Image created for auction makes $16,000 for charity
Recently,I was asked to create a portrait for a prestigious professional photography conference, "The Nikon AIPP Event".The idea was to create a portrait of a fellow photographer in attendance at the conference and paying homage to another Australian photographer.It would then be auctioned off for charity-this year's being Make-A-Wish Australia.
The challenge was that it had to be created entirely at the conference which gave me little more than 24 hours to location scout,gather props,equipment,shoot the image,post produce and print.For anyone who understands how I work,this was a time frame that I truly thought impossible.However,not one to back down from a challenge,I threw myself into the task getting only about 3 hours sleep in the time I had.I was very fortunate to have many wonderful people around me willing to lend a helping hand as well as sponsors including Nikon and Kayell who lent me equipment, and Epson who kindly printed the images larger than I thought was possible-around 24x30 inches.
On the night of the auction,after I briefly spoke about my image,a portrait of fellow photographer Dan O'Day and paying homage to the amazing husband and wife team Charmaine Heyer and Peter Rossi,it was put up for bids.Tony Hewitt,one of the most awarded landscape photographers in Australia led the auction like a true professional.Bidding was fierce and when the portrait surpassed the previous record of $3,500 I nearly fainted.
Eventually it reached a staggering $8,000 with two bidders left.Before the hammer fell,I cheekily suggested an edition of two instead of one.Both bidders where happy with that,so my image raised $16,000 for a very worthwhile charity.To say I was beside myself was an understatement.I learnt a very important lesson that night-that with great risk,comes great reward(perhaps).If you put your mind to something you can go above and beyond what you ever thought possible.My mantras of "never give up" and "if plan A doesn't work,there's always plan B,C and D" served me well also.This was truly one of my career highlights.So happy! :)
