Still Life Competition Results
Never in a million years would I guess I would have 7 of my 8 submitted photos place in the last two monthly competitions. Why? Well, street and still life photography are not genres I have dabbled in, at all. Or so I thought.
When I saw the lists of topics for this year, a sense of dread fell on me, and I figured I would be in for a long year. Portraits of people, street photography, and still life just aren't my thing. And I had all three on the docket this year. As I have said many times, mountains and lakes and oceans don't complain. And still photography looked too tedious for me. Lack of patience I would say.
A quick search shows the definition of still life photography as the artistic capture of inanimate objects, such as fruit, flowers, or household items, arranged deliberately within a frame.
Anyway, months back, I bought a large light box and then was gifted a smaller one. Perfect for product photography and still life. I set up the large box, it was nice, but it was huge. I had no real place to keep it set up. With cats, they're curious about everything, and will create mischief any time they can. So I decided to find still life scenes where I wasn't doing any of the arranging.
I submitted 4 photos. A single color print, two color digital, and one black and white digital. They all placed. In the end, I walked away with two 1st place wins, a 3rd place win, and then an honorable mention. Before the competition, I was in 4th place with 25 points and 12 wins, but 20 points back of the top 3. Now I am with 39 points and 16 wins, and within striking distance of the top 3 folks in the club.
I have far exceeded how I expected to do this year. With the points, I am 26 points away from being a Master of Photography in the club. Of course, I will need to do a public display of a selection of my photos at some point, but that is an easy box to check.
Here are my still life photos. Top left, honorable mention in digital color. Top right, 1st place in digital black and white. Bottom left, 3rd place in digital color. Bottom right, 1st place in color print.
