Local Natick photographer Karen McCall was honored at the annual Professional Photographers Association of Massachusetts (PPAM) convention last weekend in Plymouth. She is both thrilled and humbled to have received a total of five awards including the highest three that the convention judging board can bestow.
She entered 6 “art images” into the competition and received five blue ribbons with three of the images scoring in the top 10 out of over 250 total entries.
McCall was awarded the Photographic Excellence Award, which is presented to the entrant with the overall highest scoring collection of images. This is the highest honor awarded in Massachusetts.
Her personal project was an art image, featuring farm animals that were composited and digitally painted, entitled “Ham and Eggs” (Pictured below). It was awarded the Highest Scoring Print, Highest Scoring Image by a Certified Professional Photographer, Highest scoring Image awarded by ACI Color Lab (for digital artistry), and the Judges Choice Award for overall favorite image.
She was also awarded the Creative Theme Award for her art print entitled “Royal” which features her beloved golden doddle.
McCall holds a master of photography degree from the Professional Photographers of America (PPA) and is a certified Master of Photography from Professional Photographers of MA (PPAM). She was also recently presented with her 5th star. Each awarded star represents merits accumulated from entering images in state competition. She is one of two individuals in Massachusetts holding the highest number of merits.
The winning images will now be entered into the New England competition which takes place in April and will advance to the National level following that.
When interviewed, McCall shared her passion for photography. Her personal motto is that “It’s not a job when you love what you do.” She is currently well-known and sought after for photographing local high school seniors and family portraits and has been chosen best of Natick for the past 3 years. She continues to evolve and loves experimenting with new techniques. Her art prints are composites, created by seamlessly stitching together multiple single photos, which are then digitally painted for a whimsical look. McCall is excited to be able to add this type of photo product to her current offerings in addition to the traditional photographs that she is known and loved for. She is always looking for opportunities to take classes to hone her skills and is now giving back to the photography community by teaching a class herself on digital painting starting in March.
Want to learn more? Check out her website at karenmccall.com.
