It was a challenging day for Adam Eichorst but the grade 12 Humboldt Collegiate Institute (HCI) student showed off his skill with a camera at the 20th annual Skills Competition in Regina on April 12-13.
Around 500 competitors were competing in 36 different trade competitions.
Eichorst competed with 23 students from across the province in the photography competition, including fellow HCI student Jessica Hoffman.
Competitors had three and a half hours to submit their first eight photos before moving on to the next sections of the competition, which was submitting their next seven photos. The first set could only be cropped, half of still life while the other had to be portraits. The next set was a way the photographers could show off their editing techniques with no limits on the amount of editing going into the photos or what was in the photos.
Competitors were judged on impact, compositions, and technicality.
There was no limit on subject matter, says Eichorst, with the photography competition being in the same building as all the other trade categories, from hairstyling to carpentry. Other years had less trades competing in the same area, says Eichorst, so he felt lucky competing in this year’s competition with so many amazing photo opportunities.
“We could not leave the building so it was everything within (Evraz Place). This was one of best skills to compete at because for the first time, all the skills were in one location.”
Competitors had a lot of diversity in their photos, he says, and unique shots were a big part of what the judges were looking for.
“They kept stressing to you to show your uniqueness, take photos of different people and different places. I was fortunate to have such a diverse location to actually shoot at.”
Even with his experience in Dawn Goosen’s photography class, this gave Eichorst a chance to expand his creativity, saying he made about five laps around the facility taking photos.
“Every time I was shooting the same photos, I thought I have to be more unique than this and then find a different angle.”
Goosen was at the competition to support Eichorst and feels he took on a unique perspective on the competition, looking at his photography as a way to promote the trades.
“He went in and said what would welding or cooking want to see? He took those pictures from that perspective.”
Eichorst took chances with his pictures and tried different things.
“He listened to the judges when they said to make sure all of his edits and all of his pictures should be different. He tried different techniques.”
Even being a part of a competition that shows off his skills, there was still so much more to learn, says Eichorst, from time management to controlling his shots.
With a limited amount of time to get a photo, Eichorst also learned how stressful photography can be, he laughs.
Goosen is proud of all the competitors, including Hoffman and Riley Lefebvre who competed in carpentry.
