Photo of the Day


WPPI Grand Award Winner: In Camera Artistry

March 11, 2019

By Jacqueline Tobin

Photo © Jerry Ghionis

Two weeks ago, our WPPI conference and trade show took place in Las Vegas, culminating in a dazzling awards show which celebrated the winners of this year’s 16 x 20 Print, Album and Filmmaking Competition. All week long, we will be featuring some of the Grand Award winners’ work here, starting with Jerry Ghionis, who won the In Camera Artistry Division with this frame. Here, Jerry shares the process behind his winning image. (See a full list of the winners online; and look for the printed gallery in our April issue.)


I created this photo for the new Nikon Z 7 camera launch. Since the award was announced, I’ve had countless people ask me how this was produced. I used a Brono, a lighting tool that consists of an aluminum frame that holds 12 mirrors with adjustable movements with ball and socket magnet attachments. Its main function is to illuminate the mirrors with one light source to direct and shape the light in 12 different directions. It’s kind of like light painting but in one clever, uniquely designed package. Rather than using it like it was meant to, though, I thought it would be fun to block out the aluminum frame with black material and photograph the reflection of a couple with slightly different circular crops. As the moment would be repetitious, I positioned the mirror on the bottom right to reveal the position of her hand on his chest to break the monotony of a predictable design. I illuminated the couple with an Ice Light 2 with barn doors. I’ve always been an advocate of in camera artistry and I was thrilled to win the category for the second time (my 6th Grand Award in total).  —Jerry Ghionis

(Shot with a Nikon Z 7 and 70-200mm lens at 135mm, 1/250 of a sec., f/3.5, ISO 1600.)