I don’t enter many wedding photography competitions. To be honest I don’t really buy into the whole concept of them. Photographs are so subjective and I find competitions can encourage photographers to produce the same work as each other. Some of my absolutely favourite images will never win awards, many of my most important storytelling shots, loved by the couples I shoot for, are not what judges want to see.

I shoot for myself and the couples that book me, not awards.

The only competition I have regularly submitted to is the Wedding Photojournalist Association. I strongly agree with their ethos of authentic photojournalism, and one huge plus – it’s not judged by wedding photographers! I’ve been a member since 2012. This year I was lucky enough to have 20 winning photographs and was named in the top 25 wedding photographers in the world, which was nice! Not that awards and titles mean anything 😉

My winning WPJA photos from 2018 below. You can also see some of my personal favourite’s of 2018 (including those that didn’t win) in my end of 2018 blog post.