Weekend Wisdom - Print Competition and Friendships

Over the years there have been a half dozen or so blog posts by or about the work of a good friend, Bob Coates. His Successful-Photographer blog is loaded with helpful ideas for professional photographers to raise the bar on the quality of not only your work, but your business.

Yesterday, thanks to SproutingPhotographer.com, a new episode of Weekend Wisdom aired and it's about one of my favorite topics, print competition.  Right off the bat, one of the things I love about the topic is that it represents where the friendship with Bob first started...he was a print judge for WPPI's 16x20 print competition. Print competition is near and dear to his love for the industry and today he's an affiliate international juror with PPA. In addition to WPPI, he’s judged images in national, state and local competitions as well as the International Loupe Awards. 

As you'll hear both of us talk about in this podcast, participating in print competition, either directly or as an observer is one of the most educational events in professional photography today. It's an opportunity for you to learn so much about composition, exposure and presentation, thanks to the dozens of judges who participate in each competition.

Just click on the banner below to hear the podcast. Bob shares so many great tips to help you understand print competition and raise the bar on the presentation of your own images.

But there's one more point I wanted to make...after all, it's Sunday and I always do a Sunday Morning Reflections...it's the perfect topic and one I try and never take for granted...my friendships. Bob and I have been hanging out together for a lot of years at various conventions, trade shows and even during his vacation when he and his wife, Holly, head to Sarasota each year.

I  found two great quotes that describe a couple of different aspects of my friendship with Bob...

"Respect those friends 
who find time for you in their busy schedule. 
But really love those friends who never see their schedule when you need them..."
Rishika Jain

and one more to enjoy as you think about your own friends.

"Friends are the family we choose for ourselves!"
Edna Buchanan 

Wishing everybody a wonderful in-between-the-holidays Sunday with family and friends. As always, enjoy the day and hug somebody special!