Picked Up A Few More
FIAP Silver Medal: Ivory Flame (Golden Digital Salon – Denmark)
My bombardment of FIAP salons continues and I’m amazed to say, my medal count is increasing 
having picked up three more medals at the recent Golden Digital Salon in Denmark. Due to the fact that I’m not shooting much new content these days, I’m entering a lot of images from my back catalog and it was very pleasing to have one of my images from my Fellowship Panel pick up a gold medal.
Golden Gold Medal: Reflection (Golden Digital Salon – Denmark)
My strategy (for the want of a better word) has been to focus on entering salons across as many different countries as I can, with as many different images as I can and to primarily target salons which have either four or five star ratings from FIAP. Slowly but surely the counters are going up; number of acceptances, number of different images, number of different countries and number of different salons and it’s rewarding that the medal count is also increasing too
One of the things that has been disappointing though, is the quality of the catalogs from the various salons and indeed the delays incurred in receiving them 
. The whole point of targeting the four or five star salons is so that the catalog would be good quality. But to date, I have only received two print catalogs (both poor), one digital catalog (average) and four other catalogs are LONG over due. Each salon commits to a certain schedule in terms of when images must be submitted by, when they will be judged, when the results will be announced, when the exhibition will be held and when the catalogs will be posted.
FIAP Gold Medal: Kayt In Monochrome (Golden Digital Salon – Denmark)
Based on my entries this year, I would say that unfortunately 80% of salons run behind schedule, either in terms of issuing notifications, but most certainly in producing and mailing the catalogs. It’s pretty unfair that the salon organisers do not stick to their side of the bargain. What’s equally disappointing is when the catalogs turn out to be poor quality, or worse still they magically change from being a print catalog to being a DVD 
I’ve even had a salon now ask for additional money for the catalog, stating that their entry fee doesn’t actually cover the catalog 
WTF Thankfully though, the experience that each salon offers will go a long way towards helping me make a decision on whether or not I enter it again next year (a lot of them won’t be getting my custom/images). Which is a pity 
Oh what’s also nice is that the local press have picked up on my recent medal wins It’s kind of strange seeing your name in print, especially when it’s unrelated to work. It’s stranger still seeing your fat mug, especially when it’s strategically placed over a models breasts But hey… it is local press
Well done Ciaran!! You are really on top of your game.
What did I see in the Swansea results.. an image of yours called “a break in the clouds”? Landscapes too?
Me? A landscape?? God no….
It was a nude shot captured on the 18th hole of the golf club in the Curragh, Co. Kildare when there was a short break in the weather (http://www.thewonderoflight.com/galleries/d/254-3/cwhyte_080504_0033.jpg)
It’s an old shot, going back a couple of years and one I hadn’t entered into a salon previously, so it was good to get an acceptance and increase the image count.
So is the Cape Cicruit salon DVD worth paying for?
Thats not a bad landscape.. The sky and grass go together well
I dont know about the Cape DVD, I don’t remember if I said I wanted it or not. Some of the cds I have received have awkward navigation. I like to find people I have become familiar with first. A good catalogue like Trierenburg really does justice to images. I suppose if the Cape DVD has exactly what was entered and the images are not compressed again, then you are seeing what the judges saw.