LexJet
  • Contact
  • Shop lexjet.com

What are you looking for?

    jennifer Palumbo Dipsy Daisy Print Competition fine art paper Case Studies & Profiles Kentucky Professional Photographers Association flower photography PhotoPro Baby Boo Photography Professional Photographers of America

    Prints That Win: Dipsy Daisy

    By Shellie Terry on February 29, 2016
    Prints That Win: Dipsy Daisy
    Back
    Prints That Win: Dipsy Daisy
    Share
    Shellie Terry
    Shellie Terry

    Back to main blog
    Share

    Nine years ago, Kentucky photographer Jennifer Palumbo’s first print competition was the stuff that would make most people put down the camera forever. But not Palumbo.

    “It lit a fire under me,” she says. Her first competition photo was graded down from a 72 to a 68 for not meeting the competition’s “standards.” “I said: You just watch.”

    Four years later she earned her Masters of Photography degree from the Professional Photographers of America and began winning competitions. This year, she brought home the Sunset Print Award for her cheery image, “Dipsy Daisy,” pictured above.

    A former elementary school teacher, Palumbo took up photography after her son was born 16 years ago. “We decided that after we had children, I was going to stay home,” she says. “But in six months, I was bored, so I picked up a camera and started taking pictures.”

    The hobby turned into a flourishing business, and the family opened a portrait studio, Baby Boo Photography, in their 1,700 square-foot basement, focusing on newborn, baby and high school senior photography. While she does enter client portrait work into competitions, her floral photography work stretches her creatively — and pays off.

    Yet the winning “Dipsy Daisy” almost didn’t happen. “I wasn’t going to enter this year; I was in a down space and was just going to take a year off” she says. “But I decided to enter after I came back from Imaging USA and got some inspiration.” She had just two-and-a-half weeks to pull together 10 images for Photo Pro Expo. It was the middle of winter, so she had to venture to the grocery store for flowers.

    “I put the flower in a vase and shot it, and it looked OK,” she says. Then I brought it into Photoshop and Corel Painter and painted all of it. I had just bought some new Corel brushes, and I liked the way it blended … I really liked the color balance on it.”

    She had the image printed on fine art paper and matted it with yellow and green tones. “The colors completely set the flower off,” she says. “It makes it stand out a lot. White matting would have washed it out and drawn attention away from the flower.”

    Palumbo says she encourages other photographers to get involved with PPA and print competitions as a way to grow as a photographer. “You just have to jump in and do it,” she says. “Check your feelings at the door and make it a challenge to learn more.”
    Previous Post View All Next Post

    Related Posts

    Prints That Win: Mother
    1 min read
    Photo Competition Case Studies & Profiles Portrait Photography Prints that Win Sunset Print Awards Antonelli Institute Print Competition Erdenheim Shayna Lohmann Antonelli Institute Black and White Photography
    Prints That Win: Mother
    By Aubrey Giammarco on August 30, 2017

    When Shayna Lohmann first started experimenting with photography as a middle school student, she didn’t expect it to...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Aged Gracefully
    2 min read
    Sunset Print Award Case Studies & Profiles Kari Douma
    Prints That Win: Aged Gracefully
    By Shellie Terry on October 2, 2015

    A self-proclaimed “print competition junkie,” Grandville, Mich. photographer Kari Douma is a judge’s dream contestant....

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Prepare There’s Trouble
    2 min read
    LexJet Sunset Award Sunset Case Studies & Profiles Portrait Photographer Print Competitions Terry Blain Pennsylvania PPA master photographer James Steinmetz PPA Competitions Certified Professional Photographer Sunset Fibre Matte
    Prints That Win: Prepare There’s Trouble
    By Jennifer Corn on November 8, 2017

    Award-winning master photographer Terry Blain was not always telling her story from behind the camera. She spent the...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Upstairs Downstairs
    2 min read
    Sunset Print Award Print Competition Canvas Professional Photographers Association of America Case Studies & Profiles Virginia PRofessional Photographers Association Gordon Gordon Kreplin Fine Art Print
    Prints That Win: Upstairs Downstairs
    By Shellie Terry on March 12, 2015

    Sometimes the most dramatic photographs can be made in the blink of an eye. When North Carolina portrait, landscape...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Samson
    1 min read
    Sunset Print Award professional photography Case Studies & Profiles Print Competitions Digital Photography photography competition judging amateur photographer judging Stephen Poltorzycki hobbyist Samson
    Prints That Win: Samson
    By Shellie Terry on October 14, 2015

    Plymouth, Mass., photographer Stephen Poltorzycki may have only gotten serious about digital photography over the past...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Departing Flight
    2 min read
    Sunset Print Award Photoshop Photography Competition Print Competition Steven Kemp Sunset Production eSatin 250g paper Case Studies & Profiles Departing Flight Prints that Win
    Prints That Win: Departing Flight
    By Emily Smith on April 6, 2017

    While stalking birds in the Everglades, Seymour, Wis.-based photographer Steven Kemp captured a Brown Pelican in...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Spiderwort
    1 min read
    PPA Sunset Print Award Case Studies & Profiles steven yahr Print Competitions Wedding Photography spiderwort PhotoNorthEast photo competitions still life photography
    Prints That Win: Spiderwort
    By Shellie Terry on February 27, 2015

    When it comes to photography and print competitions, a lot of contestants go for unusual subject matter to try to catch...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: Safe Harbor
    1 min read
    PPA Sunset Print Award Professional Photographers of Idaho Case Studies & Profiles Print Competitions Prints that Win photography competitions Dennis Hammon Safe Harbor
    Prints That Win: Safe Harbor
    By Shellie Terry on September 10, 2015

    Gazing at photographer Dennis Hammon‘s image “Safe Harbor,” it’s easy to slip into a daydream of an early morning by...

    Continue Reading
    Prints that Win: City by the Sea
    1 min read
    Sunset Case Studies & Profiles Kathy Meek Prints that Win LexJet
    Prints that Win: City by the Sea
    By Libby Goddard on July 23, 2015

    “Breathtaking” is a fitting description for the image “City by the Sea” by Kathryn Meek, a photographer and winner of...

    Continue Reading
    Prints That Win: The Boxer
    3 min read
    Print Competition professional photography Photo Competition Professional Photographers Association of America Case Studies & Profiles Plymouth Center for the Arts Fine Art of Photograp Prints that Win Ben Tanzer
    Prints That Win: The Boxer
    By Shellie Terry on May 23, 2016

    Photographer Ben Tanzer may have left a theater degree behind, but he certainly kept his flair for the dramatic. In...

    Continue Reading

    Post a comment

    Get latest articles directly in your inbox, stay up to date

    Stay up to date