There are so many demands on a wedding photographers time; running their business, working with clients, editing photos, taking photos, blogging, etc. that, many times, submitting our work to be “judged’ often falls by the wayside. I’ve made a concerted effort to start entering more photos into competition so I can get truly critical feedback fro may peers as well as see how my work stacks up against the larger photography community. A recent photo I entered was a definite departure from my normal work and something I shot truly for “me” on the wedding day. My clients wishes, of course, always come first but I also make sure and take the time to shoot “artistically” which may result in an amazing photo, or something that ends up on the cutting room floor. Doing anything else legitimately means you’re not giving your client everything you are capable of.
One of these types of photos I took this summer while I was working with my bride & groom in more traditional, shaded areas. The below photo was shot in direct sunlight, which is always tough, but I loved the lines and angles of the stairways and shadows so I went for it. I loved the resulting image so much that I submitted it to the World Elite Photographers competition and am thrilled to announce it won! What makes it all then sweeter is WEP group is truly world wide with photographers on all 7 continents and just merely belonging to this group is a huge honor for me. So actually winning an award really made me both proud and humble to belong and be recognized by such an amazing assortment of photographers and artists.
While wedding photography awards are always wonderful to get, producing stellar work for my clients really is whats important so when you can do both at the same time, its truly a dream come true! I see quite a few Award Winning Raleigh Wedding Photographer posts and I’d like to take a moment to congratulate ALL of the amazingly talented photographers in this area. I believe producing amazing work, like so many of you do, really makes everyone else push themselves harder. So many of you have inspired me that I truly hope my work, someday, will inspire someone else.
Technical Details:
Camera: Nikon D4S
Lens: Sigma 24 1.4
Shutter: 1/2000
Aperture: 1.4
ISO: 50
