Big Sigh of Relief!

[elsaspet]

Congrats! I know you're happy - as you should be. As for me... two words.... Huy Nguyen. I'm so glad it works for you but I'll never apply after what David did to him.

I hear you PG. I worked with Huy on more than one occassion. He was one of my best teachers ever. I did a wedding with him and Amy Deputy. My mind was reeling afterwards.

It was hard to take sides after that. I wanted to stand up for Huy, along with Brooks, and Prevost, and all the killer photogs.

But I chickened out. Those guys are branded. They will be ok.

Keep in mind, his two other studio mates stayed in the org. (Kim Skyls and Gary Donnohu). Huy stayed out of it, as did his studio partners....so I figured I should too.

Huy still loves what WPJA stood for, and still stands for. He's got his own thing going on now, and I wish him all the best wishes in the world. I owe Huy a great deal. He's a pro, and a heck of a good guy.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!!!

 

[elsaspet]

It's a great accomplishment for you, no doubt about it. I don't mean to sound like I'm raining on your parade. Congratulations to you, it's well deserved.

On another note, do they have any restrictions or rules on post processing? You say the WPJA stands for truth...but the only WPJA photographer that I know (you), does more post processing and altering of how people look...than any other wedding photographer that I know.

I'm not saying it's a bad thing, your post processing work is fantastic and that's a lot of what attracts your clients and keeps them happy.

I'm just wondering if that is common place for WPJA photographers. Especially if their judges are "people covering the events in Afghanistan, the White House, and people actively working in Iraq"...because if those photographers did this amount of editing...it would seem more than a little immoral....to me anyway.

Look at my wedding gallery, and my wedding submissions here. They are cropped only. Not exactly "immoral".
The rest are glam shots. No different than what you would see in an editorial shoot of a local bus executive in the Post.

Remember Mike, I started my career in Wire.

 

[elsaspet]

I've heard bad things about WPJA in other forums... mainly they are a jury... of one guy. I don't know if it is true or not but they were also saying how a lot of people get in if they can take a decent photo and they have a bludomain or other nice photography site no matter what % of your shots are posed or if they are over post produced. I'm not sure if it is true... I've never tried to get in myself nor do I have inside knowledge. I've looked in to it a bit but never saw the benefit. I'm glad it works for those that have used it.

No, it's only a rumor that it is one guy. Maybe in the beginning. Now days is a whole group.
They only judge you on the wedding gallery. That is why so many WPJAers break up their galleries now. Blu Domain has nothing to do with it. Blu Domain is just a maker of websites.

 

[amandakifer]

I just wonder how much of it is for a check. Do they do educational things for you guys like PPA... have a magazine or something for your money? Also I thought you couldn't do a lot of photoshop stuff like you do and I do as well. You do way more than just crop an image. Weren't you the one replacing someone's eye that had a bandage on it? That is not photojournalism... yeah I'm sure the family loved it but it isn't true to reporting how things were that day.

Also dodging and burning images to the point it looks totally different. I love some of your work especially your bridals... brides love it as well but I would think this would be against WPJA rules.

I've heard of more than one occasion... good site (bludomain or otherwise)... okay pictures and they will take your money. I hope not and I'm glad you love it and hope it is more than that for all the hype their site has.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I'm just curious from someone who is in it. I'm not trying to bash your work at all and hope you don't read it the wrong way.

 

[elsaspet]

In regard to the WPJA, remember they don't look at the bridals or formals at all. The only thing they look at when reviewing, is the opening slideshow, and the wedding gallery.

They assume that bridals will be glam shots. And they also know that most brides are going to request formals, so they are considered glam shots as well.

You can show formals on your site, but they can't be in the wedding gallery, or more specifically, only to a certain percentage.

They accept up to 20 percent photoshopped photos, detail shots, or formals, so it's not really all that big a deal.

As an ex photojournalist, the rules are about the same. For straight PJ stuff you are allowed to crop, lightly burn and dodge, and bump colors as long as you don't change the story inside the photograph.

In editorial work, you have MUCH more leiway. Retouching is accepted there.

Photoshop also has a bearing on whether it's a "hard" or "soft" story. Hard story examples are war, international events....the really serious stuff. The photoshop rules are much tougher there.
Soft stories would be celebrities, landscapes, and back up details. In these instances, photoshop is widely accepted. In fact, the majorly photoshoped celeb is going to sell much faster than the non touched up one.

If you look at my work, (see the wedding I just posted for example), almost all of the shots are candid. The only retouching done is on formals. The rest of my wedding stuff is cropped only. Sometimes I pop the blacks, but that's about it.
As far as the bandaged guy, he was redone in only the formal photos. In the candids, he was left as he was. That in itself was a hard choice for me to make. He was indeed like that on the day of the wedding, but not that way the day before, or a few weeks after.

WPJA is definately not about "the check". Only 5 percent who apply are accepted. And as we have seen in recent events, they just tossed out not only last years international wpja photog of the year, but several other very important photographers. (Much of that however was political in nature).

As far as education, yes, there is MUCH education accessable to the photographer. They have the website wedpix, a learning tool for both the bride and photographer, as well as a private forum for photographers to answer each other's questions and generally help each other out.
We've also banded together on more than one occassion to pick up in the rare occassion that a photographer dies on the way home from a wedding, or shortly after. It's like a big family there.

I'm not sure what you are saying in regards to Blu Domain. That is a different entity altogether. They built my site, and I have nothing for praise for them. They have always been great with me, but I've heard mixed reviews there. All my experiences with them have been great, so I'm not sure about all the other stuff. But keep in mind Blu Domain has absolutely nothing at all to do with WPJA. It's an apple and a head of lettuce. Two different things in every way.

Anyhoo, the original post was directed to people re-uping, or thinking about joining. I was trying to convey how difficult it was to decide between the knottie bride and the pj bride. I decided to just let the site fly as it was, and just be "me", even thought the thought of possibly losing wpja backing was a scary and sad thought for me.
In the end, they saw the heart of our work was PJ in nature.

And don't worry. I'm not at all offended by your posts or questions. WPJA imo, has been very misunderstood in the past. But as someone who has been with them for three years, and has happily re-upped, I've seen both the backlash, and the benefits.

Hope that helps clear up any questions you had.

 

[photogoddess]

I hear you PG. I worked with Huy on more than one occassion. He was one of my best teachers ever. I did a wedding with him and Amy Deputy. My mind was reeling afterwards.

It was hard to take sides after that. I wanted to stand up for Huy, along with Brooks, and Prevost, and all the killer photogs.

But I chickened out. Those guys are branded. They will be ok.

Keep in mind, his two other studio mates stayed in the org. (Kim Skyls and Gary Donnohu). Huy stayed out of it, as did his studio partners....so I figured I should too.

Huy still loves what WPJA stood for, and still stands for. He's got his own thing going on now, and I wish him all the best wishes in the world. I owe Huy a great deal. He's a pro, and a heck of a good guy.

Hope you had a Merry Christmas!!!!

I totally respect your decision. It's easy for me to armchair root for Huy (the underdog compared to WPJA) at the moment considering that portraits make up the bulk of my business. I'm very proud of how much you've accomplished. :hugs:
T
ps - I did have a great Christmas. I hope you did as well.

 

[amandakifer]

no no no I wasn't implying that blu domain was involved... it was more of an example of 'nice sites'. I see how you could take it that way tho.

I think WPJA would have to do a lot for me to look at them just because you are the first one I've heard talk positive about them. I'm glad you've had such a positive experience. And thanks for answering my questions.