“Panel F5 was successful”
Today was the distinction sitting for the Irish Photographic Federation, held in the University Of Limerick. Since January, I’ve been working towards my fellowship panel, which is the IPF’s highest award and it was up for judging today.
To be brutally honest, I wasn’t that nervous because I really didn’t expect to be successful, but I’m delighted/chuffed/honoured/amazed that the panel was accepted 
In all today there were 62 licentiateship panels with quite a high pass rate, 9 associateship panels, where only 3 were successful and finally 5 fellowship panels, with only my one being accepted Not only was mine the last f-panel to be shown it was also the last panel of the day, so when I heard the magic words “Panel F5 was successful” I was stunned. I’m still very much on a high from it 
Each F panel (and associateship panel) must be accompanied by a written statement which describes the thinking behind the panel of images to give an insight into the photographers vision. This was mine:
The naked human form has been a subject for artists, throughout history. The Venus de Milo, created around 100BC, is a larger than life marble sculpture, depicting Aphrodite, the Greek Goddess of love, as a topless woman, proud in her beauty. The Statue of David, sculpted by Michelangelo in the early 1500′s portrays the Biblical King David, again in the nude. Leonardo da Vinci, Botticelli, Picasso; all masters of their art, have all created masterpieces depicting the naked human form.
In more recent times, in addition to sculpture and painting, photography has become another medium where artists can share their creations with the world around them. Henri Carier-Bresson, a founding father of photojournalism, whilst more famous for his portraiture work has also captured the naked female form in his images, as have other great photographers like Annie Leibovitz, David Bailey amongst others.
Whilst I draw no comparison of my work to the ancient or indeed modern greats that I have named, I do hope that this panel follows on in the tradition that they have set. My goal was to capture the beauty of the naked female form; combining the use of colours and textures, with natural light and amazingly beautiful models, I have created this series of photos, which I hope translates artistically and more importantly, hope you enjoy.
The panel was displayed as two rows of 10 images, printed 11×11 and window mounted into cream 13×13 mounts. I’ve uploaded all the individual images as well as the main panel image in my gallery section. So you can click view it there in full if you wish.
Well done Ciaran!
Congratulations on the achievement Ciaran! I havent looked at the images yet (other than the thumbnail above) but I had guessed that it was going to be a panel of ambient lit nude models – although I admit I had not expected them all to have the textured overlay! Having tried and failed with textured overlays recently, I know from experience that it is not an easy task, never mind capturing the main image itself! From a cursory look at the thumnail collection it looks as if you have used the same or very similar texture, but remarkably you have achieved a very similar tone to all the different models skin, which cannot have been easy.
Well done!
Ross
Congrats, Ciaran. Really nice images. The overlay reminds me of parchment and gives a sense of antiquity. The Iveta and Monica ones are my favs.
I looove them all Ciaran…but ehhm i wasnt surprised you were successfull,i was pretty confident you would be
One of the best work i have ever seen x x x
Woohoo!
Well done mate. Much deserved.
Si
Thanks everyone
Well done. I don’t know how you didn’t crack under the pressure of them having to vote again
I would have hired lip readers for the day 
It was a bit nail biting to say the least
But I didn’t feel that much pressure, I guess probably because I wasn’t that confident. When it went to the vote, I was happy because at least I was in with a shout as opposed to being rejected out-right. It all worked out in the end though 
I love the variety of emotion and expression in those images. A great masterpiece. I’m proud to have been a part of it and I’m glad the images were successful. You deserve it. Well done!
Katy T
My most sincere congratulations Ciaran … couldn’t have happened to a more talented Photographer …
Philip
Congratulations Ciaran! In the end I didn’t make it to the sitting but I was delighted to see that you were awarded, especially after following your progress. The final panel you have here is amazing and the textures really add to the images rather than becoming a distraction as can often be the case. I can only imagine how impressive the prints are!
Thanks again everyone and in particular thank you to Kate and Iveta. it’s really thanks to you both, because it’s you the models that deserve most of the credit for this work
@Philip – thanks and congratulations to you for your LIPF
@Kevin – Cheers. it’s a pity you didn’t get the opportunity to drop in, it would have been good to meet. I think the prints are really what this panel is all about. The combination of the texture, the fine art paper I used and indeed the mounting and presentation are really what set this panel off. Thanks again
Ciaran
Congratulations and well done !
David H
Nice work Ciaran, you are rigth to be chuffed a great achievement
Wow, you have beaten yourself with this panel. These are the best I have seen from you. All nice poses, showing the beauty of women, and excelent lighting. The treatment of overlay give them a nice warm and old master feeling.