The Guild is one of the Photography associations that I am proud to be a member of and last weekend was the Guild of Photographers Awards dinner. I was delighted to hear that two of my images had been shortlisted for ‘Image of the Year 2014 under the category of Creativity in Photography. The certificate states that I was one of no more than six photographers in this category, which was amazing.
For me, going to these types of awards dinners always has me feeling a little nervous. I don’t know a lot of the members personally and there are so many there that I truly admire through reputation. I follow a number of these photographers work online so if you meet them, what do you say without sounding like some kind of weird super-fan? It’s very strange.
Throughout 2014, I entered the Guilds ‘Image of the Month’ (IOTM) competition which was broken down in to 3 categories. You have People, Weddings and Open. Within these 3 categories, you can enter up to 3 images so you can enter up to 9 images per month.
The ‘Images of the Year’ are chosen from all the images that achieved a Silver or a Gold which was why getting 2 images shortlisted really took me by surprise. The quality of the work I had seen from the other members throughout 2014 was incredible so to be included amongst all this talent was just mad!
On the evening itself, I settled down to enjoy a delicious dinner at a table of photographers covering all genres such as wildlife, landscapes, weddings and portraits. An eclectic table to say the least that also included a lovely family where the mum, dad and daughter were all photographers in their own right.
When the awards began, they explained how the evening would work. There would be a Top 10 Photographer of the Year Awards given out in a variety of categories including Weddings, People (Families/Children), People (Newborn), Open (Birds), Open (Landscapes) and so on. These were determined by who had done the best over the last 12 months in terms of results rewarding consistency rather than a one off shot. They would then do the Image of the Year in a mix of categories as well which was determined by the images themselves. The final award was for ‘Overall Photographer of the Year’ determined by results over a variety of styles rather than just one specific genre.
Nothing can explain to you the shock when my name was read out. First of all as one of the top 10 for ‘Wedding Photographer of the Year 2014’ and again for ‘Children/Family Photographer of the Year 2014’! This combined with being shortlisted for the Image of the Year was amazing and emotional.
But if all this wasn’t enough, I then find out I came 7th in the ‘All Round Photographer of the Year 2014’ category! This is an international association! SEVENTH?!
All the work I’ve put in to build up the studio over the last 2 years really feels like it has paid off as I am being recognised by my peers which is truly humbling. Thank you again for all the support from my family, my clients and now from an insane list of photographers that I truly admire.
The Guild of Photographers Awards dinner was a night I am going to remember for a very long time.
