Traveling and capturing iconic locations in photographs is my passion. But sharing one’s work is immensely gratifying as well. That’s not uncommon I guess. Every week folks share photos on Facebook, Instagram and such. But gathering Likes for your photos isn’t nearly gratifying enough. Not when Facebook posts are seen and instantly forgotten.

My preference is to share my photographs with folks who care about good work, who can see an image for its artistic value. That deeper kind of seeing is what happens at a professional contest or a gallery show. (The ultimate treat or course, is when someone chooses your work for their home.) So for the last five years, I’ve been focused in that direction.

My first success came when a couple of my Iceland images were chosen for the prestigious OC Fair Photography Contest. It’s the largest photo contest in the state with thousands of images submitted each year in various categories. One of those images, “Sod Church at Hof,” was even awarded a First Place ribbon.

The composition works because I frame the sod church so as to evoke Iceland’s past – in much the same way as the traditional illustration techniques you’d find in a Grimm’s Fairy Tales or the work of NC Wyeth.

The Muse Contest

Since then, I’ve entered a wide array of international contests (as have other South Bay photogs). The results can be frustrating. These contests always charge on a per entry basis. The process is time consuming. And more often than not, you don’t get recognized. But when you do get that recognition … well.

This March I found that all seven of my photo entrees were winners in the Muse Photography Awards. I’ve never had that many images chosen by the judges and certainly I was pleased.

Muse, like many contests, awards winners by category and part of my success at Muse was that they have a good number of categories – which I made the most of.

For example, as the image shows, my first Muse winner, “Sacred Cave,” was in the Long Exposure category. “Sunset, Arno River” was in the Travel category; “Twilight, Thor’s Well” won for Nature – Seascape and for Fine Art Photography – Seascape. … And so on. Here’s an up close look at some of the images:

It was a kick that one of our local seascapes was chosen in a contest that displays photos from spots all over the world.

This sea cave in Palos Verdes provides plenty of challenges for the photographer. The place isn’t exactly safe, not in a rocky cave with waves rushing in every 10 seconds. Basically, you’re working knee-deep in water at low tide – while dodging the waves. Plus the cave only gets this warm glow of illumination at Winter Solstice. And of course, getting an effective long exposer has its own issues.

Lots of contests focus on photos of places you’ll never go to. But this image was taken in Florence – during rush hour. There were thousands on the street at that moment.

We were on our way to dinner, along with every other tourist that night. But good photography is about seeing. And up above the crowds was a sky that was positively celestial. Then I noticed how those old Renaissance buildings were reflected in the Arno River … like a dreamy watercolor.

I got close to the wall edge to give the river reflections plenty of screen space and used the street lights as a “leading line” to take the eye in the frame. All the elements of good composition were maximized. And the boring stuff, the press of bodies at rush hour, was kept to a minimum.

No one knows which images will appeal to a jury of judges. “Thor’s Well” won gold in two Muse categories. It was also chosen for the Palos Verdes Art Center 2022 Winter Show and by the bG Gallery in Santa Monica’s Bergamot Station. … It’s the most awarded image I’ve created.

But why was that? There’s obvious criteria that the contests all agree on. First, the image has to be quality work technically—no tilting horizons or cluttered compositions. Contests also avoid picking images of locations photographed a lot. So even a great shot of the Manhattan Beach Pier or Point Vicente Lighthouse will have a hard time being chosen by the average contest.

Unlike a MB Pier shot, Thor’s Well isn’t widely known – except in coastal Oregon. Plus that particular image seems to catch the attention. Tidal pools always have some potential danger – especially one that sucks in gallons of water in high wind, high tide situations. Plus you can tell that our intrepid photographer is standing a yard away from the watery pit to emphasize the depth of the lava tube.

I’m mentioning all this because another aspect of success for these events is the visual story. The closeness to danger, the fact that I had to be on location at high tide and at sunset. In fact, it took four evenings to get all these elements to line up properly. And these elements were all part of the image’s backstory – and the written story I submitted along with the photograph.

My “Old Weir Bridge” image also won Muse awards in twin categories. This photo also has a certain visual impact – the rains flooding Ireland’s Killarney National Park meant the stream was soon to overflow its banks. And I think I captured the stream’s speed fairly well.

But visceral impact is only a part of this image’s value. Here the rushing stream becomes a line leading the eye from watery foreground, through the columns of the old bridge and into the stormy vista beyond. It’s a visual journey, a juxtaposition of water and stone. And the old stone bridge reminds us that these dynamics have been going on for centuries.

One final image, a midnight shot of “Lady Boot Arch” in California’s Alabama Hills. The Old Weir Bridge has been around for a few centuries, since well before Queen Victoria visited Killarney. Lady Boot Arch and other of the rock formations in the Eastern Sierras go back thousands of years. And then there’s the Milky Way which goes back almost to the birth of time itself.

This image, like the others I submitted, had some real challenges involved – getting up at midnight for a shoot, thinking through the lighting issues, framing the arch so it seems like reaching up to the stars. I guess the story here says something about looking into the face of eternity.

Final Thoughts

It’s nice that the Muse Photography judges saw some of the effort and creativity that went into creating these art works. The images all seemed to speak in their own ways to folks who are professionals.

Obviously I don’t do landscape photography to win awards. And I don’t submit photos just to please some nameless judge. But real world recognition has a value over time. And if a contest allows me to share a bit of nature’s beauty with more people, that’s great.

Tim Truby Bio

Tim has spent most of his life engaged in various creative activities – earning an MFA in Theater, directing and acting in plays and on film. After that he fell into professional writing, photography, product management for local high tech companies.

Then eight years ago he decided to devote himself to travel and landscape photography, starting with two travel photography books, Photographing Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks and Photographing Arches, Canyonlands and Capitol Reef National Parks.

Tim’s landscape photo art has been chosen at several OC Fair Photography Contests, the European Photography Awards and the Muse Photography Awards. He’s been in various juried and gallery shows including bG Gallery in Santa Monica and at the Palos Verdes Art Center’s 2022 Winter Show. Contact him at 310-480-7237 if you’re interested in his work.

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