The 8th annual 2023 Lucie Technical Awards

Winners and Finalists Announced!

The Lucie Technical Awards aim to honor the large and small companies, as well as the individuals, who have advanced the photographic industry in a given year. All inclusive, these awards intend to encompass such things as cameras, lenses, lighting, and accessories, to software, storage and more.

The Lucie Technical Awards is a program of the Lucie Foundation, and sister program of The Lucie Awards.

CHUCK WESTFALL AWARD 2023 NOMINEES

VERONICA COTTER – 2023 Chuck Westfall Award Winner

Education Development and Sales Manager, Western USA for Hahnemühle USA

Veronica Cotter has been the Education Development and Sales Manager, Western USA for Hahnemühle USA for over ten years. She works with photo specialty dealers, fine art print studios, professional photographers, educators, students, and a diverse group of photo enthusiasts.

Her work with the Society of Photographic Education and Industry Advisory Boards has been instrumental in building new connections between the photo industry and education. For years she has been immersed in the process of identifying and utilizing community resources to benefit a wider range of emerging artists and programs. Her goal is to encourage inspiration and enthusiasm for visual storytelling and personal projects. Veronica considers the essence of her job the people she meets and the work they share. She has participated in portfolio reviews, both in person and virtual, to help photographers realize the potential of their projects.

Veronica’s fascination and love of photography began with an intro class in college. Soon after moving to NYC, she accepted a position with Oriental New Seagull. The seminal moment of her young career was meeting Ansel Adams. Her journey continued with ILFORD Photo. This background provided the perfect transition to digital imaging. Her perspective encourages a thoughtful discussion about the importance of making photographs, alternative methods, printing, and paper choice. In a screen-based environment she reminds us, “it’s not a photograph until it’s printed.” She is both a passionate and incredibly informed voice for the future of the medium.

GEORGE VARANAKIS

Co-Founder of Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters

George Varanakis served as the Co-Founder of Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters, which are recognized as two prominent online education platforms within the photographic industry. Additionally, he played a pivotal role in the establishment of The Portrait Masters Conference, a distinguished boutique conference catering to portrait photographers.

In 2021, Emerald Holding successfully acquired Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters platform and conference. Prior to this, George held the position of Head of Talent and General Manager of the Photo Channel at CreativeLive, a globally renowned online education platform. His professional journey commenced at Rangefinder Magazine and WPPI, where he steadily advanced to the position of Executive Vice President, overseeing the largest magazine and trade show dedicated to professional photographers.

George is an alumnus of Washington State University and currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona.

MICHAEL CORRADO

Senior Manager of Nikon Professional Services and Pro Relations

Michael Corrado is the Sr Manager of Nikon Professional Services and Pro Relations and recently celebrated his 39th anniversary with Nikon. From technical support to relationships with photographers and filmmakers, Mike’s energy and direction realizes the importance of standing in service of the customers that invest their trust and loyalty in the Nikon brand.

Michael’s extensive career has included time as a Nikon School instructor, Pro Markets Technical Representative and Sr. Product Manager for digital SLR cameras. Michael has had the great fortune of training, working with, and shooting for some of the world’s greatest photographers including NASA astronauts and engineers, while contributing his own still images and video capture globally for Nikon. He was a contributing writer and photographer for Nikon World Magazine and has content published regularly on Nikon’s Learn and Explore website. As a producer, director and photographer, Michael has supported many of Nikon productions including brochures, ad campaigns, TV commercials and educational DVDs and content. In 2014 he introduced the Nikon Ambassador Program that partners with Nikon’s elite photographers and filmmakers in the business today.

As the host of NPS Exclusive webinars, the Nikon Creator’s Hour, and Nikon LIVE Unscripted shows where he has interviewed many of the most talented photographers and filmmakers in the industry today looking to inspire photographers, filmmakers, and creators of all levels.

KELLY ANDERSON

Senior Technical Specialist, Education, Field & Sales Support

Kelly Anderson is an award-winning professional photographer with 25 years of experience working in the creative industry and 19 years as a specialist at Canon U.S.A., Inc. Her photography roots start in the darkroom to digital imaging, wide format printing and color management, on to video and now mirrorless systems. With a love of photography, she enjoys providing technical and creative insights to other professional photographers. In 2019, Kelly was named one of Canon’s Ambassadors, giving her the opportunity to be a one-woman video creating system with script writing, filming, talent, and post-production editing for Canon’s social media accounts. Outside of Canon, Kelly enjoys photographing, creating, and spending time with her husband and daughter.

http://kellyandersonphoto.com/

JOAN SHERWOOD

Senior Editor, Professional Photographer magazine

Joan Sherwood began their career in publishing in 1988 at Southern Voice, the Southeast’s LGBTQ newspaper, advancing from sales to production manager to art director to managing editor and special publications editor. Along the way they learned enough about photography to act as office photographer when needed. After 12 years at the newspaper, Sherwood took a brief career break in 2000 before joining the staff of Professional Photographer and PEI (Photo Electronic Imaging) magazines, publications of Professional Photographers of America, the world’s largest nonprofit photography association.

At PPA, Sherwood fell in love with the technical side of the photographic industry and the ever-changing advances of the digital imaging world. For the past 23 years, Sherwood has devoted their career to helping PPA members be better business people and better photographers through the pages of Professional Photographer magazine. While not a professional-level photographer, Sherwood has a gift for helping photographers share knowledge with peers and clearly convey technical details. They are grateful to have worked with so many gifted photographers, mentoring them to become better writers and guiding them to understand the needs of PPA members and how best to serve them.

ppa.com/ppmag

ABOUT

HOW ARE AWARDS NOMINATED?

The Lucie Tech Awards Advisory Board puts together the most accurate categories through the direction of Jaron Schneider, a well-respected technical editor. The Advisory Board is comprised of technical editors from esteemed magazines, websites and YouTube channels. We then reach out to you, the manufacturers, to solicit up to two products per category per company to be nominated. Each category will have a minimum of three and maximum of five nominations. Once all manufacturers have submitted their products, the LTA board of experts will then work to supplement any missing products and provide their own suggestions for nominations.

We want to make the process turnkey for all involved. Please note that we are requesting that all products must be available in the United States. It is mandatory that all product nominations be submitted with product image, the American version of the product code, shortened name and phonetic spelling of the product. Each company should also provide a press release, product information, logo and product images along with the nomination. We are also asking for any hands-on product reviews that have been done on the product. If a review hasn’t been done on a product, we ask that you coordinate with one of our board members to review and test the product this year. The nominations are due on November 15, 2023. Winners and finalists will be announced mid- December 2023.

While nominations are due in November, we are giving the option for companies to provide us with an NDA for any products coming out through December 2023 so they can be included. We assure you that our board will use the utmost discretion for this. If for some reason, the product is delayed, we can always take it out of that category closer to the date.

WHAT IF I WIN?

The Lucie Tech Awards will provide your company with tremendous exposure and accolades in the industry and within the photography community. The Lucie Foundation will be doing press releases, social media and e-mail blasts to promote the winners. We will also be providing the Winners Logos for your use in your own advertisements, websites and promotions. The Lucie Tech Award statue will be available for purchase if your company would like a physical award.

ADVISORY

THE LUCIE TECHNICAL AWARDS ADVISORY BOARD

The newly established Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board will take part in recognizing and rewarding deserving companies and individuals who share the passion of making incredible imagery through innovative technology. The panel consists of editors, technology experts, writers, and industry professionals – all whom have dedicated their careers to photography and the technology behind it.

Alice Dison: Director, Lucie Foundation

Jaron Schneider – Advisory Board Director & LTA Advisor

Editor in Chief of PetaPixel.com

Dan Havlik

Senior Editor for Digital Photo and Digital Photo Pro

Jordan Drake

DPReview TV Director

Bob Rose

Industry Consultant, and Associate Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology New York, NY

Angela Nicholson

Co-Founder of Camera Jabber, and Founder of SheClicks

Dan Watson

Learning Cameras YouTube Station

Wes Pitts

Editorial Director, Madavor Media for Photography Brands: Digital Photo, Digital Photo Pro, HDVideoPro, Imaging Resource and Outdoor Photographer

Ted Forbes

The Art of Photography YouTube Channel

William Brawley

Managing Editor, Imaging Resource

Dr Michael Pritchard

Director, Education and Public Affairs, Royal Photographic Society

Jason Scheider

Photography Consultant and Contractor

Jeanette Moses

Freelance Writer

For any additional questions, feel free to email us at:

team@luciefoundation.org

AWARDS

PAST YEARS – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2022 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2021 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2019 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2018 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2017 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2016 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2015 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

PHOTOS FROM LUCIE TECHNICAL AWARDS

SEE MORE PHOTOS

FAQ

Here you’ll find answers to some common questions we receive about The Lucie Technical Awards. If your question isn’t among them, please email us at techawards@lucies.org.

What are the categories each year for The Lucie Technical Awards?

The Lucie Technical Awards categories are annually revised and updated with the advice and guidance of The Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board. The Lucie Technical Awards Advisory board takes the market’s technological trends into consideration. Some of the categories in the past may not be included in the next Lucie Technical Awards, and new categories may be included from year to year.

What does the timeline look like for The Lucie Technical Awards each year?

Nominations Open: April

Deadline to Submit: November 30, 2022

Finalists Announced: Mid-December

Winners Announced: Mid-December

How do I know that you received my nomination?

You will see a confirmation page immediately after you submit your nominations. You will also receive an email confirming your nomination(s).

How does a product qualify to be nominated for a Lucie Technical Award?

In order for a product to be nominated for a Lucie Technical Award, the product must be released within the timeline stated in the nomination application and also must be in the appropriate category.

Who can nominate a product for The Lucie Technical Awards?

The Lucie Technical Awards accepts nominations from companies, manufacturers, our board members, and from our database of 50,000 plus photographers worldwide.

Who are the judges?

The Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board is comprised of various members of the diverse photography community, including technology editors, editors, journalists, and consultants.

How are finalists chosen for The Lucie Technical Awards?

After the nomination deadline closes, all nominations are vetted to ensure they meet the qualifications – specifically the appropriate category and release date. The list of nominations is then finalized by a smaller selection of our Advisory Board members, primarily technology editors, to determine the finalists.

How are winners chosen for The Lucie Technical Awards?

The Lucie Technical Awards attaches great importance to the selection of the awards and strives to maintain an independent and fair procedure to select the winners for each category each year. The Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board takes part in recognizing and rewarding deserving companies and individuals who share the passion of making incredible imagery through innovative technology. Board members only vote where it applies to their knowledge and expertise. We do not permit brand ambassadors or endorsed photographers to vote in any category that might result in a conflict of interest or bias.

The finalists are voted on by The Lucie Technical Awards Advisory Board using a numeric scoring system. The board votes on each product selected as a finalist using a point scale from one to ten- a score of one is the worst and a score of ten is the best. This scoring system is used for all of the categories. After all scores have been received, the average score of each finalist is computed. The finalist that receives the highest score is automatically deemed the winner of the category. It is the rating scale vote of all Advisory Board members that determines the winners. All results are final and are kept confidential until the press announcement in October.

Is it possible to receive the board’s rating and comments?

Due to the high volume of entries, The Lucie Technical Awards does not offer individual comments to its entrants.

What do I get if I win a Lucie Technical Award?

Can I purchase additional Lucie Technical Awards statues?

Yes, additional awards can be purchased. Please contact team@luciefoundation.org for more information.

MEDIA

The 8th annual 2023 Lucie Technical Awards

Winners and Finalists Announced!

CATEGORIES

CHUCK WESTFALL AWARD 2023 NOMINEES

VERONICA COTTER – 2023 Chuck Westfall Award Winner

Education Development and Sales Manager, Western USA for Hahnemühle USA

GEORGE VARANAKIS

Co-Founder of Sue Bryce Education and The Portrait Masters

MICHAEL CORRADO

Senior Manager of Nikon Professional Services and Pro Relations

KELLY ANDERSON

Senior Technical Specialist, Education, Field & Sales Support

JOAN SHERWOOD

Senior Editor, Professional Photographer magazine

ABOUT

HOW ARE AWARDS NOMINATED?

WHAT IF I WIN?

ADVISORY

THE LUCIE TECHNICAL AWARDS ADVISORY BOARD

AWARDS

PAST YEARS – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2022 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2021 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2019 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2018 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2017 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2016 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

2015 – FINALISTS & WINNERS

PHOTOS FROM LUCIE TECHNICAL AWARDS

FAQ

MEDIA

2023 Press

2021 Press Releases

2020 Press Releases

2018 Press Releases

2017 Press Releases

2017 Press

2016 Press Releases

2016 Press

2015 Press Releases

2015 Press

SPONSORS

Lucie Foundation is supported by our members and by the generosity of our corporate, media and association partners and sponsors.

About Lucie Foundation

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