The talented photographer passed away in the heart of “her” mountain. A fatal fall from the tops of Aydius, which caused great dismay.
 
Marie-Claire Dubourg, whose studio is located in Pau, France, facing the church Saint Martin in Pau, suffered a fall in the mountains of the Aspe valley, she loved photographing with her husband, Vincent. The talented photographer had obtained various international awards, among 2 QEPs on illustration and portrait. The FEP offers its deepest condolences to the family members and to all colleagues of the GNPP.
 

FEP Secretariat will make a break for 2 weeks, from August 15 to August 28, but for urgent matters  you can always find us via e-mail.  
This season means for many of us a rest and an amazing holiday time. However, FEP activity will not stop! 
There are 2 important competitions open, the FETA and the World Photographic Cup!  For both of them, the time to register is NOW! 
You can find all information about FETA here and on WPC website www.worldphotographicup.org
As for FETA,  we remind you that this year winner will also get the IPC Kunio Yatomi Scholarship, the same award given to graduate students in Japanese university who major in photo-imaging with outstanding achievement which means a 1000 US dollars check for the winning student, and the ceremony will be held in Amsterdam on November 20th, 2016. 
As for  WPC, we remind at you that last year 3 European teams (Portugal, Russia and Slovakia) cleaned the table of the medals! This year will not be easy to remain on the top spot…but we need a massif participation of al the FEP members associations.  To be selected for a national team, like in the Olympics, it’s a prestige no  other photographic competition can match. And remind that the special rules of the WPC offer all the finalists in each category the chance to bring points  for the team!  Don’t let your association miss that opportunity! FEP members  and previously  entered teams have priority rights, but please consider registering  your team within the end of the month …
There is also a major photographic event coming soon, where FEP is involved, which is photokina. FEP will have a huge booth at the event, where  you will also have the chance to meet the colleagues and to admire a gallery of the best images of our FEP competition,  the WPC winning images and some of the most amazing pictures of our recent qualified QEP and MQEP. More details about that will come soon. Speaking about the current and next qualifications, we remind you that the registration for the EP are always open (clic here) online through the FEP website , enter it now!
The next QEP and MQEP session will be in Amsterdam, on November 19-20, and registrations are open too, you can find rules and entry forms here.
On November 1st and 2nd is also scheduled the second annual session for the FEP video qulifications, EV and QEV. It will be again in Spain (Segovia, one hour from Madrid) and the dead line for submission is October 20th. Rules and entry form on FEP website here.
Finally, we remind you that the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2017 will open on September 1st.  
 Picture by Ferenc Cegledi, QEP, Hungary

FEP COVER PICTURE OF AUGUST 2016
The winner of this month is Eugenio Li Volsi, QEP photographer from Italy
Next round: end of August, for the cover picture of September.
Follow us on facebook to see the submitted pictures or to enter the contest!
 

We are happy to announce that 14 professional photographers have been awarded with the EP title at the last EP judging session!Our congratulations go to:

Andreas Zopf, EP, Austria
Dimitri Janssens, EP, Belgium
Dirk Valcke, EP, Belgium
Marc Verhulst, EP,  Belgium
Kattoo Hillewaere, EP, Belgium
Katti Borré, EP, Belgium
Ralitza Soultanova, EP, Belgium
Jan Van Steen, EP, Belgium
Valérie Raynaud,EP, France
Arnaud Gras, EP, France
Dusan Holovej, EP, Slovakia
Katarína Grajcaríková, EP, Slovakia
Agnieszka Tünnissen, EP, Sweden
Natasha Volk, EP, Ukraine

Apply online now for the EP session #16! Deadline September 30.

The FEP Emerging Talent Award 2016, the contest for the European photographic students and young photographers (under 30 years of age), open on May 16th and will close on September 15th.

The FEP – FETA  award is held in collaboration with a number of Universities and Colleges throughout Europe, aiming to recognize the high standard of photographic image making, taking place in Europe by final year University students and newly qualified young photographers.
 
The FEP FETA Award 2015 was wan by Christopher Rüsing, student at the Bildungszentrum Handwekskammer Dortmund, Germany. The 2016 winner and the student earning merits will be announced in Amsterdam on Sunday, November 20th at the FETA Award Ceremony.  
 
We are also happy to announce that the International Photographic Council (IPC, an NGO of the United Nations) has decided to support the FETA Award 2016, and the FETA winner will also receive the IPC Kunio Yatomi Scholarship, the same award given to graduate students in Japanese university who major in photo-imaging with outstanding achievement. This award consists in an IPC certifcate and of an amount of 1000 U.S. dollars which will be given to the winner. Click HERE to have more information about this award. 
 
There are no change in the rules: 
 
– A portfolio of 9 images must be submitted through the FEP website.  
 
– A personal statement must be completed on the application form (in English) explaining the context/theme of the submitted portfolio.
 
– After the online submission, the FEP secretariat will send by email to the candidates the application form, to fill and send back, together with the proof of the support and the approval of their University/Institute course leader. 
 
– An entry fee of 20,00 € per portfolio is required.
 
This year, there are also new on line facilities: the written statement to submit with the images can be submitted directly onto the website when uploading the images. As for the judging, to ensure a complete impartiality each portfolio be given a score by each judge (as a panel of photographs not for individual images). This score will then determine the top portfolios – winner and any merits.  Besides,  judges to give some positive feedback to help the students. Their advice will be sent to each and all entered students after the awards have taken place.
 
COLLEGES TASKS: The college/university course leaders will select the highest achieving final year students on their course to enter for the award. The maximum number of portfolios which can be sent by each Institute is 5. The course leader will also validate and verify each student’s submission of images.
 
Further info and a full set of rules HERE  We are looking forward receiving entries from the best emerging talents across Europe! Hurry up, deadline September 15th.

FEP Cover Picture of July 2016, by Nina Pauloff, Finland.Congratulations to this photographer, who is the winner of the FEP Cover Picture of the Month contest for a second time in a row!!!!!New round of the contest: end of July, for the Cover Picture of August

The FEP Board Members met in Torun, Poland, on June 13th, 2016, in the historical Artus Mansion.
 
The FEP President, Andreas Barylli-Fayer, thanked Marek Czarnecki and the local administration for helping to prepare and to host such a wonderful event. 
 
It was enthusiastically appreciated the idea of the FEP President to organize on February 2019 a global event in Wien, Austria, including celebrations for the 20th anniversary of the FEP professional qualifications and also for the 180th anniversary of Daguerre, the hugest international photographic exhibition ever made by FEP and the winner announcement of the 2019 World Photographic Cup. As a pinnacle of the event, called Fête de l’image 2019, on 8th Feb 2019 an exclusive traditional ball in the iconic Hofburg Palace, built majestically by the Habsburg Emperors, will bring photographers coming from around the globe in a one of a kind, unrepeatable magical atmosphere. While the FEP President and an organizing committee will work on the project, by the end of the year a comprehensive proposal will be submitted.
 
The Board also confirmed the following positions:  
 
Jean-Félix Bernetel – Vice President; Willem van der Vlies – Financial Controller; Jim Lowe – QEP/MQEP Chairman; 
 
Johan Brouwers – EP Chairman; Neil Warner – EV/QEV Chairman; Jørgen Brandt – FEP Competition Chairman; Adriano Scognamillo – Chairman of the Book Prize. 
 
Jim Lowe was appointed FETA Chairman for the next session, while Jean Félix Bernetel, Jorgen Brandt, and Bent Nygaard Larsen will occupy the 3 seats for Europe in the World Photographic Cup Governing Committee. 
 
After the approval of the midyear budget survey, all associations have been urged to better encourage submissions for the EP and for the FETA award, also to enable and encourage young member recruitment. 
 
As for PHOTOKINA, a working committee formed by the FEP President, Johan Brouwers, Patrizia Burra, Bernd Gassner and Bent Nygaard Larsen will work in co-operation with the local German Association to organise the participation of the FEP associations to the trade show. 
 
The next QEP session and Board meeting in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, on November 19-21 was confirmed, new fantastic options for the judging sessions 2017 and 2018 were approved:  the summer sessions 2017/2018 will be held in Falmouth University, UK and in Tampere, Finland, while the vote to accept Georgia as the 2nd venue in 2017 was unanimous.
 
After the Meeting, the FEP President and the CEO met with Fernando Barrio, Board member and President of FEPFI, to discuss the project of a new the Digital Magazine. It was agreed that FEPFI will create and  FEP would circulate a trial number of a new European digital magazine to all its members. The project is at no cost for FEP,  although a FEP representative will overlook the work of the editorial committee.
 

Picture by Johan Brouwers, QEP
 

We are happy to announce that at the 33rd session of the FEP European Qualifications held in Torun, Poland, on June 11 and 12, 2016, 5 MASTER QEPs and 11 new QEP (Qualified European Photographers) have been awarded.

Congratulations to MQEPs:
 

André Boto, (Second) Master QEP, Portugal
Stephan Huger, Master QEP, Austria
Krister Löfroth, Master QEP, Finland
Igor Sakharov, Master QEP, Latvia
Laila Villebeck, Master QEP, Sweden

 
And to QEPs: 

Dušan Be?o, Slovakia, QEP Macro PhotographyJoão Carlos, Portugal, QEP Fashion
Pavol Delej, Slovakia, QEP PortraitLeo Fellner, Austria, QEP PortraitNancy Fina, Italy, QEP Fashion
Pekka Homanen, Finland, QEP Fine Art
Pekka Homanen, Finland, QEP PortraitAntonio Peinado Muñoz, Spain, QEP Nude
Eric Traversie, France, QEP Portrait
Marie-Pascale Vandewalle, Belgium, QEP Reportage
Vladimir Veverka, Slovakia, QEP Portrait

CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN!The next QEP/MQEP judging session will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on November 19-20, 2016.Registrations will open on September 1st, 2016.Picture by Photographer Eugenio Li Volsi, QEP 

FEP Cover Picture of June 2016, Nina Pauloff, Finland.
Thanks to all who entered our monthly contest on our official page on facebook.
Click here to see all the images submitted.
Next round: at the end of June, for the Cover Picture of July!

EP session #14, OFFICIAL RESULTSWe are happy to announce that 10 professional photographers have been awarded with the EP title at the last EP judging session!Our congratulations go to:

Andreas Rainer, EP, Austria
Rudi Ferder, EP, Austria
Ann Coppens, EP, Belgium
Bieke Timmerman, EP, Belgium
Anu Sundell, EP, Finland
George A. Rauscher, EP, Germany
Igor Dvoretskiy, EP, Russia
Peter Svoboda, EP, Slovakia
Marek Hajkovský, EP, Slovakia
Martina Nem?eková, EP, Slovakia

Apply online now for the EP session #15! Deadline June 30.

  
The FETA Award 2016 is COMING SOON! 
The FEP Emerging Talent Award 2016, open since 2013 to the European photographic students and young photographers (under 30 years of age), is about to reopen. Call for entries: May 16th / Deadline: September 15th
 
The FEP – FETA  award is held in collaboration with a number of Universities and Colleges throughout Europe, aiming to recognize the high standard of photographic image making taking place in Europe by final year University students and newly qualified young photographers.
 
The FEP FETA Awards 2015 was wan by Christopher Rüsing, student at the Bildungszentrum Handwekskammer Dortmund, Germany. The 2016 winner and the student earning merits will be announced in Amsterdam on Sunday, November 20th at the FETA Award Ceremony.  
 
We are also happy to announce that the International Photographic Council (IPC, an NGO of the United Nations) has decided to support the FETA Award 2016, and the FETA winner will also receive the IPC Kunio Yatomi Scholarship,  the same award given to graduate students in Japanese university who major in photo-imaging with outstanding achievement.
 
There will be no change in the rules: 
 
– A portfolio of 9 images must be submitted through the FEP website.  
 
– A personal statement must be completed on the application form (in English) explaining the context/theme of the submitted portfolio.
 
– After the online submission, the FEP secretariat will send by email to the candidates the application form, to fill and send back, together with the proof of the support and the approval of their University/Institute course leader. 
 
– An entry fee of 20,00 € per portfolio is required.
 
There will be also new on line facilities: the written statement to submit with the images can be submitted directly onto the website when uploading the images. As for the judging, to ensure a complete impartiality each portfolio be given a score by each judge (as a panel of photographs not for individual images). This score will then determine the top portfolios – winner and any merits.  Besides,  judges to give some positive feedback to help the students.  Their  advice will be sent to each and all entered students after the awards have taken place.
 
 
COLLEGES TASKS: The college/university course leaders will select the highest achieving final year students on their course to enter for the award. The maximum number of portfolios which can be sent by each Institute is 5. The course leader will also validate and verify each student’s submission of images.
 
 
Further info and the full set of rules 2016 HERE

Congratulations to Igor Dvoretskiy, from Russia, winner, with this picture, of the FEP Cover Picture of the Month for the edition of May 2016!
Next round of the FEP Cover Picture Contest: end of the month, for the cover of June.
FEP official page on facebook where to submit pictures HERE.

 

Would you like to run an on line national photographic competition? A software designed specifically for FEP member associations now available!

As requested during the last FEP Board meeting, it is possible since now on to use the competition software developed for the FEP,  to conduct national competitions held by each and all FEP member associations! 

The system used by FEP for the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year awards has been proven effective to increase competitions entries and incomes and to reduce to a minimum the administration cost. 

The FEP system has been now adapted for FEP member associations, it is even more flexible and versatile and open up a large number of options, including to use for entries and judging your national language.  

If you are interested, please contact the FEP secretariat to get further information.

EP session #13, what a success!We are happy to announce that 25 professional photographers coming form 10 diferrent countries have been awarded with the EP title!Our congratulations go to:

Thomas Schauer, EP, Austria
Peter Trykar, EP, Austria
Leo Fellner, EP, Austria
Vugar Amrullayev, EP, Azerbaijan
Evi Polak, EP, Belgium
Carine Van Gerven, EP, Belgium
Evelyne Vanpoucke, EP, Belgium
Rudi Theunis, EP, Belgium
Glenn Vanderbeke, EP, Belgium
Luc Vervliet, EP, Belgium
Guy Schotte, EP, Belgium
Markus Aspegren, EP, Finland
Sirpa Ryyppö, EP, Finland
Seppo Kolehmainen, EP, Finland
Johanna Uusitalo, EP, Finland
François Jouanneaux, EP, France
Iuri Akopov, EP, Georgia
Caleb Ridgeway, EP, Germany
Pedro Filipe, EP, Portugal
Paulo Pinheiro, EP, Portugal
Matej Juhár, EP, Slovakia
Norbert Eggenhofer, EP, Slovakia
Vladimir Veverka, EP, Slovakia
Therese Asplund, EP, Sweden
Kristin Sipilä, EP, Sweden

Apply online now for the EP session #14! Deadline April 30.

Monday, March 14th,  21 FEP member associations gathered in Santa Maria da Feria, Portugal to celebrate the FEP General Assembly 2016. 
 
The meeting has been held inside the very well attended “Expofoto”, organized by the APPImagem. 
 
A Board of Directors for the next term of 2 years has been elected. It will be comprised – beyond , ex officio, the FEP President  – of the following members: Jean Felix Bernetel, Fernando Barrio, Rui Teixeira, Willem van der Vlies, Johan Browers, Tiina Haring, Adriano Scognamillo, Neil Warner, Bern Gassner, Patrizia Burra, Milos Fic and Bent Nygaard. 
 
After the approval of the budgets 2015 and 2016 , the delegates expressed their full confidence to the FEP organisational staff, comprised of CEO Giuseppe Scozzi, FEP Secretary Martina Scozzi, Event Manager and incoming CEO Anna Kaleva Tsakglas and FEP Editor Sue Lowe.
 
The FEP annual programme will include, among others, two photographic qualifications sessions to be held in Poland (Torun,11-13 June) and in The Netherlands (Amsterdam, 19-21 November) and a video qualification session (QEV) scheduled in Spain also in early November next.   
 
The attending delegates initiated the procedures towards a new regularisation of the FEP in the institutional form of a not for profit  association based on Belgium. As a result,  the Board member Willem van der Vlies had the mandate to address the Belgian registry and proceed to the subsequent course of actions.   
 

The results of the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2016 – competition were revealed on Sunday evening, March, 13th, during the Expofoto event in Santa Maria de Feira, Portugal. The awards were presented by the FEP Event Manager Anna Kaleva-Tsagklas and the chairman of the competition Jørgen Brandt.
Thousands of images from several hundred photographers from across Europe entered the competition. According to the chairman, “The competition is a huge inspiration to all of us in the European photographic community”.
And the winner was…….. Antonio Barrella, from Italy. He has been announced as the FEP EUROPEAN PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR 2016. Congratulations! 
Antonio Barrella got his QEP in 2014, his Master QEP in 2015, and for this competition he won the FEP European Commercial Golden Camera 2016 and the FEP European Fashion Golden Camera 2016. With this last set of pictures submitted for the category “fashion”, he obtained the overall winner’s title.
Congratulations to all the other Golden, Silver and Bronze Cameras winners, coming from all over Europe:
COMMERCIAL
ANTONIO BARRELLA, Italy, FEP European Commercial GOLDEN CAMERA, 2 Merit Awards, 1 Excellence Award 
ONNI WILJAMI KINNUNEN, Finland, FEP European Commercial  SILVER CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
MATHIAS KNIEPEISS, Austria, FEP European Commercial BRONZE CAMERA, 2 Merit Awards, 1 Distinction Award 
FASHION
ANTONIO BARRELLA, Italy, FEP European Fashion GOLDEN CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
LLUIS OLIVER, Spain, FEP European Fashion SILVER CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
CORMAC BYRNE, Ireland, FEP European Fashion BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Merit Award
ILLUSTRATION
ANTTI KARPPINEN, Finland, FEP European Illustration GOLDEN CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, Distinction Award
ALVARO RUIZ, Spain, FEP European Illustration SILVER CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 1 Excellence Award
ONNI WILJAMI KINNUNEN, Finalnd, FEP European Illustration BRONZE CAMERA, 2 Merit Awards
LANDSCAPE
STEFAN BRENNER, Austria, FEP European Landscape GOLDEN CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 1 Excellence Award
TOM D. JONES, Belgium, FEP European Landscape SILVER CAMERA, 3 Merit Awards 
MICHAEL MCLAUGHLIN, Ireland, FEP European Landscape BRONZE CAMERA, 2 Merit Awards 
PORTRAIT
ONNI WILJAMI KINNUNEN, Finland, FEP European Portrait GOLDEN CAMERA, 3 Excellence Awards
VICENTE ESTEBAN, Spain, FEP European Portrait SILVER CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award 
VESA TYNI, Finland, FEP European Portrait BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
REPORTAGE/PHOTOJOURNALISM
JOS VERHOOGEN, Belgium, FEP European  Reportage GOLDEN CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 2 Excellence Awards
RUI CARIA, Portugal, FEP European  Reportage SILVER CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 2 Excellence Awards
JORGE BACELAR, Portugal, FEP European  Reportage BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
SPORTS
SIMON HAUSBERGER, Austria, FEP European Sports GOLDEN CAMERA, 2 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence
PIERRE DELAUNAY, France, FEP European Sports SILVER CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 2 Distinction Awards
MATHIAS KNIEPEISS, Austria, FEP European Sports BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Distinction Award, 1 Excellence Award
WEDDING
CARLOS FELIPE ORTIZ, Spain, FEP European Wedding GOLDEN CAMERA, 2 Excellence Awards
NEVZAT BASARAN, Denmark, FEP European Wedding SILVER CAMERA, 2 Distinction Awards, 1 Excellence Award  
JUAN CARLOS GUARDIA VAZQUEZ, Spain, FEP European Wedding BRONZE CAMERA , 1 Merit Award, 1 Distinction Award
WILDLIFE
TOM D. JONES, Belgium, FEP European Wildlife GOLDEN CAMERA , 3 Excellence Awards
DMITRY ARKHIPOV, Russia, FEP European Wildlife SILVER CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 2 Distinction Awards  
JÜRGEN DE WITTE, Belgium, FEP European Wildlife BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Merit Award, 1 Excellence Award 
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS
FRIDA BRINGSLIMARK, Norway, FEP European Students and Young Photographers GOLDEN CAMERA , 1 Merit Award, 2 Distinction Awards
LUIS RÜSING, Germany, FEP European Students and Young Photographers SILVER CAMERA, 3 Merit Awards 
SALVA RUIZ, Spain, FEP European Students and Young Photographers BRONZE CAMERA, 1 Merit Award  
FINALISTS
COMMERCIAL
Stephan Huger, Austria,  Finalist with 1 Merit Award and 1 Excellence Award
Xanti Rodriguez, Spain Finalist with 2 Merit Awards
Antti Karppinen, Finland Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Gerry O’Leary, Ireland , Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Thomas Schauer, Austria, Finalist  
Odd Furenes, Norway, Finalist with 1 Merit Award 
Gareth Byrne, Ireland , Finalist with 1 Merit Award
FASHION 
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Finalist  
Edgar Raphael, Portugal, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Michael Schnabl, Austria, Finalist 
Riccardo Urnato, Italy, Finalist 
Michael Hayes, Ireland, Finalist  
Natalia Pipkina, Norway, Finalist  
Patrizia Burra, Italy, Finalist 
ILLUSTRATION
Xanti Rodriguez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Jon Klasbu, Norway, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Krister Löfroth, Finland, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Katya Rashkevich, Russia, Finalist  
Patrizia Burra, Italy, Finalist  
Michael Schnabl, Austria, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award  
André Boto, Portugal, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Siri Sødahl, Norway, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
LANDSCAPE
Peter Gordon, Ireland, Finalist with 2 Merit Awards
Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award 
Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Daragh Muldowney, Ireland, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, Belgium, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Simon Hausberger, Austria, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Bram Declercq, Belgium, Finalist with 1 Merit Award 
PORTRAIT
Igor Sakharov, Russia, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award and 1 Distinction Award
Richard K. Johansen, Norway, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Garfield Trummer, Austria, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Patrizia Burra, Italy, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Yves-Michel Barclay, France, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Yeray Menéndez, Spain, Finalist with 2 Distinction Awards
Guido Pelgrim, The Netherlands, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
REPORTAGE
Vincenzo Tessarin, Italy, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award and 1 Merit Award
Vanessa Forget, France, Finalist with 2 Distinction Awards
Svetlana Petrova, Russia, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Ulrich Schulte, Sweden, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award and 1 Merit Award
Jesus Jimenez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award and 1 Merit Award
Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Roberto Colacioppo Italy, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
SPORTS
Herbert Kratky, Austria, Finalist with 1 Distinction and 2 Merit Awards
Jose Luis Mendez Fernandez, Spain, Finalist with 2 Merit Awards
Milo? Fic, Czech Republic, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Marek Musil, Czech Republic, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Harald Voglhuber, Austria, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Yeray Menendez, Spain, Finalist 
Nicola Ughi, Italy, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
WEDDING
Jose Luis Guardia Vazquez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Igor Link, Germany, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Clemente Jimenez, Spain, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Manuel González, Spain, Finalist with 1 Excellence Award
Philippe Swiggers, Belgium, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Manola van Leeuwe, The Netherlands, Finalist 
Nuno Teixeira, Portugal, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
WILDLIFE
Seppo Rintala, Finland, Finalist with 2 Distinction Awards
Lluisa Viladoms Bargallo, Spain, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Thomas De Sterck, Belgium, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Martin Morel, France, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Jos Verhoogen, Belgium, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Simon Hausberger, Austria, Finalist 
Tim Hunt, United Kingdom, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS
Terese Samuelsen, Norway, Finalist with 1 Merit Award
Henning Frode Dispen, Norway, Finalist with 1 Distinction Award
Linda Leitner, Austria, Finalist 
Silvano Pedrett, Switzerland, Finalist
Markus Aspegren, Finland, Finalist 
Aina Rosland Ruud, Norway, Finalist 
Dawid Galinski, Poland, Finalist 
All the winning images can be seen in the competition gallery on FEP website, where you will be able to see which pictures got the single awards. Click here to go there.
Once again, FEP would like to express their happiness to all the entrants of the annual competition, hoping to see them again in the future.
 

FEP COVER PICTURE OF MARCH 2016!
Congratulations to Martin Ktystynek, QEP from Slovakia, winner FOR THE SECOND TIME IN A ROW of the FEP COVER PICTURE OF THE MONTH contest. Discover all the images submitted! And all the FEP Covers, follow us on facebook!

In addition to the names of the finalists (top 10 photographers per category), published last week, we are now happy to announce the single awards obtained for single pictures by those photographers who are not in the top 10 list per category. Congratulations to:
COMMERCIAL 
MERIT 
Friedrich Michael Jansenberger, Austria  
 
FASHION 
MERIT
Yuri Afanasiev, Russia  
 
ILLUSTRATION
MERIT
Fernando Branquinho, Portugal  
Marit Lystad Johansen, Norway  
Nina Pauloff, Finland
Christina Maria Stowasser, Austria  
 
LANDSCAPE
DISTINCTION 
Irakli Shavgulidze, Georgia  
MERIT
Sonja Jordan, Austria  
Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria  
Dmitry Martynov, Russia  
Karel Mus, Belgium  
Jano Štovka, Slovakia  
Ji?í Stránský, Czech Republic 
Jos Verhoogen, Belgium  
 
PORTRAIT
EXCELLENCE 
Jaime Mezquida Caudeli, Spain  
Caroline Tanghe, Belgium  
DISTINCTION 
Åsa Deleau Wiklund, Sweden  
Siw Edvardsen, Norway 
Beat Mumenthaler, Switzerland  
Sabine Starmayr, Austria   
MERIT
Nina Pauloff, Finland 
Sirpa Ryyppö, Finland 
Michael Schnabl, Austria  
 
REPORTAGE/PHOTOJOURNALISM
DISTINCTION
Stefano Gerardi, Italy  
Bart?omiej Jurecki, Poland  
Carl Lapeirre, Belgium  
Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria  
Miriam Skeide Brandstad, Norway  
 
WEDDING
EXCELLENCE
Reginald Tackoen, BelgiumDISTINCTION 
Tomas Avis, Spain  
Andreas Bjørge, Norway  
Antonio Gibotta, Italy  
Maris Kiselov, Latvia  
Silvio Pinto, Portugal  
Miguel Rolo, Portugal  
MERIT 
Emanuele Carpenzano, Italy  
Thibault Chappe, France  
Jose Luis Guardia Peinado, Spain   
Faustino Maldonado Román, Spain
WILDLIFE
EXCELLENCE
Jano Štovka, Slovakia  
DISTINCTION 
Iveri Janezashvili, Austria  
MERIT
Federico Cutuli, Italy  
Bart?omiej Jurecki, Poland  
 

We will be happy to award all of them with their Excellence, Distinction and Merit awards during the FEP Awards Ceremony (March 13, Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal), if attending the event.
  
During the ceremony, we will reveal also the single Excellence, Distinction and Merit awards obtained by the photographers who are in the top 10 list, so to discover the winners! After the ceremony in Portugal, aside the Golden, Silver and Bronze Cameras, we will publish the gallery of the single awarded pictures so the photographers will discover which pictures got the awards. 

 
Here again, the FINALISTS, in each category, in alphabetic order. Amongst them, there are the Bronze, Silver and Golden Cameras and the FEP Photographer of the Year 2016! 
 
COMMERCIAL: Antonio Barrella, Italy, Gareth Byrne, Ireland, Odd Furenes, Norway, Stephan Huger, Austria, Antti Karppinen, Finland, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria, Gerry O’Leary, Ireland, Xanti Rodriguez, Spain, Thomas Schauer, Austria
 
FASHION: Antonio Barrella, Italy, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Cormac Byrne, Ireland, Michael Hayes, Ireland, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Lluis Oliver, Spain, Natalia Pipkina, Norway, Edgar Raphael, Portugal, Michael Schnabl, Austria, Riccardo Urnato, Italy
 
ILLUSTRATION: Andre Boto, Portugal, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Antti Karppinen, Finland, Jon Klasbu, Norway, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Krister Löfroth, Finland, Katya Rashkevich, Russia, Xanti Rodriguez, Spain,  Alvaro Ruiz, Spain, Michael Schnabl, Austria, Siri Sødahl, Norway
 
LANDSCAPE: Stefan Brenner, Austria, Bram Declercq, Belgium, Peter Gordon, Ireland, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Tom D. Jones, Belgium, Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria, Michael McLaughlin, Ireland, Daragh Muldowney, Ireland, Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, Belgium
 
PORTRAIT: Yves-Michel Barclay, France, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Vicente Esteban, Spain, Richard K. Johansen, Norway, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Yeray Menéndez, Spain, Guido Pelgrim, Netherlands, Igor Sakharov, Latvia, Garfield Trummer, Austria, Vesa Tyni, Finland
 
REPORTAGE: Jorge Bacelar, Portugal, Rui Caria, Portugal, Roberto Colacioppo, Italy, Vanessa Forget, France, Jesus Jimenez, Spain, Svetlana Petrova, Russia, Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Ulrich Schulte, Sweden, Vincenzo Tessarin, Italy, Jos Verhoogen, Belgium
 
SPORTS: Pierre Delaunay, France, Milos Fic, Czech Republic, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria, Herbert Kratky, Austria, Jose Luis Mendez Fernandez, Spain, Yeray Menendez, Spain, Marek Musil, Czech Republic, Nicola Ughi, Italy, Harald Voglhuber, Austria
 
WEDDING: Nevzat Basaran, Denmark, Manuel González, Spain, Jose Luis Guardia Vazquez, Spain, Juan Carlos Guardia Vazquez, Spain, Clemente Jimenez, Spain, Igor Link, Germany, Carlos Felipe Ortiz, Spain, Philippe Swiggers, Belgium, Nuno Teixeira, Portugal, Manola van Leeuwe, Netherlands
 
WILDLIFE: Dmitry Arkhipov, Russia, Thomas De Sterck, Belgium, Jürgen de Witte, Belgium, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Tim Hunt, UK, Tom D. Jones, Belgium, Martin Morel, France, Seppo Rintala, Finland, Jos Verhoogen, Belgium, Lluisa Viladoms Bargallo, Spain
 
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS: Markus Aspegren, Finland, Frida Bringslimark, Norway, Henning Frode Dispen, Norway, Dawid Galinski, Poland, Linda Leitner, Austria, Silvano Pedrett, Switzerland, Aina Rosland Ruud, Norway, Salva Ruiz, Spain, Luis Rüsing, Germany, Terese Samuelsen, Norway
 
 

Submissions open for the first QEP and MQEP session 2016. 
The qualification session will be held in Torun, Poland on June 11 and 12, 2016. Deadline for registrations is April, 30. 
Download the application forms, fill and send them to the FEP secretariat in due time! The winter session of the 2016 qualifications will be held in Amsterdam, on November 19-20.
As for the video-qualifications (the new EV and QEV titles just launched for videographers), there will be one only session in early November, in Spain.
Further news coming up. 
Picture by Milos Fic, QEP, Czech Republic. 

In a few weeks, at the FEP Awards Ceremony, the FEP will celebrate the winners of the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2016, the annual FEP competition which has been entered from 25 different European countries. Thousands of pictures submitted. Discover them here!
 
A special thanks, for their great work, goes to the international judging panel, composed by:
Johan Brouwers, Belgium
Jeronimo Heitor Coelho, Portugal
Tom Doherty, Ireland
Günther Egger, Austria
Bryn Griffiths, Uk
Tiina Haring, Finland
Attila Korbely, Hungary
Franck Lecrenay, France
Jan Pohribný, Czech Republic
Hans Starosta, Germany
and to Jørgen Brandt, the Chairman of the competition.
  
The names of the winners will be announced on March 13th, 2016 at the FEP Awards Ceremony in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, aside the congress EXPOFOTO 2016. Now, we are now happy to announce the names of the TOP 10 photographers, the so called FINALISTS, in each category, in alphabetic order. Amongst them, there are the Bronze, Silver and Golden Cameras and the FEP Photographer of the Year 2016! 
 
Congratulations to:
 
COMMERCIAL: Antonio Barrella, Italy, Gareth Byrne, Ireland, Odd Furenes, Norway, Stephan Huger, Austria, Antti Karppinen, Finland, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria, Gerry O’Leary, Ireland, Xanti Rodriguez, Spain, Thomas Schauer, Austria
 
FASHION: Antonio Barrella, Italy, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Cormac Byrne, Ireland, Michael Hayes, Ireland, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Lluis Oliver, Spain, Natalia Pipkina, Norway, Edgar Raphael, Portugal, Michael Schnabl, Austria, Riccardo Urnato, Italy
 
ILLUSTRATION: Andre Boto, Portugal, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Antti Karppinen, Finland, Jon Klasbu, Norway, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Krister Löfroth, Finland, Katya Rashkevich, Russia, Xanti Rodriguez, Spain,  Alvaro Ruiz, Spain, Michael Schnabl, Austria, Siri Sødahl, Norway
 
LANDSCAPE: Stefan Brenner, Austria, Bram Declercq, Belgium, Peter Gordon, Ireland, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Tom D. Jones, Belgium, Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria, Michael McLaughlin, Ireland, Daragh Muldowney, Ireland, Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, Belgium
 
PORTRAIT: Yves-Michel Barclay, France, Patrizia Burra, Italy, Vicente Esteban, Spain, Richard K. Johansen, Norway, Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, Yeray Menéndez, Spain, Guido Pelgrim, Netherlands, Igor Sakharov, Latvia, Garfield Trummer, Austria, Vesa Tyni, Finland
 
REPORTAGE: Jorge Bacelar, Portugal, Rui Caria, Portugal, Roberto Colacioppo, Italy, Vanessa Forget, France, Jesus Jimenez, Spain, Svetlana Petrova, Russia, Marcos Rodríguez, Spain, Ulrich Schulte, Sweden, Vincenzo Tessarin, Italy, Jos Verhoogen, Belgium
 
SPORTS: Pierre Delaunay, France, Milos Fic, Czech Republic, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria, Herbert Kratky, Austria, Jose Luis Mendez Fernandez, Spain, Yeray Menendez, Spain, Marek Musil, Czech Republic, Nicola Ughi, Italy, Harald Voglhuber, Austria
 
WEDDING: Nevzat Basaran, Denmark, Manuel González, Spain, Jose Luis Guardia Vazquez, Spain, Juan Carlos Guardia Vazquez, Spain, Clemente Jimenez, Spain, Igor Link, Germany, Carlos Felipe Ortiz, Spain, Philippe Swiggers, Belgium, Nuno Teixeira, Portugal, Manola van Leeuwe, Netherlands
 
WILDLIFE: Dmitry Arkhipov, Russia, Thomas De Sterck, Belgium, Jürgen de Witte, Belgium, Simon Hausberger, Austria, Tim Hunt, UK, Tom D. Jones, Belgium, Martin Morel, France, Seppo Rintala, Finland, Jos Verhoogen, Belgium, Lluisa Viladoms Bargallo, Spain
 
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS: Markus Aspegren, Finland, Frida Bringslimark, Norway, Henning Frode Dispen, Norway, Dawid Galinski, Poland, Linda Leitner, Austria, Silvano Pedrett, Switzerland, Aina Rosland Ruud, Norway, Salva Ruiz, Spain, Luis Rüsing, Germany, Terese Samuelsen, Norway
 
Next week, we will announce the awards for single pictures, continue to follow us! 

FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2016… The judging phase just closed… We are now happy to announce the names of the photographers, in each category, who got at least an award… they are below, in alphabetical order. Congratulations to:
 
COMMERCIAL
Antonio Barrella, Italy  
Gareth Byrne, Ireland  
Odd Furenes, Norway  
Stephan Huger, Austria   
Antti Heikki Petteri Karppinen, Finland  
Friedrich Michael Jansenberger, Austria  
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland  
Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria  
Gerry O’Leary, Ireland  
Xanti Rodriguez, Spain  
Thomas Schauer, Austria
 
FASHION
Yuri Afanasiev, Russia  
Antonio Barrella, Italy  
Patrizia Burra, Italy
Cormac Byrne, Ireland  
Michael Hayes, Ireland
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland
Lluis Oliver, Spain  
Natalia Pipkina, Norway 
Edgar Raphael, Portugal   
Michael Schnabl, Austria
Riccardo Urnato, Italy
 
ILLUSTRATION
Andre Boto, Portugal  
Patrizia Burra, Italy
Fernando Branquinho, Portugal
Antti Heikki Petteri Karppinen, Finland  
Marit Lystad Johansen, Norway  
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland  
Jon Klasbu, Norway  
Krister Löfroth, Finland  
Nina Pauloff, Finland   
Katya Rashkevich, Russia
Xanti Rodriguez, Spain  
Alvaro Ruiz, Spain  
Michael Schnabl, Austria  
Siri Sødahl, Norway  
Christina Maria Stowasser, Austria  
 
LANDSCAPE
Stefan Brenner, Austria  
Bram Declercq, Belgium  
Peter Gordon, Ireland  
Simon Hausberger, Austria  
Tom D. Jones, Belgium  
Sonja Jordan, Austria  
Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria  
Dmitry Martynov, Russia  
Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria  
Michael McLaughlin, Ireland  
Daragh Muldowney, Ireland  
Karel Mus, Belgium  
Marcos Rodríguez, Spain  
Irakli Shavgulidze, Georgia   
Jano Štovka, Slovakia  
Ji?í Stránský, Czech Republic
Jeroen Van Nieuwenhove, Belgium  
Jos Verhoogen, Belgium  
 
PORTRAIT
Yves-Michel Barclay, France  
Patrizia Burra, Italy  
Siw Edvardsen, Norway   
Vicente Esteban, Spain  
Richard K. Johansen, Norway   
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland  
Yeray Menéndez, Spain  
Jaime Mezquida Caudeli, Spain   
Beat Mumenthaler, Switzerland  
Nina Pauloff, Finland   
Guido Pelgrim, Netherlands 
Sirpa Ryyppö, Finland
Igor Sakharov, Latvia  
Michael Schnabl, Austria  
Caroline Tanghe, Belgium  
Garfield Trummer, Austria  
Vesa Tyni, Finland   
Åsa Deleau Wiklund, Sweden  
 
REPORTAGE/PHOTOJOURNALISM
Jorge Bacelar, Portugal  
Miriam Skeide Brandstad, Norway  
Rui Caria, Portugal  
Roberto Colacioppo, Italy  
Vanessa Forget, France 
Stefano Gerardi, Italy  
Jesus Jimenez, Spain  
Bart?omiej Jurecki, Poland  
Carl Lapeirre, Belgium  
Franz G. Messenbäck, Austria 
Svetlana Petrova, Russia  
Marcos Rodríguez, Spain 
Ulrich Schulte, Sweden   
Vincenzo Tessarin, Italy  
Jos Verhoogen, Belgium
  
SPORTS
Pierre Delaunay, France 
Milos Fic, Czech Republic   
Simon Hausberger, Austria  
Mathias Kniepeiss, Austria  
Herbert Kratky, Austria  
Jose Luis Mendez Fernandez, Spain  
Yeray Menendez, Spain
Marek Musil, Czech Republic  
Nicola UghI, Italy   
Harald Voglhuber, Austria  
 
WEDDING
Tomas Avis, Spain  
Nevzat Basaran, Denmark  
Andreas Bjørge, Norway  
Emanuele Carpenzano, Italy  
Thibault Chappe, France  
Antonio Gibotta, Italy  
Manuel González, Spain  
Jose Luis Guardia Peinado, Spain
Jose Luis Guardia Vazquez, Spain 
Juan Carlos Guardia Vazquez, Spain  
Clemente Jimenez, Spain  
Maris Kiselov, Latvia  
Igor Link, Germany   
Carlos Felipe Ortiz, Spain  
Silvio Pinto, Portugal  
Miguel Rolo, Portugal   
Faustino Maldonado Román, Spain  
Philippe Swiggers, Belgium   
Reginald Tackoen, Belgium   
Nuno Teixeira, Portugal  
Manola van Leeuwe, The Netherlands
 
WILDLIFE
Dmitry Arkhipov, Russia   
Lluisa Viladoms Bargallo, Spain  
Federico Cutuli, Italy  
Thomas De Sterck, Belgium  
Jürgen de Witte, Belgium   
Simon Hausberger, Austria  
Tim Hunt, United Kingdom 
Iveri Janezashvili, Georgia  
Tom D. Jones, Belgium  
Bart?omiej Jurecki, Poland  
Martin Morel, France  
Seppo Rintala, Finland   
Jano Štovka, Slovakia  
Jos Verhoogen, Belgium  
 
STUDENTS AND YOUNG PHOTOGRAPHERS
Markus Aspegren, Finland
Frida Bringslimark, Norway   
Henning Frode Dispen, Norway  
Dawid Galinski, Poland
Linda Leitner, Austria
Silvano Pedrett, Switzerland
Aina Rosland Ruud, Norway
Salva Ruiz, Spain  
Luis Rüsing, Germany   
Terese Samuelsen, Norway   
 
Next week, we will announce the top 10 finishers per category, the so called finalists. The Bronze, Silver and Golden Cameras will be amongst them… All the finalists will be invited to the FEP Awards Ceremony, which will be held in Portugal, Santa Maria da Feira, on March 13, at 19.00, aside the national congress EXPOFOTO 2016. During the ceremony, we will present the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year 2016. 
 
The attendance at the Awards Ceremony is free of charge and open also to the accompanists, but it is also possible to register for the whole congress (simultaneous translation in English!), the gala dinner, the social program etc. at a very special rate. We will be happy to take care of your registration!! For more information, visit the website http://expofoto.appimagem.pt/ and contact us at eventmanager@europeanphotographers.eu. Continue to follow us!CLICK HERE to see all the submitted pictures

FEP COVER PICTURE OF FEBRUARY 2016!
Congratulations to Martin Ktystynek, QEP from Slovakia, winner of the FEP Cover Picture of the Month for this just ended edition. Discover all the images submitted! And all the FEP Covers, follow us on facebook!

Judges at work to celebrate the FEP Golden Cameras and the Professional Photographer of the Year 2016

The FEP European Professional Photographers of the Year Awards 2016, 7th edition since 2009, closed with a new record number of entries: more than 2000 images submitted from more than 400 photographers coming from 25 European countries!
The top ten photographers in each of the 9 categories (Commercial, Fashion, Illustration, Landscape, Portrait, Reportage/photojournalism, Sports, Wedding, Wildlife) and in the Special section “Students and young photographers”, will be announced in the second half of February, whilst the winners will be announced on March, 13, 2016 in Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal, at the FEP AWARDS CEREMONY.
 
The international judging panel, composed of 10 judges and chaired by MQEP Jørgen Brandt, is presently at work to judge the pictures, seeking out the best professional images of the year in Europe. 
 
The last FEP European Professional Photographers of the Year:  Peter Gordon, Ireland,  2012,  Uli Staiger, Germany, 2014 and finally Diogo Freitas, Portugal, 2015, (author of the picture attached).

Who will be the FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year 2016? In 8 weeks we will have the name!    

We registered a very huge number of entries in the last 3 days… the “traffic” caused some troubles to some you and you did not enter? Don’t worry! You still have time! Deadline extended: January 6th!
 

The competition is an unique opportunity for photographers to show-case their work amongst peers from all over Europe – and gain well deserved recognition in Diplomas and Gold, Silver & Bronze cameras for your work.

 
 
This year we are introducing :
 
–                     3 new categories – FASHION, SPORT and WILDLIFE.  Images for Reportage/Photojournalism, Wildlife, Sport and Landscape should be single image pictures.
 
–                     new facilities, in order to make the procedure easier for the entrants.
 
We also intend to highlight more intensively the achievements of Medallists and Diploma holders on our FEP web-site. There will be special galleries where individual photographers’ images are going to be displayed  – to help you all promote your well-deserved achievements!
 
ENTER NOW HERE!
 
Last but not least: HAPPY NEW YEAR! 
Our best wishes for a wonderful 2016!

Highlights
 
The FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2016 opened on August 1st. Deadline for entries: December 31st.
 
CATEGORIES
There will be 10 in total (9 categories + the students’ special section):
•             Commercial (including Advertising, Architecture, Corporate etc.)
•             Fashion
•             Illustration 
•             Landscape *
•             Wildlife *
•             Portrait
•             Reportage/Photojournalism *
•             Sports *
•             Wedding
•             Students & Young Photographers
* Please note: in the Reportage, Sports, Wild life and Landscape categories the content of the image must not be altered. Only retouching which conforms to currently accepted standards in the industry is allowed. Only single-frame images will be accepted. Composite and multiple exposure images will not be accepted. The jury is the ultimate arbiter.
 
ENTRY FEES
For photographers who are not members of an FEP member association, an entry fee of 30,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images on each category is mandatory. They can enter all the 9 categories.
For photographers who are members of an FEP member association, an entry fee of 20,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images in 1 category is mandatory. They can enter all the 9 categories.
EP, QEP and MASTER QEP holders can enter a first set of 3 images in 1 category for free. They can enter all the 9 categories.
For Young Photographers, assistants and students an entry fee of 10,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images in their special section is mandatory.
Students may enter only their special section.
For all entrants, any additional submitted image, other than the first set of 3 images in one category, a fee of 10,00 Euros per picture will be charged.
 
JUDGING
The online judging will start just after the closure of the competition, scheduled at the end of the year. The judges will be selected among the ones nominated by the FEP member associations.
 
AWARDS
The following awards will be issued:
FEP European Wedding Golden Camera Award
FEP European Portrait Golden Camera Award
FEP European Commercial Golden Camera Award
FEP European Fashion Golden Camera Award
FEP European Sports Golden Camera Award
FEP European Reportage/Photojournalism Golden Camera Award
FEP European Landscape Golden Camera Award
FEP European Wildlife Golden Camera Award
FEP European Illustrative and Fine Art Golden Camera Award
FEP European Students & Young Photographers Golden Camera Award
and the overall winner: The FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year 2016, which will be announced at the FEP Awards Ceremony 2016.
 
For entries and further info CLICK HEREPicture by Emily Van Den Broucke, QEP, Belgium

With more than 700 likes, this picture is the FEP COVER PICTURE OF THE YEAR 2015! CONGRATULATIONS to Eugenio Li Volsi, QEP, Italy, winner, among others, of the FEP Cover Picture of November and FEP Cover Picture of December! 
Visit our official page on Facebook and dicover the FEP COVERS 2015!

We are happy to announce that at the 12th EP online session, 12 new EP Photographers have been awarded!
Our congratulations go to:

Michael Günther, EP, Austria
Nicky Jacobs, EP, Belgium
Matz Nilsson, EP, BelgiumJeroen Van Nieuwenhove, EP, Belgium
Philippe Swiggers, EP, Belgium
Miet Neirinckx, EP, Belgium
Petri Torvelainen, EP, Finland
Lorette Fabre, EP, France
Martin Janowski, EP, Ireland
Miriam Skeide Brandstad, EP, Norway
Therese Silver Sörensen, EP, Sweden
Phia Bergdahl, EP, Sweden

 Apply online now for the EP session n.13!

 
We are pleased to announce the FETA Award 2015 Official Results:
 
The winner of this edition is Christopher Rüsing, student at the Bildungszentrum Handwekskammer Dortmund, Germany. Congratulations! 
            
The panel of this student of photography represents, with a modern presentation, different moment of a traditional Circus, using the CGI. “The viewer is invited to remember the good old times of classic entertainment mixed with a modern presentation” explained the young photographer from Germany.
The judging has been chaired by Dave Matthews and happened online by 3 Qualified European Photographers, Johan Brouwers, QEP, Vincent O’Byrne, MQEP and Adriano Scognamillo, QEP. The anonymity of the candidates has been respected at all times.
 
The judges beyond award a winner, decided  to mention  also 3 other students, with a Merit Award.

 
Here are the names of the 3 awarded students, in alphabetical order, with a merit award:
 
– Jack Breadmore, student at the Falmouth University, United Kingdom
 
– Lenka Bukacova, student at the Faculty of Art and Design, Jan Evangelista Purkyn? University in Ústí nad Labem, Czech Republic
 
– Dorien Van der Eecken, student at the Campus Narafi, Luca School of Arts, photography department,  Belgium
The FETA winner Christopher Rüsing and the finalists have been presented and awarded during the FETA Award Ceremony on Sunday, December, 13th, in Grado, Italy, at the Photography Masters Conference. Next edition of the FETA Award will open on May 2016, and the Award Ceremony will be held in Amsterdam, Netherlands, aside the QEP-MQEP judging session, November 2016.

 

We all know that EVERYONE is a winner with WPC, just like being part of a national team at the Olympics. Having an image submitted at this level is without doubt a pinnacle of anyone’s career… medalist or not. By being recognized as a team member for WPC, the respect for the photographer is immediately on a higher plateau.
 
The WPC would like to recognize and respect the 400 photographers from 27 countries and 4 continents which boldly had the opportunity to showcase their amazing images and worked towards enhancing their associations respect and brand around the globe. 
Anyway, WPC is a competition and winners are wanted!
 
So the WPC is happy to announce now the national teams which have at least one finalist image: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, USA.
 
The “top ten” finalists in each category will be announced at Imaging USA, on January 2016. The gold, silver and bronze medalists will be announced at Santa Maria da Feira, Portugal (aside ExpoFoto 2016) and the World Photographic Cup recognizing the top TEAM entry (won by the USA team at both first and second edition) will be shipped to Portugal, for the WPC Awards Ceremony 2016 which will be held on March 14th, 2016!
 
Continue to follow the WPC at www.worldphotographiccup.org, and see all the entered images in the GALLERY 2016!

For a second time in a row, Eugenio Li Volsi, QEP Wedding from  Sicily, Italy, is the winner of the FEP Cover Picture of the Month Contest! Congratulations! 
                                 Next round…. the FEP Cover Picture of the Year!                                                       Follow us on facebook!

The WPC is pleased to announce that the judging for WPC 2016 has been successfully concluded. Almost 500 images were evaluated and scored by judges from more than 20 countries. We would like to express our sincere appreciation to all the judges for their amazing dedication and effort:
 
AUSTRALIA, Ian Poole
AUSTRIA, Horst Stasny
BELGIUM, Jos Verhoogen
CANADA, Tracey Harper
CINA, Zhou Shengjun
CZECH REPUBLIC, Jan Pohribny
FINLAND, Tiina Haring
IRELAND, Neil Warner
ITALY, Corrado Poli
JAPAN, Yasutaka Kajiyama
MEXICO, Zony Maya
NEW ZEALAND, Ollie Dale  
PHILIPPINES, Jose Alberto C. Tanedo
PORTUGAL, Carlos Marques
RUSSIA, Alexander Nasonov
SINGAPORE, Matthew Tan
SLOVAKIA, Stano Mihalik
SOUTH KOREA, Hong Sung Min
SPAIN, Josu Izarra García
UNITED KINGDOM, Bryn Griffiths
USA, Helen Yancy
 
The “top ten” finalists in each category will be announced at Imaging USA, on January 2016. The gold, silver and bronze medalists will be announced at Villa da Feira, Portugal and the World Photographic Cup recognizing the top TEAM entry (won by the USA team at both first and second edition) will be shipped to Portugal, for the WPC Awards Ceremony 2016 which will be held on March 14th, 2016!
  

“Portugal is honoured to host the winners announcement of the third edition of this prestigious competition” – said Rui Teixeira, President of APPImagem – “We are looking forward to meeting and celebrating with winners and representatives of the teams and associations. The Portuguese convention will be a fantastic event, embellished by amazing international speakers (all lecturers will have simultaneous translation), further more celebrated with a worldwide ceremony, and an amazing social program. We wait for you all!” 
 
All the submitted photographs will be available for viewing on the WPC website in a very few days. Check at WPC website 
The “top ten” images in each category will be announced and shown at Imaging USA (https://imagingusa.org)  in Atlanta, on January 11, 2016, and circulated after that. 
 
Medalists and winners will be announced later. 
 
Stay tuned, more information is coming soon…
 
 
In the picture: Rui Teixeira, President of the APPImagem and Giuseppe Scozzi, WPC CEO.  Photo by Adriano Scognamillo, QEP.
 
 
 

We are happy to announce that at the 32nd session of the FEP European Qualifications, held in Granada, Spain, 3 new Master QEP, 17  new QEP (Qualified European Photographers) 8 EV (European Videographers) and  15 QEV (Qualified European Videographers) have been awarded.

Congratulations to MASTER QEPs:Antonio Barrella, Italy, Master QEPFrank Lecrenay, France, Master QEPRobert Lengua Martínez, Spain, Master QEP

Congratulations to QEPs:
Manuela Ariza García, Spain, QEP Portrait
Roberto Alonso Quintana, Spain, QEP Portrait
Robert Biesemans, Belgium, QEP Portrait
Angel Blanco, Spain, QEP Wedding
Fernando Branquinho, Portugal, QEP Portrait
Miloš Fic, Czech Republic, QEP Reportage
Pablo Gonzalez Vega, Spain, QEP Reportage
Andrey Kezzyn, Russia, QEP Illustrative
Stefan Michael Kothner, Austria, QEP Reportage
Maria Lanotte, Italy, QEP History
Sylvie Lezier, France, QEP Portrait
William Moureaux, France, QEP Illustrative 
Edoardo Piccinini, Belgium, QEP Architecture
Silvio Pinto, Portugal, QEP Wedding
Edgar Raphael, Portugal, QEP Fashion
Emily Van Den Broucke, Belgium, QEP Theatre 
Stefan Zamisch, Austria, QEP Architecture
 

Congratulations to QEVs:Nelson Coelho, Portugal, QEV Social ReportageFabian De Backer, Belgium, QEV CommercialJose Antonio de los Dolores Barrios, Spain, QEV Social ReportageMarco Del Pino, Spain, QEV Social ReportageBernardo Díaz Guzmán, Spain, QEV Social ReportageGustavo Faraldo, Spain, QEV Social ReportageBernd Gassner, Germany, QEV CommercialSalvador Gil Lorente, Spain, QEV Social Reportage   Helder Lopes, Portugal, QEV Social Reportage Victor Moreno Garcia, Spain, QEV CommercialPedro Pinto, Portugal, QEV Social ReportageJose Ruiz Lopez, Spain, QEV Social ReportageFrancisco Jose Pulido Henares, Spain, QEV Social ReportageFrancisco Javier Segura Tarazaga, Spain, QEV Social ReportageRicardo Teixeira, Portugal, QEV Social Reportage 

Congratulations to EVs:
Nicos Avraamides, Cyprus, EV
Orlando Fernandes, Portugal, EV
Javier Gil Garrote, Spain, EV
Truls Løtvedt, Norway, EV
Emilio Moreno Gomariz, Spain, EV
José Andrés Piña Gámez, Spain, EV
Francisco Rico Rico, Spain, EV
Carlos Rodriguez Gonzalez, Spain, EV
 

More than 50 international judges and delegates are supposed to meet in Spain, for the 32nd session of the FEP European Photographic qualifications (QEP-MQEP) and the very first European Video Qualifications (EV, European Videographer and QEV, Qualified European Videographer). The meeting, following the invitation of the Spanish member association FEPFI, will be held in the historical town of Granada. The QEP judging session will be for the very first time open to a limited audience. 

The photo and video qualifications will be followed by a meeting of the FEP Board of Directors. Among the items on the agenda, the calendar of events and activity for 2016 , which will include again two judging sessions (candidate venues Poland and the Netherlands), the FEP awards 2016 which will be held in Portugal in March – as long as the winners announcement of the third edition of the World Photographic Cup- and a program linked to the Photokina trade fair in Cologne. Board members will also discuss the option to create an European on line magazine, for a better dissemination of FEP activities.

Dear VIDEOGRAPHERS! We remind you that at the next FEP Judging session, Granada, Spain, November 21 and 22, we will held the first session of the EV – the European Videographer Qualification and QEV – Qualified European Videographer. 
EVThe EV is a new basic quality assurance certification now available to most general Professional Videographers throughout Europe. The European Videographer (EV) qualification aims to recognise competence and a professional standard for those who earn their lives as Professional Videographers. It is designed to complement the lack of a specific title to uphold the professional status. 
The candidate must submit his/her works inside a USB key or a DVD. It must contain 3 VIDEOS. 
The EV certificate has no categories. Submitted videos can be all pertaining to the same category (social reportage, drawing and documentary feature, commercial and industrial, free creation) or can be a mixture. 
There will be 3 judges. Each judge will examine the submitted works in a random order, and will say yes or no for each single video. To get the EV certificate, the entrant must succeed getting six yes votes, out of nine, with at least two out of three “yes” on each submitted video.
Please download here the EV RULES and the APPLICATION FORM. 
Deadline for pre-registration: November, 15, 2015.
 
QEV
The rules are more or less the same of the EV. The main differences are the cost (150 euro instead of 50), and the video to submit are 5 instead of 3. While the EV can be a mixture of categories (the certificate is without category) , the QEV must be submitted in only one of the following categories: social reportage; drawing and documentary feature; commercial and industrial; free creation. 
The candidate will be claimed successful with an average score of 15 points or above, that means they must obtain 60% of the votes in favour to be successful.  

Please DOWNLOAD HERE THE QEV RULES and the QEV APPLICATION FORM

APPLY NOW! 
Best regards and GOOD LUCK! 
 

Congratulations to Eugenio Li Volsi, QEP – Qualified European Photographer, from Italy! 
With an incredible number of “likes”, his picture won the November edition of the FEP Cover Contest and it is the FEP COVER PICTURE OF THE MONTH!Discover HERE all the wonderful pictures submitted by our photographers and continue to follow us at our official page on Facebook!

The WPC Governing Body, and the 2 WPC Friends, Chromaluxe and Koylab, are happy to announce that the third edition of the World Photographic Cup received the record number of 28 registered teams from 4 continents!
 
The breakdown:
16 countries from Europe, with Russia as a new entry
3 countries from America, including Mexico as a new entry
7 countries from Asia, including China as a new entry
2 countries from Oceania
Discover the REGISTERED COUNTRIES here!
 
Next steps:
All the submitted photographs will be visible on the WPC website once the judging is complete (December 2015). 
The finalist images in each category will be announced and shown at Imaging USA in Atlanta, on January 11, 2016, and circulated after that. 
Medalists and winners will be announced later. 
Then, the original Cup won by the USA team at both first and second edition will be shipped to Oporto, Portugal, for the WPC Awards Ceremony 2016 which will be held on March, 14th, 2016!
The venue for the presentation of the 2017 and 2018 editions have also been awarded:
Japan (Yokohama, February, 23rd, 2017)
Australia (2018)
Which country will take over the top spot from team USA, the defending champion? 
Portugal, Australia (2nd and 3rd place finishers in 2015) or one of the other participating countries who all have outstanding submissions? Let’s wait and see!!!!

ABOUT WPC
The WPC was founded in 2013 as a cooperative effort by The Federation of European Photographers (FEP) and Professional Photographers of America (PPA). Its singular goal is to unite photographers in a spirit of friendship and cooperation.  A Governing Committee (from 7 different countries) has been created to conduct the ongoing affairs of the competition, also supported by UAPP (United Asian Professional Photography) and AIPP (Australian Institute of Professional Photography). 
The committee is formed by Jørgen Brandt (Denmark, Chairman of the WPC Jury 2016), Dennis Craft (USA), Don Dickson (USA), Kylie Lyons (Australia), Don MacGregor (Canada), Noboru Okamoto (Japan), Bruno Vetters (Belgium), and Martin Vrabko (Slovakia), plus Giuseppe Scozzi (Italy) in the position of  CEO. 
 
To learn more: www.worldphotographiccup.org 

We are happy to announce that at the 11th EP online session, 13 new EP Photographers have been awarded!
Our congratulations go to:

Tiny Ballegeer, EP, Belgium
Jef Celen, EP,  Belgium
Sabine Fannes, EP,  Belgium
Jerome Gielkens, EP,  Belgium
Cecilie Hatløy, EP,  Norway
Daniel Hens, EP,  Belgium
Sergiy Kadulin, EP, Ukraine
Karen Ketels, EP,  Belgium
Karel Mus, EP,  Belgium
Ken Pimontel, EP,  Belgium
Luis Rüsing, EP, Germany
Jessy Vandenbroucke, EP, Belgium 
Pascale Vandewalle, EP, Belgium

Apply online now for the EP session n.12!

October, 2, 2015.
Meeting in Brussels over FEP financial aspects, with FEP President Andreas Barylli-Fayer, FEP CEO Giuseppe Scozzi, FEP Executive Assistant Martina Scozzi, FEP Treasurer Nikki Huts, FEP Financial Auditor Willem van der Wlies, FEP Event Manager Anna Kaleva-Tsagklas. Also attending President’s assistant Ursula Kralupper and Treasurery Assistant Peggy Deneve and also Norber Soenen.
Picture by Luk Collet.

It is time to gather the best of your best images – and submit them for the “FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards, 2016”!
 
The competition is an unique opportunity for photographers to show-case their work amongst peers from all over Europe – and gain well deserved recognition in Diplomas and Gold, Silver & Bronze cameras for your work.
 
This year we are introducing :
 
–                     3 new categories – FASHION, SPORT and WILDLIFE.  Images for Reportage/Photojournalism, Wildlife, Sport and Landscape should be single image pictures.
 
–                     new facilities, in order to make the procedure easier for the entrants.
 
We also intend to highlight more intensively the achievements of Medallists and Diploma holders on our FEP web-site. There will be special galleries where individual photographers’ images are going to be displayed  – to help you all promote your well-deserved achievements!
 
We look forward to welcoming you, and your work in the “FEP Photographer of the Year Awards 2016”.
 
Why wait? Send your entries in NOW!
 
Jørgen Brandt, MQEP, Chairman of the Competition
——————————————————————————————————————

Highlights
 
The FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year Awards 2016 opened on August 1st. Deadline for entries: December 31st.
 
CATEGORIES
There will be 10 in total (9 categories + the students’ special section):
•             Commercial (including Advertising, Architecture, Corporate etc.)
•             Fashion
•             Illustration 
•             Landscape *
•             Wildlife *
•             Portrait
•             Reportage/Photojournalism *
•             Sports *
•             Wedding
•             Students & Young Photographers
* Please note: in the Reportage, Sports, Wild life and Landscape categories the content of the image must not be altered. Only retouching which conforms to currently accepted standards in the industry is allowed. Only single-frame images will be accepted. Composite and multiple exposure images will not be accepted. The jury is the ultimate arbiter.
 
ENTRY FEES
For photographers who are not members of an FEP member association, an entry fee of 30,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images on each category is mandatory. They can enter all the 9 categories.
For photographers who are members of an FEP member association, an entry fee of 20,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images in 1 category is mandatory. They can enter all the 9 categories.
EP, QEP and MASTER QEP holders can enter a first set of 3 images in 1 category for free. They can enter all the 9 categories.
For Young Photographers, assistants and students an entry fee of 10,00 Euros for a first set of 3 images in their special section is mandatory.
Students may enter only their special section.
For all entrants, any additional submitted image, other than the first set of 3 images in one category, a fee of 10,00 Euros per picture will be charged.
 
JUDGING
The online judging will start just after the closure of the competition, scheduled at the end of the year. The judges will be selected among the ones nominated by the FEP member associations.
 
AWARDS
The following awards will be issued:
FEP European Wedding Golden Camera Award
FEP European Portrait Golden Camera Award
FEP European Commercial Golden Camera Award
FEP European Fashion Golden Camera Award
FEP European Sports Golden Camera Award
FEP European Reportage/Photojournalism Golden Camera Award
FEP European Landscape Golden Camera Award
FEP European Wildlife Golden Camera Award
FEP European Illustrative and Fine Art Golden Camera Award
FEP European Students & Young Photographers Golden Camera Award
and the overall winner: The FEP European Professional Photographer of the Year 2016, which will be announced at the FEP Awards Ceremony 2016.
 
For entries and further info CLICK HEREPicture by Emily Van Den Broucke, EP, Belgium

The FEP Cover Picture of the Month this time has bee won by GIANNI LEPORE, professional photographer from Italy.
Discover all the submitted pictures on our official facebook page and don’t forget to enter the next round at the end of the month, to compete for the FEP Cover Picture of November!

We are happy to inform you that in addition to the EV first qualification session we are ready to follow the Board Members proposal to have also a test QEV session in Spain next November, hoping that it will be the first of a long series!  
 
The rules are more or less the same of the EV. The main differences are the cost (150 euro instead of 50), and the video to submit are 5 instead of 3. While the EV can be a mixture of categories (the certificate is without category) , the QEV must be submitted in only one of the following categories: social reportage; drawing and documentary feature; commercial and industrial; free creation. 
 
The candidate will be claimed successful with an average score of 15 points or above, that means they must obtain 60% of the votes in favour to be successful. 
 
To allow and encourage people to apply, we extended the QEV deadline to November 15 instead of October 30. 
 
Please DOWNLOAD HERE THE QEV RULESand the QEV APPLICATION FORM
 

Dear photographers!
 
at the next FEP Judging session, Granada, Spain, November 21 and 22, we will held the first session of the EV – the European Videographer Qualification .
 
The EV is a new basic quality assurance certification now available to most general Professional Videographers throughout Europe. The European Videographer (EV) qualification aims to recognise competence and a professional standard for those who earn their lives as Professional Videographers. It is designed to complement the lack of a specific title to uphold the professional status. 
 
The candidate must submit his/her works inside a USB key or a DVD. It must contain 3 VIDEOS. 
 
The EV certificate has no categories. Submitted videos can be all pertaining to the same category (social reportage, drawing and documentary feature, commercial and industrial, free creation) or can be a mixture. 
 
There will be 3 judges. Each judge will examine the submitted works in a random order, and will say yes or no for each single video. To get the EV certificate, the entrant must succeed getting six yes votes, out of nine, with at least two out of three “yes” on each submitted video.
 
For this session, judges will be asked for a physical judging session. Next year, at the QEP summer judging session, we will held the first QEV session (Qualified European Videographer), while the EV will be realized totally on line. The ones who get the QEV in June can then apply for the MASTER QEV !  
 
Please download here the EV RULES and the APPLICATION FORM. 
 
Deadline for pre-registration: October 31, 2015.
 
Best regards and GOOD LUCK! 

With this picture, Gwenny Eeckels, photographer from Belgium, is the winner of the FEP Facebook Cover Picture of the Month contest, for the month of September 2015.

Next round will open on September, 28th.

Thanks to all the photographers who posted their wonderful pictures.

Visit our Facebook page to see them!

As a result of what discussed at the last FEP Board meeting, we now have a couple of small addition to MQEP rules.  
They are mainly regarding submissions involving images which have been extensively manipulated in post-production, in which case the candidate will be required to submit the original Camera files used to create the final panel of work.
Besides, it will be formally indicated that candidates are required to submit only one set of 20 images for judging, apart from images used as supporting evidence shown in books, calendars, journals etc.

With this picture, Jano Stovka, MASTER QEP from Slovakia, is the winner of the FEP Facebook Cover Picture of the Month contest, for the month of August 2015.

Next round will open on August, 28th.

Thanks to all the photographers who posted their wonderful pictures.

Visit our Facebook page to see them!

We are happy to announce that at the EP session n.10,  5 new EP Photographers have been awarded!
Our congratulations go to:

Steven Colin, EP, Belgium
Bert Daenen, EP, Belgium
Kristel Nijskens, EP, Belgium
Sami Reivinen, EP, Finland
Geert Vanden Broeck, EP, Belgium

APPLY ONLINE NOW for the new EP session n. 11!(Deadline September 30th)Learn more about EP qualification HERE

FEP INVITE ALL EUROPEAN ASSOCIATIONS TO ENTER THE WORLD PHOTOGRAPHIC CUP 
The “World Photographic Cup” is bringing cultures together.
The “World Photographic Cup” is an unique competition, where national teams in good companionship measure themselves with Photographic Friends worldwide. 
From only 22 participating teams in 2014, and 27 teams in 2015, our aim is to increase the number to 30 countries this year.
We look forward to your participation and invite you to enter the 3rd annual contest of the “World Photographic Cup”, which is now open for entries.
Several national teams have already entered for 2016 and in case you haven’t yet, we would like to warmly invite you to join them.
Sign up now for the “WPC” and appoint a team-leader to prepare your national team entry.
Images must be uploaded by September 30th 2015.
In Europe, FEP member associations have priority to represent their national team in the “World Photographic Cup”. So if you know of any professional photographic associations in European countries that are not FEP members yet, please invite them to join the “FEP family” and the “WPC”. 
It’s a good way to see the best of the best images from all over the world and a great way to make contacts and friends in the World of Photography.
Please do not hesitate to contact WPC CEO, Giuseppe Scozzi at ceo@worldphotographiccup.org – or any one of us for more information.
Sincerely
Jørgen Brandt – Bruno Vetters – Martin Vrabko
Members of the “World Photographic Cup” Organizing Committee 
Appointed by FEP
Jørgen Brandt jb@jorgen-brandt.dk
Bruno Vetters BrunoVetters@clicfoto.be
Martin Vrabko pilot@martinvrabko.com
www.worldphotographiccup.org

FEP has been invited by the European Parliament to meeting the Working Group on Intellectual Property Rights and Copyright Reform, concerning the so called “freedom of panorama” issue. The purpose of the meeting was to acquire the opinions of the different authors and users of panorama pictures, in view of a reform of the copyright directive 2001/29 , who  introduced – among others – exceptions to the right of reproduction or communication on visual arts, but allowed each Member State to introduce,or not, those non-mandatory exceptions, causing a situation substantially different from country to country.   
FEP was represented by Bent Nygaard Larsen, Member of the FEP Executive Committee  and CEO of the Danish member association.  “In principle, FEP is for the freedom of panorama – said Bent Nygaard Larsen –  “This is an advantage  for the professional photographers, it is well functioning in most European countries, and helps a large related photographic market . FEP anyway understand  the point of view of the artists and of those who  want as well preserve the local cultural heritage, and intend to continue with individual exceptions in single nations and local areas”.
A difficulty for the photographers may be the bureaucracy.  In some countries where shooting permissions are required as long as a charge for the use of those images,  it is often difficult  to find the right places and authorities to obtain the permission. This course of action can be made easier introducing in the EU legislation clear indications about how and where the photographer must obtain permissions, and overall detailing rules for commercial utilizations .
“EU should consider that there is a very big difference between pictures made for leisure and personal fun, and  sophisticated  professional photo shoots, made for commercial purposes by professional photographers.
But… what is actually considered commercial and non-commercial use of copyrighted material ? “, continued Bent Nygaard Larsen – A clear definition should be made, as well, specifying what “panorama” means and  how significant must be  artistic  items in the image, to be copyrighted”.
In other words, these guidelines should bear in mind the complexity of the applications and uses of a “panorama” photograph.
“For FEP is very important that exceptions to the copyright protection in panoramic images will not bring to a deprivation of general copyrights of the artists or photographers” – commented FEP CEO Giuseppe Scozzi after the meeting – “therefore it is crucial EU to better define and detail those exceptions”. 

FEP COVER PICTURE OF JULY 2015This edition of the FEP Cover Picture of the Month has been won by Tine Borms Guéneau, from France.Congratuations!See all the submitted pictures in the FEP official page on facebook!

Which country will take over the top spot from team USA, the defending champion? Portugal, Australia (2nd and 3rd place finishers in 2015) or one of the almost 30 other participating countries who had outstanding submissions?
The World Photographic Cup 2015 –  a unique international Olympics-styled team competition reached a record number of 27 registered countries, including United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, 4 teams from Asia (Japan, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand ) and 18 from Europe (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Spain, Ukraine, United Kingdom).
NOW, it’s time to set up your national photographic team for the 2016 edition, to compete for gold, silver and bronze medals and to celebrate our profession in a way never dreamed of before…
DOWNLOAD THE WPC RULESRegistrations for WPC 2016 are now open HERE and will close on September 30thTherefore, hurry up!

We are happy to announce that at the 31st session of the FEP European Qualifications 7 MASTER QEPs and 19 new QEP (Qualified European Photographers) have been awarded.

Congratulations to MQEPs:
Jacques Bakker, The Netherlands, MASTER QEP
Anatoly Bisimbaev, Russia, MASTER QEP
Pierre Delaunay, France, MASTER QEP (Third MQEP)
Onni Wiljami Kinnunen, Finland, MASTER QEP
Patrick Loertscher, Switzerland, MASTER QEP
Francesco Mosca, Italy, MASTER QEP
Carlos Santana, Spain, MASTER QEP
 
And to QEPs: 
Nicolau Bacelar, Portugal, QEP Wildlife
Fernando Branquinho, Portugal, QEP Illustrative
Eva Cordero Lorenzo, Spain, QEP Portrait
Juan Manuel Del Valle Moreno, Spain, QEP Pictorial 
Ramon Diez Mata, Spain, QEP Reportage
Manuel González Mairena, Spain, QEP Wedding
Jonathan Hevia, Spain, QEP Reportage
Sébastien Husté, France, QEP Reportage
Hervé Le Reste, France, QEP Architecture
Mike Lindtner, Austria, QEP Landscape
Peter Lik, USA (BIPP Member), QEP Landscape
Maz Mashru, UK, QEP Portrait
Oscar Padi, Spain, QEP Portrait
Anne Schneidersmann, Germany, QEP Nature
Vladimir Schukin, Russia, QEP Illustrative
Nuno Teixeira, Portugal, QEP Wedding
Caroline Tanghe, Belgium, QEP Reportage
Jean-Luc Truijens, Netherlands, QEP Fine Art
Laila Villbeck, Sweden, QEP Portrait
CONGRATULATIONS AGAIN!