Awards: A GRAND Surprise in WPPI Print Competition in Vegas!

Last week, I made my annual trek to Las Vegas for the WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) Convention. This is the biggest convention in our industry, with 14,000 photographers attending, and a gigantic tradeshow displaying all of the latest products. There’s always something new to see – and not just in the convention. One day on the Vegas strip, I took a couple happy snaps of the new City Center:And a few more abstract shots, just for giggles.But enough random pictures of Vegas. 🙂 WPPI’s 2010 Awards of Excellence 16×20 Print Competition was held during the convention – over 3300 prints were entered, and the prints that scored high enough to receive an Accolade of Excellence were displayed in a print exhibition. I was excited to walk through the exhibition to find 5 of my prints hanging! (I’ll post the images bigger at the end of this post in case you missed them before.) Then as if that wasn’t enough, I got a HUGE surprise at the awards ceremony that was held at the end of the convention. The Grand Awards for the 2009 8×10 Competitions are awarded then, and apparently my face said it all when I won the Grand Award for International Commercial Print of the Year!Apparently I was such a bundle of nerves that I practically ran off the stage after accepting the award, which is so funny to me, because I felt like I was up there forever! I blame it on the shock of them handing me a $1000 check along with the plaque (I know – shut the front door, right???). Thanks to WPPI for giving me a heart attack in the best way possible!

And as promised, here are bigger versions of my 16×20 prints that made the cut and hung in Vegas:

“In Hot Water” – Accolade of Excellence in Wedding: Bride & Groom Together“Dapper” – Accolade of Excellence in Portrait: Individual“Old Soul” – Accolade of Excellence in Portrait: Animals/Pets“Old News” – Accolade of Excellence in Commercial: Illustrative/Editorial“The Riff” – Accolade of Excellence in Commercial: Illustrative/Editorial