School of Photography Newsletters

Already our second competition is completed and our Photographer of the Year table of contestants is starting to take shape.
 
The winner of this competition was Karel Verstreken with an image titled ”Afgevoerd”. This image though contrived, showed plenty of imagination with the theme. Well done Karel and enjoy spending your $75.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Second place and a $40.00 Amazon Gift Certificate went to Harjono Djoyobisono from Yogyakarta in INDONESIA. Harjono won the last competition and has kept up the standard with this entry. This close up image titled “Pearls” really showed a marvelous form of capturing water. A $40.00 Amazon Gift Certificate is the reward for Harjonos effort.

Indonesia was well represented by our contestants in this competition with Andreas Budiwidjaja from Jakarta taking Third Place. The image tells the story and the title backs it up. Rain is much harder to capture in motion then one might think but Andreas captured it quite well in this image with a flower giving a nice backdrop. Andreas wins a $25.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Congratulations to all three.

Here are the entrants who scored in the top 15 places for this competition.

1 Karel Verstreken, Kessel-Lo…………………………………………………….100 points
2 Harjono Djoyobisono, Yogyakarta, INDONESIA………………………………92 points
3 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia………………………………………..84 points
4 John O’Neill, Ursuline Court, Waterford City. Ireland…………………………76 points
5 R.C. “Dick” Jenkins, Niceville, Florida USA……………………………………68 points
6 Kemmy Lim, Bogota, Colombia…………………………………………………..60 points
7 Samuel De Leon, Quezon City, Philippines……………………………………54 points
8 Joscelyn Hill, Chicago, IL, USA………………………………………………….48 points
9 Raymond WIDAWSKI, Bruxelles, Belgique……………………………………42 points
10 Allyisa Parker, Bastian, Va USA……………………………………………….36 points
11  Robey Lawrence, Dunbogan, NSW, Australia………………………………30 points
12 SUMAN BANDYOPADHYAY, KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA…….24 points
13 Anand Kapadia, Gujrat, INDIA…………………………………………………..18 points
14 Ben Burger, Randburg, Johannesburg, South Africa……………………….12 points
15 K. Moore, Barberton, Ohio USA………………………………………………….6 points
These points will go toward the Photographer of the Year table. So anyone who has gained points from this competition are well set toward the race for the title of Photographer of the Year 2008. Here is the Photographer of the Year 2008 table after two competitions.

1. Harjono Djoyobisono, Yogyakarta, INDONESIA……………………………192 points
2. R.C. “Dick” Jenkins, Niceville, Florida USA…………………………………160 points
3. Karel Verstreken, Kessel-Lo……………………………………………………100 points
4. Samuel De Leon, Quezon City, Philippines…………………………………..90 points
5  Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia………………………………………..84 points
   Mario Abdilla, Zurrieq, Malta,……………………………………………………..84 points
6. John O’Neill, Ursuline Court, Waterford City. Ireland………………………..76 points
   Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………………………….76 points
7. Marta Azevedo………………………………………………………………………68 points
8. Kemmy Lim, Bogota, Colombia…………………………………………………60 points
   Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy……………………………………………………….60 points
9. ANNA HERRINGTON, Grimentz, Switzerland………………………………..54 points
10 Joscelyn Hill, Chicago, IL, USA…………………………………………………48 points
   Stanzin Namgyal, Jammu and Kashmir, India…………………………………48 points
11 Raymond WIDAWSKI, Bruxelles, Belgique…………………………………..42 points
   Andy Parris, Suffolk, England…………………………………………………….42 points
12 Allyisa Parker, Bastian, Va USA……………………………………………….36 points
13 Robey Lawrence, Dunbogan, NSW, Australia……………………………….30 points
   Russell L Hawkins…………………………………………………………………..30 points
   Anand Kapadia, Gujrat, INDIA…………………………………………………….30 points
14 SUMAN BANDYOPADHYAY, KOLKATA, WEST BENGAL, INDIA…….24 points
   Trent Brock, Inman, SC, USA…………………………………………………….24 points
15 Belinda Buxton, Norwich Norfolk, England……………………………………18 points
The theme of our next competition is “Fire” and the closing date for it is 31st July 2008. For more information, Rules of Entry and an entry form go to http://www.schoolofphotography.com/comp.html
 

Photographer of the Year 2008 Competition: Results Round 1 - Open

For those of you who are not familiar with the term “Open”, it means a photo of any
subject can be entered. This was a contestants chance to show what they feel are
their best shots without the constraints of subjectmatter. And that most contestants
did, which made the quality of work presented very high.
 
The winner of this competition was Harjono Djoyobisono from Yogyakarta, Indonesia
with an image titled ” Djunaedi”. This image immediately stood out from the crowd due
to the high quality of the image, the natural pose of the subject and his traditional
appearance. Well done Harjono and enjoy spending your $75.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Seond place and a $40.00 Amazon Gift Certificate went to R.C. “Dick” Jenkins of
Niceville, Florida USA. Dick had a different sort of portrait but one that was
equally eyecatching titled “Great Egret In Mating Splendor”. Technically this image
is perfect, every grain of white is perfectly exposed, which can be difficult to
achieve. The pose is also very eyecatching and perfectly composed. 

Something completely different to the first two placings was Mario Abdilla from
Zurrieq, Malta with an image simply titled “Abstract”. The trails of smoke are
beautifully captured and digitally enhanced to give perfect symmetry. Mario wins a
$25.00 Amazon Gift Certificate.

Points are given to the top fifteen places in the competition. These points will go
toward the Photographer of the Year table. So anyone who has gained points from this
competition are well set toward the race for the title of Photographer of the Year
2008.

Top 15 Scores

1 Harjono Djoyobisono, Yogyakarta, INDONESIA………………….100 points
2 R.C. “Dick” Jenkins, Niceville, Florida USA………………….92 points
3 Mario Abdilla, Zurrieq, Malta,……………………………..84 points
4 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………76 points
5 Marta Azevedo…………………………………………….68 points
6 Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy……………………………….60 points
7 ANNA HERRINGTON, Grimentz, Switzerland………………………54 points
8 Stanzin Namgyal, Jammu and Kashmir, India……………………48 points
9 Andy Parris, Suffolk, England………………………………42 points
10 Samuel De Leon, Quezon City, Philippines……………………36 points
11 Russell L Hawkins………………………………………..30 points
12 Trent Brock, Inman, SC, USA……………………………….24 points
13 Belinda Buxton, Norwich Norfolk, England……………………18 points
14 Anand Kapadia, Gujrat, INDIA………………………………12 points
15 J.J. Guy Longtin, Renfrew, Ontario  Canada ………………….6 points

If your name appears above, Congratulations and best of luck in our upcoming
competitions. If you haven’t entered this first competition, don’t despair as there
is still four more to go with more prizes and still a good chance of winning the
overall prizes of a Western Digital My Book 2 Home Edition 1TerraBytes USB 2.0
Firewire & eSata External Hard Drive to store your digital images and an Epson Stylus
Photo RX685 5760X1440DPI 6.3CM LCD USB printer to print all those digital images for
display….

For every competition there are Amazon Gift Vouchers to be won. First prize is $75,
the second placed competitor gets $40 and third prize is $25.

For more information about the competition see
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/comp.html
 
For full rules and entry form please go to
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/competitionrules.html

Do you want to learn how to take winning photos? Join our Basic Photography Course.
See the full syllabus at 
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/basic_photography_course.html

If you would like to enrol in our Basic Photography Course, do it today! Just go to
 http://www.schoolofphotography.com/fees/

Once again it is the launch of our new competition for Photographer of the Year 2008. The leader board starts from scratch and there is a new bunch of prizes to be won.

Miron Mikita, who lives in Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland was the proud winner of last years competition and now holds the crowning title of School of Photography Photographer of the Year. For his trouble he received a brand new Pentax D100 digital SLR camera.

The overall prize for Photographer of the Year 2008 will be:

The Western Digital My Book 2 Home Edition 1TerraBytes USB 2.0 Firewire & eSata External Hard Drive to store your digital images
and
The Epson Stylus Photo RX685 USB printer.
In addition to the top prize at the end of the year there are also prizes for the top three winning entries in each theme.

1st Prize Winners will receive a USD$75.00 Amazon gift Certificate
2nd Prize Winners will receive a USD$40.00 Amazon gift Certificate
3rd Prize Winners will receive a USD$25.00 Amazon gift Certificate.

You can enter just one, two or all five rounds. However, to improve your chance of winning the title and grand prize, you should enter each round.

The Themes

There are a total of five competitions run over the course of the year. Here are the themes and closing dates for each. This year`s themes will be on the elements, the first however is open to any subjectmatter.

Round 1: Open. Closing Date: March 31st 2008
Round 2: Water. May 31st 2008
Round 3: Fire. July 31st 2008
Round 4: Earth. September 30th 2008
Round 5: Air. November 30th 2008

You MUST follow the RULES of ENTRY!

We reject entrries that do not follow the rules. For full rules and entry form go to http://www.schoolofphotography.com/competitionrules.html

Best of luck to all who enter!
 

Alas another year has pretty well passed and another competition has reached its conclusion. This competition has been running for quite a few years now and it seems to go from strength to strength in both the increasing number of entries and the quality of entries.

The final Open themed competition had quite a high number of entries. However one image did stand out as soon as the judges had a quick review of the work. Andreas Budiwidjaja’s entry simply titled “Having Fun” said it all and immediately caught our judges eyes. Rich colours in a monochromatic backdrop really catch the eye.

Second place went to Miron Mikita with an image titled “White Strand”. This was yet another image where a mix of colour and a more deliberate monochrome background created an outstanding image. Third Place was secured by R.C. “Dick” Jenkins with an aptly titled natural study called “Who invited you?” This was an amazing feat to capture these two creatures.

And now for the results of the main event:

The Photographer of the Year title for 2007 goes to Miron Mikita.

A victory was well and truly secured with a second place win in this last competition. Well done and congratulations Miron! Miron placed within the top ten of every competiton and placed first in the Expression competition.

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have entered the competitions this year. However if you haven’t won anything this year, there will be another chance next year with the next Photographer of the Year series, so watch this space.

To see the winning images for this and pervious competitions this year, see: http://www.schoolofphotography.com/cimages/results2007.html

Open Competition Results

1 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia……………………….100 points
2 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………..92 points
3 R.C. “Dick” Jenkins, Niceville, Florida USA……………………84 points
4 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK……………………..76 points
5 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………….68 points
6 Sarah Brown, Orange VA USA……………………………………….60 points
7 Felix C. Gomes, Warrington, PA USA…………………………….54 points
8 Tomas Sinnige, Leiden; The Netherlands………………………48 points
9 Marta Azevedo…………………………………………………………….42 points
10 Jaime Pettry, Mount Hope, WV. USA………………………….36 points
11 Amy Wood, Worksop, Nottinghamshire, UK………………..30 points
12 Partha Pal, West Bengal,India……………………………………..24 points
13 Jonathan Lagesse, Curepipe…………………………………………18 points
14 Liz Calamusa, Bay Shore, NY USA……………………………….12 points
15 Cornoedus Mie Merchtem, Belguim……………………………….6 points

Photographer of the Year Final Results
1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland………………….406 points
2 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia………………………288 points
3 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………..252 points
4 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK…………………..204 points
5 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands…………………….186 points
6 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA……………………….162 points
7 R.C. “Dick” Jenkins, Niceville, Florida USA…………………..152 points
8 Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa………..150 points
9 Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………………148 points
10 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………146 points
11 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia…….106 points
12 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland……………………….102 points
13 Ryan A. Shinabery, Troy, Ohio USA  ………………………….100 points
14 Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy…………………………………………92 points
15 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands……………..84 points
Do you want to learn how to take winning photos? Join our Basic Photography Course. See the full syllabus at  http://www.schoolofphotography.com/basic_photography_course.html

If you would like to enrol in our Basic Photography Course, do it today! Just go to
 
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/fees/

Our Landscape Photography Course has recently been updated and given a facelift. Since the last update of this course a few things have changed in photography, in particular with digital media. This has been addressed in this new version of the course.

When the last update of the course took place, digital cameras were not the recommended media for capturing good quality landscape photographs. Information on using digital cameras in this course was very limited. Now digital cameras have improved to such an extent, they would be a suitable media for serious landscape work. Therefore the course now includes much more detailed use of digital cameras when shooting landscapes.

For those currently taking our Landscape course they can simply log-in and the new course material is there. Current users will also find many new images and a few other changes designed to further enhance their learning experience.

To learn how to take top quality professional landscape images using both digital and film cameras, enroll in our new Landscape Photography Course. Simply go to http://www.schoolofphotography.com/fees

Top fifteen for this competition.

1 Ryan A. Shinabery, Troy, Ohio USA  …………………………..100 points
2 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia………………………..92 points
3 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………….84 points
4 Patrick Van ‘t Hoff………………………………………………..76 points
5 R.C. Jenkins……………………………………………………….68 points
6 J.J. Guy Longtin, Renfrew, Ontario Canada……………………60 points
7 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland……………………..54 points
8 Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa……………48 points
9 Lai Jun Wei, Singapore, Republic of Singapore………………..42 points
10 Annelies Beckers, Winksele; Belgium………………………….36 points
11 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………….30 points
12 Thijs Campe, Hamme, Eastern – Flanders, Belgium…………24 points
13 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA………………………..18 points
14 Emma Bartlett, Bracknell, Tasmania, Australia………………12 points
15 Anthony Ranieri, Toronto, Ontario, Canada…………………..6 points

To see the winning images for this and pervious competitions this year, see: http://www.schoolofphotography.com/cimages/results2007.html

Photographer of the Year top fifteen table

Total results after four competitions
1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland……………………314 points
2 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium……………………….252 points
3 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia……………………..188 points
4 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA……………………….162 points
5 Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa………….150 points
6 Anna Herrington, London, UK…………………………………148 points
7 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands………………146 points
8 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK…………………..128 points
9 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands…………………….108 points
10 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia……..106 points
11 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland…………………….102 points
12 Ryan A. Shinabery, Troy, Ohio USA  ………………………100 points
13 Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy………………………………….92 points
14 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands……………..84 points
15 Patrick Van ‘t Hoff……………………………………………..76 points

 The final competition for Photographer of the Year Competition is an Open theme. The closing date is 30th November 2007.

For more information about the competition see http://www.schoolofphotography.com/comp.html
 
For full rules and entry form please goto http://www.schoolofphotography.com/competitionrules.html

Here are the latest images to be included in The Gallery.

Cheryl Mount, Aldershot, Hampshire, UK

Rarely we see a landscape image in this gallery. There is no shortage taken for our projects and we even have a Landscape Photography Course devoted to the subject. However the subject is a difficult one, far more than one would think to take an eye-catching landscape. However Cheryl has done just that with this image.

The late evening sun is just low enough in the sky to create some nice colours. The sunlight has also caught some nice detail on the beach and it is the way the light plays on this landscape that makes it special. Despite a very difficult lighting situation to expose for acceptably, Cheryl has done a perfect job.

Cheryl is currently taking our Basic Photography Course and she submitted this image as part of her Project 2 submission. Well done Cheryl

You can view this image at:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery13.html

Vanessa Fraser, Borden, Ontario, Canada

Our Glamour Photography Course deals with all that is involved with the subject including lighting, props, make-up etc. Therefore one can imagine how much there is to get right with a glamour image. However this image selected for the Student Gallery is part of Vanessa’s first project. So she shows great promise.

What makes this image so good is really the mood that Vanessa has captured. The lighting is placed perfectly giving plenty of dark tones in the image yet perfectly exposed throughout.

John Herbert, Lowman, New York, USA

There are various ways of depicting action in an image and John’s image freezes this action in a perfect moment in time. The subjects of this image see plenty of action but are obviously taking time out to play volleyball. The action is captured in this image perfectly as the players are captureed in mid air. The rest of the image is very well composed with the ball in the perfect location and even others in the scene facing the action.

John submitted this image as part of his first project for our Freelance Photography Course.

You can view these images at:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery14.html

Stacey Lamb, Haskell, NJ, USA - Jungle Fever

Stacey recently completed the Glamour Photography Course and has also completed our Digital Photography Course. Even in our Digital Photography Course her photos showed her favourite subject to be of the glamour variety. In fact this isn’t the first image that Stacey has had the honour of being presented on the gallery. She also had an image from her Digital Photography Course projects titled “Late Night Phone Calls” selected for the gallery.

Jungle Fever is a very carefully executed image that really shows Stacey’s knowledge and understanding of light and studio settings. Most importantly however is pose, expression and preparation of the model. All comes together beautifully in this image.

Andrew Swiney, Suffolk, UK - A Good Glass of Wine

This image has been very well taken by Andrew. Though it is a fairly simple subject, it can be quite difficult to get the results just right. Setting up an image like this takes time if it is to be done perfectly. The bubbles in the glass and their sharpness, aided by a 1/1250 shutter speed, is the clincher with this image.

Andrew is currently doing the Basic Photography Course and this image was part of his first project submission. With a start like this, we have high expectations of Andrew.

Equipment Used:
-Canon EOS 400D Digital SLR
-70-300mm lense
 Exposure Details:
-ISO 200
-Shutter Speed 1/1250
-Aperture f.56
 Location and Lighting:
On a table in my garden, weather was sunny

Olga Carlberg, Harjumaa, Estonia - The Muse

Our tutors probably see thousands of images like this one. A students child playing a piano or some other musical instrument. However this image stands out and much that can be attributed to this is the lighting. It is all too easy to pop the flash on in situations like this, ruining any ambient effects. Olga just happened to have some natural daylight coming in a window and it has lit her daugther perfectly. A lighting situation that just cannot be matched by on camera flash.

Olga is doing our Basic Photography Course and this image was part of her first project. Looks like Olga may have a ready and willing model to help her through the rest of the course!

Canon EOS 350D
Canon 18-55mm lens at 28mm
1/20 sec at f/5,6, ISO 800 

You can view all three of these images at http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery13.html

Here is the top fifteen entrants for our Expression Competition.

1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry,Ireland…………………..100 points
2 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK…………………..92 points
3 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands……………..84 points
4 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium……………………….76 points
5 Brianna Williams ……………………………………………….68 points
6 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia……………………..60 points
7 Sandesh Dhagle, Yavatmal, India…………………………….54 points
8 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………….48 points
9 emma Bartlett, bracknell tasmania……………………………42 points
10 Jennifer Smith, Livermore Falls ME, USA……………………36 points
11 Kelly Morgan, Haysville, KS, USA……………………………30 points
12 Marta Azevedo………………………………………………..24 points
13 Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA. USA……………….18 points
14 Rebecca Herren, Harrisburg, IL, USA……………………….12 points
15 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Vicotoria, Australia……..6 points

Photographer of the Year 2007 Table
Totals after three

1 Miron Mikita, Killarney, Co. Kerry, Ireland…………………..260 points
2 Raymond Widawski, Brussels, Belgium………………………168 points
3 Anna Herrington, London, UK………………………………..148 points
4 Andrea Dudasova, Svidnik, SLOVAKIA……………………..144 points
5 Ben Simmonds, Wellington, Somerset, UK………………….128 points
6 Liesbeth van Dalen, Amsterdam, Netherlands……………..116 points
7 Tilly Meijer, Spijkenisse the Netherlands……………………108 points
8 Harjono Djoyobisono, Northcote, Victoria, Australia………106 points
9 Gerry Priest, St Andrews Fife Scotland…………………….102 points
  Celeste McKenzie, Villieria, Pretoria, South Africa…………102 points
10 Andreas Budiwidjaja, Jakarta Indonesia…………………….96 points
11 Ivano Adversi, Bologna Italy…………………………………92 points
12 Merel Schoneveld Den Haag, The Netherlands…………….84 points
13 Brianna Williams ……………………………………………….68 points
14 Willems Heidi, O.L.V.Waver  Belgium…………………………60 points
15 Marsha Barritt, Upton, WY, USA……………………………..54 points
   Sandesh Dhagle, Yavatmal, India……………………………..54 points
   Ginger Attaway, Pacific Palisades, CA, USA…………………54 points

Here are the latest images to be included in The Gallery.

Bodyscape in Blue - Lars Swann

Simple is usually best with the photographic image and this is a good example of how simple can work best. The image is monochrome only for a blue bikini bottom, a shade of blue that really stands out against the monochrome background.

Lars submitted this image as part of his final project for our Glamour Photography Course.
Fruit Vision - Ben Simmonds

Ben is doing our Basic Photography Course and he used this image as part of his submission for Project 3, an image depicting Still Life. This image is a classic still life image with a slight difference. The strawberry reflected through the glass ball is a nice touch and murch more difficult to master than it may appear.
You can view these images here:
http://www.schoolofphotography.com/gallery/gallery12.html