I didn't have much expectation of winning Professional Photographer Of The Year, but as I was a finalist in the News category, I thought it was only right to go along and be a part of the awards night. At least it was an excuse for my wife Fe and I to have a day or two away. The night before the awards, I visited my dad at hospital after he had just gone through a kidney operation. He was in an enormous amount of pain and I wished the awards had been the following week, instead of the following night. But it made me think it would be really nice to win the award, because I knew that it would give him a big boost and it would mean a lot to him.
When we arrived at the venue, there was an easel for each category that had a collage of the finalists photos on it. We had a good look at each board before getting to the news category, but we were both surprised to see the other nine finalists photos printed there, but not mine. Maybe if I had engaged my brain I would have realised that none of the winners were included on the finalists prints, which were actually taped down to hide the winners. As the awards started, it was made clear by judge and compare Adam Scorly, that "if your photo isn't included on the prints, you've done pretty well!". So the penny dropped and I realised that, as mine was the only photo in the News category that was missing, it had to be the winner....dahhh!
Maybe it was an omen that earlier in the day, a pedestrian tried to re-inact my soon to be winning photo by falling in the street, which I shot with the same X100 (cue Twilight Zone music). I also took a few street shots in Brisol and Cheltenham and will be posting them on 35mmStreet this week.
For a change, it really was back to sunny Scotland. As we walked out of the airport, the sun was shinning and the shadows were long. A combination I'm growing to love.
So the little Fujifim X100 that I took the winning shot with, just keeps taking me to places I don't expect. It's been a game changer for me and many others, including my fellow Kage Collective colleagues, Patrick LaRoque, Paul Pride, Robert Catto and Flemming Bo Jensen. It was also great to talk to a few of the nice people at Loxley Colour who did a fantastic job of printing all the photos, including the large ones of the winners. I was really impressed by the resolution from the X100 print, which sadly, I wasn't able to take it on the flight home. But Loxley kindly offered to do another print that I can collect from their lab near by, so a big thanks to them.
You can read all about the winning photo on The Digital Contact Sheet :: Episode 3 or by clicking HERE
A huge thanks to everyone that sent congratulations by text, email, tweets, Facebook etc... I really appreciate it!
- Top photo of the X100 was taken by the X-Pro1 and the 35mm f1.4
- The shot of myself was taken by Fe with the X-E1 and the 18mm f2
- Last two shots were taken with the X100
Addendum :: Click HERE for some street photos taken in Bristol & Cheltenham during this trip.