Photography Unfiltered with Catherine Hall

Robby Cavanaugh

Thank you to all the emerging photographers who entered our first TWiT Photo Guest Quest contest. We definitely do not envy our esteemed judges – Frank Doorhof, Art Wolfe, Tamara Lackey, Colby Brown and Zack Arias! They had the tough job of selecting their top picks from among the hundreds of inspiring and incredible portfolios you submitted through 500px, Facebook, Google+ and Flickr.

Congratulations to Robby Cavanaugh of Rancho Cucamonga, California – you are the winner of the first Guest Quest! Music editorial photographer Zack Arias has this to say about your work: “Overall… it’s a really strong body of work and the photographer should be very proud of what he has accomplished thus far. ‘Shaper of Dreams’ (picture, top) is my favorite. I’d buy a print of that. Love that shot.” For Robby, his source of inspiration “comes from a place of conflict, which then needs to be expressed through photography. Each picture is a very elaborate process that takes a lot of planning and time. I didn’t necessarily choose my theme, it kind of chose me. All of my photos look different, but still come from the same place. I guess you could say the theme is me and my need to tell stories through imagery.”

Elia Locardi

Google+ leaders Elia Locardi and Helen Sotiriadis are another two of the judges’ faves and are our two honorable mentions. Of his portfolio, globetrotter Elia says, “The theme of my entry was ‘Colors of the World’ and it’s a sampling of the travel photography I’ve produced over the last year. My goal with each image is to capture and share, the depth of emotion and sensation I feel when I see these amazing places for the first time.” Helen, who lives in Athens, Greece, submitted a portfolio in binary numbers, “10100 bits” – “20 bits is twenty of my favorite images. They have no central theme other than the simple fact that they represent personal favorites in various styles of photography – landscape, macro, architecture, portrait and concept.” You should definitely check out their portfolios and phenomenal fine art work.

Helen Sotiriadis

See our other 7 finalists here and a round of applause to Elis Alves, Daniel J Bilsborough, Darina Boycheva, Chris Leboe, Irina Luca, Ed McGowan, Martin Reisch, Mark Theriot, Jean-Charles Renaud and Patrick Shipstad for your creative entries :)

Jon Low, 31

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

“Indian weddings are eventful, intimate, colorful and rich in culture. Photography is ultimately exciting especially the setting was in India.”

Matthew Coughlin, 30

Gulf Breeze, Florida

“The past year has been a learning experience for me so every shot you see is a representation of me learning to work with my light and subject matter.”

Joseph Balestra, 25

Philadelphia

“The images are an overall portfolio that show a recent progression and change of light, style and color in my look over the last year.”

Tim Donnelly, 38

Sydney, Australia

“Growing up in the west of Sydney, I learned to never take our beautiful beaches for granted. Therefore, my thoughts are always the same when taking my photos – I love the sea.”

Nuel Paguyo, 40

Fairview, Oregon

“A summation of studio and on-location work that incorporates my vision of intriguing themes, unique environments/backgrounds, and above all very creative lighting.”

Eric Langley, 37

Atlanta, Georgia

“My submitted work represents a small sample of what I see when I am in the fight world. My main goal is to give the viewer a sense of what it is like to be there.”

Wray Post, 52

Near Wray, CO

“It is not my story, but a story of nature. This may be a bit cliche but I believe that when art is spoken from the heart, the subject picks the artist not the other way around.”