Launched last year in 2023, the Association of Photographers’ (AOP) Martin Evening Excellence Award is for an individual or team who excels at digital retouching, in either a still or moving image.
The award is open to all re-touchers who have worked in the industry for at least two years, and have made an impact with a piece of work, either with commissioned work or personal work requested by a client.
This years finalists are:
Isabelle Doran, CEO of the Association of Photographers said: "Our second year of this seminal award again underlines the important role post-production re-touchers have in our industry.
"From taking basic photographic and footage elements to composite a final high-quality produced end result is such a technical skill, the results are showstopping."
The Association of Photographers was first formed in 1968, and aims to "protect, promote and inspire the worth and standing of its members within the commercial photographic industry."
This year, the brief for entrants was to look at the essential aspects of digital retouching, including photographic application of skills, the use of conceptual and aesthetic application, as well as visual effects, color grading, audio post, screen graphics, shoot and edit broadcast technology.
Submissions must also demonstrate significant skill in editing, grading, picture and audio finishing, deliverables, and international versioning, as well as visual effects showing a high degree of proficiency in post-production techniques.
The successful images will make the strongest visual impact within a contemporary creative framework.
Importantly, submissions may include the use of AI-assisted tools, but work may not be AI-generated.
This is an award for the modern age, and is sponsored by Skylum, the company behind photo editing software Luminar Neo. It is dedicated to the late Martin Evening, a highly influential photographer who was an early pioneer of digital retouching, and to acknowledge his contribution to the excellence in digital retouching within our industry.
Martin turned to digital imaging in the 1990’s, an early adopter of Photoshop, and a respected alpha and beta tester for Adobe, writing over 30 books on digital imaging and photography, among other achievements.
After battling cancer for several years, Evening sadly died in 2022.
The winner of the Association of Photographers’ (AOP) Martin Evening Excellence in Digital Retouching Award will be announced on 26 September, at the AOP 39th Awards Showcase event.
Take a look at our guides to the best photo editing tools, the best photo editing laptops, and the best tablet for photo editing.
