| NEW BLOG TIME!With a sad heart I say good bye to Xanga. We've had fun, but it's time to move on. For all those following along, please visit me at my new blog spot:
http://aaronwillcox.blogspot.com/
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| Time to catch up a bit. After I started getting into these competitions, naturally, I have been begun to look for those award winning images. Not only when I'm sorting through the shots of a recent wedding, but it is also, in the back of my head when I'm out there shooting. So here I am, looking through the latest batch of photos. Are there any amazing-spectacular-jaw-dropping award winners in there? At first, I didn't see any. In fact, I looked through all of last years weddings, and I couldn't find a single one that really stood out. None. Now how depressing is that? Then, I get an email from a very happy groom telling me how happy he is with my photography. How touched he was, re-living that special day through my images. Then it hit me...and this will sound totally cheesy, these images are all award winners. My world is wedding photography. It's what I live and breathe: the conventions, the websites, competitions, the continual improvement. So of course, I can't help but to judge the value of an image soley on its visual impact. I get caught up in the photoshop actions, the tinting, the retouching, the perfect skin tones, the visual dynamic and POOOF. I have completely forgotten that all that stuff doesn't really matter anymore. The value of the image draws its power from the connection it makes to the viewer. Period. Who are my viewers then? Well...it's the groom, re-living the feeling of that cold ring as it's placed with trembling fingers on his own. It's the friends and family that have an emotional connection to the moment, sepia tone or not. So, I go back and pick out a few first place winners.
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| As an active member of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA)I am happy to have announce out that I placed second in the "details" category for the Fall Photo Contest! I also received 16th place in the "transportation" category. Now I will have one of the fun little golden emblems next to my name on the WPJA (Southern CA) website. Here are the winning pics:
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