“You miss a 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.” ~ Wayne Gretzky

Barely a week has gone by since we undertook the opportunity of a lifetime. Between that, the hopeless jetlag and the fact that we did make it to Dollywood, we are just starting to process it all. We are weary and elated and have much to share on our experiences being mentored and “what the flashed” by the most fabulous celebrity photography duo… Bob and Dawn Davis.  We simply adore you. And we miss you so very, very much.

Thank you so much for the most incredible real wedding experience. To shoot alongside you for 3 days of this Southern extravaganza, to tap into your incredible knowledge and expertise has us both humbled, at a loss for words (truly…) and both more confident, completely overwhelmed and amazed by your generosity of spirit and the passion you have for your craft and industry. We survived Nashville, and Nashvegas survived us. Probably, barely. And certainly the streets in the US are safer for our return to the RIGHT side of the road.

I was planning on keeping this little touch base blog post briefly to about 2 paragraphs.  Am sure I will fail miserably as there is so much in our hearts and so much thanks to give and so many photos to post very soon. Goodness, Dawn, you know you had me at that tree before we had even explored the stunning and historic Cedarwood Antebellum Mansion.  The location, the venues, the details, the techniques, the people… All were simply epic. It was heavenly. Honestly it was all so worth it at the end of Day 1, following a golden row boat ride and a pillow fight in the paddock and that back-lighting shoot. Way before the wedding bells, you both took us to another level of this compelling photo journey. And especially, in light of all that has transpired this year, we are forever grateful. Always.

Bob and Dawn…you radiate light, love and utter fabulousness.

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The “Prix de la Photographie, Paris” (Px3) is a global photography contest which strives to promote the appreciation of photography, to discover emerging talent, and introduce photographers from around the world to the artistic community of Paris. We’ve entered previously with success in the non-professional division. This year, with all that has happened, we had completely forgotten all about it. Not even on the radar. Then right at the deadline we were reminded and very quickly decided to enter a few images, with a purpose. A purpose to create if possible a global dialogue and ongoing awareness of the situation in Japan. This time round we had to enter the staggeringly intimidating professional categories.

We received word last week that all our images had made it to the official Jury Selection. Which we were delighted enough about. For several reasons. For starters the Jury looks like this (and these are just a few of the many, many judges):

• Alice Gabriner:  World Picture Editor | National Geographic
• Carol Johnson:  Curator of Photography Library of Congress | D.C.
• Daphne Angles:  Photo Editor | NY Times | Paris
• Jerome Huffer:  Photo Editor | Paris Match | Paris
• Miriam Leuchter:  Editor | Popular Photography | New York

Px3 asks each judge to use the same criteria when reviewing the photographs: originality, creativity, excellence of execution, and overall impact. The Jury consists of high profile photographers, curators, magazine editors. Yep. So that was scary enough.

Then there was the issue of the subject matter. And exactly which images to enter. This was very tough. But ultimately we decided to go with some of our most poignant imagery from Tohoku. Simply because nothing else seemed as relevant right now.

We are always very, very mindful to be true to our artistic and personal integrity and in no way use our work, especially in this case in Tohoku, as a platform for personal gain. Our intention from the get go has always been, in this most extreme of situations, to keep Tohoku always in our hearts and do what we can to create ongoing awareness within Japan and the international community beyond. It was our verdant hope to fulfill the later in this case.

We had word on Saturday that we received a silver medal  and an honorable mention. We are very moved. Particularly in this world of desensitization just a little over 100 days on. Even for a short time, our images gave some, on the opposite side of the world, pause to reflect and remember. And that is the point. Honestly our Tohoku imagery is perhaps not even near our best work. We know that. But it is and will probably always remain our most emotional and raw. And as painful and as private and as agonizing as it was and continues to be for those still living through it, we feel in this case, the old rules of desensitivity shouldn’t apply. And so we shared.

The Silver Medal was in the Press Feature Story, the HM in the Press General Story. Both these entries were submitted as series. A series entry consists of two to five photographs that share the same theme or concept and tell a story. All images in a series must be strong as work is judged as a whole and not individually.

Seems like we were not alone in entering. A list of all the entrants by country can be found here. Take a moment to get lost in, to explore to be inspired and astounded by some simply incredible imagery. PX3 is here.. CameraArts Magazine says the “Px3 is Europe’s biggest and most prestigious photography competition”.

Here are the official press releases. We have no one to release them to… so we are releasing them to you.  It’s a way to release the release.  Release it to the world. What a release…

It’s nice to have a release…

Who wants to come to Paris with us for the show?

“Nothing is real if you don’t believe in who you are.” Rocky Balboa, Rocky III

Time for a bit of better news. Before that, thank you truly to everyone for the overwhelming response via emails, calls and FB messages to yesterday’s flood post. We had record hits here on the blog and feel it is the very least we can do to share our images and experiences of this terrific disaster. Extreme weather conditions continue in Queensland and other parts of Australia and our thoughts are still firmly with all the victims and those suffering the horrific effects and aftermath of the clean-up. We encourage everyone to feel free to share our post with friends, family and colleagues and to download (by right-clicking) any flood photos you may wish to have.

So today onto a little better news, always moving forward, trying something new. Over the holiday break we had word that we received 6 Bronze Awards in the Canon Creative Asia Photography Awards. The inaugural contest. Not too bad to begin with out of 1600 images. One of Trace’s photos was chosen in the top 25 of her category and was judged live in the finals yesterday.

It was such a learning curve and we have learnt – ALOT. Very happy to make it to the podes. Tough but very thrilled to be involved. More happy news to follow!