Jim Scherer

Still Life/Open Competition

Judge: Jim Scherer

Monday, April 26, 2021

11:30 PM

Submission Deadline:

April 12, 2021

Submit via Dropbox

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Remote Meeting (See Instructions/Get Zoom Link Emailed)


For this competition, we're looking for still life images. These can be traditional arrangements with  flowers, food, found objects or household objects in the style of the grand master painters or the more modern flat-lay still lifes. When composing your still life image, be sure to carefully choose your background.


Photos can be of any subject and will be judged on creativity, effective use of lighting, and overall impact of the image. Consider images that tell a story or evoke a particular mood. 


See our Competitions page for general information and submission specifications.


Please submit via Dropbox using the button above:

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  • Please log out of your DropBox account before submitting your images.

Judge: Jim Scherer

Jim Scherer has photographed food and still life in his Boston studio for over 3 decades. His clients have included Au Bon Pain, Trader Joe’s, Dunkin’ Brands, and the Boston Globe. He has done presentations at the New York Photo Expo and at the BU Conference on Food Photography, and his awards include the Communication Arts award for excellence, the Santa Fe Photographic Workshops award, and ASMP’s award for still life. He has served as national vice president of ASMP.


Recently retired, Scherer now works on personal projects from a studio he built in the Portland Maine area. “Still life,” Scherer says, “is one of the few photographic genres that you can usually work on by yourself. You are in control and can build a complete world beneath the camera. I like that!” Beyond still life, he’s now working on projects exploring ambiguous imagery with blur, shadow, and collage.