And a drumroll please…Six of my Burlesque portraits won in the Celebrity/Editorial Portrait Category of PDN’s Faces 2010 Competition. The July 2010 Photo District News includes photos of Candy Carmelo and Kitten DeVille. The rest of the winning entry includes Dirty Martini, Roxi DLite,  April March and the Chicago Starlets. My thanks to the lovely and talented Burlesque dancers. Take a bow ladies!

EQUIPMENT:
Sony a900 Cameras
Sony Zeiss 24-70/2.8
Profoto 2400 Acute 2
X-Rite ColorChecker Passport
iOne Pro

Click here for a Behind-the-Scenes look at one of my burlesque shoots.

$25k Photography Book Now 2010 Competition Announced

The call for entries for Blurb’s third annual Photography Book Now self-published book competition has been announced.

Darius Himes, a writer, consultant and acquiring editor at Radius Books, will again serve as lead judge in the competition. This year’s jury also includes:

Monica Allende, Photo Editor, London Sunday Times
David Fahey, Gallery Director, Fahey Klein
Michael Mack, Publisher, SteidlMack
Lesley Martin, Publisher, Aperture
Erin O’Toole, Assistant Curator of Photography, San Francisco Museum of Modern Art
Judith Puckett-Rinella, Senior Photography Editor, T: The New York Times Style Magazine
Susan Meiselas, Photographer
Martin Parr, Photographer
Brian Smith, Photographer

The grand prize carries a cash award of $25,000. In addition to other prizes, the grand prize book, and books by the finalists in three categories—fine art, editorial and photography portfolio—will become part of the permanent collections at ICP, the Annenberg Space for Photography, and the George Eastman House.

Submissions will be taken through July 15, 2010. Entry details can be found at: http://photographybooknow.blurb.com/

Congrats to fellow Mizzou photojournalism alum, director Louie Psihoyos for his Oscar nomination and Directors Guild win for ‘The Cove’. As an old friend, I still remember Louie getting his film debut in a cameo as a news photographer  in a Sylvester Stallone film in Dubuque, Iowa before going on to J-School…well look who’s invited to the Red Carpet this year…

THE COVE from thonie lee on Vimeo.

BIG THANKS to the Best of ASMP 2009 for this sweet profile of my ‘Art & Soul’ project. Great interview by PDN’s Jill Waterman with the background how the project came together and how The Creative Coalition has been able to use the project to successfully lobby for increased funding of the arts and arts education.

Editorial Photographers is pleased to announce the winners of the 2nd Annual EP Education Grants student photo competition:

Leah Tepper-Byrne – ICP
Theresa Juarez – Academy of Art University, SF
ValJean Anderson – Academy of Art University, SF
Eliot Crowley – Academy of Art University, SF
Ross Feighery – Columbia College, Chicago
Samuel James – Tufts University
Joseph Escamilla – Pasadena Art Center College of Design

Each winner will receive a $1000 cash prize, ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30 camera bag, Blinkbid Software, one year Livebooks:Edu subscription, one year PhotoShelter standard account, and other prizes.

The winners were selected by members of the EP Board of Directors and Special Guest Judges:

Laurie Kratochvil, former Director of Photography at Rolling Stone and InStyle
Rob Haggart, of aphotoeditor.com, former Director of Photography at Men’s Journal and Outside
Ronnie Weil, Director of Photography at Business Week
Robert Mansfield, Art Director at Forbes

EP wishes to congratulate or winners and thank our lovely judges!
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Editorial Photographers [EP] is a non-profit, mutual benefit organization of working and emerging photographers, educators, and students who participate in the field of editorial photography. EP’s mission is to raise awareness of proper business practices among photographers, and to advocate for contracts and terms that allow both creators and users of editorial photography to profit and prosper. To apply for membership in EP, please visit http://www.editorialphoto.com/register

The entry deadline for Editorial Photographers’ Second Annual EP Education Grants student photo competition is TOMORROW, May 30, 2009.

A total of seven prize packages are available to full time photography students who enter and submit their portfolio by the deadline.  Each package includes a $1000 cash prize, a ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30 camera bag, Blinkbid Software, a one year subscription to Livebooks:Edu, a one year Standard Account at PhotoShelter, and other prizes.

EP is also pleased to announce that our guest judges for the 2009 Grants include Laurie Kratochvil, former Director of Photography at Rolling Stone and InStyle, aphotoeditor.com Rob Haggart, former Director of Photography at Men’s Journal and Outside, Robert Mansfield, Art Director of Forbes and Ronnie Weil, Director of Photography of Business Week.

Get the full details here: http://www.editorialphoto.com/epedu and please feel free to forward this message to any full time student who may be eligible, or to teachers and staff of eligible photography programs. Good luck to all the entrants!
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Editorial Photographers [EP] is a non-profit, mutual benefit organization of working and emerging photographers, educators, and students who participate in the field of editorial photography.  EP’s mission is to raise awareness of proper business practices among photographers, and to advocate for contracts and terms that allow both creators and users of editorial photography to profit and prosper.  To apply for membership in EP, please visit http://www.editorialphoto.com/register .

To meet late demand, Editorial Photographers [EP] has extended the entry deadline for our Second Annual EP Education Grants student photo competition until May 30, 2009.

A total of seven prize packages are available to full time photography students who enter and submit their portfolio by the deadline.  Each package includes a $1000 cash prize, a ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30 camera bag, Blinkbid Software, a one year subscription to Livebooks:Edu, a one year Standard Account at PhotoShelter, and other prizes.

EP is also pleased to announce that our guest judges for the 2009 Grants include Laurie Kratochvil, former Director of Photography at Rolling Stone and InStyle, aphotoeditor.com Rob Haggart, former Director of Photography at Men’s Journal and Outside and Robert Mansfield, Art Director of Forbes.

Get the full details here: http://www.editorialphoto.com/epedu and please feel free to forward this message to any full time student who may be eligible, or to teachers and staff of eligible photography programs. Good luck to all the entrants!
—
Editorial Photographers [EP] is a non-profit, mutual benefit organization of working and emerging photographers, educators, and students who participate in the field of editorial photography.  EP’s mission is to raise awareness of proper business practices among photographers, and to advocate for contracts and terms that allow both creators and users of editorial photography to profit and prosper.  To apply for membership in EP, please visit http://www.editorialphoto.com/register .

In a competition judged by one of my favorite photographers of all time, legendary Magnum photographer Elliott Erwitt, my photograph of Swimmers at Century Village has been chosen out of nearly 35,000 entries from photographers in 112 countries as one of the 150 photographs that will appear in the book Fresh M.I.L.K.: Families, Friendship, Lovers & Laughter. Inspired by the 1950’s landmark photographic exhibition, Family of Man curated by Edward Steichen for the Museum of Modern Art in 1950. Fresh M.I.L.K.: Families, Friendship, Lovers & Laughter will be available November 2009

I took the photo on assignment for Maxim magazine to photograph Florida Voters during the 2000 Presidential recount and elderly voters in Palm Beach county were a big part of the story so I headed to the Century Village retirement community. The minute I saw these two women, I figured it was the perfect photo since everyone knows Maxim loves to run photos of girls in bathing suits….

In an effort to recognize and support emerging editorial photographers, EP is pleased to announce our Second Annual EP Education Grants student photo competition!

New this year, two additional cash prizes of $1000 each, for a total of seven available $1000 awards courtesy of EP and Blinkbid!

Awards will be granted to each of seven outstanding full time photography students. Winners will each receive the following items courtesy of EP, BlinkBid, and several other industry sponsors:

* A $1000 check to further their photographic career
* ThinkTank Urban Disguise 30 camera bag
* Blinkbid Software
* One-year EP membership with winning entries shown on the EP website
* One-year Subscription on Livebooks:Edu
* John Harrington’s book, “Best Business Practices for Photographers”

The panel of contest judges will include EP Board Members and several Guest Judges who will be announced shortly.

Eligible contestants must be enrolled in an accredited, full time college photography program in the U.S. or Canada during the 2008-2009 year, and previous winners are not eligible to win again. All entries must be complete by 12:01am on Saturday, May 16, 2009, so don’t delay!

Get the full details here: http://www.editorialphoto.com/epedu and please feel free to forward these details to any full time student who may be eligible, or to teachers and staff of eligible photography programs. Good luck to all the entrants!

WWW.BRIANSMITHMIAMI.COM was recognized for outstanding Website Design by the judges of the 2008 AltPick Awards competition.

The AltPick Awards jury included:

Laurie Kratochvil, Freelance Photo Editor, New York, NY
Evan Kriss, Photo Editor, The Washington Post, Washington D.C.
Carolyn Rausch, Photo Editor, WIRED, San Francisco, CA
Rob Beckon, Art Buyer, 72andSunny, El Segundo, CA
Cindy Rowe, Manager/Art Production, Saatchi & Saatchi, Torrance CA
Jimmy Collins, Associate Creative Director, Hills Holiday Advertising, Inc, New York, NY
Jason Cochrane, Creative Director, Keltie+Cochrane, Newcastle, England
Matthew Richmond, Web Designer, The Chopping Block, New York, NY