Photographs created by Bob Coates of Bob Coates Photography in Sedona have recently been accepted into the General and Loan Collections of Professional Photographers of America’s 2020 International Photographic Competition.
Coates work will be on display at the upcoming Imaging USA, being held virtually Jan. 17-19. Imaging USA is one of the largest annual conventions and expos for professional photographers.
A panel of 36 eminent jurors from across the United States selected the top photographs from over 5,000 total submitted entries at PPA headquarters in Atlanta.
Judged against a standard of excellence, 1,706 images were selected for the General Collection and 865 (roughly 17 percent) were selected for the esteemed Loan Collection—the best of the best.
The Loan Collection images will all be published in the much-anticipated “Loan Collection” book by Marathon Press.
“One has to be thankful that these challenges exist through PPA,” said Coates. “Having your work reviewed and judged by top industry professionals helps keep my image making from becoming static. I get feedback on new techniques which is priceless in keeping me growing my image creation skills.”
Three of Bob’s images were accepted into the Loan Collection. Two were made of experimental photography involving falling water droplets.
Orange Outburst and Twice Nice show the result of specialty lighting of three water drops crashing at intervals which are done by very specific timing of the drops, plus a bit of endurance.
Many images need to be captured to find some that create these patterns. The other Loan image was from a composite image titled ‘Blessing Place’. Bob worked with images of animals photographed at the Phoenix Zoo some northern Arizona landscape features and and clouds photographed from above.
In addition two more Coates photographs were named to the General Collection. Coates rendered a watercolor of a great blue heron in flight over the Bubbling Ponds in Page Springs. ‘Another World’ was a night sky photograph of the Milky Way made while in Southern Utah of the Toadstools. It has a very prehistoric feel.
Coates’ photographs will be in the International Photographic Exhibition alongside other top photographic works from the competition and traveling and special invitational displays. These images constitute one of the world’s largest annual exhibits of professional photography gathered simultaneously in one place.
About PPA:
Founded in 1868, Professional Photographers of America (PPA) is the largest and longest-standing nonprofit photography trade association. It currently helps 30,000 professionals elevate their craft and grow their business with resources, protection, and education, all under PPA’s core guiding principle of bridging the gap between photographers and consumers. See more of Bob’s artwork at coatesart.net or at the Gallery of Modern Masters in Hillside Sedona.