The results are in and I am very proud to announce that I received two Silver Awards at the recent WPPI 16×20 Print Competition held in Las Vegas. For me, and many other wedding and portrait photographers, these awards are like the Oscars of our industry and I can’t begin to explain how happy I am to have received these awards. I have only recently started entering awards like these and this was the first time for me entering WPPI (Wedding & Portrait Photographers International).

Any judging of a creative medium is going to be subjective and largely depend on the selection of judges who are present at the time your image comes up for review. My highest scoring print in last year’s Australian Professional Photography Awards fell two points short of an award at WPPI… and perhaps an image that did well abroad wouldn’t do so well locally. Thankfully this isn’t the driving force that makes me get out of bed each day and do what I do. I love every moment of being a wedding and portrait photographer. Being entrusted to capture the most important moments of people’s lives is a huge honour and I am just thankful to be able to fill my days doing something that I love.

For me the most rewarding part of this job is when I deliver the final product, be it prints or albums, to the client. The look on the faces of brides and grooms as they relive their special day through the pages of a designer album or the look of joy and pride of the face of a mother as she unwraps prints of her children, these are the moments I cherish. These are the moments that will keep me doing what I do for many years to come. And if I continue to pick up a few awards along the way, well that’s just icing on the cake!

From the wedding of Rebecca & Garth, Yamba, March 2013

From the engagement session of Erin & Evan, Lake Ainsworth, Lennox Head, October 2013