My workflow is pretty simple. I sit at my desk editing and blogging away on my Mac while it’s little brother the iPad sits next to it playing movies. I need that background noise to work. Silence freaks me out.
My iPad plays 6 movies on constant rotation, one of which is A Few Good Men. There are so many things I love about that movie, but at its core is an inspiring and motivating story about self-assessment and raising your game. Tom Cruise’s lawyer character Danny Kaffee is highly accomplished in churning out amazing plea bargains from the comfort of his office, but he ultimately takes on the challenge of a murder trial in a real courtroom, with none other than Jack Nicholson’s awesome Colonel Nathan Jessep as his formidable and aggressive witness.
I’ve been going through my own stage of self-assessment recently (albeit without murder victims or courtrooms!). It’s the end of the tax year and also the end of my first year as a professional wedding photographer, so I’ve been keen to take stock of what I’ve achieved so far and figure out whether I’ve got what it takes to not just stay in the game but also move up to the next level. To that end I entered the Canon APPA awards which was judged just a few days ago.
If you’re reading outside of Australia, the Canon APPAs (Australian Professional Photography Awards) is the most prestigious photography competition Down Under. From this contest legends are made and a select few will have bragging rights to prestigious titles such as Photographer Of The Year, Portrait Photographer Of The Year, and of course Wedding Photographer Of The Year. There are also silver and gold awards up for grabs for all high scoring images, so naturally I wanted to get involved! I mean, I’ve had nothing but positive feedback since starting my business so surely I would have a chance of coming away with an award or two, right?
But I also had to be realistic. As a newbie professional wedding photographer I was facing the daunting prospect of having my images judged alongside those from my established peers, not to mention the country’s considerable world-leading talent (4 of American Photo’s top 10 wedding photographers for 2011 are from Australia – Jonas Petersen anyone?!). However, I’ve been desperately wanting to get a measure of how “good” I am and there’s no better barometer than the APPAs. So I took the plunge and dived into the 25 pages of rules of entry!
Now comprehending and adhering to the rules deserves an award in itself. Forget about sending your entries online. This requires proper prints to be submitted. Yeah, I’m talking physical prints, colour calibration, paper selection, mattes, all packaged together (along with my hopes, dreams and a considerable entry fee!) and sent off in an official black box.
The judging itself takes 3 solid days with 5 judges in each of the 3 judging rooms systematically scoring the 3,000+ entries under gallery lighting conditions. The judges are all high ranking members of the Australian Institute of Professional Photography and so critical are their trained eyes that the judging itself is an event. Audiences turn up to watch and hear the judging live and this year it was even streamed live over the internet!
I attended the first day of judging, surrounded by dozens of fellow wedding photographers who had also entered. Many of them were names that I had become familiar with and got to know over facebook and twitter, but all of them had far more experience than me. As the day unfolded I witnessed a multitude of amazing and inspiring images and there was a constant stream of celebration as silvers, silver distinctions and the odd gold were awarded amongst my peers. I was nervous, not wanting to see my images presented as I knew that the matting of my images alone was well short of the standard set by the entries adorning the winners’ wall next to me.
At the point when I had to leave, my entries still hadn’t been judged so I would have to check my scores on the internet later on. I didn’t actually want to see them. I knew I hadn’t been good enough to win any awards and so didn’t see the point in checking. But I also knew I hadn’t really entered to win. I’d entered to be judged and find my standing in the industry. I didn’t want awards, I wanted the truth!
And just as well because I didn’t win anything! My three entries did score higher than I expected with one just falling short of a silver award and that was good enough for me. Missing out had taught me heaps about what I needed to do to raise my game and now I have a clear direction and vision as I head into year two. At the end of the day the main thing is that all my paying clients are happy with the work I’ve done for them. They’re the real judges. But by not being complacent and instead looking for ways to improve I know that my clients over the next year will be even happier.
If you’re in a similar position of a newbie professional photographer, or even if you’re a keen amateur taking on the odd paid job, and feel that you’re not yet where you’d like to be – take heart. It’s good to know where you stand because that provides you with clear goals. Look after your clients, be inspired by your peers and the hits will keep on coming.
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I’m a born and bred Londoner who decided to give up the rat race, move halfway round the world to Australia and live by beautiful Bondi Beach.
But that’s not all. I also bought loads of cool camera gear to play with then realised I could use it to make a living, and now I run a successful wedding and baby photography business.
My background in media and marketing has been invaluable in quickly establishing myself, particularly through social networking, and I’m keen to help others do the same. I also strongly believe in giving back to the community, so look out for my blog posts where I’ll be sharing thoughts, insights, and tips about life as an emerging wedding photographer.
Great read Milts. No need for good luck for the coming year, you’ll kill it.
H