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ShutterFest 17: Shoot, Learn, Party

Lori Unruh Photography Education, Studio Events

A different kind of convention. Last week, Jeff and I traveled to St. Louis for ShutterFest 17, the fourth annual ShutterFest. This was our third year attending as speakers and image competition judges! ShutterFest is a different kind of convention… geared towards small class size, lots of interaction with the speakers, lots of hands-on shooting, portfolio building, and FUN. The …

ImagingUSA 2017 Part II: Image Competition Merits and Medal Awards

Lori Unruh Photography Education, Studio Events

Our previous post, “ImagingUSA 2017 Part I: The Convention”, was posted last month.  In that post, we explained a bit about ImagingUSA, the annual convention hosted by Professional Photographers of America.  In this post, we’ll explain a little more about the image competition Merits and Medals that are awarded at the ImagingUSA Award & Degree Ceremony. What is a Merit? …

Behind the Shutter 2016 International Image Competition Winners!

Lori Unruh Photography Education, Studio Events

Why Image Competition Every year, Jeff and I enter a handful of the country’s most prestigious image competitions. Why? Competition forces us to expand, to grow, to improve, to innovate. Competitions are not won; merits are not earned with average “been there, done that” imagery. Some competitions have no winners per se; one earns an award based on the score …

How to be a Better Photographer through Image Competition

Lori Unruh Photography Education

Learning the basics of photography is pretty easy to do on one’s own, relatively speaking. There are a gazillion books out there that will teach everything to do with aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. There are more advanced books that focus on posing, lighting, and composition. But learning what makes truly excellent photography cannot happen in a vacuum. The best …