Guest Blog: The Power of Print Competition

By Christie Newell, winner of the 2016 National Sunset Print Award and co-owner of Sonshine Portrait Design in Germantown Hills, Ill.

Christie Newell, M.Photog., Cr. CPP, guest blogger

The ever-evolving photography industry vastly changes on a day-to-day basis. How do we stay ahead? How do we rise above the other photographers around us? What makes us grow? The answer to these questions and so many other questions is print competition.

I have been asked why I enter print competition. It can be misleading and make one think you are competing against other photographers. That is not the case. Yes, I am a photographer who creates art pieces for my clients, but I am also a print competitor, it just runs through my blood. I enter print competitions because I know how much I learn and grow. Improving my everyday work for my clients. By setting goals, reaching beyond what I think I am capable of and either failing or conquering.

National Sunset Print Award Winner Christie Newell Visits Sarasota

As the winner of the 2016 National Sunset Print Award, Peoria, Ill.-based photographer Christie Newell won a trip to the Lido Beach Resort and a $500 Visa gift card. She swung by LexJet’s headquarters last Friday for a quick visit and tour before enjoying her mini-vacation on Lido Key.

Newell took first place for her image, “Old Faithful,” a portrait of a client’s dog, named Tilly, an Aussie Doodle. The photo beat out 25 other finalists from around the country.

“I was very surprised that it won,” Newell says. “I knew a lot of the other photographers who were in the running, and their work is top-notch. It was very exciting.”

Meet the 2016 National Sunset Print Award Judges

All year long, photographers and digital artists have competed in Sunset Print Award competitions throughout the country. This month, we welcome all the winning entries into the National Sunset Print Awards held in the S-One Holdings Corporation’s Sarasota headquarters, home of LexJet and Sunset, on Nov. 16.

LexJet-sponsored Sunset Print Awards took place at various professional photography associations across the country. Thirty winners of the 2016 competitions were entered for this year’s National Sunset Print Award grand prize.

Congratulations to the National Sunset Print Award Winners!

Five prestigious judges convened at the LexJet headquarters in Sarasota, Fla., last night to determine the top three prints in the second annual National Sunset Print Award.

Each year, photographers enter prints in their Professional Photographers Association of America local and regional Sunset Print Awards. The winners of those awards then compete in the national Sunset awards. This year, 28 prints were entered into the competition.

2015 Sunset National Print Award: Meet the Judges

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.

Get Recognized with a Sunset Print Award at Photo Competitions across the U.S.

Sunset Print Award

The Sunset Print Award, which debuted in 2009, will once again be presented at local, state and regional photography competitions across the U.S. in 2015, starting in January.

“The Sunset Print Award has become the coveted award in the photography market, and from my perspective as a board member of the Professional Photographers of Michigan we couldn’t be more appreciative of the award,” says Tina Timmons, owner of The Portrait Gallery in Vassar, Mich., a previous Sunset Award Winner who also prints for other photographers for competition.

The winners of Sunset Print Awards at each competition will then be eligible for the National Sunset Print Award, judged by a panel of expert judges in November at LexJet headquarters in Sarasota, Fla. Click here to read about this year’s National Sunset Print Award competition and the winners. And, to see all the winners since 2009, and the stories behind the images, click here.

Winners at each competition where a Sunset Print Award is presented also receive a beautiful crystal trophy (pictured above), a lapel pin and a $250 gift certificate good toward the purchase of Sunset award-winning inkjet photo papers, fine art papers, coatings and canvas.

Go to www.sunsetprint.com/competitions/ to see the most current list of competitions presenting a Sunset Print Award, and check back here regularly, as more are being added over the next month.

To find out more about the Sunset Print Award and upcoming competitions, as well as a gallery of previous winners and information on Sunset inkjet media, go to www.sunsetprint.com, or contact a LexJet print expert at 800-453-9538.