SWPPA (Fall Convention) Print Award Winners

Congratulations to the following Austin PPA members who had award-winning prints and/or albums at the Southwest Professional Photographers Association convention in Arlington in October!

Robbie Dodd: "The Sky's the Limit" and "A Time for Us" (Distinguished Album)

Sue Ellen Pesl: "Too Young for Spurs" and "McCoy in Bloom"
Ernie Welch: "Eye of the Raptor"

Membership Classification Proposal

To: All Austin PPA Members
From: Austin PPA Board of Directors (“BOD”)
Date: September 15, 2008

Re: Membership Classification Proposal


As an affiliate of Professional Photographers of America (“PPA”), the Austin Professional Photographers Association (“Austin PPA”) must continue to advance the art and profession of photography through education and a sense of community to the photography industry. The Austin PPA is an association that seeks to increase its members’ business savvy as well as broaden their creative scope, and it aims to advance their careers by providing them with all the tools for success.

In an effort to continue to advance professional photography in the Central Texas region and to expand our membership base to professional photographers that may not be members of PPA, the 2008 BOD proposes that Austin PPA amend our membership classifications by redefining the membership qualifications and requirements as currently stated in our Constitution and to remove the requirement that each Austin PPA member maintains a current membership status with PPA.

PPA requires that a local affiliate have a minimum of 10 PPA members, and even though this requirement is not very restrictive, we still believe that it is in the best interest of the Austin association to continue to maintain a high level of professionalism. Maintaining this level of professionalism will be the responsibility of each and every member of our association.

The following is a brief summary of the proposed changes to the membership categories, qualifications, requirements and benefits to Austin PPA members:

- Professional: Professional members may join Austin PPA at the full rate of annual dues without holding any PPA membership and are entitled to all of the benefits provided by Austin PPA to its members. However, one must be a PPA member to serve as Vice President or President on the Austin PPA BOD and must provide evidence of being employed in the field of professional photography.

- Staff/Associate: An employee, associate or partner of a Professional or Service member may join Austin PPA at a discounted rate of annual dues without holding any PPA membership. Staff/Associate members of Austin PPA may not enter print competitions, vote on matters of the Association or hold office. However, Staff/Associate members may serve on committees, use the Austin PPA logo, and will be listed in the Austin PPA directory as Staff/Associate members. Staff/ Associate members are eligible to qualify for the Glen Eller Scholarship to the Texas School of Professional Photography.

- Student: Student members may join Austin PPA at a discounted rate of annual dues without holding any PPA membership, but they must provide evidence of their current student status. Student members may participate in the student-category of the Association’s print competitions, but they may not vote on matters of the Association or hold office. However, Student members may serve on committees, use the Austin PPA logo and will be listed in the Austin PPA directory as Student members. Student members are eligible to qualify for either of the Texas School of Professional Photography Scholarships.

- Service: Service members shall include manufacturers and /or distributors of photographic equipment, laboratories, publishers or firms providing a service to photographers. Service members are not required to hold membership in PPA, may not vote on matters of the Association or hold office. Service members may serve on committees, use the Austin PPA logo and will be listed in the Austin PPA directory as Service members. Service members are not eligible for either of the Texas School of Professional Photography Scholarships.

- Honorary and Life: Honorary and Life members are not required to hold current memberships in PPA

A summary of the various membership categories and proposed modifications to the Austin PPA constitution are included in the following page. In accordance with our Association guidelines as it pertains to amending the constitution, this proposal will be read at two (2) consecutive general meetings and be voted on by the general membership after the 3rd reading.

2008 PPA International Print Competition Award Winners

Congratulations to the following Austin Professional Photographers Association members that were award winners at this year's Professional Photographers of America International Print Competition:

Carrell Grigsby - International Photographer of the Year, Bronze Level - for "Boat Stop", "Gaudi's Shower", "Sicilian Hillside" and "Junior Takes Wing"; PPA will also recognize Carrell as Master of Photography at January's Imaging USA Convention in Phoenix, Arizona.

Dianna Walker - International Photographer of the Year, Bronze Level - for "As Serena Waits", "Solitude", "The Royal Family" and "Montana Splendor"

Janet Dodd - for "Old Spice" (Loan Collection) and "Just the Three of Us"

Lewis Kincheloe - for "Standing Ovation" and "Blue Eyes, Bare Feet"

Robbie Dodd - for "Centered" and "Love on the Horizon"

On August 25, Jennifer Turner presented her program on ‘Anticipation Art, Capturing the Love Within’. This program covered all aspects of gaining the maternity client, preparing them for the session during the consultation, creating the perfect environment for the session and then finishing up with creative and beautiful presentations that will help them feel their best. Thank you, Jennifer, for such a wonderful program.

Austin PPA will host an upcoming workshop with Senior photographer, Kalen Henderson on October 20. This will be a half-day workshop on “Time is Money” prior to our evening program “Surviving the HS Senior’. Cost is only $65 (members) for both programs with meal included; $85 (non-members). This is one program you will not want to miss.!! Visit our website at www.austinppa.com for more information.

We welcome all PPA members to visit our meetings and join our organization. We are delighted to meet new people and would love to host those in other PPA-affiliated associations. Austin PPA meets the third Monday of each month at the Holiday Inn Northwest at Mopac/Hwy 183. For further information, please refer to the website mentioned above and we look forward to seeing you at our next meeting!

Randy Kerr's Westway Method of Photography

July’s summer evening program was spent with Austin’s own Randy Kerr. Our members were amazed by the talent of Randy’s thought provoking method of lighting…his own Westway Method of Photography. Randy picks photographic projects that uses the medium of photographic story-telling for humanitarian and ecology purposes. His presentation included his Westway Method and The Game of Light. He is currently partnering with the Department of Agriculture creating data for photographers to shape their backyards to become a portrait studio with the use of native plants. He demonstrated to our members that using natural elements such as native grasses and plants can produce stunning portrait results.

With his recent trip to Congo, Africa, he created data about the earth and sun pertaining to south of the equator, plus created portraits of village people in the rural areas of the Congo. He wowed his audience with his slideshow presentation. Randy has been featured on national television and in various publications. Our members and guests were indeed inspired by the end of the evening.

Tim Ostermeyer presents Brides and Babies

In June, the Austin Professional Photographers Association (Austin PPA) was honored to have Tim Ostermeyer from Allen, Texas present ‘Brides and Babies’. Tim has been photographing weddings for the last 16 years (over 750 weddings), but when Tim purchased a home studio in 2003, his baby and children photography quickly became very successful. Tim shared his secrets of success in these two areas and showed many examples of his excellent work. Tim showed how to increase our wedding sales by as much as 100% with bridal and engagement sittings. He delighted the audience with his children’s toys in which he is able to capture the smiles and expressions that sell his work.

Tim is a Master Photographer, Craftsman, Certified Professional, Dallas Professional Photographer of the Year (2002), Southwest Professional Photographer Contest (2007 Best of Show). Thank you, Tim, for being such a great speaker.

A very special ‘thank you’ goes to Carl Clark and Pound Labs for donating the much needed hot lights to our organization to be used in our future print competitions. Carl, your sincere generosity is greatly appreciated!!