AIS Photo Contest:
2007 Contest report + winners and runners up
in all
categories
The
American Iris Society is very pleased to present the winning photos of
our 2007 Photo Contest.
2007 AIS Photo Contest Report
2007
AIS Photo Contest Photos of winners and runners up
2007
AIS Photo Contest Report
By Kitty Loberg, California
Many
photographers from 2006 were back again this year with additional
entries in our contest, and it was nice to see lots of new exhibitors as
well. We had about a 10% increase in the numbers of photos entered with
close-ups remaining our largest category. Our participants have met the
challenge of finding photos in categories other than just close ups, as
the percentage of photos across the other categories is increasing. Last
year we had two entries from France, this year we had three entries from
France, and two entries from Germany. This year we had a couple more
youth entries with excellent photo quality.
Photo: One of the winning entries in the
2007 AIS Photo Contest: “POW”, exhibited by Grace
Farley from Lincoln, Nebraska. Category: Youth photographer (under 19)
What kind of photos did I receive? In the
garden and landscaping categories, I got photos of iris beds overlooking
canyons, fields with farm implements, beardless growing naturally on
edges of river banks, and closer shots of iris clumps against landscaped
backgrounds. In the category about iris people and events, I received
photos of people at shows, including youth; hybridizers discussing the
fine elements of their work, quite a few of attendees at conventions,
and several comical shots. I think it is important to catch our friends
in more humorous shots, and very much hope you will be the next one with
a humor shot for next year!
I received more entries in the pet and
wildlife category this year, with favorite kitties and poodles catching
the photographer’s eyes. The difficulty about taking a good picture of
pets and wildlife, is that often the wildlife or pet doesn’t hang around
long enough for the photographer to get the ‘best’ angle and best light
for the irises to show as well. Just keep trying! In the same category
we included photos with art effects and macro segments of blooms, as our
last years entry counts were low in all of these areas. I was very
pleased to see many more of all of these type of photos this year, with
some new photos that can only be considered “art”. There is a lot of
opportunity for photographers who have software which can transform an
iris photo by adding “art” characteristics, and I encourage you all to
try some. Plans currently are to split this category apart because we
had the volume of entries to do so, and it will be better to judge these
kinds of photos separately.
Regarding the actual “quality” of the
photos and it’s importance in the judging process, there are some points
I want to mention. Avoiding heavy shadows will improve your chances.
Professional photographers will advise you to use flash in the gardens.
This is true, as you can reduce the shadows on close ups and the
improvement is noticeable. On a close up photo, try not to have edges of
the falls or other parts of the bloom be cut off at the edges, unless
your intent is to do a macro shot of bloom segments. When including
several blooms in the photo, having a good focus on many of the blooms
is important as it makes the photo much more attractive. Close-up photos
looking down at a single bloom with a lot of brown dirt showing in the
background is often not too attractive. If you’re taking digital photos,
try your best to take them in a high resolution, e.g. close to 600dpi,
as the higher photo quality will compete so much better with others who
are developing from negatives.
I so much enjoy viewing and admiring the
entries, as some pretty outstanding photos are quite
evident. Our judges are somewhat diverse in their preferences in the
iris photos. Quite a few photos were only a few points behind our
winners, which indicates there are a number of top quality photos worthy
of recognition. Again this year, a number of the photos will be
displayed as Honorable Mentions on the AIS web site and Region 14’s web
site, and perhaps in AIS calendars as well.
The photos received were judged by three
judges. Our first judge Lowell Baumunk III is from Littleton, Colorado,
hybridizes in all classes of bearded irises, and was twice a Winner in
our 2006 photo contest. Lowell is heavily involved in photography, but
his work is by no means limited to irises. You can see some of his work
at www.iriscolorado.com. Our second judge, Kathy Chilton, currently is
RVP of Region 15, is an AIS judge, and resides in Tucson, Arizona. She
is an avid photographer and was Editor of the Region 15 bulletin for
several years. Our third judge, Betty Coyle is also an AIS judge, is
past RVP of Region 14, served many offices in Region 14, and served as
AIS Convention Chair for the 2004 AIS Convention in Fresno, Calif.
Congratulations to all of our 2007
winners and I thank all of our contestants for sending me their best
photos. I also want to thank our three judges for their time and effort
to sort and evaluate several hundred photos in a short amount of time.
2007
AIS Photo Contest Photos of winners and runners up
Category: Irises Used in a Landscaped
Garden:
Winning Entry: “Morning Dew”, exhibited
by Debbie Hughes, from Wellsville, Kansas
Runner Up entry: “Oklahoma State
Capital”, exhibited by Robert Treadway, Carlisle, Arkansas
Category: Irises in a Field or Home
Garden:
Winning Entry: “Broke Down Beauty”,
exhibited by Molly Lacey from Chatfield, Minnesota
Runner Up Entry: “i. pseudacorus”,
exhibited by Patricia Randall from Rio Rancho, New Mexico
Category: Events, Tours, a Person or
People (at iris location), Shows:
Winning Entry: “Man in Will Rodgers
Garden”, exhibited by Robert Treadway from Carlisle, Arkansas
Runner Up Entry: “Artist at Work”,
exhibited by Stephen Blecher from Littleton, Colorado
Category: Close Up of an Iris or
Irises:
Winning Entry: “Wintry Sky”, exhibited by
Carol Ann Moyer from Doylestown, Pennsylvania
Runner Up entry, exhibited by Janet Hill
from Virginia Beach, Virginia
Category: Photos with Art effects,
Macro photos of Bloom Segments, photos of Pets or Wildlife in the
irises:
Winning entry, exhibited by Pat Carlson
from Bayfield, Colorado
Runner Up entry: “Through the Iris”,
exhibited by Molly Lacey from Chatfield, Minnesota
Category: Youth photographer (under
19):
Winning entry: “POW”, exhibited by Grace
Farley from Lincoln, Nebraska
Runner Up entry: “Capitol View”,
exhibited by Grace Farley from Lincoln, Nebraska
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