Pamira Bezmen Photography Earns Merit Awards at 2016 Northeast District Competition
Pamira Bezmen Photography Earns Merit Awards at 2016 Competition
March, 2016
I am very honored and excited to share the news with our friends and clients that Pamira Bezmen Photography has been awarded 3 new merits at the 2016 Northeast District Photographic Competition, organized by the Professional Photographers of America.
I have been competing in these district competitions for 3 years now, and it is by far one of my greatest learning experiences in my art and technique. Out of my 4 entries, 3 have been deemed worthy of a merit, also known as a "Seal of Approval".
My 3 award-winning entries are "Butterflies in Her Tummy", "The Song of the Ocean", and "Water Fairy".
"Butterflies in Her Tummy" is one of my favorite maternity images that I created in the studio with a mix of natural and constant studio light of my beautiful and very lovely client Sarah when she was expecting her first baby. I wanted to give the image a magical and ethereal feel by adding the butterflies and the texture that complimented her happy expression as well as the flow of the fabric I wrapped her in. To me, an expecting mom is not only beautiful, but she embodies all the powers of Mother Nature, so I find it very fitting to blend natural elements and creatures in my maternity portraits, such as earth, flowers, trees, wind, water or butterflies. For this image, I thought the cheerful butterflies would be the best compliment to symbolize the excitement of first time motherhood, where the flowing fabric added to the joyful and natural feel. Of course the butterflies also symbolize transformation, and motherhood is one of the greatest transformations a woman can go through.
To see some other examples of my maternity portraits, you can see my Gorgeous Mama and Belly Angels page here.
"The Song of the Ocean" was shot on a beach in Puerto Rico on a cloudy afternoon. Climbing through heaps of washed up seaweeds, my daughter and I found a large and gorgeous sea shell, which was also the only one on the whole beach. The creature inside was no longer living, but still in the shell and was pretty smelly, but we could not resist taking some photos with it. My daughter readily took the shell to her ear, wanting to hear the sounds of the ocean, while the wind blew her hair and dress in the air. I cleaned up the lighting and mood in post processing to make sure that it was as natural and soft looking as I had envisioned this moment. I wanted the image to take the viewer to that beach, imagining that they were feeling the breeze and holding the sea shell to their ear.
"Water Fairy" is another image I created in the studio. In the past year my daughter has been very much into fairies of all types, and I wanted to create a series of portraits where she is a fairy. In this portrait I added the water and fishes in post processing, as well as the fairy wings and pixie dust. This portrait is now displayed in our living room, printed on a beautiful large canvas gallery wrap, and my daughter loves seeing herself as a fairy. It is a portrait that brings reality and imagination into one scene, and I truly enjoy seeing how much she loves it. She tells our visitors and clients what a special image this is and how the canvas is so beautiful! It is very cute and funny at the same time seeing her market my work as my little spokesperson :)
To see more of my children's portraits, you can click here.
I am happy and excited to continue creating quality images that capture and evoke emotions. I cannot express how thankful I am to the amazing judges at Professional Photographers of America for their critiques, which help make all of us participants better photographers. As much as it is gut-wrenching to hear my work being judged live or even listening to the recorded critiques, I learn so much from each critique that I can comfortably say competing is one of my biggest and fastest learning tools as a professional. Seeing the works of other photographers is also extremely humbling and inspirational. There is a lot of talent, creativity, and experience out there, and I am honored to be a part of the photographic community of professionals who work very hard to create lasting memories out of short fleeting moments like these.
-Pamira
