By Brian M. Rafferty
Most of us have done it, usually without intending to.
Whether it was at your daughter’s birthday party, a vacation in Arizona, your trip to Montreal or just the time you accidentally shot a picture when your parents weren’t quite ready for the shutter to be snapped, every now and then we all take a great picture.
But for some people, like Ed Michalec of Flushing, taking a brilliant picture just seems to come more easily. Michalec is a trained architectural designer who has operates “Beyond Photography,” where he has been taking commercial and portrait photographs since 2000.
If you ask him, though, Michalec will say that it is not his own work that is as important as the work of the photo organization of which he is a member — The Professional Photographers of Greater New York.
“Through the medium of photography, PPGNY has given me the encouragement and opportunity to express my creativity in varying degrees,” Michalec said.
At a Jan. 27 meeting, Michalec was honored with a general excellence award by PPGNY for his print “Dawn Over Little Neck Bay,” which was taken at 5:30 a.m. one morning in the Bronx. With this recognition, Michalec’s print is now automatically entered in competition for the Professional Photographers Society of New York State’s upcoming event to be held March 13-17 at the Rye Hilton in Rye, N.Y.
“For anyone who is concerned with personal growth (as a photographer), PPGNY is the place to be,” Michalec said. “I have witnessed my own rapid growth of expertise as well as in other members of this organization.”
The Professional Photographers of Greater New York is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of professional photography and the public’s awareness of quality and personalized service.
If Michalec’s print is awarded at the PPSNY event in later this month it will move on to compete in the Professional Photographers of America competition later this year.
Photographers do not have to move up through the ranks in order to be qualified for awards at the state or national levels. The deadline for submission of prints to the PPSNY event in Rye is Monday, March 8. Go to www.ppsny.com for more information.
For more information about PPGNY, which holds monthly meetings on Long Island, go to www.ppgny.org.
