Photos Accepted Into PPA's International Print Exhibition

In our first submission to the annual competition, two of our photo prints were accepted into the 115th International Exhibition of Professional Photography, held by the PPA (Professional Photographers Association). One of the prints - "The Carolina at Pinehurst - Panorama" was accepted into the General Collection, and the other - "Downtown Manhattan - Panorama" was accepted into the Loan Collection.

Approximately 5,000 entries were submitted to PPA’s International Print Competition, and less than 10% of the submissions made it into the Loan Collection, so the award for "Downtown Manhattan - Panorama" is especially exciting. The collections will be on display in San Antonio on January 14-16, 2006 during Imaging USA, the PPA's annual convention.

Both prints were submitted into the Electronic Imaging category, where both the photographic merits of the prints and the creation techniques of the images were judged. Our two accepted prints were both panoramas -- made from stiching together a series of images. "The Carolina at Pinehurst" is also an example of HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography, where each section of the panorama was created from several exposures, allowing the full range of shadows and highlights to come through.

"The Carolina at Pinehurst" is an iconic image, currently used by Pinehurst Resort in marketing and press media. Pinehurst was the site of the 1999 and 2005 US Opens in golf.

"Downtown Manhattan" is a special image. It was taken from the observation deck on the Empire State Building on September 11, 2002, the first anniversary of the WTC attacks. President Bush is speaking on Ellis Island, which is why the Island and the Statue of Liberty have extra spotlights shining on them. The view looks down Broadway, past the Flatiron Building, and you can see Ground Zero near the tip of Manhattan. Past the Harbor, you can see Jersey City, and in the far distance, past the Verazanno Bridge, are the lights of Sandy Hook, New Jersey.