Portrait Photographer of the year | MPA Contemporary Portrait Photographer of the Year

Wow!

I did it again!

Following on from the success of last years MPA (Master Photographer Association) Contemporary Wedding Photographer of the Year and Under 5's Photographer of the Year, I have now added Contemporary Portrait Photographer for 2014.

It is pretty cool picking up awards for my wedding photography, but to be fair, weddings are my day to day work and I have now been shooting them non stop for the last 31 years. So it is a bit of a buzz to pick up a top award for my portraiture. Back in the day though I can remember winning my first Kodak Gold Award (The 'Oscar' of the social photography genre), closely followed by three more and all four were for my portrait work!

It can feel like a bit of an ego trip when entering and winning awards but in all honesty it is the process itself that is worth it. The winning is the glitter on top, but without pushing yourself to enter and striving to create something a little different you could very easily go stale. It helps me focus and keeps me shooting in a way that is still relevant, not just within the industry but to the many new wedding couples, new mums and dads and families that just simply wish to have a beautiful portrait to hang on their wall or a stunning wedding album to cherish for years to come!

Ok, I can go on for many paragraphs about the whys and what nots of entering photographic awards but you would become bored very quickly (if not already), so here are some of the images that I entered this year. I was lucky enough to pick up quite a few merits in several different categories, including 2nd in the 10 from 1 wedding portfolio and a 2nd in the Classic wedding.

Contemporary Portrait Photographer of the Year 2014

Silver Award - 10 from 1 Wedding Portfolio

Silver Award - Classic Wedding

Merit Awards

A few of my other entries.