Image Competition

As a professional photographer, I find it important to continue trying new things and finding new ways of looking at what or whom I’m photographing so that the work my studio is producing stays fresh and inspired. One way to continue pushing myself as a photographer and artist in the photographic industry is to participate in local, regional and international photographic competitions through the Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Image submissions to these competitions are judged by a panel of accomplished and qualified master photographers against a scale of excellence. It’s important to note that images are not judged against each other, but on their own attributes as a professional image.

The particular image featured in this blog post was awarded a merit, a mark of quality and honor, during the PPA International Print Competition in 2019. This image was one of four images I submitted that was awarded a merit in 2019. I’ve included the press release at the end of this blog article for more information about this competition.

The Inspiration

I find lots of inspiration from other artists’ creative processes and the steps they follow that lead them to inspiration and the creation of their art. Knowing their steps gives me an appreciation of what spurred the idea for the art in the first place and the stages it went through to reach completion. I’m sharing a bit of my creative process for this image of Queenie in the text below.

The inspiration for this image of my dog “Queenie” started with a vision board I created in the Pinterest app. I was collaborating with a professional videographer on a potential ad campaign about the studio about photographing your pet. I went through the steps that I would normally go through prior to any session. The first step is always to listen to my client’s vision for their session and then use visuals on Pinterest or Google to make sure I’m on the same page with their vision. In this case, my client was me, so I thought about the type of image I would like to have of Queenie, the type of image that would tell the story of her personality and that would highlight the attributes we love about her.

About Queenie

A little bit about Queenie so that you have a visual picture of her in your mind. Queenie weighs about 55-60 lbs. Her breed is called a “Double Doodle” which is a cross between a labradoodle and a golden doodle. When you look at her you can definitely see the doodle in her.

She has a coat of wavy silver gray hair, floppy ears with long flowy wavy hair, a long tail of darker almost black hair that she holds high and curled a little bit over her back and swishes back and forth when she walks and she has the most beautiful golden brown eyes with magnificent long eye lashes.

When we adopted Queenie, she had already been given the name “Queen”. At the time she was a three month old puppy and this name didn’t seem to fit – it seemed too old and stuffy. We adjusted the name to “Queenie” and that seemed to fit much better; however, when we brought her home with us, we soon learned why she had been named Queen.

As we sat down to eat one of our first meals after bringing Queenie home, she stood a few feet from the table and started barking continuously, non-stop, seemingly saying “How dare you eat the meal before first serving it to the Queen!” This attitude lead her to many trips to the kitchen with the doors closed until she stopped barking. To her credit, it only took a few trips. While she no longer barks at us while we’re eating, she still uses this barking approach when she wants a treat or needs to go out; however, she acts like she’s barking but there’s no sound. It’s really funny to observe, especially if you don’t know what she’s doing!

While Queenie is a total love bug, she never allows another dog to show dominance over her. When they try she lets them know who the Queen is! She lets out a ferocious growl, flashing her bright white teeth and then uses intimidating body language to show the other dog that she’s royalty! She never bites these other dogs, she doesn’t need to, these theatrics work every time.

Queenie’s eyes are very soulful. They stand out against her gray coat because they are such a warm golden brown color and they are surrounded by black hair. The contrast is amazing.

The Creative Process

So with all of these attributes in mind, I set out to create a vision board for inspiration. I can’t actually show the Pinterest board I created for this shoot without breaking copyright law, but I can tell you that my inspiration for the Queenie’s shoot included many images, one of which was a beautiful close-up image of a dog with knitted fabric wrapped around their head. I loved this idea so I grabbed one of my really thick heavy knitted scarfs when I left my house that morning prior to the shoot.

Before sessions with dogs I always ask my clients to make sure they’ve taken their pet on a walk so their pet will be more relaxed during the shoot. So I took my own advice and took Queenie for a walk in the park near the studio before her session. We found some small branches that had fallen from one of the trees and since Queenie loves to chew on branches that she finds in our yard at home, I thought these branches might make an authentic and interesting prop for one of the shots.

As a last resort, I also brought some treats to the studio that might help in getting Queenie’s attention if all else failed. I frequently use different sounds and squeakers when I’m photographing animals, but there usually comes a time when they stop listening to these and I have to find other ways to get their attention. This is when treats might come into play.

The Shoot

During the shoot Queenie did an awesome job. In fact, she seemed to really enjoy all the attention.

After the Shoot

After the shoot I reviewed the images that I shot and picked a handful to process. Here they are after being processed:

The image featured on this blog was my favorite because of Queenie’s expression. Below is a brief video of the Photoshop screenshot edits of the progression of the image from straight out of camera (SOOC) to the final image:

This was actually fun for me to go back through my process for this shoot and see how each step played a part in the final images.

Looking back over my career, it took me a while to figure out the best creative process for me and my style of photography. Almost ten years ago when I opened my retail portrait studio, I thought that getting an awesome shot for my client was all on my shoulders. The way I look at it now is that if I gather all the information I can from my client about what type of portrait they would love to have, and then I show them visual examples to see what they like best, it helps me direct them on clothing, location, colors and posing. So in a way it’s still all on my shoulders once the session starts, but all the details have been determined beforehand and all I have to do now is put everyone at ease and then follow my plan. I think planning the session ends up being a fun experience for my client as well because they get to participate in the creative process!

Competition Press Release: Oak Park Photographer Named Bronze Medalist at International Photographic Competition⁠⠀
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Sonya Gilbert, CPP of Sonya Gilbert Fine Portraiture is honored by peers and jurors for high-quality photography.⁠⠀
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Oak Park, IL – Sonya Gilbert, CPP of Sonya Gilbert Fine Portraiture in Oak Park, IL was named a Bronze Medalist during Professional Photographers of America’s 2019 International Photographic Competition. Gilbert’s work will be on display at the Gaylord Opryland Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee, January 19-21, 2020. This International Photographic Exhibit is held in conjunction with Imaging USA, an annual convention and expo for professional photographers.⁠⠀
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A panel of 36 eminent jurors from across the United States selected the top photographs from over 5,200 total submitted entries at PPA headquarters in Atlanta. Judged against a standard of excellence, 2,654 images were selected for the General Collection.⁠⠀
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Each artist can submit up to four images in a category. Gilbert was named a Bronze Medalist by earning a merit—a mark of quality and honor—for each of the four images included in her entry case to the International Photographic Competition. This is the most prestigious competition of its kind, where images are judged based on a standard of artistic excellence, not against each other. In 2019, Gilbert was one of only 170 Bronze Medalists. Gilbert was also named a Bronze Medalist in 2017.⁠