Why I became an award winning wedding photographer
I’ve always had a slightly jaded view of wedding photography awards – well any industry awards actually. Mostly because – in general – you can’t be an award winning wedding photographer unless you enter the competition. Ergo, winning doesn’t mean you’re the best wedding photographer in the industry, it just means you’re better than other photographers that entered the competition.
Now that I’ve admitted to thinking that way, you might be surprised to know that I recently became an award winning wedding photographer; I entered and achieved four wedding photography awards in The Guild of Photographers’ image of the month competition late last year. Here are three of my images (below); and one more above.
More surprising still, I’m going to keep on entering.
It’s not that I’ve had an epiphany and seen the error of my judgement, more that I now see what a useful benchmark awards (and their associated feedback) can provide for improving your photography.
Some people say that wedding photography awards can actually make a career and I do know a couple of people that have won “photographer of the year awards” in the past. However, they both had successful careers already so that wasn’t true in their case although it may have given them a boost.
Perhaps where awards have most value is for buyers. Because if you’re thinking of choosing a particular wedding photographer – awards can provide an endorsement from a recognised body (within the photography industry) that your photographer’s work is (at very least) of a professional standard.
I haven’t changed my mind about entering and winning competitions – you still can’t win if you don’t enter. But in the case of two of the major photography industry bodies in the UK – The Guild of Photographers and the SWPP – you also can’t win if your work’s not good enough.
You can see more of my work in my Wedding Portfolio
For wedding photography awards and more
I won’t create a blog on my website every time I get wedding photography awards but I’ll almost certainly post to my Facebook Page or my Instagram account so if you want to see my latest news, please follow me on social media.