As International Print Competition with PPA came to an end yesterday, I am beyond grateful with what I accomplished this year. I still remember the first year I’ve entered my case in 2015 and the fear that my work is not ready yet to compete and to earn merits toward Master of Photography degree. That year I earned 4 merits and and a Bronze Medal and after watching online judging for few days, I was inspired and ready to work on my ultimate goal and become Master Photographer. In 2016 I earned additional 5 merits and became Silver Medalist. 2017 IPC got me additional 3 merits and I could not believe that degree was finally within a reach. What a journey of my personal growth!

The final results from this year IPC are finally here and I’m totally blown away. During 4 day IPC judging event, a panel of highly qualified photographers/ jurors selects the top images from thousands of submitted entries each year. Each image is judged against a standard of excellence comprising 12 elements (impact, technical excellence, creativity, style, composition, presentation, color balance, center of interest, lighting, subject matter, technique and storytelling), the highest scoring images are then selected to be part of PPA’s General Collection and its Loan Collection—the best of the best. All 4 images I have entered received a Merit and 2 were also accepted to prestigious Loan Collection! What an honor to be a IPC Gold Medalist of 2018! And my excitement does not end here… as with this competition I finally earned enough merits to receive Master of Photography degree in January 2019 during ImagingUSA conference in Atlanta!! WooHoo!

Here are my 4 entries from Photographic Open: