About this time last year I received Platinum Level Photographer of The Year award for my results in PPA's International Print Competition. That simply means all four of my competition prints merited and three went on to be excepted into the Images of Excellence collection. That award alone would have good enough because I had met the requirements for my Images of Excellence award that I received in January. But a short while after the competition I received a message from someone at PPA asking me if I'd like to be on "Team America" and compete in the World Photographic Cup using my recent competition image, "This Ain't No Horseplay." I was ecstatic, but was not allowed to tell anyone until December, when the team members would be announced. (It took several trips around the block to dissipate my adrenaline!) At the PPA convention in January, and after receiving my Images of Excellence award along with recognition for my competition results, they announced the the finalists in the WPC from around the world and I was one of them! I was in a daze for the next hour as friends congratulated me. By April my wife and I found ourselves on an airliner headed for Italy where the World Photographic Cup final awards announcement even would take place. After some time touring around the country we attended the ceremony in Rome. To my surprise I won a gold medal in the Reportage category. I've never pumped so much adrenaline in my life! Team USA went on to tie with Mexico for the cup. It was the thrill of my life! And now, a year later, I just received another Platinum award along with an Elite Plus Membership certificate from the PPA. There is one more award ceremony before the year is over. I Entered the Intermountain Professional Photographer's Association annual competition in March where one of my images received a perfect score of 100. The judges were from the same pool that judge the International Print competition so it was a big deal for me. (The image went on to receive an Image of Excellence at PPA.) The IPPA awards ceremony is next Monday so more to follow!

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