Award Winner of the
2019 American Photo Open
From David Schonauer of the American Photography’s Pro Photo Daily full article here
The judges have spoken.
And today we reveal the ten finalists of the American Photo Open 2019 competition. Congratulations to Hardijanto Budiman; Julia Fullerton-Batten; Dean Gibson; Corina Howell; Zay Yar Lin; Rebecca Moseman; Tomas Neuwirth; Ernesto Ortiz; Md Tanveer Hassan Rohan; and Alain Schroeder.
All will have their work spotlighted in a variety of online venues and at a photo industry event in New York City. They will also pick up some very nice prizes from our partners: a Tamron SP 45mm F/1.8 Di VC USD (Canon or Nikon mount), value $599, a SanDisk SD card, Skylum’s Aurora HDR, a PhotoShelter 1 year standard account and a Fujifilm XP130 camera.
This year as last, we received entries from all over the world, from photographers at every level, from amateurs and enthusiasts to pros. And, as last year, we were very impressed by the execution and imagination we saw. We want to thank everyone who entered. And remember, the AP Open 2020 contest will kick off next March.
Award Winner “Strange Things”
Based in Lebanon, Ohio, digital artist Dean Gibson and his photographer wife Tracey are hoping to set up a commercial photography and videography business. “We decided to combine our talents and create something unique,” Dean says. The image they submitted to the AP Open 2019 competition certainly puts their talents on display. “We wanted to create something with the look and feel of the Netfilx’s show Stranger Things, without copying or using anything from the actual show. Everything we do is original content created by us,” says Dean, who spent two weeks this summer scouting locations around Cincinnati. “I was looking for places that seemed like they were stuck in the ’80s,” he says. He found what he was looking for in the town of Carlisle, Ohio. “Our ideas always start with an concept and then a sketch. We approach our photography much like an illustrator might,” he notes.
Gibson’s children pitched in: His daughter is the main character in the image, and his son is seen wearing a hazmat suit. Gibson created the third character in the image — the monster — using the ZBrush digital sculpting tool and the Octane Render rendering application. The final image was finished in late August — on the same day, Gibson notes, that he sent in the piece to the contest.