10/21/2026
My image “Relevé Reflection” took first place in this month’s Austin Professional Photographers Association competition, and I’m excited to share a little about how it came together.
The images that follow the final submission are straight out-of-camera exports. The last image shows the original RAW file in Lightroom, photographed with my Canon R5 Mark II and Sigma 150–600mm lens. Location: South San Gabriel River in Leander, Texas.
I got a peak at the scores..The judges’ scores were interesting: one was very high (above 90), while another was very low (in the 70's), I can't remember the third, but I believe it did place in the 80's which is a merit. The person who showed me the image said they (the judges) "said they saw no evidence of AI", but I myself wondered whether the low score might have reflected that concern.
SO...To be clear with everyone, including my APPA, I did not use AI-generated content. The painterly look came from MANY hours of detailed Photoshop work: painting, smudging, blending, removing distractions within the rules, and carefully refining the wings. They weren’t as sharp in the original RAW file, so I worked on them painstakingly, layer by layer “pixel x pixel”. I also moved the reflection closer to the bird in Photoshop. Sharpening and denoising were also used as permitted by the competition rules.
There was a lot of time and work (and a little luck) behind this image, and I’m proud to share the result.
