This first image was taken from this really great engagement session here in San Diego.
The other image was from a wedding in Ramona a few years back.

Another photographer who I really admire gave me some encouraging words after the competition and reminded me that my clients paid me for my creativity, they loved the photographs, and I get to do what I love and grow and stretch my creativity.

I guess that was the best lesson in photography I learned that night.

William Bay is a Photographic Humble Pie.

Honestly I was hoping to be writing this blog post in celebration. And maybe I should warn you, I may come off as a whiny, spoiled and misunderstood artist as you read this. And, I know a lot of you have been waiting to see this big secret I’ve been brewing since I was in Austin

But… I’m incredibly upset by what happened at Tuesday night’s PPSDC, (Professional Photographers of San Diego County), Print Competition…

Maybe it’s my fault for expecting to walk out with Best In Show, but I received the highest score out of all entries. I thought it was a sure thing. Then I find I get bumped in the first round of the “play-offs” like my Green Bay Packers… Only I had scoreboard…

I suppose I was way too close to the image. I had this planned for about at least 9 months and was only just able to execute it when I was in Austin back in November. And I was so wrapped up in this image I’ve had in my head… It just really stings to see it lose so badly after scoring so well. And, not to take anything away from the Photographers that received Best of Class and Best of Show that beat it, but when multiple members and one of the Judges comes up and says that I was “robbed,” it really hurts.

So… I’m going to finish my beer that I’m crying into, and move onto “what’s next” tomorrow.
I would like to say a quick “Thank You” to Kareena (my model in this photo), Chris Lin for assisting, and BWC for printing the exquisite print I entered in competition. I don’t care what the judges say, this is a great photograph, and there is no way I could have done this without you guys.

William Bay is a Robbed!.

Last night was the bi-monthly Professional Photographers of San Diego County print competition night. I had entered a photo I took while in Telluride, CO a couple weeks ago. If you follow the blog, you might have seen another version of it in another post.
Well it received a “Merit” last night at the competition, which means that it scored at least an “80″ from the judges on the panel. And believe me… These guys are TOUGH! The judging is the same level as the national PPA judging, so now I have a good idea of how tough things will be when I start entering on the National Level.
What’s great is that my Merit goes towards becoming Photographer of the Year. That may be a bit of a stretch right now, but as I get better, maybe a possibility.

Here’s the image. The title is “Riding the Storm Out Together” Let me know what you think.

Let Me Tell You About Texas Radio and the Big Beat…

I will be heading back to Austin for a week! I’m so excited for a number of reasons:

• November is my favorite time of year in Austin
• My photo BFF Maria Bernal is doing a studio fashion lighting demonstration at the Austin PPA
• I’ll be shooting a wedding in Houston for Huong and Ben on the 21st (Ben is the brother of one of my Brides from way back in 2003! – How Cool is that?!!!!)
• I’ll be shooting a big range of stuff during the week, from holiday family photos to a nude commission, to some conceptual/arty Bridal photos I want to submit to Grace Ormonde magazine. Whew boy, my compact flash cards are gonna get a workout!!! I’m shooting everyday I’m in Texas except one!!!
• I’m gonna get to hang out with some of my 512 area code friends and hang at some of my old haunts like Spiderhouse.
• Texas Barbecue!!! Say no more!

Amazing Dresses

I am super blessed to have on loan to me while in Austin, two AMAZING Bridal gowns designed by La Chatuise Couture for my Grace Ormonde shoot. The dresses (below) have been loaned to me by Lori Davis at Elle Couture Designs in Costa Mesa. Elle Couture is the exclusive representatives for the La Chatuise line for Southern California. So I am tremendously grateful for them to loan out these dresses.

What do you think of these dresses? Are they HAWT or what?

William Bay is a Print Merit, Austin Next Week, and Amazing Dresses.

How to make Wedding Photography Green

It seems I got some Photographer’s knickers in a bunch with a post about how we as wedding photographers and the photography industry in general fail in the realm of environmental responsibility, and how their are a few Photographers that take advantage of the word “Green” in their marketing.
Most of the upset e-mails and comments I got were from photographers that do quite a bit in their lives and business to reduce their carbon footprints. But there were two points that were obviously lost on them:

1. My problem isn’t with those “trying their best”, it’s those that are making claims that they are Green Photographers without anything to back it up. So if you aren’t making those claims, I really don’t understand the animosity.
2. It takes far more energy to bring the “oh so drool worthy” cameras and lenses to our doors, and to power our computers, which we spend the vast majority of our time when we aren’t shooting, than most people even consider.

Solution = Education and Standards

There were a few photographers that brought up a really good point; There is no accountability or standards posed for such claims in the photographic world. Truth be told, there are not many standards out there in the way of promoting your business as “Green.” The only certification program I know of myself is through LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). I know of LEED from my previous career in Architecture.
With a LEED Certified Architect, each client obtains a great deal of education about the importance of the standards and why to utilize certain products over others.
With a certification system for Photographers, we can be assured that Green Photographers meet certain standards themselves and are providing their clients with accurate information, as well as protecting customers.

LEED ranks each building into Silver, Gold and Platinum based on how well they meet certain criteria. So, in the spirit of LEED standards for Green buildings, I propose the following Standards for “Green Photographers.” I would recommend that the PPA (Professional Photographers Association) be the organization to champion this program, as their reach goes out to Photographers of every type, worldwide.

Silver:

• Maintains a home or office that consumes less than 6,600 kW/hrs per year. (This is approximately 25% less than the average household).
• You may use Carbon Offsets to offset up to 15% of the above figure.
• Products offered must be packaged in recycled and recyclable packaging and purchased from U.S. made sources in bulk to reduce shipping.
• Offsets must be purchased for the delivery of products (prints, and albums) from out of area (over 100 miles).
• Purchasing Offsets for your yearly Carbon Footprint (includes car travel, air travel, etc).
• Monthly participation in community events that benefit the environment, (Beach clean-ups, recycling drives, etc.).

Gold:

• Everything from Silver, plus:
• Maintains a home or office that produces less than 4,500 kW/hrs per year. (This is approximately 50% less than the average household).
• You may use Carbon Offsets to offset up to 5% of the above figure.
• Purchase camera equipment and business equipment from Non-Corporate sources within 100 miles of a radius to you. This supports your local economy, and keeps people near you employed. (No mail order).
• Website and Print Fulfillment site run on a Green Hosting company (Solar panels used for electricity, rain-water used for server cooling).
• Track energy usage of your website visitors and purchase Offsets (based on average 150 watt computer * Hours of use on your site / 1000=kW/hr).
• Print orders and albums must be scheduled for monthly delivery to reduce shipping.
• Non-Leather Albums alternatives must be provided for your clients.

Platinum:

• Everything from Gold, plus:
• Place of business shall be either maintain a LEED Platinum, Gold or Silver certification, or meet the requirements for any of those levels.
• Maintains a home or office that produces less than 1,800 kW/hrs per year. (This is approximately 80% less than the average household).
• Offsetting will not be eligible as a substitution in this category. And any additional energy requirements must be provided by non-public energy (i.e. solar panels, personal wind turbines, etc).
• Purchases either only U.S. manufactured cameras, or second hand cameras bought locally.
• Supplies only non-leather albums content from companies utilizing recycled materials, and that source their materials from within a 100 mile radius of their location of manufacture.

*Just a note: There are obviously certain criteria in the Platinum category that will currently be unachievable. This was done on purpose, so we can pressure manufactures to fill in the missing pieces.
And this is obviously skewed towards wedding photographers, some of these would obviously not apply to other photographers, and there would be additional requirements for them as well.

These are just preliminary ideas and thoughts. These of course should be reviewed and discussed with leading Environmentalists, Manufacturers, and Photographers to come to a conclusion on what standards should be adopted for each category. But, I do believe that these are great milestones for anyone in their own business whether or not you care about a certification, and just care about our One Sweet World.

If you have your own thoughts please include them below for others to read. If you are so inclined, I would appreciate if you would use the Share buttons below, pass this along to other photographers, and if you have connections with organizations like PPA, please let them know it’s time to make a difference in our industry.

I really make no claims to be a Green person (I have a tremendous knowledge of it due to my old Architectural life), but as I was researching these last couple articles I have seen for myself that I am a tremendous waster and through this I have made my own resolve to watch my own personal habits and may be incorporating some of these ideas into my own practice. (Don’t worry, I won’t call myself a Green Photographer now).

As a final note, I’d like to thank Green LA Girl whose talk at WordCamp LA on Saturday, is where I received a few ideas that have been incorporated into the different certification levels. Thanks for all the great info Siel.

William Bay is a Standards for Green Photographers.

I joined the Austin PPA (Professional Photographers Association) two months ago. I figured in order to get my name out there as a legitimate wedding photographer in Austin, I needed to belong in the professional organizations, network with other photographers, and continue my learning process with the guest speakers they have every month.

Last night was my first foray into the print competition though. It turned out to be a very competitive night. There were about 12 entries and after seeing each one I was really thinking I’d be lucky to place.

As it turned out, I took the Red Ribbon! I just nudged out a maternity shot with very pretty lighting, and my photo BFF Maria Bernal nailed First Place with an exquisite fashion portrait.

I actually owe Maria some credit on this photo. She offered a little critique that really pushed this portrait from good to great.

And thank you to Seasha McKay for being a sport and climbing up on this stump, and basically doing all the crazy things asked of you, including swimming in a dress that had to weigh sixty pounds wet.

William Bay is a Woo Hoo! I got 2nd Place at the Austin PPA.