Prints that Win: Something Old, Something New

Portrait photography

Lightning does strike twice, or at least the LexJet Sunset Award for outstanding photography did. Ann Naugher was honored earlier this year with a LexJet Sunset Award at PPA’s Southeast District competition for her portrait entitled Windswept, and most recently added another to her collection with another portrait entitled Monet’s Garden at the PPA’s Southwest District competition.

Naugher’s specialty is children’s portrait photography enhanced with Corel Painter, printed on fine-art canvas, embellished with oil paints and then finished with a lacquer. What results are classic yet timeless pieces of art that have gained a nationwide following of enthusiastic and appreciative customers.

Though Naugher has carved a popular and award-winning niche with her style of portrait photography, she likes to share credit with the artist who paints her backgrounds – David Maheu of Backgrounds by Maheu – and the subjects of the photos.

For the Monet’s Garden portrait, Maheu painted a rendition of Monet’s Rose Garden at Giverny, which Naugher then used as a background and the key element from which everything else in the photograph flowed.

“My business is primarily based on high-end, classic children’s work. When I do ‘classic’ I never want it to be stodgy, boring or monochromatic; I want to incorporate contemporary with classic,” explains Naugher. “The old master’s work at the time was very contemporary and the colors used are very much in vogue today. I wanted to give my client something new and vibrant, but born of something old and timeless.”

When Naugher visited with the judges following the PPA Southwest District competition, her goals were corroborated by their comments, such as that it’s a classic portrait that incorporates good lighting, balance and composition. “That’s what I was hoping to accomplish,” she says.

Monet’s Garden garnered a 99 out of 100 at the competition. Previously, at the Oklahoma competition (Naugher is based in Tulsa), it scored a 100.

Prints that Win: Old West Shootout in the Southeast

Award winning photography and printing

Ghost Town in the Sky, located above Maggie Valley, N.C., is a themed amusement park that’s preparing to re-open to the public. As part of that, the “ghost town” needed some publicity shots and turned to veteran photographer Jeff Gulle.

Gulle used the opportunity to educate some of the students from the photography class he teaches at North Georgia Technical College in Clarksville, Ga., and to produce a competition-worthy image. Gulle accomplished both, garnering a LexJet Sunset Award for his image entitled Showdown at the Georgia PPA print competition held in conjunction with the PPA Southeast District convention.

“It was a beautiful day and it worked out really well. I photographed various characters they feature at Ghost Town in the Sky, and my favorite was the Preacher,” says Gulle.

Gulle perfectly posed the Preacher with the ghost town as a backdrop. Since he shot the scene with a wider angle the buildings skewed a bit so he straightened them out in the editing process and added a Topaz Photoshop plug-in filter to make the scene “grittier” in keeping with the ghost town theme.

Gulle says he’s been printing more of his own work over the past few years since he acquired an Epson Stylus Pro 3880, and uses it in the classroom as part of the instruction. He plans to use the gift certificate that came with the LexJet Sunset Award to buy his favorite Sunset paper, LexJet Sunset Photo Metallic Paper.

Two Chances to Win a LexJet Sunset Award at Ohio and Georgia Photo Conventions

Photo competitions in Ohio and GeorgiaThis month, professional photographers have two chances to win LexJet Sunset Awards in the print competitions at the Professional Photographers of Ohio (PPA Northeast District) and Georgia PPA (PPA Southeast District) conventions.

LexJet Sunset Award winners get a beautiful trophy and a gift certificate. And if the award-winning image is printed on LexJet media, winners in these two print competitions also get an iPad.

The PPA Northeast District, hosted by the Professional Photographers of Ohio, runs March 14-18 at the Kalahari Resort in Sandusky, Ohio. Entries for the Print Competition are due on Thursday, March 8. Entries will be judged March 15-16 and awarded on March 17. Click here for more information and competition rules.

The PPA Southeast District, hosted by the Georgia PPA, will be held March 31 through April 3 at the Athens Classic Center & Athens Hotel Indigo in Athens, Ga. Entries for this competition are due by March 28 and awards will be given on April 3.  The LexJet Sunset Award winner in the offical District competition gets a $200 gift certficate and an iPad, if the winner is printed on LexJet Paper.

There’s also a LexJet Sunset Award up for grabs for the Georgia PPA members-only competition, which comes with a $100 gift certificate and must be printed on LexJet paper. For more information and rules, click here, and click here for the scoop on the Georgia PPA members-only LexJet Sunset Award.

Good luck, and if you have any questions, contact Tom Gruss at LexJet: tom.gruss@lexjet.com, or call 941-906-3377.

Coveted Sunset Award to be Presented at Eight Upcoming Photo Competitions

LexJet is proud to honor and promote excellence in professional photography with its Sunset Award for outstanding photography and inkjet print reproduction at eight annual print competitions held by affiliates of the Professional Photographers of America and other regional professional organizations.

Photography competition awardThis year all five PPA Districts will include the Sunset award in their competitions. The Sunset Award winning image category is selected by the presenting organization (see specific categories below), and the winner is selected by the respective print-competition judging panel.

In addition to the beautiful Sunset Award trophy, the winner will receive a $100 gift certificate that can be used to purchase any of the products included in LexJet’s Sunset portfolio of inkjet materials for professional photographic printing and fine art reproduction.

An additional $300 gift certificate will be presented if the winning photographer purchased materials from LexJet in 2010-11 or used LexJet Sunset media to create the award-winning print. The following print competitions held in conjunction with the hosting organization’s annual conference will be awarding the 2011 LexJet Sunset Award…

PPA District Photographic Competitions:

Other regional competitions:

  • Plymouth Center for the Arts, Fine Art of Photography Regional Juried Photography Exhibition: Exhibition is April 1-30 at the Plymouth Center for the Arts, Plymouth, Mass. The Sunset Award will be presented to the winner of the Best Quality Print & Presentation category.
  • PhotoNorthEast: March 26-29, Woodcliff Lake Hilton, Woodcliff Lake, N.J. The Sunset Award will be presented to the winner of the Best Electronic Imaging category.
  • PPA of PA: April 3-5, Days Inn Penn State, State College, Pa. The Sunset Award will be presented to the winner of the Best Quality Print and Presentation category.