Got the good news on Tuesday via an email. This picture just won first place in WPPI’s first half competition, the 10th time we’ve won 1st, 2nd or 3rd place. In case you wonder what the hoopla is all about. WPPI is the world’s largest organization representing wedding and portrait photographers. Over 14,000 photographers attend WPPI’s annual convention in Las Vegas. I am part of this as a participant, speaker and judge. It holds 3 competitions every year all of which I take part to sharpen myself as a photographer. Always believe that competition can only improve us.

This is the 10th WPPI award. Honestly, it was a surprise because it is getting harder and harder with higher level of entries from around the world. I am also surprised this entry won because it was not my favourite entry.

This one here, was and still is my favourite entry. I love its beauty and simplicity. Corsages on a silver platter, a bunch of bold ties…and the clincher, a tiny camera at a corner. I moved the table to be flushed against a glass door, the only light source in the room, so I could get as much light as possible. Climbed on top of a smaller table so I could shoot it over the top. Here you go, an “aerial shot”. Different perspective when the camera is moved to a different place. I have a strong bias for this photo because I worked extra hard to nail this picture, all the moving, climbing. Shot at f/6.3, 1/100.

My next favourite is this one. I enjoy the exquisiteness of the jewelry, dress and a woman’s body–all in one frame lit with yummy window light. Just a hint of ambient light to separate Julia from the background. Shot at f/5, 1/60.

The winning shot was done on the 125th floor of Ritz Charlton Hong Kong. I saw the interplay of the rings, necklace, veil, lips and wedding gown. Tried to put the lips, and both rings in the same focusing plane. That’s where I want to call attention to. Chose to exclude the rest the face to bring a sense of mystery. Again, like the previous photo, I want to show exquisiteness, luxury, taste and a hint of sexiness.

All three pictures share a connection: a visit to the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam in May.

The Rijksmuseum is one of the TOP museums in the world. It showcases some of the best works of Dutch portrait paint masters from the Golden Age like Vermeer, Rembrandt. That’s what I wanted to see right away. However the museum is curated to wet my viewing appetite. First I walked through rooms after rooms of still life paintings. Never a big fan of still objects. Painters like Willem Claesz however proved me wrong. How Willem and his peers could make a table full of bread, food, wine, silverware look so lively, vivid, and engaging was beyond me. I was drawn to how detailed the paintings were. I felt like I was in the scene, that I could almost reach out and touch the objects in the painting.

There were a lot of depth in them, very unlike the shallow depth of field shots common amongst wedding photographers. We are so used to shooting at shallow depth of field that we instinctively reach out for f/1.4 when there is a ring, shoe, wedding favors to be shot. Tight shots with yummy bokeh became rule of thumb or cliche. Remember, all cliches were once an original idea.

As I moved along to in the Rijksmuseum, I see similar techniques applied to portraits. Often people were painted in great details, along with their garments, uniforms, jewelry (for women), settings (an office, working desk, stationeries). These details give us insight into who the person is. Had they been painted with a f/1.4 kinda depth, all these details would have been lost. Vermeer’s Kitchen Maid is a perfect example.

It was an epiphany for me. I have been guilty of stripping away personality, and details by reaching for f/1.4 all the time!

That’s the most important lesson I learned spending an afternoon at the Rijksmuseum. Since I have been steadily cranking up my aperture where it deems fit.

You can visit the Rijksmusem and other top museums around the world virtually via Google’s Art Project.