Emerge Pet Photography Awards Part 2
Emerge Pet Photography Awards - Portfolio Review
I felt like I needed two posts to share about the Emerge Awards. While the individual pet photography challenges are judged individually the portfolios are then reviewed as a whole.
Each challenge is very different, and one of the biggest challenges I find is maintaining my own artistic style, even when photographing something very different.
I am really proud to have received a Highly Commended Portfolio award this round.
Here's what the judges had to say: "Courtney - your warm, rich style is evident across nearly all your challenge submissions. You've cleverly interpreted the brief and responded so willingly to feedback. That Bokelicious image is full of golden beauty the Shake image is a favourite too and Double Trouble - what we can say - you make it look easy (but we know it wasn't). Amazing work throughout Emerge!"
I love each of these images. And you know what I love the most? Most of the images were created with YOUR dogs.
Which one is your favorite?
The next round of challenges is called Empower and begins in early 2024.
The Emerge Dog Photography Awards Challenges by Unleashed Education presents an international group of professional pet photographers with 12 challenges - each with a different theme of image to create, enter, and compete. While the primary goal is competition with myself - pushing myself creatively and improving my craft of pet photography - we also competed with each other. Each challenge is judged by two of the world’s leading pet photographers with decades in business, a long list of awards from international photography competitions, and some big name commercial clients (let’s just say you’ve seen their work on numerous occasions).
In each challenge you can receive a Top 20 or a Top 10 placement - as well as feedback on your work and suggestions for improvement. In the end I finished with a “Highly Commended Portfolio” highlighting work of a professional standard for my final 12 submissions, 3 Top 10 images, and 5 Top 20 images as well as an Overall Winner in the Double Trouble Challenge.
What to read next?
The Emerge Dog Photography Awards Part 1
The Awards Show
Last night we settled in to watch the Emerge Dog Photography Awards LIVE via Zoom. It was really fun to revisit each challenge, see the top images, and see the overall winner for each challenge announced.
Over the last 6 months I feel like I have really gotten to know some incredible pet photographers across the globe as we competed together. One of the things I love most about my fellow pet photographers is that even when we are competing, we are colleagues and friends first. It was great to cheer each other along and celebrate each other's successes in the challenges.
Seeing the work others submitted, I am absolutely blown away to have received the overall challenge win for Double Trouble.
Big thanks to Hannah, Maple, & Party for making this image happen.
This was my first photo session post surgery and I was nervous how my body would do and if my brain would work creatively after taking so much time off to heal, but I had made a commitment to complete the challenges within the time frame.
And while, I was SORE the day after and my image right out of camera was seriously TILTED as I struggled to hold the heavy camera & lens with weak core and arm muscles - I am so proud of how the image turned out. And I am thrilled with it's first place spot in the Emerge Dog Photography Awards for Double Trouble.
Here's what the judge's had to say: "A beautiful image with a clever design. The tonality and softness of the light and mist give it an ethereal quality."
Getting the Final Image
Here's a look at all the images of how my "concept drawing" moved from paper, to raw file, to the edit, and finally the finished image.
I never claimed to be a sketch artist, but I was trying to convey to Hannah how I envisioned the Pharaoh hounds placed on the dock and where she would need to stand to hold their leashes.
Image directly out of camera - The RAW format often seems "flat" but so much detail is contained inside this file type.
Image after post processing in lightroom - Lightroom is the darkroom of digital photography - bringing back the detail our eyes saw.
Image after photoshop- Photoshop was used to remove the leash, Hannah the handler, clean up the dock, and remove distractions. I also centered the post under the dock to highlight the symmetry of the image.
The next round of challenges is called Empower and begins in early 2024.
Does your dog have what it takes to be an Empower model?
The Emerge Dog Photography Awards Challenges by Unleashed Education presents an international group of professional pet photographers with 12 challenges - each with a different theme of image to create, enter, and compete. While the primary goal is competition with myself - pushing myself creatively and improving my craft of pet photography - we also competed with each other. Each challenge is judged by two of the world’s leading pet photographers with decades in business, a long list of awards from international photography competitions, and some big name commercial clients (let’s just say you’ve seen their work on numerous occasions).
In each challenge you can receive a Top 20 or a Top 10 placement - as well as feedback on your work and suggestions for improvement. In the end I finished with a “Highly Commended Portfolio” highlighting work of a professional standard for my final 12 submissions, 3 Top 10 images, and 5 Top 20 images as well as an Overall Winner in the Double Trouble Challenge.