My Painted Pet Portraits Were a Success!
Wow! The past few days have been a whirlwind. The largest photographic competition for professional photographers (IPC) hosted by the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) just concluded yesterday. Judging started at 4 PM on Sunday evening and ran 3 hours on Sunday. Monday and Tuesday were full days (8:30 to 6 and 8 to 6, respectively). The final day was yesterday and judging ran until early afternoon. Atlanta, where PPA is headquartered, played host to the event. Fortunately, judging was live-streamed via the internet. I was glued to my computer or iPad screen for most of that time. With 5 rooms going at once, I was constantly jumping from room to room to try to catch my own painted pet portrait entries, any animal image being judged, and also entries submitted by friends and colleagues. My neck is still stiff from spending way too long leaning into the computer monitor for 3+ days.
My Painted Pet Portrait Entries
Four of my images were entered in the Photographic Open category of the competition. All 4 were client’s dogs that were photographed in studio and then painted in Photoshop. I am proud to say that all 4 earned merit scores toward my Master of Photography degree with PPA. The first image is called “Mom’s Pride and Joy”. This little guy is the smallest little Yorkshire Terrier. His name is Dash. He came to a portrait session back in February – all the way from Nashville, Tennessee!
The next competition image is entitled “Oscar Mayer”. I just couldn’t help but think of the little ditty from the ages old commercial when I named this one. You remember it, don’t you? “My baloney has a first name, it’s O-S-C-A-R. My baloney has a second name, it’s M-A-Y-E-R”. Okay, I know this is a Dachshund, but Oscar Mayer sold hot dogs too!
Third was “Mop Top Diva”. This little Yorkshire Terrier girl’s real name is Roxie and her mom brought her for a session last summer. She was a delight and I can’t wait until she comes back. Her mom is already planning her next portrait session.
Finally, my last merited image in this year’s competition was entitled “Velveteen Vixen”. Pila is a Mudi, a Hungarian herding breed. She was imported from Hungary and came in for puppy photos not long after arriving in Kentucky. Her session was a blast! Puppies are so entertaining. She did hold still (with some help) long enough for some great photos. This particular portrait was painted in Photoshop (like all those above).
Is Painting Easy?
Is painting easy? Yes and no. It is time-consuming and requires a great deal of mental focus. I enjoy doing it. Doing anything you enjoy makes it seem easier.
Are you curious about how much work goes into a painted portrait? The final image above was painted version #30. Below is the straight out of camera shot.
And here is the first painted version:
You can see it was a pretty large transformation to get from the original image to finished product.
