Sunday 26 May 2019

Secret Formula for Prize Winning Portraits

Each of these four images has won the prestigious Fremantle International Portrait Prize. Independent judges selected these portraits from more than 6,000 entries from more than 50 countries.
What were the magical qualities, the secret ingredients of these images?

© Goran Jovic, Croatia. FIPP Winner 2013

© Steve Wise, Australia. FIPP Winner 2015
The click of the shutter may have only taken 1/125 second and the photographer walked away with thousands of dollars in prize money.

Here are FIVE secrets

1.  AUTHENTIC. These images were NOT boring. They gained the judges attention and held it. The judges thought about these images long after they put them to one side.

© Louise Cook, Australia. FIPP Winner 2012
2. EMOTION. Each image has a strong emotional content. There's emotion in the imagery and the image evokes emotion in the viewer.

3. EXACT. They tick the technical boxes of SHARPNESS, EXPOSURE, COLOUR and TONE.

4. EYE CONTACT.  There's a Mona Lisa injection in each image - the viewer cannot help being transfixed by the subject's eyes.

5. IMPACT. There's a 'WOW' factor in each. The photographers presented original images rather than copycat images.
© Istvan Kerekes, Hungary. FIPP winner 2017

FIPP 2019 (Fremantle International Portrait Prize) is now open for entries. AU$20,000 Prize Pool.
Major sponsor: Nikon Australia.  FIPP is a non-profit organisation. Proceeds to the Arthritis Foundation of Western Australia and the Kai Eardley Fund. 

Click HERE for FIPP details and ENTRY form.