The Association of International Boudoir Photographers (AIBP) has announced their inaugural edition of the AIBP Visionary Awards, a boudoir photography competition. Since 2009, AIBP has been the leading boudoir photography association, providing a community space for photographers to enhance their craft, build their business, network with colleagues and explore educational resources. Their new competition is accepting submissions from now until August 31.

The AIBP Visionary Awards are an inspirational and educational boudoir photography competition open to all who photograph boudoir, including professionals, novices, and hobbyists. AIBP believes that the challenge of competition helps photographers excel in the art of photography and in their ability to offer the highest standard of empowering boudoir experiences for their clients. All entrants have the opportunity to work toward the AIBP Artistry Excellence degree as a member of AIBP as well as take home a prize pool worth over $5000.

AIBP has intentionally set up the competition to address and remedy issues many photographers in the boudoir genre have experienced in other competitions. To eliminate any bias in judging, the competition is divided into separate categories for client (commissioned) and model/styled (non-commissioned) work. Additionally, eleven subcategories ensure that images are competing against like images. The categories include:

• Women
• Men
• Non-Binary
• Couples
• Maternity
• Editorial
• Black & White
• Outdoor
• Pin Up/Burlesque
• Fine Art Nude/Body Scapes
• AI Creations/Open

Each image entered will be evaluated based on contest judging criteria, which will determine whether it receives platinum, gold, silver, bronze, or non-merit designation. Those who enter a minimum of four images will be eligible to win Best in Category or Best in Show. Entrants also have the option to receive a personalized critique on each image entered. Photographers who earn ranked awards also earn points towards AIBP Artistry Track Degrees. The judging panel consists of highly-qualified industry experts, including Lindsay Adler, Gary Hill, Jacqueline Tobin, Andrew Hiorth, Cate Scaglione, Rhea Berkley Lewis, Hiram Trillo, and Shawn Black.

This year’s competition has garnered the support of amazing industry leading sponsors who are providing an incredible pool of prizes for winners that continues to grow. Those contributing to the prize pool include 17hats, Floricolor, Pro Prints, Lead Savage, Geekoto, Cheetah Stand, NBP Retouch Tools, Homespun Heart, LensProToGo.com, SlickPic, Sew Trendy Accessories, UAF Photo Lab, and Embrace Presets.

• Entries Open: Monday July 15th – August 31st
• Judging Period: September 9th – October 11th
• Awards Announced: Early November

Find out all about the prize packages and how to enter here. Follow AIBP on Facebook and Instagram.

The post AIBP’s Boudoir Photography Competition: The Visionary Awards appeared first on Rangefinder.

The Legend Awards is a photo competition for elopement photographers to show off their documentary photography skills. This article features some of the award winning images from Round 2. See the full gallery of winners here.

What stands out in each of the award-winning photos is the emotion and personality of every couple. In these images, we can learn something about the couple — who they are, what they value, if they’re playful or carefree, or quiet or daring. Through authentic photography, we gain a secret window into their relationship, allowing us as the viewer to feel like we were there. And that is the magic of great storytelling.

Eloping is so much more than pretty photos in pretty places, and the Legend Awards strives to showcase all the wild and wonderful ways that two people can choose to get married. This set of award winners includes elopements on a boat in Guatemala, in the rain in Ireland, in an arcade, a helicopter and even while dogsledding.

Our Judge for Round 2, Larissa Welch of We, The Light Photography is a full-time elopement photographer in Colorado. She was selected as a judge because of her moment-focused portfolio. Instead of the expected portraits of loved-up couples kissing at sunset that you see filling a magazine’s glossy pages, her portfolio is packed with candid and unplanned moments highlighting that each elopement couple is unique. Her emphasis on capturing the real essence of every couple made her an easy choice as a judge for this documentary award. 

Candid and documentary photo competitions are tough — both to judge and to submit to! It’s hard to let gorgeous, technically perfect portraits fall to the cutting room floor. And, it’s especially hard to see photographers, many of whom have worked up the courage to submit to a contest for the first time, be disappointed when they’re not selected. But competitions are a marathon, not a sprint. And “failure” is actually just a goalpost. If at first you don’t succeed — find out why. The Legends Awards encourages submitters to ask questions and learn from their images that aren’t recognized — so that they can level up their skills.

Round 3 of the Elopement Photography Legend Awards opens on August 1. It’s $19 to Submit five images.  With a 15-guests limit on submissions, we are highlighting only the microweddings and elopements from around the world. 

Find out more on their website and follow them on Instagram. 

The award-winning photographers featured in this article are: Van Gachnang, Laura Sparks: Sparks in the Forest, Katy Homan: The Caryls, Daniela Monzi: Gemini Sun Creative, Heather Leacy, Shanmari Shehaj: Avonture Elopements, Gabriella Rankin, Manuel Aldana Fotografia, Lindsay Jane: Elope Montana, Meagan Lawler Photography, and Eline Tasma: North Wind Elopements. To see the rest of the winning images, view the Elopement Legend Awards Winners Gallery.

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Beloved WPPI educator Lindsay Adler will be joining with AB+DM Studio – Ahmad Barber and Donté Maurice – for an exciting weekend event entitled Icons of Fashion. Part lecture and part shootout, this event offers “a behind-the-scenes look into the world of fashion photography and creative mastery.”

On the first day, attendees will have access to multiple iconic fashion looks in a day-long shootout, where they can build their portfolios.

On the next day, participants will learn about concept development, creative direction, and the collaboration that is needed to produce career-defining images. Adler and AB+DM will give demonstrations on how they approach their creative work and will also share tips for working with celebrities and prestigious publications. The evening closes with a lecture and Q&A.

Participants can sign up for portions of each day, single days, or the full event.

• Date: Sunday August 4th & Monday August 5th
• Location: Jersey City, NJ
• Featuring Lindsay Adler & studio AB+DM
• 2 days of portfolio building + lecture/demo

Find out more about the Icons of Fashion event.

[Read: Top Tips for Submitting Your Work to Fashion Magazines by Lara Jade]

As a thank you to our readers, we’re pleased to offer you a Rangefinder exclusive discount code to get 25% off The Portrait Masters courses below. Use the code RF25 at checkout to redeem. This code cannot be used in combination with other sales.

The post Icons of Fashion Event with AB+DM & Lindsay Adler appeared first on Rangefinder.

Whether you’re traveling by road, rail, bike, or plane, you could plan a whole European tour just around photo exhibits this summer. Festival season is in full swing, and there are plenty of photo exhibits dotting the landscape, from shows featuring classic photographs from bygone eras to cutting-edge work by contemporary artists. Here are some highlights to put on your itinerary.

Scandinavia

Prix Pictet: Human

The Prix Pictet focuses on the issue of global sustainability with its annual photo competition. Twelve photographers selected by this year’s jury present their take on how people figure into the equation, exploring the theme “Human” in this exhibit running through August 18 at Fotografiska Stockholm.

Classics and Festivals

While you’re in Sweden, stop by the Hasselblad Center in Göteborg to see nearly 150 images taken over a period of 60 years by the venerable Swedish photographer Anders Petersen in City Diary. The show runs through September 15. If you’re in Scandinavia between June 6 and 16, put the Copenhagen Photo Festival on your itinerary too.

France & Holland

Thomas Mailaender — Les Belles Images

Head to Paris if you’re in the mood for something bold and experimental. Thomas Mailaender interrogates the role of imagery in society with this sprawling exhibit. It fills two floors of MEP with original photo series, found and reframed images, photos exposed directly onto walls, and a section on Rosemary Jacobs, who suffered from the skin-silvering condition argyria. See it all from June 12 through September 29.

Janette Beckman: Rebels

Travel up to Amsterdam for this first major retrospective of Janette Beckman’s 40-year foray into the punk and hip-hop scenes, political activism, and all sorts of edgy subcultures. The work on display runs right up to our current era, including anti-Trump protests and peace demonstrations for Gaza. The show runs through September 8 at FOAM.

Festivals

La Gacilly

From June 21 through November 3, this long-running festival will have photo exhibits all around the town of La Gacilly in open-air galleries. This 21st edition takes “Australia and Beyond” as its theme.

Les Rencontres D’Arles

“Beneath the Surface” is the theme of the 55th annual photo festival in Arles. See how a multitude of new and well-established photographers take it on between July 1 and September 29.

Switzerland

Tamara Janes: Set and Setting

Tamara Janes takes older images and turns them into something new and different in this exhibit—really different. Many of the images are from her Copyright Swap series, which presents radically transformed works from the New York Public Library Picture Collection. You can take in this alternately humorous and disconcerting exploration of visual culture from June 22 through September 29 at Photo Elysée in Lausanne.

Fairs and Festivals

Photo Basel

The 9th edition of this annual fair brings together 41 galleries from around the world to show their photo-based art between June 11 and 16 at the Volkshaus Basel.

Fotofestival Lenzburg

Head to the aptly named town of Lenzburg between May 25 and June 23 for the 6th edition of its Fotofestival. This year’s theme is “Synthesis,” with 20 photo exhibits exploring how we might make the world whole again in our troubled era of rapid change. 

Biel/Bienne Festival of Photography

The 27th edition of this festival runs until May 26 in the town of Biel/Bienne. Its 11 photo exhibits highlight the work of emerging photographers who are examining the banal and familiar as a form of resistance to our era’s ubiquitous proliferation of sensationalist imagery.

Ireland

Akhiko Okamura: The Memories of Others

Conflict photographer Akhiko Okamura’s photos of Ireland aren’t new, but they will probably be new to you since they have rarely been shown. This exhibit presents work dating from the late 1960s to the early 1980s, when Ireland was riven by political violence. Okamura captured both the strife of the Troubles and the subtleties of everyday Irish life. The show runs through July 6 at the Photo Museum Ireland in Dublin.

Festival

If you’re in Ireland during the month of June, head to the Belfast Photo Festival. The 10th edition of the event takes on the theme “Divergence,” with a focus on how contemporary photographers are addressing rapid digitalization, climate change, and AI.

Italian Photo Festivals

Fotografia Europea

“Nature Loves to Hide,” according to the organizers of the 19th edition of this festival. Both emerging and established photographers explore that theme at nine photo exhibits in the Italian city of Reggio Emilia through June 9.

Cortona on the Move

The 14th edition of this Italian festival in the medieval town of Cortona runs from July 11 through November 3. This year’s theme is “Body of Evidence,” with exhibits and events exploring all the nuances of the body through contemporary documentary narrative work.

Centrale Festival

Exhibits for this festival’s 15th edition are up from June 7 through 23 in the town of Fano, Italy. It’s focused on contemporary Italian artists and curators, with a series of conversations and events scheduled for June 7–9.

Exposed Torino Foto Festival

This brand new festival in the Italian city of Turin aims to “provoke contemplation regarding the transitional state of photography” with a multidisciplinary, inclusive approach to the medium. To that end, it has a multitude of exhibitions, talks, and other events scheduled through June 2.

[Read: Make Engagement Photography Magic at Lake Como]

Spanish Photo Festivals

Photo España

Spain will be one big photo festival until the end of September, with 84 exhibits featuring 293 artists popping up in locations all over the country for the 27th edition of Photo España, which takes “movement” as its theme.

Revela’t Contemporary Analog Photography Festival

This festival features film/chemical photography exclusively, bringing together artists from all over the world who specialize in the medium. Now in its 12th year, the festival takes “identity” as its theme this summer, running through June 16 in the Spanish town of Vilassar de Dalt, near Barcelona.

Getxophoto International Image Festival

The Basque town of Getxo, near Bilbao, will host the 18th edition of this festival, with the theme of “play,” from June 6 through 30. Most of the exhibitions will be open-air installations, so visitors can take in the whole festival during an afternoon stroll around town.

More European Photo Festivals

Athens Photo Festival

Featuring over 100 established and emerging artists from around the world, this edition of the Athens biennial runs from June 6 through July 28. A full slate of exhibitions and events is scheduled for the festival hub at the Benaki Museum, along with 16 satellite exhibitions sprinkled around the Greek capital.

RAY Triennial of Photography

The 5th RAY triennial brings 10 exhibition sites and a series of events to Frankfurt and the Rhine-Main region through September 1. This edition’s theme is “Echoes,” with 18 artists contributing work that explores it through reflections on identity, memory, and emotion.

Fotofestiwal

The 24th edition of this Polish festival runs from June 13 through 23 in Łódź. It’s “dedicated to the process of freeing and liberation,” with exhibitions and events scheduled at multiple locations in the city.

Traveling with the whole family? Take your kids to the festival’s “Photography is Everywhere” exhibit for answers to burning questions like “Do you know what spiders’ eyes really look like?” You can go without kids, too. We won’t judge.

The post Summer 2024 European Photo Festivals and Exhibits appeared first on Rangefinder.

Ready for a summer road trip? Set these photo exhibits as your destinations. Stop to see some shows featuring work by artists today as well as classic photographs from bygone eras along the way. It’s photo festival season, too, so don’t forget to include the nearest event on your itinerary.

MIDWEST

Road Trip: American Photographs, 1968–2005

There’s no better place to start your photo exhibits road trip than this Milwaukee show featuring work from 20 photographers who hit the highway to capture the beauty, banality, and complexities of American life across the nation. The exhibit runs from May 31 through August 4 at the Haggerty Museum of Art.

Captured Earth

Head to Chicago to explore “place, ecology, and the material and mystical qualities of the land” through photographs and installations by 20 artists. This show offers an expansive view of how artists have captured the earth over time, ranging from Karl Blossfeldt’s 19th century botanical prints to Jeremy Bolen’s recent works produced from film developed in a polluted river. See it all at the Museum of Contemporary Photography through August 18.

Classics

While you’re in Chicago, take in a couple more photo exhibits. Stop in at the Art Institute to see some classic direct-to-paper photographic works in the János Megyik Photograms exhibit through July 8, and explore the international resonance of 20th century modernism with Foreign Exchange: Photography between Chicago, Japan, and Germany, 1920–1960, from May 24 through August 18.

PENNSYLVANIA

Widening the Lens: Photography, Ecology, and the Contemporary Landscape

Photo exhibits are springing up all over Pennsylvania this summer. You can start in Pittsburgh to expand your view of ecology with this show at the Carnegie Museum of Art. Widening the Lens features almost 100 works by 19 artists exploring our relationship to the environment. The exhibit is up until January 12, 2025. If you’re driving there after June 26, you can listen to the show’s six-episode podcast hosted by tennis champion Venus Williams on your way.

Fellowship 24

While you’re in Pittsburgh, stop by the Silver Eye Center for Photography to see new work by six up-and-coming photographers who have been recognized by the organization’s annual juried competition. Their documentary and narrative series explore devotion to personal, social, and political concerns, and pursue new ways of constructing meaning through visual language. The exhibit is up through August 3.

Frank Stewart’s Nexus

Head east to Chadds Ford, Pennsylvania, to see this retrospective of Frank Stewart’s work at the Brandywine Museum of Art. Over 100 of his images from the 1960s to the present capture Black life and culture around the world and in Stewart’s home base in New York City, where he captured performances by jazz icons as senior staff photographer for Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra for 30 years. The show runs from June 29 through September 22.

Classics

Hit the road to Philadelphia to travel back to the 1970s with two photo exhibits at the Philadelphia Museum of Art: In the Right Place presents the work of three innovative portraitists of the era while Transformations: American Photographs from the 1970s reveals some of its broad social changes. Both shows are up through July 7.

NEW YORK CITY

COAL + ICE

If you’re not into cars, you can go to New York City and take a citywide tour of photo exhibits by train, ferry, bike, and your own two feet. Start at the Asia Society for this immersive photo and video exhibit that explores the causes and consequences of climate change, as well as some creative solutions. The show presents the work of more than 37 artists, and traveled through China, Europe and the western U.S. before landing in NYC. It will be there through August 11.

LaToya Ruby Frazier: Monuments of Solidarity

Head to MoMA for a look at how industrialization and deindustrialization have changed the human landscape in the United States. Frazier has been documenting the lives and labor of Rust Belt workers throughout the 21st century, and for this exhibit she organized her imagery into a sequence of installations she calls “monuments for workers’ thoughts.” Explore them through September 7.

Classics and Festivals

For insight into everyday life during the 20th century, go to Fotografiska to see Vivian Maier: Unseen Work. The show presents 200 of the documentarian’s works in print, Super 8, and sound from May 31 through September. To get a view of the 20th century from a distinctly different vantage point, check out Paul McCartney Photographs 1963–64: Eyes of the Storm through August 18 at the Brooklyn Museum. That show presents over 250 of the musician’s shots taken around the world at the height of Beatlemania.

If you’re in the Big Apple between June 1 and 16, you can go on a truly citywide photo exhibits tour by setting the Photoville festival’s 85 outdoor exhibits as your destinations in all five boroughs (yes, even Staten Island!). Check the festival’s website for exhibit locations and event listings.

[Read: Photo Books to Love: Titles By and About Women]

CALIFORNIA

The Artist Speaks: Cara Romero

Start your photo exhibits California road trip at the southern end of the state with this exhibit at the San Diego Museum of Art. Romero explores historical and contemporary narratives of identity and heritage through vivid scenarios and self portraiture, drawing on her dual identity as a citizen of the Chemehuevi Indian Tribe and an urban Houstonian. The show runs through October 20.

Classics

To take in some of the earliest self-portraiture and historical scenes, stop off in Los Angeles to see the 19th century photographic explorations of Hippolyte Bayard: A Persistent Pioneer and Nineteenth-Century Photography Now. The latter show pairs older works with thematically similar images from 21 contemporary photographers. Both exhibits are up at the Getty through July 7.

Brian Taylor: The Art of Getting Lost

Continue your exploration of 19th century photochemistry in Carmel with this exhibit from contemporary alternative process maven Brian Taylor. The show presents images from 50 years of his surrealist explorations of all manner of photographic image-making, from gum bichromate and cyanotype to mixed media. The show runs from June 8 through July 28 at the Center for Photographic Art.

Christina Fernandez: Multiple Exposures

At the San Jose Museum of Art, immerse yourself in Christina Fernandez’s explorations of migration, labor, gender, and Mexican American identity. Photographic series and installations from the past 30 years of her highly conceptual work shift between the political and the personal, and between portraiture and landscapes. The show runs from June 7 through September.

Zanele Muholi: Eye Me

At the northern end of your California photo tour, explore the work of South African visual activist Zenele Muholi at the Museum of Photographic Arts at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The exhibit brings his photographic representations of the LGBTQ+ community in South Africa together with his painting and sculpture to explore gender identity, representation, and race. The show runs through August 11.

Classics

While you’re in San Francisco, spend some time with iconic portraitist Irving Penn. About 175 of his images of 20th century luminaries are on display at the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco: de Young through July 21.

SOUTHERN U.S.

From Alpha to Creation: Religion in the Deep South

Twenty artists working in photography, film, and sculpture delve into religious life in the region spanning from North Carolina to eastern Texas in this exhibit. Their explorations of theology, iconography, religious practice, and ritual are on view at the North Carolina Museum of Art through August 18 in Raleigh.

Truth Told Slant

“Tell all the truth but tell it slant,” wrote the poet Emily Dickinson. The slant in this exhibit is the personal perspective that photographers bring to documentary work. The five documentarians whose images are presented blend observation with narrative to explore contentious issues of our times, from race and identity to globalization and climate change. You can see the stories they tell through August 11 at the High Museum of Art in Atlanta.

Thank You Please Come Again

Kate Medley’s 10-year road trip through the southern states culminated in this exhibit and her new book, Thank You Please Come Again: How Gas Stations Feed & Fuel the American South. Her photographic journey focused on the roadside service stations and convenience stores that double as restaurants and community hubs throughout the region. You can see 22 of Medley’s images from the series through June 23 at the Mississippi Museum of Art in Jackson, and pick up the book there to take the rest with you.

Classics

Swing by the New Orleans Museum of Art in Louisiana to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Surrealist Manifesto with the six 20th century photographers featured in Double Space: Women Photographers and Surrealism through August 4. Then head west to Fort Worth, Texas, and take in some rarely seen photographs from Hollywood’s golden age. Moving Pictures: Karl Struss and the Rise of Hollywood includes 100 images by the photographer and cinematographer, along with films and archival materials. That show runs through August 25 at the Amon Carter Museum of American Art.

The post Summer 2024 US Photo Exhibits Road Trip appeared first on Rangefinder.

The Legend Awards is a new competition for elopement photographers to share the very best of candid and storytelling elopement photos. Excluding all styled shoots and all weddings with over 15 guests, the competition focuses on the real moments that happen at elopements and microweddings all around the world.

The judges, who rotate from round to round, are also full-time elopement photographers who know the unique challenges and rewards of elopement photography. They’re looking for strong composition, creative storytelling, emotional impact, and personality to select the winners.

The awards aim to show the world that elopements are so much more than just a photoshoot in a pretty location, but are in fact full of magical, emotional, spontaneous and authentic expressions of true love. Not every elopement happens on a cliff edge or after a grueling hike. Couples who get married on a rooftop, a courthouse, a downtown bar, or in their living room are just as welcome. 

Submission Details

All photographers are invited to submit up to five elopement images per round for only $19, no subscription necessary. Round 2 is underway now and open until June 30th, 2024. Legend Award winners are given a backlink and badged winning image, as well as a ready-made social media press kit to share with their followers. All couples from all backgrounds, body types, orientations and elopement styles are welcome.

Photographers who submit and are not selected as winners are invited to post their images for feedback inside their welcoming Facebook group. The opportunity to find out why their images didn’t make the final cut is a valuable asset to photographers who are looking to grow their skills — not just to win awards, but to bring additional value to their next client shoot. 

There are four rounds of competition per year. Round 1 photos were judged by 2024 Rangefinder Rising Star recipient, Traci Edwards of Adventure and Vow. While over 100 photographers submitted to the first round, fewer than 7% of images were awarded. These elopement images represent the best of the best from every corner of the globe. Because when a story is told well, it becomes Legend.

Stay up to date on all the Legend Awards news on their website and by following their Instagram. 

The award-winning photographers featured in this article are: Victoria and Fabian Willi, Raini Rowell, Malachi Lewis — Shell Creek Photography, Kelly Shoul — In Love and Adventure, Marla Manes, Nina Larsen, Naomi Leavit, Emre Nesli, Julie Haider, Kaitlyn Holeman, and Kate Okenatez-Mahoney — Make Adventure Stories. To see the rest of the winning images, view the Elopement Legend Awards Winners Gallery.

As a thank you to our readers, we’re pleased to offer you a Rangefinder exclusive discount code to get 25% off The Portrait Masters courses below. Use the code RF25 at check out to redeem. This code cannot be used in combination with other sales.

Photographing Couples In Love by Kristina Wikle

The Location Lighting Series

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The torch of excellence of WPPI’s Photo Competition has been successfully passed along to the Icon Awards with its inaugural session held at WPPI last March. Competition co-directors Melissa and Jerry Ghionis achieved their goal of sustaining the prestige of the former competition while elevating the experience for participants with both in-person and virtual events.

According to co-director Melissa Ghionis, the Icon Awards’ other main goals were “to celebrate the finalists and the winners all week long” and “focus on what makes an award-winning image by providing valuable feedback to the entrants.” These aims were accomplished through the Icon Awards Judging Room, live image judging on the WPPI Show Floor, the Icon Awards Gallery on the Show Floor, and a black-tie Celebration Gala with live music.

The Icon Awards Experience

The Icon Awards offered an incredible experience for all levels of pass holders at WPPI. Live judging of all the top ten images in all categories happened on March 3 and 4^th all day long with the winners being celebrated at the Gala on March 5^th. Photographers gathered in the hushed room as photograph handlers brought out the top ten scoring prints in each category to the semi-circle of waiting judges.

The images were projected on a big screen for those in attendance to view as the judges gave their critiques. The winners for first, second, and third place were determined live by these judges with conference goers in attendence, giving an unprecedented view into the process of choosing award-winning images. Watch all 18 hours of judging and the Icon Gala Awards Ceremony with live musical performances on the Icon Awards YouTube channel.

Icon Awards judges also offered live judging on the WPPI Show Floor. There were twelve different sessions on the Show Floor, which you can view here. While the judging of the digital competition didn’t happen at WPPI, they are also available to watch here.

Another special feature of the contest at WPPI this year was the Icon Awards Gallery, which was displayed on the Show Floor. Many of the images were accompanied with a QR code, which the viewer could scan for behind-the-scenes video of how the image was created.

The Icon Awards strives to offer a forum for photographers to not only showcase their talent, but also to develop their skills through critiques. Valuable learning comes about not just from having one’s own image critiqued, but also from seeing how other images are critiqued. Judges strongly recommend anyone who is submitting to view as many image critiques as possible.

Community, Innovation, and Celebration

Isshak Savio, who received his Master designation describes the Icon Awards as, “a dynamic artistic landscape where innovation and inspiration thrive.” Savio won first place in two categories — Wedding Couple Together: Wedding Day and Wedding Party: Family and Friends. He also took second place in two categories – Bride or Groom Alone: Wedding Day and Maternity. 

He goes on to express the social and artistic value that the Icon Awards at WPPI provide, saying “Through this competition, we are no longer just photographers working in isolation. You offer us an opportunity to shine, to be highlighted, and to surpass ourselves as artists. These competitions bring us together, giving us a purpose and a goal to strive for. They create a real community of photographers where we can seriously evaluate our level and encourage each other to push our limits.”

For co-directors Melissa and Jerry Ghionis, being able to see the difference the awards makes for so many diverse and eclectic photographers around the globe is one of the most rewarding aspects of the competition.

Get Ready for the Next Round of Icon Awards

If you’d like to be involved in the Icon Awards, the time to prepare is now. Entries open on August 1^st and close on Oct 1^st. In the meantime, be sure to check out the rules, the categories, the types of entries and their fees, how scoring works, and the prizes you’ll be eligible for. Especially don’t forget to check out the image reviews (linked above) to get perspective on what to submit and amazing tips on how to prepare those images for competition. And while you’re there, you might also like to pick up some classy Icon Awards merchandise.

Best of luck to everyone who joins the competition. I can’t wait to see your work during the Icon Awards programming at WPPI March 18 – 20^th. Pick up your WPPI Conference Pass today!

Creative Portrait Series

The Imagination Series

Photographing Couples In Love by Kristina Wikle

The Ultimate Lighting Course

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Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography is an exclusive list of up-and-coming wedding photographers from around the globe.

Our final 30 Rising Stars are selected in a process that involves three rounds. Initial nominations are made by established industry professionals and wedding photographers. Nominees must have been shooting weddings on a full-time basis for five years or less to be eligible.

If picked from among the nominees, they are requested to fill out a questionnaire and submit 30 photos from their portfolio. Those who show exceptional promise for advancing and evolving the aesthetics of wedding photography are selected as top 50 finalists with the final 30 announced at WPPI.

Our 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography 2024 excelled in all areas judges evaluate, including consistent style, narrative strength, and post-processing prowess.

Lead Judge and Content Director for Rangefinder, Arlene Evans says, “These photographers represent the next exciting generation of storytellers bringing fresh and unique style to wedding photography. Their stories evoke emotion that resonates with the viewer. They also show technical proficiency and push the boundaries with their perspectives and post-processing skills.”
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We are very pleased to introduce them in our Winners Gallery. Learn More »

Photographing Couples In Love by Kristina Wikle

Family Lifestyle Photography by Elena Blair

The Location Lighting Series

The post Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography 2024 are Here! appeared first on Rangefinder.

Rangefinder has announced our 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography for 2024!

During WPPI, 2012 Rising Star Caroline Tran took to the WPPI Stage on the Show Floor to announce who among the 50 finalists of Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography made it into the coveted final 30. Tran said, “When I came to WPPI for the first time 15 years ago, I was so inspired by all the amazing artists that I met and could only dream of being up on stage with them one day. And here I am today helping celebrate these 30 Rising Stars! I hope you all find just as much inspiration from their beautiful work as I have. I can’t wait to watch what this new generation of incredible photographers does next!” 

Meet our 2024 Winners in our Winners Gallery!

Rangefinder’s 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography are: 

• Chirstopher Akpokodje 
• Mikalynn Amos 
• Kim Wilfriedsson 
• Mariana Barbosa 
• Brjánn Batista Bettencourt 
• Radostina Boseva 
• Tash Busta 
• Aurora Ceriani 
• Traci Edwards & William Young 
• Carlos Ferreira 
• Robin Goodlad 
• Raphaëlle Granger 
• Agata Grzaba 
• Daniela Gutierrez Herrera 
• Rune Havn 
• Autumn Jordan 
• Juliana Noelle Jumper 
• Koko King 
• Echo Kowalski 
• Mati Machner 
• Natallia Nikolaichik
• Timi Oshin
• Yana Petrova
• Sam Rose & Chris Grandy
• Anna Sauza
• Parker Selman
• Vanessa da Silva
• Valeria Velázquez Pichardo
• Marie Thibault
• Darren & Shamakia Williams

Now, in its twelfth year, Rising Stars is a program that invites photographers and industry tastemakers to nominate photographers who have been working full time in the business for five years or less. Those who are chosen from the initial nomination process are invited to submit a portfolio of 30 images and fill out an extensive questionnaire about their background and business, including their style, client experience, approach to post-production, and growth as an artist. 

Congratulations to all our 30 Rising Stars of 2024! Like Tran, we just can’t wait to see what you create next! 

View the 2024 Rising Stars Winners Gallery!

Photographing Couples In Love by Kristina Wikle

The Location Lighting Series

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Creatives could soon see which generative AI programs were ethically trained, thanks to a new initiative called Fairly Trained. Much like the Energy Star stamp indicates which appliances have conservative power consumption, the Fairly Trained Certified stamp is designed to indicate which programs were copyright-conscious during training. The program has just announced its first nine certified companies on Jan. 17, though the list lacks the names of the most recognizable platforms. 

The program could help ease some photographers concerns over generative AI using content under copyright without the artists’ consent, flagging which programs ethically source images. While many generative AI companies says that the training data falls under fair use, many artists disagree, sparking lawsuits from individual artists to large companies such as Getty. 

The idea behind the Fairly Trained stamp came after founder and CEO ED Newton-Rex quit his job at Stability AI over concern for creators. Newton-Rex, who also has a background as a musician, created the non-profit in order to identify which companies amid the booming AI industry obtain a license before using works for training. 

[Read: Embedded Authenticity Signatures Could Fight AI Fakes]

The non-profit’s first certification is a Licensed Model, which indicates that the company obtained a license before using any copyrighted work in the training data. The certification includes multiple license types including permissive open licenses, but excludes companies claiming a fair use exception. The organization says that certifications are available for entire companies or for single programs. 

While a majority of the organization’s first certifications are for generative music software, the list does include one visual generator, Bria AI, a company that produces software for retailers and brands. 

Training AI based on images scraped form the internet appears to be the norm, but the outcry from creatives has sparked programs that aim to appease creators. Adobe, for example, says that Adobe Firefly is trained on Adobe stock, openly licensed images, and public domain content. Nvidia also says that its Picasso software is trained using licenses. 

If the program becomes more widespread, the Fairly Trained Certified icon could help photographers and other creatives decide which — if any — tools to use. As the tech grows, AI becomes harder to avoid with its integration in everything from from eye-detection autofocus to smart photo editing tools. 

AI-based companies can start the certification process on the Fairly Certified website. 

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