CG Pro Prints launches national pro photographer promotion campaign

CG Pro Prints, the professional output business of Circle Graphics, is campaigning to raise the value of professional photography to consumers. The company has launched an expansive Professional Photographer Billboard Project, fueled by a nationwide talent search, which will result in more than 100 billboards touting the reasons why a consumer should hire a professional photographer. The billboards go live in September, 2021.

“The goal is to help the industry as a whole,” says Jose Perez, the longtime executive vice president of CG Pro Prints who began the initiative. The promotion is open to all professional photographers, not just CG Pro Print clients. Perez says he was inspired to start the promotion, in part, as a counterpoint to Apple’s “Shot on iPhone” campaign.  “Professional photography is more than just a camera. One of the ideas consumers have wrong is the camera makes them professional. There’s so much more, like lighting, wardrobe, and location.”

CG Pro Prints is selecting the photographers in a three-part process. Five photographers will be selected through CG Pro Prints’ own Print Big Photography Contest. Entries must be submitted by May 31st, 2021, and winners will be announced on June 21, 2021. The five winners will get $1,000 in CGProPrints Print Credits, be featured in the national ad campaign, be highlighted in Shutter magazine or PPA Magazine double-page spreads, and displayed at the 2021 WPPI trade show booth.

Three photographers will be selected from WPPI’s annual portrait division competition, which has an April 1 deadline. The two remaining winners will be selected from the Click Billboard Photo Contest, in partnership with Click magazine. Entries are due May 31. Winners of the Click contest will get a $1,000 CGProPrints Print Credits and be featured in Click magazine.

“It’s three events but it’s really about finding and highlighting the right people,” says Perez. He added the selection criteria will be centered around finding excellence in photography, as well as selecting images that translate well to the billboard medium.