Bio

I want to share my photography journey, about diplomas, competition wins and educational institutions that moved me forward.

Recognition  

How can you get recognition being a green cucumber? The first thing everyone encounters is social networks. We all post our photos to friends, Facebook, Instagram or photo portals, where our friends, acquaintances and relatives evaluate them. But often the evaluation isn't objective. We get good reviews for mediocre or weak photos. An adequate evaluation can be obtained in photo competitions, where the jury consists of recognized photographers or art experts. That's how my photo journey started in 2004, when I photographed with a soap wrapper and participated in the first photo competition, organized by the Latvian State Radio and Television Center for the occasion of "Television in Latvia - 50", where the task was to photograph a sunset by the television tower. That same evening I bought a tripod and photographed a sunset and sent it to the competition. To my surprise, I won 1st place.



That was an indication from above that my photo stands out from the general background of photos. I started participating everywhere I could and several wins and letters of recognition followed:

2005 - letter of recognition for successful participation in the photo competition "Why is it worth living and working in Latvia?"

2005 - certificate of gratitude from BTA insurance company for receiving 1st place in the amateur photo competition "Image of Freedom":

After several wins, I understood that education was needed. In 2006 I finished photo courses "Photography from hobby to art" "Masters' secrets"" with the Photoacademy instructors

In 2006, in one of the photo competitions as a prize I won the opportunity to study at the Photo Club Riga with Uldis Muzikants, which I successfully finished:

In 2006 I went to study at the Biruta Magele's International Stylists School and in 2008 obtained the qualification in the profession of photographer, where I studied with Gunārs Binde, Viļņs Auziņš and Oļegs Zernovs:




Also I obtained International Education Society London certificate for Photographer 2 level education:

In 2007 I went to the Latvian Chamber of Crafts, where I tried to obtain another confirmation that I am a photographer.
There were general courses that all craftsmen attended:


After attending courses, there was an exam and evaluation with the President of the Latvian Photographers Association Zigurds Bilzoņš:



And then after all courses and exams I obtained the confirmation that I am a suitable photographer:



After which in 2008 I obtained the Master diploma at the Latvian Chamber of Crafts:

In 2007 I received gratitude from the Riga City Main Police Department:

In 2008 I joined the WPPI Wedding & Portrait Photographers International association:


In 2008 - Delfi Foto favorite at the International short film festival "2ANNAS 2008" photo art competition "Fotofabrique"

In 2008 at the "Imagine" studio opening event, in visitor voting I won 1st place with a portrait series, but unfortunately only a diploma was given, the only thing I received was the Photographer-Nikonist status :

In 2009 I joined the Latvian Wedding Photographers Association:

In 2009 I was recognized as the best wedding photographer of the year. The jury consisted of Valdis Brauns, Elmārs Rudzītis, Linda Ratuta, Gunārs Binde, Sergejs Getņikovs.

In 2009 at the Baltic Photo Contest competition I won The best Photograph of Latvia

Honorable mentions were also won in other photo competitions, but those only gave prizes without diplomas.

What happened next? After 2009 I continued developing myself in the photo field and my work goals changed. I started participating more and more in photo tenders aka photographer selection competitions. I'm satisfied if I'm chosen among several candidates for various commercial and art photo projects.

Photo competitions

Who needs competitions? Photo competitions, where preferably a jury participates, not visitor voters, very well show your level against other participants. Any photo competition is partly a luck or deep analysis factor, as a result of which the jury's taste may match your submitted photo. I always recommend participating in photo competitions regardless of the photo competition's size. If in a photo competition the jury is replaced with visitor voting, then that's not a photo competition. It's more of an advertising campaign, where a company pays through prizes for attendance and their brand popularization. There the person with the largest social network support team wins :).
Photo competitions are worth participating in if you carefully research the jury. After announcing results, evaluate results and do analysis. With each such journey you become smarter and know, what kind of work should be submitted to what photo competition to win. I've also often encountered that photo competition prizes and honorable mentions are given not to the best photo works, but to "own" authors, or also to authors who need the victory most according to jury members' opinions. This was also one of the reasons why after 2009 I rarely participated in photo competitions.

Photo education

Why did I go to various courses and educational institutions? First of all, to get to the instructors I was interested in and see photography behind the scenes. That was the only and main reason. Because at that time by self-educating I had already obtained sufficiently much information, and only it remained to gain experience and tricks from instructors I was interested in. It was interesting to see them in action. To understand each photographer's vision and thought flight. Later the obtained educational documents very useful in State procurements and large enterprise tenders, where applicants needed to submit official education documents confirming that I am a photographer. That was an indirect benefit, which I initially didn't think about. Is it worth going to photo courses? Definitely! Each course gives something informative. The longer the courses, the better! I've already written about photo courses and recommend reading it for those interested in photo education in Latvia.

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