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Expert Judges’ Feedback: Jesse LaPlante on Flash Masters Collection 23
Welcome to Judges’ Feedback — Collection 23
Join Jesse LaPlante as he dives into the latest Flash Masters Awards submissions, sharing:
- 📸 What made award-winning images stand out
- 🔍 Insight on near-miss entries and how to improve
- đź’ˇ Practical advice you can apply to future competitions
Whether you’re refining your flash photography or aiming for your first award, Jesse’s judging breakdown will help you elevate your creative and technical approach.
Free Preview: Get an inside look at the judging criteria and practical feedback — full session available to Pro members.
Supporting Growth Within the Flash Masters Community
Welcome to the first Judges’ Feedback for Collection Twenty-Three of the Flash Masters Awards — a dedicated educational feature created to help photographers better understand awards judging and refine their competition entries.
- Jesse’s Top Tips for Award Entries
- Near-Miss Feedback: What Almost Worked
- Highlights from the Winning Set
- Why These Images Stood Out
- How to Apply This Feedback to Your Work
In this feedback session, Flash Masters Jesse LaPlante, a Colorado-based wedding photographer and co-founder of J. LaPlante Photo, known for his bold, dynamic, storytelling-driven approach and a focus on adventurous, experience-led celebrations, shares his professional insight into the collection and what stood out during judging. As someone who has won countless awards including '2024 Photographer of the Year' with Masters of Wedding Photography, 'Two of the 10 Wedding Photographers in the World' with the ISPWP, and the '2022 This is Reportage Photographer of the Year' Jesse most definitely knows how to prepare images for award submissions. This alongside his vast experince in judging photography competitions from all over the world makes this a session you do not want to miss!
During this feedback session, Jesse provides detailed feedback on six images that came incredibly close to receiving an award, explaining why they were shortlisted and the specific reasons they narrowly missed selection.
Alongside this near-miss critique, Jesse also highlights four of his favourite award-winning submissions from Collection Twenty-Three, breaking down what he loved about each image and why they stood out in a highly competitive round.
Packed with practical photography advice, judging insight, and real-world creative considerations, this Judges’ Feedback is designed to help photographers strengthen their future Flash Masters Awards entries — and, just as importantly, create more emotionally impactful images for their clients.
We’re excited to continue introducing Judges’ Feedback as part of the Flash Masters Awards and hope the community finds Jesse's feedback both constructive and inspiring.
Be sure to check out the incredible work of Jesse and his super talented wife Moira and follow them to see more of their incredible work and educational offerings.
Their mentoring spots for 2026 have just opened up - you can find more information on this here.
Jesse & Moira La Plante
Jesse and Moira La Plante are Colorado-based photographers who have been shooting weddings since 2008. They first met in the Bahamas on spring break when Jesse (allegedly) offered to buy Moira a drink at an all-inclusive resort. Shortly after that fateful trip, the pair moved to Colorado, and started the wedding photography business they swore they'd never have.
