New Zealand Family Photographer of the Year!
It's been just over a month since I was awarded New Zealand Family Photographer of the Year at the NZIPP Iris Awards. To add the cherry on top, this week I was announced NZIPP Wellington Photographer of the Year! I am beyond excited with both of these achievements!
The NZIPP is NZ's governing body for professional photographers. Their annual Iris Awards are designed to inspire and push photographers into creating and submitting their very best work. Photographers can submit up to 10 images in a range of categories and they are then judged by a panel of top national and international photographers. The whole event takes three days and at the end of it they have a big gala dinner and name the winner of each category. It's considered a really big deal to enter and photographers invest huge amounts of time and money into the process.
Family category
This category is for work that is commissioned by clients and take place as part of a paying family portrait session
James, Charlie and Marlow - Silver Distinction
The judges loved the flow of this image and loved the middle child being in the premier position
Shirleys 90th birthday - Silver
Maureen originally came in to meet me prior to booking a session for her Mother, Shirleys 90th birthday. Alongside the standard group shots I asked if she would be interested in doing something a little more artistic utilising some of my large dress collection and she was keen! It was a really fun shoot and we all made a big fuss over Shirley who said it was a great way to spend her 90th birthday. The emotion in the room when I photographed Shirley with her daughters Maureen and Robyn was palpable and I knew I had captured something really special. Maureen teared up when she came to choose the photos and emailed me afterwards to say "you have managed to capture the most priceless photos for us which I know we will cherish for years to come" Winning Silver at the NZIPP Nikon Iris Awards is just the icing on the cake to getting feedback back like this from my clients!
Andy and Sam - Silver
This image was an extension of the one of Richard, Graham and Toby (you'll see their image in the Portrait In-Camera Artistry entries further down this page), I wanted to make images that showed that the expression of love and intimacy is not just for Mums and their babies as is so commonly depicted in photography. This image seemed to particularly resonate for the male judge and participants in the awards.
Four generations - Silver
When Deanna booked me for her newborn shoot, I knew I wanted to create a four generation photo reminiscent of renaissance biblical art. There are lots of artists in Deanna's family and they were super evicted to bring this concept to life with me. We got pretty lucky with baby Lily's little "hand of God" pose'.
Ava - Silver
Ava monkeying around!
Portrait In-Camera Artistry category
This category recognises and celebrates photography that is created in camera with minimal post-processing.
Eve - Gold
The judges commented on the emotion in this picture and I was thrilled to be awarded a Gold!!!
Richard, Graham and Toby - Silver with Distinction
This photo is of my husband Richard, my Father in Law Graham and my son Toby. My little guy literally gave me 5 minutes to capture this photo before he was out of there!
Caylene - Silver
Darling Caylene! Caylene and her family are regular clients of mine and this is the last shot from a fine art session portraiture session. This kid is always gives the best expressions!
Illustrative category
Tess - Silver
This is what happens when you have a sick day in our house. Mum drags you to her work and makes you model for a new concept she is trying out. Tess at 13 years old.
I am always looking for interesting faces to photograph for Award work, if you keen to be involved feel free to contact me!