editor’s letter What does it take to win a <strong>photo</strong> contest? It’s a question that comes up once a month for our editors and art staff, as we judge our monthly Your Best Shot competition. And we gained new perspective this month, thanks to the three outside judges for our 16th Annual Readers’ Photo Contest (page 63). With more than 4,400 entrants in six categories this year, judging was a huge task. And even after we’d cut the roster down to about 500 semifinalists, the judges—Jeff Dunas, co-founder and director of the Palm Springs Photo Festival (www.palmsprings<strong>photo</strong>festival.com); Marti Saltzman, editorial director of Lark Photography Books (www.larkbooks.com/ digital); and Santa Fe-based <strong>photo</strong>grapher and teacher Eddie Soloway (www.eddiesoloway.com)—faced some tough choices. To see the <strong>photo</strong>s that didn’t win, but could have, take a look at the gallery of runners-up on our website at PopPhoto.com/Contests-Events. All of the winners have a few characteristics in common. First, they’re technically excellent, with exposure, tonality, and focus all under perfect control. They have clearly defined subjects that instantly draw you into the picture. They inspire an emotional reaction or invoke a mood. They offer an element of surprise that piques your interest. And they convey all of this in an instant. Indeed, that’s one of the crucial lessons I learned from reading Winning Digital Photo Contests by Jeff Wignall, recently published by Marti Saltzman’s company. (She sent it to me when I asked whether she had any advice for <strong>photo</strong>graphers.) Wignall writes: “The <strong>photo</strong>s that end up winning the contests [are] always among those that jumped off the screen (or out of the print pile) during their very first viewing. . . First impressions matter.” He goes on to describe what makes specific <strong>photo</strong>s in all kinds of genres—portraits, wildlife, landscapes, sports, travel, even composite images—grab attention and win accolades. But Jeff Dunas, himself a <strong>photo</strong>grapher, put it most simply. When I asked him what makes a “winning” <strong>photo</strong>graph, he replied, “Amaze me!” 8 popular <strong>photo</strong>graphy January 2010 www.storemags.com & www.fantamag.com Editor MiriaM Leuchter Art dirEctor Jason Beckstead SEnior Editor Peter Kolonia SEnior Editor Dan richards SEnior Editor Debbie Grossman tEchnicAl Editor Philip ryan tEchnology MAnAgEr Julia Silber ASSiStAnt Editor Lori Fredrickson Art/Production ASSiStAnt Linzee Karasik EditoriAl coordinAtor Jae Segarra contributing EditorS tim Fitzharris, russell hart, Peter Krause, Neal Matthews, arthur Morris, tony Nagatomo, Bryan F. Peterson PoPPhoto.coM Editor Stan horaczek ASSociAtE Editor Patrick Parker in MEMoriAM herbert Keppler EditoriAl dirEctor MarK JaNNot grouP PubliShEr GreGG r. haNo ASSociAtE PubliShEr anthony ruotolo, Wendi S. Berger ExEcutivE ASSiStAnt christopher Graves MArkEting dirEctor Michael Gallic FinAnciAl dirEctor tara Bisciello conSuMEr MArkEting dirEctor Diane G. Potter SvP, corPorAtE SAlES & MArkEting Mark Wildman buSinESS dEvEloPMEnt MAnAgEr Phil Mistry northEASt AdvErtiSing oFFicE Lauren Brewer, Scott constantine, Susan Faggella, taryn Guillermo, Sara Schiano Flynn, tara Weedfald MidwESt MAnAgEr John Marquardt (312-252-2838) Ad ASSiStAnt Krissy Van rossum loS AngElES MAnAgErS robert hoeck (310-227-8958) Bob Meth (310-227-8955) Ad ASSiStAnt Kate Gregory dEtroit MAnAgEr edward a. Bartley (248-282-5545) Ad ASSiStAnt Diane Pahl SouthErn MAnAgEr Jason a. albaum (404-892-0760) clASSiFiEd AdvErtiSing SAlES chip Parham, Patrick Notaro intErActivE SAlES MAnAgEr chris Young digitAl SAlES dEvEloPMEnt MAnAgEr Brian Glaser SAlES dEvEloPMEnt MAnAgErS alexis costa, Michael Kelly, Kerri Levine grouP dirEctor, crEAtivE SErvicES/EvEntS Mike iadanza dirEctor oF EvEntS Michelle cast SPEciAl EvEntS MAnAgEr erica Johnson digitAl dAyS coordinAtor athos Kyriakides MArkEting Art dirEctorS Shawn Woznicki, Lindsay Krist ProMotionS MAnAgEr eshonda caraway Ad coordinAtor irene reyes coles Publicity MAnAgEr amanda McNally huMAn rESourcES MAnAgEr Kim Putman Production MAnAgEr Betty Dong grouP Production dirEctor Laurel Kurnides chAirMAn Jonas Bonnier chiEF ExEcutivE oFFicEr terry Snow chiEF oPErAting oFFicEr Dan altman chiEF FinAnciAl oFFicEr randall Koubek vicE PrESidEnt, conSuMEr MArkEting Bruce Miller vicE PrESidEnt, Production Lisa earlywine vicE PrESidEnt, E-MEdiA Bill allman vicE PrESidEnt, digitAl SAlES & MArkEting John haskin vicE PrESidEnt, EntErPriSE SyStEMS Shawn Larson vicE PrESidEnt, huMAn rESourcES cathy hertz vP, corPorAtE coMMunicAtionS Dean turcol brAnd dirEctor John Miller PubliShing conSultAnt Martin S. Walker corPorAtE counSEl Jeremy thompson POPPHOTO.COM
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