The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalists Association ([AG]WPJA) is a “group of international wedding photojournalists, who capture unscripted wedding moments as they happen, and excel in the art of post-production image processing. The [AG]WPJA is a division within the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA); one which specifically promotes Fine Art Wedding Photojournalism.”

Membership is based on a fairly rigid portfolio review process, so it’s an honor just to be selected. Once every quarter, the [AG]WPJA runs a competition for its members.  The competition not only helps fund the [AG]WPJA through the entry fees, it also also fosters a competitive spirit amongst the members and challenges us photographers to push ourselves.  Membership spans the globe, and it’s always great to see the phenomenal work put forth by the [AG]WPJA community.  This quarter’s competition was judged by the legendary Seth Resnick, a heavy hitter in the editorial and advertising photography world.

When the e-mail came in yesterday announcing the results of the Q1 competition, I was pleased to see an image of mine used front and center in the “Ceremony” category (see pic below).  Strangely, they chose to use the image that placed thirteenth and not my other image that placed eighth.

Below are the full-size versions of my winning images and the comments by the judge, Seth Resnick.

19th Place--Getting Ready. From Jenni and Tyson's wedding at Estancia La Jolla.

Judge’s Comments: Great moment and very nice color. This image would have placed higher up if the “no parking sign” were removed. This really hurts the image and it is so easy to remove. Also, I wish the feet on the women on the right were not cut off.

8th Place--Ceremony. From Amanda and Steve's wedding at the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Judge’s Comments: I love the bride behind the curtain and love that part of the groom is open. The sepia quality is very nice here. I would have cleaned up the specular highlight in the top right and may have cropped in just a bit from the right but still another very strong image.

13th Place--Ceremony. From the wedding of Amanda and Steve at the Rancho Bernardo Inn.

Judge’s Comments: Great light and shadow and a really nice angle. The shadows are clipped a bit too much and the horizon line would benefit from a little straightening but still a very nice image.

19th Place--Wedding Day or Engagement Portrait. From the engagement session of Natalie and Dave in La Jolla

Judge’s Comments: The backlight is beautiful in this image and the strong shadows of the tree and the small sunburst are all a nice touch. There is detail just about everywhere and the composition is handled very nicely. I am bothered a bit by the two old ropes hanging from the tree as they draw attention away from the subjects. I probably would have retouched them out.