A Truth Be Shown Photography » print competition

2011 Minnesota Wedding Photographer of the Year

admin — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:53:10 +0000

It’s official, folks. This weekend at the Northern Light Convention, I was judged the 2011 Minnesota Wedding Photographer of the Year by a panel of seven PPA trained, tested and nationally accredited judges, one of whom was none other than JB Salle (who is ama-z-zing; definitely worth a Google if you’re not familiar with his work).

This is the third year in a row I’ve won the title, and as in the previous years, I’m proud to win based on work done for my actual clients. No fake, fancy model shoots here. Just real brides, real grooms, real weddings.

One of my images was also selected for the Kodak Gallery Award. Kodak introduced the Gallery Awards in 1985 as a way to honor and promote the importance and value of excellence in professional photography. The MNPPA awards one Kodak Gallery Award to a wedding photographer each year. This year is my third year receiving the award.

I’m so thankful to be recognized and honored by my peers, but I didn’t win on my own. Thank you to Alicia Oppelt-Musselman for being a great assistant, to Krish Kiefer and Julie Ann Jonker for their expert advice and critiques, and to Erin Dunn for transporting my prints to and from the competition, keeping me posted on their scores, and keeping me from having a total nervous explosion. I am lucky and grateful to have such wonderful women and extraordinary photographers in my life.

“It Starts With a Kiss” Accepted into International Loan Collection

admin — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 09:07:24 +0000

Did I not just blog that there would be good things to come? It must be true that if you put a little gratitude out into the universe, it comes back to you. I posted my gratitude-fest in the grossly early hours of Tuesday morning, and later that day, wouldn’t you know it, my friend and fellow photographer, David Grupa, called to tell me that my album entry, “It Starts With a Kiss,” was accepted into the Loan Collection of the PPA International Photographic Competition. Yep – I n t e r n a t i o n a l. That’s Big-Time-Charlie, folks!

And now for a little more gratitude – Alicia Oppelt Musselman. BEST ASSISTANT EVER! Hands down; no contest. She rocks, and she may be a little bit psychic because she has a freaky way of completing tasks I haven’t even asked her to do yet. And if there are any photographers out there with notions of whisking her away, think twice. I am not above biting. She makes it possible for me to focus on creating images instead of where I left my light meter.

David Grupa and Erin Dunn - thank you both for telling me to quit being such a wimp and just enter the album already.

HONK! HONK! I Just Won Wedding Photographer of the Year!

admin — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 02:02:23 +0000

I’m not usually one for tooting my own horn, but HONK, HONK, baby!

Last night I walked away with the following eight honors at the 2010 Northern Light Regional Convention for MN, ND and SD professional photographers:

MN Wedding Photographer of the Year
Distinguished Album
Haga Wedding Award
Court of Honor
Northern Light Highest Scoring Wedding Print
Fuji Masterpiece Award
Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence in a Print
Kodak Gallery Award for Photographic Excellence in an Album

But before I put down one more word of horn honking, I need to give a big, fat THANK YOU to David Grupa, David Johnson, David Jones, Erin Dunn and Kirsten Holscher. I have a terrible time choosing which of my images to enter because I become too attached to the subjects. I would make my selections based on the history of the image, how I felt when I took it, how I feel when I see it now, and how I feel about the people in it. These wonderfully gifted photographers spent their valuable time helping me see my images with fresh eyes, and their advice was instrumental in achieving the list of awards above.

I’m especially proud of the fact that all of the images I entered were created for actual clients. I didn’t hire professional models and stylists or rent a special location. These are real brides and grooms being photographed on their actual wedding day. It was a privilege to take part in their weddings, and I’m grateful they allowed me the time and creative space to produce the images you’ll see below. Meghan and Brandon, Jill and Paul, Katie and Sean, and Mary and Peter – thank you, thank you, thank you!

Additionally, the images were awarded by trained, experienced professional photographers and judges, men and women who’ve spent decades learning, improving and sharing their art. I value their opinions and greatly appreciate their gifts. To have them recognize my work as being worthy of the awards above is truly an honor.

Album: It Starts With a Kiss

02 03 04 05 06 07 08 09 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27

Print: A Quiet Corner

Print: Leading Lady

Print: A Perfect Storm