We’re gearing up for the second annual National Sunset Print Award on Nov. 15 in the fifth floor gallery of the S-One Holdings Corporation Sarasota headquarters, home of LexJet and Sunset. Throughout the year, the LexJet-sponsored Sunset Print Awards take place at various professional photography associations across the country. Nearly 30 winners of the 2015 competitions were entered for this year’s National Sunset Print Award grand prize.
Five esteemed judges will view the prints and judge them using the 12 traditional Professional Photographers of America (PPA) judging elements, which include impact, technical excellence, creativity, style, composition, presentation, color balance, center of interest, lighting, subject matter, technique and story telling.
This year’s judges, pictured left to right above, include:
Rich Newell, jury chairman. From a small town in Missouri, Rich pursued his passion for photography by attending the Ohio Institute of Photography. Rich has worked in the portrait industry for the past 23 years as well as becoming an instructor at the school he once attended. Rich has owned a successful portrait and wedding studio in Ohio and is currently the IPC manager for PPA. “The key to being a great photographer is education,” he says. This is how Rich has built his business and become the photographer he is today.
Thomas Carabasi. Thomas is currently the department head of photography and digital imaging at the Ringling College of Art and Design in Sarasota, FL, and has been a visiting artist and lecturer at the International Center of Photography in New York City for more than 25 years. He has actively conducted workshops on developing innovative concept development and technique both in the U.S. and Europe since 1989. His fine art photography has won him grants from the Pennsylvania Council of the Arts and The Australian Council of the Arts and his work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally including shows in Australia, Germany, Italy and Art Basel, Miami. Thomas has also published a monograph of his work entitled “Traces: Photographs and Poetry 1979-1989.” He is currently represented by Allyn Gallup Contemporary Art in Sarasota.
Carmen Schettino. Carmen is a professional photographer with more than 40 years of experience in portrait, wedding and commercial work. He discovered the lure of photography when, as a young soldier stationed in Germany, he watched a blank piece of paper miraculously change to an image in the darkroom. While the “magic” of the darkroom era has come and gone, Carmen’s love of photography has never diminished. He is a Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman, both earned professional achievements, awarded by the Professional Photographers of America for excellence in photography and service to the industry. He has served as the president of the Professional Photographers of New York State and has more than 390 PPA merits for his photography and his teaching work.
Adrian Henson. Adrian is a portrait and commercial photographer in New Bern, NC. He has a passion for traveling and has taught from London to Las Vegas and everywhere in between. In 2014, he won the top award at London’s International Print Competition. Over the past few years he’s received numerous Photographer of the Year awards at state, regional and international print competitions. The top of which was the much coveted PPA Diamond Award in 2013. All of these accomplishments have enabled Adrian to earn Master of Photography, Master of Electronic Imaging and Photographic Craftsman Degrees. In 2014 he also received Professional Photographers of America’s Imaging Excellence Award for having more than 13 images accepted into PPA’s Loan Collection.
