The 2022 500px International Images Awards serves creatives working with pictures and supplies them an opportunity to showcase their ability and be rewarded for it. The second version of the competitors consisted of six classes: Technical, Storytelling, Industrial Content material, Documentary, Tremendous Artwork, and Panorama. Right now on the weblog we’re speaking with the winner of the Fine Art class, Elena Paraskeva, as she tells us extra concerning the picture.
Hello Elena, please introduce your self.
Imagine it or not, my masters was in finance, and my profession within the US was first as a Director of Analytics after which as a Advertising and marketing Govt for Nestle Waters.
I’m utterly self-taught, by no means attended a single workshop, and fast-forward a decade later, my work is at present on exhibition on the European Parliament in Brussels.
I’m a devoted Adobe Teacher, educating 1000’s on my course of, and I’m a choose for among the world’s most esteemed pictures competitions together with for the Florida Museum of Photographic Arts.
The successful picture: “Protecting the Distance”
What made you gravitate to this type of pictures—pushing the boundaries of illustration and creating work extra conceptual in nature?
I contemplate myself to be a fancy individual, and as such, I would like my interplay with the viewer to happen in a extra complicated, contextual area the place the which means and intention is just not instantly accessible to understand. A extra concerned dialog of the minds must occur for the unraveling of the unique concept to be attained.
Are you able to inform us the way you deliberate and executed the shoot for the “Protecting the Distance” picture?
The actual picture is a part of an 8-image sequence that has been featured extensively in magazines all over the world. The mission was truly created proper after our lockdowns ended. It was a surreal time if you concentrate on it, the concern, and the necessity to distance ourselves was so intense, all of us went by means of a never-before-seen stage of social deprivation. The mission explores society’s awkward makes an attempt at re-integration, utilizing humor and coloration.
There are such a lot of components inside this picture. Was it a problem working with so many components of coloration, props, and fashions?
I’ve a course of once I create a sequence, and all of it begins with me writing down the storyline and the message. I then scout for places and take footage of every body inside this location. As soon as I’ve honed in on the precise frames, I elaborate on the composition, writing down the poses, the props, the clothes, and, after all, the precise lighting for use. Every thing is predetermined manner earlier than the day of the shoot, nothing is left to likelihood. In that sense, it’s straightforward on the day of the shoot, I do know precisely what I’m going for.
Do you’ve got a favourite picture in your 500px Profile and why?
I’m at all times extra emotionally related to a sequence slightly than particular person photos, due to the intrinsic message behind them and the time funding. However If I had to decide on a picture or two, I’d say the “Cubist” (I & II) as a result of they’re so consultant of my conceptual type and sensibility.
All photographers have their most popular gear. What’s yours, and what instruments did you employ to create “Keeping the Distance”?
I’m a Nikon photographer, so all my gear (digital camera and lenses) is Nikon. I don’t have a favourite lens to be trustworthy, as a result of I discover that every lens has its personal worth relying on the kind of shoot concerned. If I’m doing a effective artwork portrait, I exploit an extended lens, but when I’m doing a style shoot, I exploit a wide-angle one, and I truly love the distortion.
This explicit sequence was environmentally based mostly and all the weather within the body wanted to be in focus, so I used a wide-angle lens mounted on my tripod. Lighting was the identical for each picture within the sequence, as I wish to have light-cohesiveness, and because it was a harsh and really brilliant day, the aim was to make use of the solar as the primary supply, and the strobes because the secondary supply that removed the cruel shadows. For that reason, I used giant octaboxes for even protection.
Framing and taking the shot is simply a sliver of what it takes to make a robust picture. The opposite equally essential half is modifying, how did you employ modifying instruments to raise your picture?
That is very true, modifying performs a major position in my work. For this explicit sequence, I used Photoshop to merge all of the totally different exposures I created for every scene since I used to be working with a single mannequin. I additionally performed with coloration to make it possible for the color-blocking I envisioned could be the identical for every picture. Shade grading for me is the final step of the method and it’s what separates a very good picture from an excellent picture!
When submitting your work to the awards, how did you choose out of your numerous portfolio and determine on the most effective photos? Curation is usually a battle for creatives so do you’ve got any recommendations on the best way to be selective and intentional in terms of submitting your work to competitions?
All of it comes all the way down to which competitors you’re submitting to. Analysis previous winners to see what the competitors gravitates in the direction of. Is it realism, rawness, documentary-style pictures, or very stylized, pop, colourful, or surreal imagery?
For instance, the Lensculture and Sony competitions require very totally different imagery from say the ICA, Chromatica Awards, IPA, FAPA and so forth. The primary competitions love and recognize extra documentary type pictures and present issue-based imagery, whereas the latter award the surprising and the extra technically based mostly.
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