APA: What is it? American Psychological Association, American Psychiatric Association (close!), American Planning Association, American Poolplayers Association, American Payroll Association, American Philological Association or best yet: the Asia Pacific Alliance for sexual and reproductive health.
No – it is: American Photographic Artists (earlier this year it used to Be Advertising Photographers of America) and I learned this week that my entry in the action category took 1st place. Stoked!
In their own words the The APA Awards are:
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To encourage and recognize outstanding work, reflecting personal vision and technical excellence.
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To increase market opportunities through vigorous, multi-faceted, post-competition promotion.
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To educate and inspire.
In keeping with the APA brand, the competition encourages work that reflects forethought and planning, is message driven, (away from generic images) and without a doubt exemplifies technical excellence.
Here is the image.
If it looks familiar, that’s ’cause it is currently (by coincidence) a spread in the October issue of Men’s Journal.
This image was a planned capture – I knew the storm swell was coming and arranged for a loaner of a 600mm lens from Nikon Pro Services. I think the resulting perspective, the texture of the foam (so unusual!) and that it acts as a reflector back up into the wave makes this image work well. Many of my shots now are created – not capturing the moment as much as planning those moments with friends and models. My body of work recently is all about creating dynamic portraiture.
UPDATE 10/21 – a news item from Aurora Photos
