This month I had the opportunity to enter some of my wedding images into the New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography’s (NZIPP) annual Iris awards. It is NZ’s biggest awards for professional photography so to say I was nervous was a bit of an understatement. I went to watch the judging on the Saturday and what an experience it was. This year they had an array of different Judge’s who all had various styles so it was definitely interesting hearing all their opinions.

I entered 4 images into the Wedding Classic Category and was very stoked that all 4 of them won an award. 1 gold distinction, 1 gold, 1 silver and finally 1 bronze. There were 4 gold awards given out within the Wedding Classic Category and I was fortunate to be awarded 2 of those.

Then a few nights later I attended the annual NZIPP Gala dinner and to my absolute surprise I won the category meaning I was NZ Classic Wedding Photographer of the Year and I also won Highest Scoring Monochrome Print over all the categories for my ‘Olivia’ image.

I feel so lucky to have won these awards and appreciate everyone’s encouragement and support. It is such a great experience to be part of the Iris Awards and look forward to it next year.

Here are the images in order of ranking:

Olivia – Awarded Gold Distinction and Highest Scoring Monochrome Print in the Iris Awards

First Moment – Awarded Gold

We Remember – Awarded Silver

Off Duty – Awarded Bronze