful learning experience listening to the judges talk about what they like and don't like about the entries. I was honoured to be asked to judge this year for the first time and had an awesome time.

I didn't do as well as I would have liked to with my entries. (Unfortunately, judges don't get to judge their own images.)

In the Wedding category, I ended up getting a Silver with Distinction, a Silver, and two Bronzes. There was only one Gold given out in the wedding category this year.

Here are the entries I put in for the Wedding category

This got an 87

This got an 80

This got a 73

This got a 72

 

Needless to say, the judging was pretty hard this year.

 

From a total of 1205 entries there were only 18 Golds given out.

On the bright side of things I got a Gold in the Landscape category for this image

I got a 92 for this image

A 73 for this one

And a 72 for this.

 

You can go to the NZIPP website www.nzipp.org.nz and look under Iris Awards 2009 to see all the winning photos.

 

At the end of the day, it was a fantastic week, catching up with colleagues and old friends that I only get to see once a year, looking at what everyone is is doing, getting inspired to do it all over again next year. Hopefully, with better results.

 

Cheers

Steve Sharp

Wedding Photographer