Jerry & Me

Well it's been a while since I've blogged. The biggest thing since last time was my attending the Jerry Ghionis workshop in Washington DC.

I must say I was one of the biggest Jerry fans in the world before the seminar. Now that I've spent 5 days learning under him. I'm an even BIGGER fan.

Jerry is seriously a truly gifted person. Not just in photography too. Business, Marketing, Sales, even psychology, design, and human behavior.

I have no hesitation to say he's one of the more intelligent people I've met in my life. In a former life, I interviewed for a job with Lehman Brothers in the world trade center and studied Finance at one of the top undergraduate business programs in the country. So I know some smart peeps.

Although it hasn't been formally announced, I'll definitely be at the Chicago seminar next year.

If you have the chance go. Don't ask questions, just GO!

The day you stop learning is the day you die

I've always been a big believer in education, in all forms / fields / manner.

When it comes to photography, in my short time I've learned in so many ways:

- looking at images
- shooting
- reading
- watching dvds
- attending seminars
- learning from other people

So far the best type of education I've encountered for photography is the workshop.

I've attended one workshop so far. It was done by David Beckstead (he of the American Photo top 10 wedding photogs in the world). If you're interested you can find out more here

Now I'm a few days from attending a weeklong workshop with my wedding photographer idol Jerry Ghionis

When it comes to Jerry, I drink the Kool -Aid
- DVDs? Check
- ICE Society Member? Check
- Now Workshop - Check.

In a workshop, you'll pick up a lot of new info and new tricks. The most important thing about them I feel is the learning about yourself that you do there.

A mentor or teacher can only show you the door, it is truly up to you to open it.

After the Beckstead seminar, everyone who knew me and my images had said there was a HUGE improvement in my shooting. Almost like I was a whole different photographer.David helped me unlock some of my potential, something I hope Jerry can do in week.

Above all, even Jerry Ghionis or David Beckstead. The greatest teacher of photography and life I've ever encountered is my father. Every time I click the shutter, it's because the knowledge he imparted to me from darkroom exposure to composition to understanding the camera.

But onto some cool images now!

Here are some images I captured during the david beckstead workshop

enjoy

Best in Show

Well the print competition went better than I expected. I ended up scoring 2 Superiors and a Merit. 2 Prints were in the top 3 and my untitled image pictured above won best of show =)

Now the print you'll see isn't the exact file that was printed. One thing about print competition is that the print has to be very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very very deep.

Things to take away from my print competition experience

- Print Deep - as explained above

- Print on glossy - which I did but leading me to the next point

- Matte the print - I had some files that used black backgrounds but when the lights were shone on the print, the black turned a weird color. So I'll have to matte the prints next time.

- Have a title - I lost a lot of points, I feel by not having a title. Sure Jerry Ghionis can win print competitions without a title but he's Jerry Ghionis and we're us. So maybe I'll go all Fallout Boy Style and have 5-6 word titles for my photographs.

- Shadow Detail - Judge were very critical of that

- Contrast - Have some

- Negative space is good but not if it's empty blackness - self explanatory

There's a whole bunch more that I learned but those are the main points.

If you're not entering print competitions and you want to be a better photographer. I think you should start. Learning about what makes a good competition print can only enhnace your photography, especially if you can apply the print competition sensibilities into your regular shooting.

All in all for my first print competition I am pleased that I did well. To improve though you have to look at it in another way. I scored an 80 on the winning print, that means I left 20 points on the table. How does one get those other 20? I don't expect to get 100s but I want to.

I'll post the other images I entered in another post soon!

Til next time.