Working Pro 224

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Working ProThe

Issue 224 • August 2014

Working ProThe

C o n t e n t s# 2 2 4 - A u g u s t 2 0 1 4

4 Ross’s Ramblings - The President’s Message Our new president Ross Eason keeps the membership up to date with news and information about the Institute.

8 Display The Logo ProudlyThe only way we’ll get traction with the Accreditation program is if we all promote it together. Peter Eastway explains how!

1 0 What Is A Category Advocate?Peter Myers explains how easy it is to become involved with the print award system and steer it in the right direction.

1 4 The Institute Is A Force - Rocco AncoraThe AIPP’s newest Board member explains why he’s a member of the AIPP and why he wants to make a difference.

1 8 AIPP Member Portfolio: James SimmonsJames Simmons presents a delightful selection of professional and per-sonal work, showing how one links in with the other.

4 4 All About Passion - Milton Wordley’s GrangeIf you enjoy a glass of wine, then photographing one of the world’s best known brands for a year is a dream combination.

5 2 Show Them Why - Rocco AncoraRocco Ancora explains why his wedding clients know what a good print looks like, even if they only buy digital files. It’s simple and brilliant.

5 6 The New Accreditation ProcessHow do professional photographers become accredited? Peter Eastway chats to Peter Myers about the new process.

6 0 AIPP State Council MembersWho is in charge of your patch? Check out all the new AIPP State Council Members here. Plus we ask ACT’s forgiveness for missing them last time!

6 2 Editor’s Selection - APPA WinnersA selection of entries that caught the editor’s eye from the 2013 Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photography Awards.

7 0 AIPP Grand Master: Charmaine HeyerWe ask one of our AIPP Grand Masters of Photography to share their fa-vourite photographs, along with a little caption about ‘why’.

8 8 Awards Entry: Good Blacks & Whites?Does a full tonal range make a difference? Peter Eastway thinks it could be the difference between a Silver and a miss.

9 0 The AIPP BlogA recap of some of the important stories posted on the AIPP’s blog, just in case you missed them!

9 2 PortraitPro 12 Studio EditionCan portraiture retouching software really do a good job, without know-ing anything about retouching? It can certainly help!

The Working Pro is the official newsletter of The Australian Institute of Professional Photography (AIPP).

Editor Peter Eastway G.M Photog., Hon. FAIPP, Hon. FNZIPP, FAIPP

Disclaimer The information provided in The Working Pro and associat-

ed publications is made in good faith, but is general in nature. Neither

the editor, the publisher or the AIPP accept responsibility for or will be

under any liability for any recommendations, representations or infor-

mation provided herein. The Working Pro presents information, opin-

ions and suggestions for subscribers to evaluate in coming to their

own decisions in the light of their own individual circumstances. The

information should not be relied upon without readers first obtaining

independent advice from their own financial and legal advisers.

Unless otherwise noted, all articles are written by Peter Eastway.

Publication The newsletter is published 10 times a year – monthly

with November/ December and January/February being combined.

The Working Pro newsletter is published by Pt 78 Pty Ltd,

ABN 75 003 152 136, PO Box 351, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097, Australia.

Phone: (02) 9971 6857; Fax (02) 9971 6641.

E-mail [email protected]

AIPP Membership Contacts

Suite G.02, 171 Union Road,

Surrey Hills, Victoria 3127

Phone: 03 9888 4111

E-mail: [email protected]

Cover

Easton Chang2013 AIPP AUSTrALIAN ADvErTISING

PHOTOGrAPHEr OF THE yEAr

w w w . e a s t o n c h a n g . c o m

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ross’s ramblings (President’s report)R o s s E a s o n M . P h o t o g . , H o n . L M , N a t i o n a l P r e s i d e n t

For those who are time poor, hate reading and

want to get back to Facebook, here is my report

in summary.

Okay, back to Facebook. Don’t forget to breathe.

For those with time…

I’m not heavily into titles and since the cigar in-

cident in the Oval Office, the moniker (play on

words) of President does not necessarily reflect

its role.

For me, President simply means a leader

who supports, motivates and has confidence in

the teams around him.

In my opinion, we have a great team and

have had for a long time.

In fact, that team has over 3000 members

who choose to belong to the AIPP and each, in

his and her own way, has to find a way to sup-

port the Institute.

I am inspired by the dedication of my fellow

Board members. Their commitment to the Insti-

tute is absolute and often undervalued.

Our State Councils are the powerhouse of

the Institute. Without their work and dedication

the Institute would stop. This year the Board and

State Councils had a record number of people

nominating to help - absolutely fantastic!

The new Awards Team, wow what an inspi-

rational group of selfless members who have

one goal - delivery of a world class awards

structure.

Behind The Scenes

Honours and Compliance committees, their

combined wisdom contributes behind the

scenes with no agenda of recognition.

We have individual members who seize ev-

ery opportunity to contribute, people like Chris

Shain who is ensuring our voice is heard in

Government on copyright, privacy and orphan

works, Eric victor who headed a team liaising

with the ATO, William Long in social media and

competitions, and all of those members who

contribute through the various SIGs.

P h o t o : B a m b i W i s o n

• It’s your Institute

• Goodbye John de Rooy

• Thanks Kylie

• Welcome Rocco

• Visions for the future - Marketing

of APP, greater representation for

commercial and editorial, advoca-

cy, and raising the bar with APP

• Meeting of new State presidents

to ensure we are all on same page.

5

The Great 2014 AIPP Membership SurveyH e l p u s h e l p y o u !

As ross and Kylie say regularly, it’s your mem-

bership, but what do you want from it?

If it’s hard to put into words exactly what

you’re after, why not answer a few easy ques-

tions in The Great 2014 AIPP Membership

Survey? your answers will help ross and the

Board steer the Institute in the right direction.

Even better, fill in the survey and as an Ac-

credited Professional Photographer, you will

be given access to all the Nikon Event pre-

sentations that were recorded this year - for

free!

Accredited members will have recently

received an email, so click on the link and

follow it through. It will take you just 5 to 10

minutes. (Emerging members will be sur-

veyed next.)

And just in case you have forgotten, here’s

the link again: https://www.surveymonkey.

com/s/AIPP2014Acc

These members understand that if you be-

long to the AIPP, you are part of a team and you

are there to contribute.

So that’s about 3% of our membership.

The question I have for you, is how can I mo-

tivate or support you? It’s your institute. Let me

know what you want. How can we help?

Email me or have your say via the Great

Membership Survey. your feedback is essential if

we are to deliver what our members want.

John and Kylie

This year, John de rooy has stepped aside after

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AIPP2014Acc

https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/AIPP2014Acc

6

eight years on the Board. To detail what he has

contributed and achieved over that time would

require an entire issue of The Working Pro! He

is the definition of a ‘selfless quiet achiever’.

you’ll be missed John. Thank you on behalf of all

members.

Kylie Lyons now takes on the role of Chair-

person. Having worked closely with Kylie over

the past four years, I can tell you that no one I

know has given as much time or passion as Ky-

lie in taking on any role asked of her.

Rocco On Board

rocco Ancora, Grand Master of Photography

and one of the most awarded and recognised

photographers in the world, is a new addition to

the Board and brings with him a new perspec-

tive and skill set. Initially, rocco is working with

the Awards Team on Judge training.

Nominations

I’d also like to thank those members who nomi-

nated for Board positions and were not appoint-

ed this year: Kevin O’Day, Joshua Holko, Craig

Wetjen and Nathan Madigan are committed

members who demonstrated by their actions

that being a member is more than watching.

More Than A Logo

I do have some visions for the future and will

work with the Board and National Office team

on refining those.

My priorities include greater representation

for commercial and editorial photographers,

identifying and supporting advocacy initiatives,

and being a proactive industry voice represent-

ing the interests of our profession.

As we consolidate our finances, marketing

will become a stronger focus as we need to en-

sure that Accredited Professional Photographer

has credibility as a standard consumers can rely

on, not just a logo.

State Meetings

This month all State Presidents will meet with

the Board and National Office team to work-

shop ideas, strategies and share resources. The

intent of this is to develop a program of events

and resources to benefit every member. An ini-

tiative started by Kylie’s board will soon reach

into regional Australia with initiatives already

under way to develop content and events

around Australia.

I’ll look forward to catching up with you at

APPA.

[email protected]

0412 108 362

P h o t o : B a m b i W i s o n

mailto:kylie.lyons%40aipp.com.au?subject=Member%20email%20to%20Kylie%20about%20the%20AIPP

7

AIPP New Accredited MembersN e w A P P s f o r M a y , J u n e a n d J u l y 2 0 1 4

Accredited

Professional

Photographers

ACT

Mike Punch

NSW

Carole Diamond

Cherie Abdy

Cherie Misson

Daniel Stefas

David Collins

Fiona Chapman

Heather Swan

Jamie Gilmore

Jasmine Lee

Krystal Oldfield

Kylie Greffenius

Matthew Child

Melanie Davis

Michael rayment

Nicole Trestrail

Peter Taouk

rachel Deane

Samantha rummmans

Sergio Cantero

Tan Nguyen

yvonne Zhai

NT

Peter Carroll

QUEENSLAND

Baron Walton

Bec Thomas

Carolina Gonzalez

Danelle Ireland

Douglas raisin

Fiona McGuire

Joanna Bowden

Jodie-Lea De Pascali

Megan rizzo

Melanie Sinclair

Melanie Tucker

Michael Lees

rebecca Colefax

rebecca Drake

rikki Jones

Sarah Gage

Shannon Harth

Steve Bull

Tracie Louise

Wendy Maley

Xiang Pan

yuyao Mai

SA

Chris Oaten

Dave Pascoe

Jade Norwood

Sarah Long

Sharon Oakey

Skai Skorup-Matthews

Sona Sood

Sudhira Shah

Tiffany Selzer

VICTORIA

Adam Johnson

Con Tsioukis

Cuido Brandt

Janine Kunisch

Katie Fiorillo

Kay Sukumar

Kimberley Bumpstead

Kristie Dutson

Lena Wang

Marco Marroni

Mark Stennett

Melanie Carmichael

ronald Diocera

Stacey Schack

Stuart Westmore

Tatiana Koulatsos

Thomas Lim

WA

Belle verdiglione

Cherise Lauder

Hayley Butler

Jodie McGrath

Julie Brooker

Lillian Frost

Meagan Hartley

Tami Xiang

Accredited

Professional Video

Producer

Queensland

Shaun Tolhoek, Lemon

Tree Film House

8

Display The Logo ProudlyP e t e r E a s t w a y e x p l a i n s w h y w e s h o u l d w o r k t o g e t h e r .

We all want an advantage in business. We want

people to recognise us for our brilliance, our

amazing photography, and our incredible per-

sonality.

And no doubt our clients do.

So it’s not our clients who are the challenge,

it’s the people who don’t become our clients.

Some of these people are hiring other AIPP

members, and that’s great. I’d prefer them to

hire me, of course, but if I’m not the right pho-

tographer for them, then let them hire an AIPP

Accredited Professional Photographer.

Of course, many people are hiring photogra-

phers who aren’t accredited. Potentially, this is a

lot of revenue for us. So how do we steal it away

from non-accredited photographers?

It doesn’t sound very nice, to ‘steal’ clients

away, but I’m trying to get you interested.

There are two ways of looking at the pho-

tography business. Either there is a fixed

amount of work and we have to grab our share;

or there is as much work as we want if we can

create the market to demand it. I fall into the

latter category, but no matter how you look at

photography, I think we can agree that we want

people who buy photography to have a good

experience and receive good quality work. That

generates a sustainable business model.

So, all professional photographers need to

offer a high level of product and service. How

do we make this happen?

The best way I can see to ensure people hire

a good photographer is to recommend an ac-

credited photographer. yes, I know there are

many great photographers who are not accred-

ited and not AIPP members, but if I don’t know

them personally, I’m unlikely to recommend

them.

If I have to take a stab on someone I don’t

know, I’d prefer they had at least proved their

worth to someone. And this is where the Ac-

credited Professional Photographer network

comes in.

No, it’s not a perfect system. A perfect sys-

tem doesn’t exist. However, it’s a system that we

can all get behind and promote.

The more people that look for an AIPP Ac-

credited Professional Photography, the more

work will come to us as a body of photogra-

phers.

How do we get people to look for AIPP Ac-

credited Professional Photographers? We have

to let everyone know. We advertise. We pro-

mote. It’s up to us, not the AIPP. We are the AIPP!

Do you want to make a start? Add the logo

to your website. Do it today!

10

What is a Category Advocate?A n d H o w i t W o r k s f o r t h e A w a r d s ? B y P e t e r M y e r s .

One of the more far reaching changes we have

introduced for the new AIPP awards system is

the introduction of “Category Advocates”.

This series of FAQ’s will hopefully give you a

better understanding of the purpose of catego-

ry advocates.

Why have You Introduced

Category Advocates?

In simple terms, we wanted to involve you, our

members, in the structure and format of our

awards categories. After all, the purpose of hav-

ing professional photography awards is to allow

you, as working professional photographers, to

enter your work, for peer review and critiquing,

into image categories which best represent the

genre and style of photography you are practis-

ing.

Who better to define a category, set the

rules and parameters for entry into a catego-

ry, than the members who are working in the

genre represented by that category?

How do I become a category

advocate for an existing awards category?

It’s simple. Send an email to [email protected].

au and tell us which category from our existing

awards categories you want to become a cat-

egory advocate for.

In order to ensure that a category advocate

group (CAG) does not become purely the voice

and opinion of just one or two members, we

have set a minimum requirement that in order

to formulate a CAG we need a minimum of 5

members involved in a CAG.

If you contact us and we don’t yet have 5

members involved, we will add you to a waiting

list, and try to enlist your help to publicise the

tentative CAG and get more members involved.

As soon as we reach the magical number of 5

members, we will formally implement the CAG.

How do I become a category advocate and

propose a new category for the awards?

Exactly the same process as above

Is There a maximum Number of people

Involved in a Category Advocate Group?

Good question…It all comes down to how

manageable a group would be. We think 10

members would be ideal and anything above

20 would make a CAG unwieldy, but let’s see

how this develops in the coming months and

years.

How do we communicate and interact with

each other in a Category Advocate group?

We use Basecamp as our tool of choice for on-

line communication, collaboration and commu-

nication. We expect that almost all the business

of a CAG will be conducted online via Base-

mailto:[email protected]

mailto:[email protected]

11

Full details at…http://www.aippappa.com/appa-

2014-info/call-for-entries

Entries are now open for the 2014 Canon

AIPP APPA

Plus a brand new website with all the information you require - why to enter, how to enter, what you can win,

what you can earn...http://www.aippappa.com/appa-2014

12

W h e r e a r e m y f r e e c o p i e s o f

B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y M a g a z i n e ?

T h e y a r e h e r e . . .

w w w . a i p p . c o m . a u

S i g n i n t o t h e m e m b e r ’ s s e c t i o n . . .

G o t o m e m b e r s e r v i c e s . . .

G o t o m y p u b l i c a t i o n s . . .

G o t o B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y . . .

D o w n l o a d a n d e n j o y !

W o u l d y o u l i k e t o r e c e i v e a p a p e r v e r s i o n o f B e t t e r P h o t o g r a p h y

m a g a z i n e , f o u r t i m e s a y e a r ? y o u c a n s t i l l s u b s c r i b e a n d r e c e i v e

a 2 0 % d i s c o u n t . F o r d e t a i l s , e m a i l

k i m @ b e t t e r p h o t o g r a p h y . c o m

I s s u e 7 6 . . .C a p t u r e A m a z i n g B & W I n - C a m e r a

• C r e a t e B e a u t i f u l V i g n e t t e s • T h e B e s t S h a r p e n i n g T e c h n i q u e

• S t u d i o L i g h t i n g F o r P o r t r a i t sA n d l o t s m o r e . . .

13

Camp. It’s a great, cost effective tool, if used well,

for managing projects via a disparate group from

all across the country.

When you join a CAG, you will be sent an in-

vitation to create a BaseCamp account (it’s free)

and join the project for the particular category for

which you are an advocate. Simple instructions on

how to use BaseCamp are included.

How does a Category Advocate Group

Propose Changes?

As a group you have to agree on what you want

the changes to be. you need to explain why these

changes are being proposed. you need to propose

how the changes will be implemented and man-

aged. you need to explain how the newly pro-

posed rules and parameters will be monitored and

policed and how entries will be validated against

the new rules.

All of this should take the form of a structured

proposal that should be sent to the AIPP awards

team Category Manager. The national Office team

will help you put together your proposal if you

need help.

Who is the “Category Manager”?

David Paterson, probably the AIPP member with

the most experience and knowledge of our

awards process, is the new Category Manager.

David, in this role, is a key and integral part of the

new awards team.

Once you have submitted a proposal to David,

he will liaise with you to make sure your proposal

is workable, and whether it can be implemented

within the many other constraints of our awards

system.

How Does a category Advocate Group

Propose a New Category?

The same as above. The only addition would be

the need to include in your proposal the explana-

tion and description of the new category, and why

it is appropriate to have a new category within our

awards.

When Should We Join Category Advocate

Groups?

Now! If you want to have your say, now is the time.

A major part of the overall awards restructure

we are currently undertaking is the objective of

having a common group of categories, with com-

mon rules and parameters across all our awards,

including not only APPA, but also the state awards,

and ultimately the new Online awards.

This means, we need to have all categories and

rules agreed to early each calendar year so that

they can be implemented for the state awards in

each state. remember, our first state awards usual-

ly take place in early March, which means entrants

need to know the categories and rules by January

each year.

rules, categories, new rules and new catego-

ries need to be agreed and implemented by the

end of each calendar year. This means if you want

to make changes for 2015, your proposals need to

be accepted and agreed before Christmas 2014!

So, don’t delay. If you want to get involved do it

now!

15

The Institute Is A ForceR o c c o A n c o r a , t h e A I P P ’ s N e w e s t B o a r d M e m b e r

Many members of the AIPP will need no intro-

duction to rocco Ancora, Grand Master of Pho-

tography. His expertise and panache as a wed-

ding photographer are legendary, having won

the AIPP Australian Professional Wedding Pho-

tographer of the year four times and runner-up

three times! He is also one of the world’s best

photographic re-touchers with an innate ability

to create exquisitely crafted images and prints.

All this creativity is a far cry from being an

AIPP Board member, so I asked rocco why he put

up his hand.

Aspired To Belong

“When I first joined, the Institute was a force to be

reckoned with. It was the pinnacle of the profes-

sion, something to which you aspired to belong

to, meaning your work had to be of standard.

“When I joined, I had to submit negatives,

proofs and an album. I sweated waiting for the

adjudicators to say my work was okay.

“Technology has changed the way we sub-

mit our images, of course, but there is a percep-

tion out there that the AIPP has become a glori-

fied camera club. Maybe these comments are

just from dispirited photographers who have lost

their way, but knowing what the AIPP has done

for my career means comments like these hurt.

“I am very passionate about the future of the

Institute and of professional photography, so I

put up my hand to bring back that old spark and

champion what it means to be an AIPP member.

“Let’s face it, many of Australia’s best pho-

tographers are AIPP members. My growth and

success has been because of my involvement

with the AIPP and the APPA system. Over the last

twenty years, I have seen huge changes and it

has been the AIPP that has lead me through.”

rocco noted that everyone seems to be a

professional photographer these days, but charg-

ing money to take photographs and doing a pro-

fessional job are two different things.

Reclaim The Benchmark

“I want the AIPP to reclaim the benchmark of

professional photography. I want everyone dis-

playing the Accredited Professional Photography

logo to be proud of the ethics and professional-

ism this represents.”

There’s no doubt the world of portrait and

wedding photography has its

sharks, photographers who prey on

their customers with unethical sell-

ing strategies, and it’s these stories

S i lv e r w i t h D i S t i n c t i o n A wA r D - w e D D i n g c At e g o r y

Rocco Ancora G.M. Photog.w w w . r o c c o a n c o r a . c o m2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

17

that are picked up by the media.

“I heard a photographer bragging about a

$5000 sale to a client who had just lost her job

because he said it was up to him to milk his cli-

ents for every last cent!

“What sort of attitude is this? Eventually she

will wake up, but the problem is she will think all

professional photographers are the same. That’s

why it is so important to work together as Ac-

credited Professional Photographers and stamp

out unethical behavior.”

Successful Business

While a small number of photographers are un-

ethical, the majority of newer professionals sim-

ply don’t understand how to build a successful

business.

“Many photographers think the only way to

compete is on price! They honestly believe a

consumer can’t see the difference between an

average supermarket print and an amazing pro-

fessional standard print, but this approach is just

ruining the profession for everyone.”

While the AIPP can’t dictate prices, it can edu-

cate members about good business practices

and how to work out prices for a sustainable

business.

“We need to tell the newcomers that if they

buy a print for $3.00, they don’t sell it for $3.50!

We need to value what we produce.

“Many photographers think that because ev-

eryone has a smart phone they don’t really need

a professional photographer, but smart phones

are used for communication. We don’t ring each

other up, we send them a picture, but this is

completely different to what professional pho-

tographers do.

Good Pictures Will Sell

“There’s a huge oversupply of badly composed,

badly exposed images flooding the market and

the consumer is being told that this is ‘profession-

al photography’.

“Well, the standard that an AIPP Accredited

Professional Photographer provides needs to

be much, much higher so we can regain lost

ground.

“New photographers are failing at the basics.

Someone even told me they could shoot JPGs

because they had a good camera, but when I

looked at their work it was obvious they had no

idea about exposure or composition.

“If you make good pictures, people will buy

them! The holy grail is the quality of our work and

communicating this to our market.”

Rocco Ancora, AIPP Grand Master of Photography,

is an AIPP Board member. He operates a successful

wedding photography business in Mel-

bourne, and is a regular speaker and

presenter in Australia and internation-

ally. www.roccoancora.com

S i lv e r A wA r D - w e D D i n g c At e g o r y


18

J a m e sSIMMONS

M a s t e r o f P h o t o g r a p h y

A I P P M E M B E R

Like many AIPP members, it’s the passion for photography

that drives us and West Australian photographer James Sim-

mons is no exception.

The Working Pro invited James to submit a series of his

favourite images, along with some of his professional wed-

ding photography.

Explained James, “My business is predominantly wed-

dings, however I get some portrait work organically from

shooting weddings and I also have a few commercial clients

from the mining and building industries.

“At the moment, I operate as a sole trader and work in a

shared studio space, which has been a great environment

for motivation.”

Germany Series “Greylands”

20

My mum was a photography teacher in South-

ern Cross (a tiny mining town) when I was little.

She helped convert the old gaol (which hap-

pened to be on the school grounds) into a

darkroom. I have some pretty cool memories of

seeing prints being developed, making pinhole

cameras from Milo tins and doing double expo-

sures at the local graveyard.

After I finished school in 1998, I studied viticul-

ture (wine grape growing) in Margaret river. I

enjoyed capturing friends in the surf with the

old waterproof disposable cameras, but I wasn’t

very good at it. I was more interested in being

photographed in the surf to be honest.

It wasn’t until I moved to London in 2004 and

had some real life experience that I started look-

ing in the direction of multimedia/video/pho-

tography as a possible career. The decision was

made when I severely broke my right arm while

surfing back in Margaret river in 2006. I couldn’t

do much for six months, so I enrolled at Edith

Cowan University in a Bachelor of Creative In-

dustries undertaking a double major in photo-

media and film and video.

Perth Wedding

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

23

India - Horace and Mary

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

24

Hanging Wedding Dress and Hand

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

26

During the uni course, I started working at a

portrait and wedding studio in Perth, cutting

my teeth and learning about the commercial

reality of photography. I worked at the studio

for five years, effectively doing my apprentice-

ship and had great mentors there for which I

am grateful. For the past two years I have been

working full time for myself.

I’m still very new to business and operate main-

ly from referrals. However, having the shared

creative space has been a fantastic building

block for growing the business and has helped

build industry relationships. The business goal

now is to refine the process, outsource a few

things, increase profits and put in boundaries

for work so I can maintain a life balance and be

more productive.

Ultimately I want to be able to keep shooting

personal work to keep me inspired. It’s this in-

spiration that will benefit my clients as it infuses

all the work I do. Working for the domestic mar-

ket is all about making your clients look great,

while shooting personal work lets you explore

your own directions.

Most recently, James won the 2014 Epson

AIPP Western Australian Wedding Photographer

of the year, but he has also been the 2011 Epson

AIPP Western Australian Professional Photogra-

pher of the year and the 2011 AIPP Australian

Illustrative Photographer of the year.

Melbourne Wedding moment during the “congratulations”.

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

28

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

29

Old Dhaka roof tops during the Hindu kite festival.

30

I’m currently using mostly Canon gear (EOS 5D MkIII and

EOS 1DX) with their L-series prime lenses, but one of the

biggest game changers for me was investing in a Hold Fast

“money maker” leather camera strap. It looks like a set of

braces or a gun holster, which I dig, but most of all, my neck

and shoulders no longer hurt.

My other vice is Ilford film and paper. I love the stuff. For a

lot of my personal work, I shoot on a Mamiya 645 with the

80mm f1.9 lens. It is pure awesome. Matched with the Ilford

Pan F film, it just sings. Also an app I couldn’t live without is

called Sunrise & Set. I use it everyday to help plan jobs and

timing for client wedding days.

Man walking along the “Queen’s Necklace” in Mumbai.

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

32

The accompanying images are taken from the

various long term personal projects, as well as

some of my regular wedding work. Each time

inspiration hits me for a shot, I like to add it to

my list of possible things I could do when I’m

traveling or shooting for myself. That means I’m

never lost for ideas and I can jump from one

project to another, should the opportunity arise.

My first real project was part of the International

Photojournalism Unit I Studied at ECU. We trav-

elled to Bangladesh and collaborated with Ban-

gladeshi photojournalism students to find and

tell a local story. This is where I fell in love with

photojournalism and the challenge of engag-

ing with a subject and being out of your com-

fort zone. While on that trip, we were invited to

participate in the kite festival. Dhaka being the

intensely populated city it is, the only space for

people to fly kites is from the rooftops of the

city. The opportunity of photographing that

event spurred on a fascination with alternative

landscapes, in particular where there is a rela-

tionship between humans in the landscape and

how they affect each other.

(Top) Khasi Tribe Family in Jaflong, Bangladesh(Bottom) The kite runner - Jaflong, Bangladesh

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

34

Twelve months later I took a trip to visit my girl-

friend’s relatives in Germany and it happened to

be one of the snowiest winters for a long time.

I was on a mission to make this trip count pho-

tographically. I was super inspired by a painting

of a tree with crazy textures at grandma’s house

in central Germany. When I added in some very

intense stories of life in wartime Germany from

grandpa, it had me focused on producing im-

ages with mood, feeling and an underlying sto-

ry. The weather conditions at the time helped

me isolate certain subjects in an area that was

otherwise busy and mundane. The low cloud

provided a simple background and lighting that

were conducive to the mood I was feeling.

The next personal project was in India, which

sounds awesome, but it proved to be one of

the biggest photographic challenges I have

ever faced. I didn’t have a particular idea or story

to chase down, which was my first stumbling

block. I realised that if I didn’t photograph with a

purpose or direction, the touristic view can take

over.

Aside from the process and having holiday pics,

I couldn’t see why anyone else would enjoy the

resulting images, so they don’t see any airtime.

My mind was still in the Minimalist “human in

the landscape” mode from Germany and if you

have ever been to India, you’d know there is

nothing subtle about it.

The experience was becoming frustrating not

only because I couldn’t simplify my surround-

ings, but also because we kept getting pigeon-

holed as tourists. I wanted to engage with locals

and learn their stories, but everyone wanted to

rip us off or sell us stuff, so I ended up putting

up a guard and then it was almost impossible to

engage with anyone.

I also realised that if there was no engagement

with the people, the morality of just taking

someone’s picture made me very uncomfort-

able. Then there was the whole paying people

for the picture thing, too, that I felt cheapened

a relationship. It made everything feel contrived

and even more like you were visiting a zoo.

Germany Series “Goat”.

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

36

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

37

Inside Series - India “Horace and Mary”.

38

I tried the rooftop thing, tried the Minimalist

thing, but it wasn’t until I met Horace and Mary

that I had a light bulb moment. India is a real at-

tack on the senses and everything is amazingly

busy. I questioned why I was so focused on tell-

ing a story outside in the landscape, when I was

having so much trouble controlling the ele-

ments in my frame. In Fort Kochi, Horace and

Mary - two generous senior citizens - offered

up a room in their home as accommodation. As

soon as I saw their lounge room, I knew I had to

learn their story and photograph them inside

their house. The room spoke so well of whom

they are and the lives they have lead.

This was the start of the “Inside” series. With the

help of various fixers translating for me, I contin-

ued exploring the Inside series in Indonesia and

Morocco. The fixers were integral to the series

as they introduced me to a variety of interesting

people.

39

India, New Delhi. Lunch time on the roof tops.

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

40

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

41

India - Horace and Mary

42

In between these trips, I was inspired by a

particular camera and lens. I bought myself a

Mamiya 645 Pro TL with an 80mm f1.9 lens. I

wanted to test out just how shallow the depth-

of-field could go. I started getting as close as I

could to people and just taking a simple head

shot. The combination produced very honest

portraits. Not particularly flattering, but very real.

All I needed was nice light as the background

becomes less significant. More importantly, as

long as I was willing to engage with the subject,

it was relatively simple.

While the style of each series is quite varied,

what I find ties them together is the approach.

I’m consistently looking to tell non-fictional sto-

ries, whether it is constructed in camera or in

post-production. The images are inspired by real

people, places and stories.

James Simmons M. Photog.

[email protected]

www.jamessimmons.com.au

www.jamessimmonsphotography.com.au

J a m e sSIMMONS


A I P P M E M B E R

(Previous Spread) Heads - Mamiya 645 Pro TL inspired Headshots.

(Top) Morocco - Traditional Berber House in the High Atlas mountains of Morocco.

(Bottom) Indonesian Family with their newly ac-quired Nyepi festival float.

43

The Wall

44

M i l t o nWORDLEYA year in the life of Grange

ALL ABOUT PASSION

46

South Australian photographer Milton Wordley

has worked for Australian wineries extensively

and, if you talk to him, it doesn’t take long to

discover he has a passion for the wine industry.

In fact, he is probably the most knowledgeable

photographer in the field of wine given his re-

cent project: A year in the Life of Grange.

Book publishing is a tough market and Mil-

ton says he has been approached by a number

of publishers over the years. “However, recently

none of the publishers really had a realistic bud-

get for photography, and after years in the busi-

ness I was over just having my name on the

printed page. Like most professionals, I have the

rent to pay.

“On the one occasion a publisher said he

had a budget, it

turned out it would

have only just cov-

ered my travel ex-

penses, let alone a

photography fee! Not

really the publisher’s

fault, just a sign of the

times.”

However, it does

trouble Milton that in

many creative busi-

nesses, the creatives

are the first to take a

pay cut and it’s never

been worse than it is now.

“I have been a photographer for over 45

years and never really wanted to do a book. My

father published a number of books and went

bankrupt a couple of times doing it, so really

this project just happened.

From Exhibition To Book

“It started out as an idea for an exhibition. The

more I got into it, the more I thought this is

such a great story, why don’t I do something

that has never been done before: a real photo-

essay on the story of ‘A year in the life of a wine’.

And why not Australia’s most famous wine, ‘Pen-

folds Grange’?

“So, rather than a traditional print run, we

decided to create something really special, a

hand-crafted, limited edition book, and sell it as

a collector’s gift for the same price as a bottle of

Grange: $785.

“The book started out as a print on demand

publication. However, there were real issues

with binding it at the size we wanted. It’s an A3

vertical folding out to A2. It ended up that we

had to print traditional offset to reproduce at

this size and open out flat. The book was on the

press for 13 days and I learnt many things about

production along the way. Talk to me about

cardboard boxes I have about six different ones.”

There are 1000 copies of the Limited Edi-

tion book, but there are also more expensive

editions as well. For $1000, you can purchase a

Winemaker’s Edition (one of 250), presented in a

47

Photographs by Milton Wordley from his book, A year in the life of Grange

48

slipcase and including an exclusive print of the

four winemakers, signed by the artist, mounted

and ready to frame.

Or for the Collector’s Edition of just 100

books at $4000, you get a leather bound book

and seven museum grade photographs pre-

sented in a black buckram archive box, com-

plete with American Oak sides.

Milton teamed up with one of Australia’s

most highly regarded wine writers Philip White

and designer John Nowland to create what he

calls ‘a neat book’ which has won a couple of

international awards. It has certainly generated

him a lot of press and maybe commissions from

other wineries and publishers (he’s working

through some proposals now).

An Old Fashioned Photo Essay

So why did Milton do it? “It just evolved, but

it’s such a great story, about how Max Schubert

introduced new techniques to Australia that

revolutionised the wine industry.

“I also wanted to do an old fashioned pho-

to essay without having to rely on lots of post

and Photoshop techniques. Most of the images

were photographed on Nikons – a D3, D3x and

D4 – but I essentially used what I had with me

at the time, including a Fujifilm X100, which I

normally use for reccies.”

The idea behind Milton’s brief to himself was

to keep the photographs real. very few of the

images are set up, most are observations.

“I didn’t want it to be a public relations docu-

ment either and I insisted on editorial control.

It took me three months of negotiating with

Penfolds to get permission and a legal contract

written up. While Penfolds did not support the

project financially, it did give me absolute co-

operation and access to all areas. And anyone

who does this style of photography knows that

nowadays access is the most important help

you can get from anyone.

“Early on in the project, Penfolds was re-

luctant to give me permission to use the word

‘Grange’ on the cover. However, I put together

four dummy books to do a pre-sell to the ‘Cor-

porate World’ in Sydney and Melbourne. Once

Penfolds saw the book and appreciated how

we had illustrated and told this great Austra-

lian story with absolute editorial integrity, they

were okay about using the name Grange on the

cover. In fact they placed a large order to use in-

ternationally as a brand promotion to their best

clients. That order sure helped with the printing

bill.

“Indirectly, the AIPP had a lot to do with this

project. I remember attending many seminars

on the subject, one in particular by Peter Jarver,

one of the few photographers back then who

published books and made money out of them.

He said the problem with book publishing is

that there’s never anything left over for the pho-

tographer, especially if you go through the nor-

mal publishing and distribution channels. Dis-

49


50

tribution is the key, he said. Other AIPP / ACMP

supporters like rob Imhoff, Chris Shain and Pe-

ter Adams also gave me valuable advice along

the way.

“I knew I couldn’t put this book through

bookshops. It was going to simply be too ex-

pensive to be distributed via the normal chan-

nels. Instead, I sell it online and I have it going

into a select number of fine wine shops.

Reading Stands

“I’ve produced bespoke reading stands which I

send with sample copies of the books for each

of the stores.”

Milton said supplying each shop with a book

and a reading stand costs over $400 each , so

with twenty stores, it’s not a small investment.

“The project was not about making money,

more about doing an old fashioned photo essay

and telling a great Australian story. Like ‘Grange’,

it has been a total indulgence.

“However, by cutting out the middlemen,

there is a chance he will turn his investment

into a profit.

The book has certainly been a big invest-

ment and self-funded. Milton paid the author,

editor and designer, plus all the expenses in-

cluding the cost of printing and binding the

book. However, sales to wine collectors and

some larger companies, including Penfolds,

have helped fund some of the costs and he’s

being smart about how he handles the printing

process. For instance, although printing in Chi-

na is obviously cheaper, Milton wanted to pro-

duce the book 100% in South Australia, just like

Grange. By printing there at Finsbury Green, he

is able to stockpile the collated blocks and bind

on demand at the local Chasdor bindery. Quite

a saving short term.

All up, Milton estimates he has spent a bit

over $200,000 on the project, including travel

to the USA twice, plus a trip to China to pick up

the International Gourmand Award for ‘World’s

Best Wine Book Photography’. However, his mar-

ket of collectors and people looking for unusual

presents is steady and eventually it may see him

turn a profit.

“And it’s true I have quite an interest in wine.

During the project, I covered a Grange verti-

cal tasting in New york with every vintage from

1952 to the yet to be released 2010 sitting in

a room. Peter Gago, Penfolds’ chief winemak-

er was in charge, and every now and then he

would pass me a glass, saying, ‘The ‘65 looks

good, have a taste’.

“As I often say, photographers get the best

seat in the house and if you have a love of good

red wine as I do, it does not get any better than

that!”

Milton Wordley is an Accredited Professional Pho-

tographer and a Master of Photography. For more

information about the book and the project, visit

Milton’s website at http://wordley.com.au/grange/

51


52



53

Show Them WhyR o c c o A n c o r a e x p l a i n s w h y h i s c l i e n t s k n o w w h a t a g o o d p r i n t l o o k s l i k e .

rocco sees the limits photographers place on

themselves by charging too little. A low price

might get you a job, but you will never have a

business if it doesn’t cover your time and profit.

“The challenge is to show photographers

who are only charging $800 for a wedding how

to do it properly.”

So, how do you do it properly? rocco sug-

gested wedding photographers should have

a shoot fee and then add the album and other

products on top. This way, the clients can just

hire your services if that’s what they think they

want, but it still gives you the opportunity to sell

them an album or prints if they like what you do.

“Clients might only start with my shoot fee,

but they buy an album every time. I give them

the opportunity to buy.”

Explained rocco, you can sell photography

like Harvey Norman or Big W, offering the same

model Tv at the lowest price. Or, you can sell

photography in a way that is unique, that can’t

be purchased elsewhere.

“It is what we bring to the profession as pho-

tographers. Our personality is the X-factor that

the guy down the road doesn’t have. People buy

54

you. Photographers need to understand this. It’s

not the price. And the minute photographers

stop being driven by price, they will start to make

some decent money.”

rocco’s shoot fee includes a number of hours

photography (the more hours he works, the

higher his shoot fee), and colour corrected files

on a USB stick that the client can print.

“We have joint copyright on the photographs,

but I never hand over the files without a print-

ed component as well. In addition to the files, I

provide them with 12 images that they choose,

printed on Canson BFK rives paper and beauti-

fully presented in a box. These photos represent

who I am as an artist.”

The printed photographs also set the stan-

dard so when the client has cheap prints made,

they can see the difference between what rocco

has provided, and they also know that it’s not

his photography that looks sub-standard, it’s the

printing. This is a very clever approach.

Many photographers provide a shoot and

burn service because they know no better, but

there is nothing stopping them from spending

a little extra time and maybe another $50 in pro-

ducing some beautiful prints for their clients. It

sets a standard, but it also introduces the clients

to the idea that you can buy so

much more from the photogra-

pher.

“When a client complains

to me that the prints they had

made at a local supermarket look terrible, I just

gently point to my photographs and tell them

they have exactly the same files on their USB. The

message is obvious.”

While clients might hire rocco only for the

shoot, rocco is gently selling other options to

them from the moment he meets them until

they pick up the files. They get to see his amaz-

ing albums and handle his beautiful prints - new

photographers don’t always understand that it’s

hard to sell what people can’t see.

“A lot of the time clients ask if they can swap

the little box of 12 prints (which is provided as

part of the shoot fee) and put it towards an al-

bum. The box of 12 prints is their foot in the door

and then they can add in an album or a print. I

give them an opportunity to spend if they like

what they see.”

“Selling archival prints that will last for genera-

tions is an incredibly strong selling point - and

another thing we can help the new photogra-

pher understand.”

Rocco Ancora, G. M. Photog., is an AIPP Board mem-

ber. He runs a successful wedding photography busi-

ness in Melbourne and is a regular presenter in Aus-

tralia and internationally. www.roccoancora.com



56

The New Accreditation ProcessE a r n i n g T h e R i g h t T o C a l l Y o u r s e l f A P r o f e s s i o n a l

To become an Accredited Professional Photographer,

the AIPP requires members to pass an accreditation

process which includes a portfolio review. The prin-

ciple is sound, but the various procedures in the past

have been somewhat flawed.

Explained Peter Myers, “On one occasion, Daniel

Capobianco brought down a portfolio submission

to an APPA meeting because it had been rejected

by a state council. He wasn’t in agreement and asked

for a second opinion. All the APPA committee mem-

bers thought the portfolio should have passed and I

could see immediately this was an issue.”

For Accreditation, the portfolio doesn’t have to be

of Award standard, merely of professional standard.

However, that standard needs to be consistently ap-

plied across the country.

“With a lot of encouragement from Kylie Lyons,

we put our heads together and worked on a new

system that would be as objective as possible.

“We all know photographers have different view-

points, so we decided to ask three people to assess

the work, anonymously. Kylie hand-picked a dozen

assessors who understood that they weren’t looking

for award-winning images, just assessing the portfo-

lio in terms of professional standards - exposure, co-

lour, focus, composition, lighting and so on.”

A portfolio comprises 20 images and at least 15

images must be of professional standard, and you

need two out of the three assessors to agree. In addi-

tion to the portfolio, there are other prerequisites for

accreditation, including practicing as a professional

for at least two years.

responding to an accusation that it’s easy to be-

come accredited these days and that the AIPP no

longer enforces high standards, Peter answered, “Ev-

ery photographer who has become an accredited

member in the last four years has gone through this

process, so if the AIPP is making it easier for photog-

raphers to become accredited, then it’s the assessors

who are letting them!

“Of course, other elements of the application pro-

cess are based on the honesty of the applicant, but if

they lie to us, then we will withdraw their accredita-

tion and membership.”

Peter explained that around 30 per cent of ap-

plicants failed when they first applied, but they are

then given 30 days in which to re-apply, after which

around 25 per cent still don’t make it.

“This also explains why some assessors think the

system isn’t working because they fail a portfolio only

to see that photographer being admitted a couple

of months later. The reason the photographer was

admitted was because two out of three assessors

believed his or her new portfolio was of professional

standard.”

Of course, there were still only 12 photographers

Peter Eastway

interviews

Peter Myers

57

S i lv e r A wA r D - P o r t r A i t c At e g o r y

Ken Drake AAIPPw w w . z o o s t u d i o . c o m . a u2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

58

making all the decisions, so this year the pool of as-

sessors has been widened to around 60.

“Some assessors are hard, some are easier, so de-

pending on who you get can make a difference to

the outcome. To overcome this, we decided to in-

crease the number of assessors, but who should we

ask?”

Peter and Kylie determined that any current ac-

credited member with at least 10 years of experience

was in a good position to measure professionalism in

new member portfolios - a peer review.

“We also match domestic, commercial and gen-

eral photographers with assessors working in the

same area and assessors are paid. In fact, experienced

members can quite easily recoup their membership

fees by helping with the assessment process.”

Emerging members are also required to submit

a portfolio of 20 images and they are assessed in ex-

actly the same way (the assessors do not know if they

are applying for emerging member status or full ac-

creditation).

“It doesn’t make sense to have a different stan-

dard for emerging members”, explained Peter. “After

all, either it is professional standard or it isn’t. However,

if someone applying for Emerging member status

passes the portfolio requirements, and they also pass

the other requirements for Accreditation (such as two

years’ experience as a practicing professional), then

we invite them to become Accredited.”

If they don’t meet the portfolio standard, then the

experience is invaluable for them, giving them feed-

back on the areas they need to improve.

59

S i lv e r A wA r D - i l l u S t r At i v e c At e g o r y

Luke Ogburnl o g b u r n p h o t o g r a p h y . w o r d p r e s s . c o m /2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

60

AIPP State CouncilsThese are your current state council members and they are keen to help you and listen to your sug-

gestions. To get in touch with individual council members, use the Find A Photographer service on

the AIPP website - www.aipp.com.au.

62

There are so many great images at Canon APPA and the Epson State Awards that not every Award gets the attention it deserves. To redress this in a very small way,

the editor will present a small selection each issue for your enjoyment.

E D I T O R ’ S S E L E C T I O N

S i l v e r A w a r d • S p o r t C a t e g o r y

Chris Hydec h r i s h y d e p h o t o . p h o t o s h e l t e r . c o m2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

64




65

S i l v e r A w a r d • I l l u s t r a t i v e C a t e g o r y

Keren Dobia M.Photog.w w w . k e r e n d o b i a . c o m . a u2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

66

S i l v e r A w a r d • P o r t r a i t C a t e g o r y

Franca Turrin M.Photog.w w w . a m b r i d g e r o s e . c o m . a u2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

68




S i l v e r A w a r d • L a n d s c a p e C a t e g o r y

Ian Poole AAIPPp o o l e f o t o . w o r d p r e s s . c o m2013 CANON AIPP AUSTRALIAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHy AWARDS

70

C h a r m a i n eH E Y E R

G r a n d M a s t e r o f P h o t o g r a p h y

Charmaine Heyer and Peter rossi are both life and photog-

raphy partners – and both AIPP Grand Masters of Photog-

raphy. Talking to them singly is difficult as so many parts of

their lives are intertwined, but we convinced them to sepa-

rate just long enough to present their portfolios as stand-

alone features - we will look at Peter’s work in a future issue.

In the meantime, sit back and enjoy Charmaine’s selec-

tion of some of her most important works. Captions written

by Charmaine.

Pears and Apples

Another twin image to go with my collection. Both girls

were actively doing Life Savers duty and had the red and

yellow caps.

Our painting of a pear and apple was perfect for this

image. I had one red coat in our costume wardrobe and a

green one that I changed in Photoshop to yellow. All I need-

ed to get now was an apple and a pear for the shoot.

This for me is a story about the similarities they both

share, but also the differences.

Shot in the studio with studio flash.

73

C h a r m a i n eH E Y E RG r a n d M a s t e r o f P h o t o g r a p h y

74



Dancing in the Moonlight

(Previous Spread)

Maybe it was the contrast of her flawless skin and many tattoos

that challenged me to create something amazing for her.

This was a two part portrait session, the main shot in the studio

and the dancing under the trees photographed on a grassy hill-

top.

I purchased the one piece feathered outfit especially for this

shoot. I photographed it on my subject, both above and below,

and then melded the two images together. Later I added a forest

and birds to add a little more mystery.

Nine to Five

We were working on an exhibition of prints celebrating Interna-

tional Day of People with Disabilities, which was displayed at the

Cairns City Council Chambers for two months. We got to know

certain subjects very well. Paul was willing to run with any ideas I

wanted to explore.

I photographed Paul in the alley in chains. The business men

were also shot in the alley, but were added in later using Photo-

shop.

Sometimes it’s our attitude to life that can also be disabling

(e.g. the businessman trudging off to another nine to five). ISO 400,

1/60 second @ f5.

77



Pearly Gates

This is yet another part of my continuing work

on twins. This image has many different mes-

sages, depending on the viewer and the life ex-

periences they bring to it.

It’s essentially two visions of one person. It

could be the other part of us all, our higher self,

sitting down looking out for us. It’s open for in-

terpretation.

Strong composition is really important to

me. This was shot on the Esplanade in Cairns. I

photographed the sticks in the foreground in

the studio and brought in another background.

There’s probably about seven images used to

create this one.

Main image (ISO 200 1/750 second @ f5.6,

50mm focal length.)

78



It’s a Pug’s Life (Opposite)

Gucci

The brief for this shoot was that the Pugs rule. I

wanted the Pugs to have this air of importance

and stately presence.

I chose to get the humans to wear masks

and the Pugs to appear to be more important.

In addition one of the family members was

more into cats.

The other image is the same lady with Gucci,

the baby of the Pugs, around her feet. This was

one way to include the other Dog’s tattoo

names in a story. The clothes, shoes and hand-

bag all add to the theme. This was all planned

prior to the shoot. Both shots taken in the stu-

dio with studio flash.

80



I was only Ninteen (Above) and The Price

of Liberty is Eternal Vigilance (Opposite)

I had known ray for quite some time and I was

aware he had served in the Army several times.

I noticed that whenever he spoke about the

conflicts he was very emotional. These two im-

ages helped him to explain some of the issues

he is still dealing with.

In “The Price of Liberty Is Eternal vigilance”,

the old army shirt and the program pinned to

the kitchen wall help tell the story. I wanted to

make a statement about the psychological ef-

fects of war on our soldiers. I think his face says

it all.

Then he got out his medals, his hat and an

old book on vietnam. It was an emotional time

81

for him. The lyrics of the song “ I Was Only Nine-

teen” were resounding in my mind as I photo-

graphed him for the second image.

Both images were photographed on his

property. Both were lit with ambient light. The

“vietnam” shot was photographed against an

old blind to which I superimposed the land-

scape and then a canvas texture.

The sparse terrain symbolises the harsh con-

ditions he has endured. Hence the faded sky

and the lonely old weathered tree.

82



The New Pet

Do you ever wonder what pets think when a

new pet comes into the household?

The shoot was done in the client’s lounge

room, illuminated by soft light from a very large

glass doorway. We brought along the goggles

for the shoot.

I also photographed their cat and put it into

a gold oval frame that I hung on the wall for the

shoot.

The gold fish died two weeks later, but the

framed print lives on to tell of a special time in a

young boy’s life ( the cat was not responsible for

the fish’s death).

Exposure was 400 ISO, 1/30 second @ f 5.6,

60mm lens.

84



Frames of Time (Above)

Manned with shovel and a box full of old

frames, we hit the beach as a storm was ap-

proaching. We dug the frames into the sand

and let the waves wash over them to illustrate

the passing nature of lifetimes.

Using levels in Photoshop, I heavily vignett-

ed the shot to enhance the stormy effect of the

background, to draw the eye to the frames and

to create a melancholy feeling in the image.

Faces of Charlie (Opposite)

I was photographing images for another Char-

lie Chaplin art piece I was working on. The idea

was to capture many Charlie gestures that Dan-

ny, a local magician and entertainer, had per-

fected for his show.

I thought it was novel to present these im-

ages as black and white in old film frames.

All images shot in the studio on a white

background with studio flash. ( ISO 250, 1/160

second @ f10.)

86



Dog’s Best Friend

This image is all about the love we have for our

pets. We had photographed roger and Nyree

with their two dogs a couple of years prior, so I

knew when I had this idea that they would be

perfect for my concept.

I wanted the cone shape light above them

to add to the composition and shape of the im-

age, but then I needed more. This is a phrase I

always say at work: Could or should there be

more? The more in this image was the chess

game. It helped give the image a sense of hu-

mour as well, and reason to keep you looking at

their gaze.

The Superman bag was what they carry the

chess set in. I did some shots with and without

the bag, and decided the bag added to the im-

age. Only a “Super Man” would wear the cone in

sympathy with his dog.

This was possibly one of my less complicat-

ed images, the only extra addition to what was

a pretty straight capture was stripping in a wall-

paper scene to give it the ‘Men’s Club’ look.

Photographed in a studio and lit by a single

hanging light bulb. 400 ISO f5.6 @ 1/30 second.

88

The image above looks okay until you look at the image below. The difference is subtle, but after you’ve been looking at prints all day, judges become very atuned to incorrect contrast settings. Will your images look better with a touch more pop?

89

Awards Entry: Good Blacks & Whites?D o e s a f u l l t o n a l r a n g e m a k e a d i f f e r e n c e ?

At the national Canon AIPP Australian Profes-

sional Photography Awards and the local Epson

AIPP State Professional Photography Awards,

the judges see hundreds of prints in a day. Each

print is viewed under identical lighting condi-

tions which very quickly show

up any deficiencies in tech-

nique and print quality.

One of the most obvious

flaws in an entry is a flat print

or, conversely, a print with too

much contrast.

A flat print generally has

no true blacks and no true

whites. It doesn’t use the full

tonal range of the paper it is

printed on (or the screen it is displayed upon).

An entry with too much contrast often has

large areas of pure white and pure black paper.

This isn’t necessarily a problem, but often the re-

sult is obviously due to poor crafting of the final

image.

So what is the difference?

The difference can be five points or more

in your score. No, the judges don’t take off five

points, this is just an estimate, but I have seen

many prints fall below the magical 80 simply

because they didn’t have enough punch or pop.

The solution is relatively easy. In Photoshop,

Lightroom or Capture One, you can use a con-

trast slider to increase or decrease contrast and

this may produce the result you want.

For more precise control, open either a levels

or curves dialog and use the

black and white points.

To add a little more con-

trast, you need to move the

black and white points hori-

zontally inwards - so the black

point goes right, the white

point goes left. Don’t overdo

it. If you have a correctly cali-

brated monitor, you should

see a noticeable improvement

with small movements of 5 or 10 values.

To reduce contrast, you move the black and

white points vertically - up for black, down for

white. However, to reduce contrast you may be

better off reprocessing your raw file and starting

again.

Finally, if in doubt, try the ‘Auto’ button.

Sometimes (but not always) it makes all the dif-

ference! Hold down the Opt/Alt key while click-

ing the Auto button in the Curves dialog and a

menu of four options will open. Click the boxes

to see if one of these improves your image.

90

vale: Nancy CohenP h o t o g r a p h e r a n d C o p y r i g h t C h a m p i o n

The Institute is sad to report the passing of Nan-

cy Cohen. Nancy was a great friend of the AIPP.

Born in New york , Nancy came to Australia and

set up in business in Sydney as an editorial, cor-

porate, travel, commercial, and industrial pho-

tographer.

During the 1990’s Nancy worked closely with

the Australian Copyright Council and represent-

ed the interests of photographers for both the

Institute and the ACMP.

In recognition of her outstanding work on

copyright issues that benefited all photogra-

phers, the Institute awarded Nancy with the

Claude McCarthy Award.

BLOGFROM THE AIPP

Copyright delegation to Canberra in 1992. Left to Right, Nancy Cohen, an ACMP member (does

someone remember?), Richard Bennett and Greg Hocking.

91

What Are The Canon AIPP APPAs?S i x G r e a t M o v i e s T o E x p l a i n A l l !

If you’re new to the APPAs - the Canon AIPP

Australian Professional Photography Awards –

then this series of videos is for you. D. J. Paine

has intereviewed AIPP luminaries Mandarine

Montgomery, Kylie Lyons and Paul Atkins about

everything to do with APPA.

How do you create great award prints? How

does the awards system work? What are all the

honours and how do you earn them? And what

about making that print for judging?

There are lots of tips and you can find the

movies on the AIPP Blog or at this link: http://

www.aippblog.com/index.php/what-are-the-

canon-aipp-appas/

BLOGFROM THE AIPP

92

The original portrait (left) compared with the PortraitPro 12 retouched result (right). (Below) If the automatic facial recognition doesn’t work, you can manually tell the software where the face is hiding.

93

PortraitPro 12 Studio EditionP o r t r a i t u r e r e t o u c h i n g s o f t w a r e

I know I should have used someone else for this

demonstration, but who do I know who needs

their visage retouched? We all look amazing,

don’t we? So I chose myself and opened up a

portrait taken by David Oliver on one of our nat-

ural light workshops.

The software I am reviewing is PortraitPro 12,

a stand-alone package that has one job: por-

traiture retouching. Unfortunately, I was off to a

poor start because the program reported that

it couldn’t find a face in the photo I supplied.

Now, I know I’m not the most handsome person

in the world, but my mother does love me....

Face Recognition

It may be the shallow depth-of-field that fooled

the software in this instance because, in all the

other portraits I opened, the software recog-

nised the face(s) automatically. But if it doesn’t,

it begins an easy to follow routine where you

drag blue lines around the face, effectively tell-

ing PortraitPro where the eyes, nose, mouth and

chin are. Once it has this informatin, it goes to

work, retouching the face to perfection.

Well, hold on, not quite so fast. For my

tastes, the presets provided by PortraitPro were

too heavy handed. At the risk of offending my

American friends, they looked like the over

worked portraits seen in some of the US pho-

tography magazines. And I knew David would

be cringing at what the software had done to

his beautiful portrait.

However, keep these presets in mind be-

cause after you have set up

a couple of portraits and be-

come used to the software,

you can save your own pre-

sets and suddenly PortraitPro

becomes an incredibly pow-

erful retouching workhorse.

Especially if you want to use

staff to edit your work for

you.

Presets

The software comes load-

ed with presents for differ-

ent face types, or perhaps

more specifically, different

retouching styles. Generally

you would retouch a man

less than a woman, and you’d need a little more

work on the wrinkles with an older person than

a younger person. PortraitPro 12 uses adjust-

ments appropriate to the age and style of re-

touching you want. And maybe you’ll be happy

94

with many of them straight out of the box.

Obviously, the idea behind PortraitPro is for

us to do as little work as possible, so it will pay

you to spend a little time developing your own

presets. This can be done be-

low the preset panel in the

Portrait Improving Sliders pan-

el.

Improving Sliders

When you look at the number

of tabs in this section - face

sculpting, skin smoothing,

eye controls, mouth and nose

controls, hair controls, skin co-

louring controls and picture

controls – and then look at the

number of sliders found within

each section, you suddenly re-

alise this isn’t just a quick and

dirty series of Photoshop ac-

tions, rather a very sophisticat-

ed and deliberately designed

retouching application.

These controls mean any-

one can retouch a face, just

by moving the sliders around

and stopping when the result

looks good. Of course, this could take quite a bit

of time, so an understanding of portraiture and

what you want to achieve before you start is

useful.

For instance, in the Skin Lighting Controls,

the application presents a head diagram and al-

lows you to move the key light around the face,

creating light that you may not have had in the

original image, or correcting light that could

have been better.

you can also increase or decrease lighting

ratios by tweaking the shadows, add in a kicker

highlight or even create smokey eyes, all tech-

niques that generally require extra lights or re-

flectors to achieve. No, it’s not quite the same

and you should get it right in camera, but if you

didn’t, PortraitPro is the answer!

Facial Sculpting

If you’re using the Liquify filter in Photoshop to

take a few years or pounds off your subjects,

PortraitPro offers a similar feature and will do it

automatically. Of course you can take it too far,

but try turning the sculpting off and you may

not like what you see! Sorry, David, but I used

a little sculpting to remove my middle-age

spread. Couldn’t do anything about my hairline,

however!

Of course, some photographers working in

the beauty and glamour markets will want a

strong retouching and PortraitPro will oblige.

The developer, Anthropics Technology is

based in London. visit its website at www.por-

traitprofessional.com and you can download a

free trial. As we go to press, the price was cut to

A$49 and the website was offering 10% off that!

So, for what it does, it’s worth a look!

95

Three options, with different amounts of facial sculpting and retouching. Above, I look a little thinner. Below, I am positively gorgeous (not), while at the bottom I’m getting closer to a more natural look. However, PortraitPro will do natural or full glamour, it’s up to the settings you choose.

96

An eBook by Peter Eastway

G.M. Photog., Hon. FAIPP, Hon FNZIPP, FAIPP

For more information and a read of the free sample, please visit:

www.betterphotography.com

I have judged

many photography

competitions and

there are lots of little

things that entrants

forget to do. If only I could let them

know before entering the competi-

tion, they would do so much better!

Well, as a judge I’m not allowed

to ring up and help entrants, but I can

write a book that distills what I have

learnt over the last twenty years that

will give you a great head start.

Of course, no one can give you an

iron-clad guarantee that you will read

my book and then win the next photo

competition you enter – and I explain

why in the book. However, what I can

guarantee you is that if you read my

book, you will improve the quality of

your photography.

You see, whether you’re aiming to

win a photography competition or just

take a better photograph, the advice is

very similar. And I know that the tech-

niques and approaches I’ve developed

over the years will help you capture

and produce better photographs.

My book is called How To Win Photo Competitions.

It begins with a little about me.

After all, it’s easy enough to write a

book about winning photography

competitions, but it’s better if you have

a little bit of experience. Fortunately

for me, I’ve been lucky enough to win

quite a few competitions, plus I have

a lot of experience as a judge. I can

talk to you about both sides of the

competition.

Add in the fact I’ve been a maga-

zine editor for 30 years and I hope I’m

able to communicate my message

pretty well. So, in just a couple of

pages (I don’t want to bore you), I

explain why I know what I’m talking

about (even though my Dad told me

not to boast).

We then look at competitions

and how they work, how you should

approach them, and how to use the

results to assess your own photog-

raphy. It’s important to set the scene

before we get into creating photos

that win competitions.

The next two sections are the

nitty gritty. We begin by talking about

taking a great photograph in the � rst

place. Competition winners begin

with the camera and so we talk about

camera technique, colour, composi-

tion, framing and so on - little tricks

and hints that will make a world of

di� erence to your photographs.

From here we step into post-

production – using the computer

to improve the images our camera

has captured. Most readers will have

dabbled with Photoshop, Elements

or Lightroom and this is all you need

to enhance your images so they are

in the running for a competition win.

These days, no matter how good your

camera is, you simply must do a little

post-production to � nesse your entry.

I � nish the book with some use-

ful background information about

how competitions work (generally

speaking), and then I analyse some of

the images that have won awards for

me, pointing out the aspects that the

judges responded to in a positive way.

The book has lots of photographs

and illustrations to explain exactly

what I’m talking about.

And it is an eBook. It is easy to

read on a computer, laptop or iPad,

and you need Adobe Reader (Acrobat)

to view the book. There is no paper

version of this book, although you can

print out the Acrobat Reader � le if you

wish.

I have created a sample eBook for

you to look at on the Better Photogra-

phy website, so please visit and have

a read. If you like what you see, I hope

you’ll purchase a copy.

And for your next photo competi-

tion - good luck!

– Peter Eastway

How To Win Photo Competitions

How To Win

SPECIAL FOR BP READERSSave 20%Use Coupon Code: BP76O� er Expires 30/9/2014

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