I’m a member of the Guild of Photographers and each month they run an image of the month competition.  I thought I’d share how I’ve got on recently…

There are four award classifications that can be achieved:

Platinum Bar .. Images of exceptional or outstanding quality (only awarded to the ultimate of images)
Gold Bar .. Images of particular distinction (very rare)
Silver Bar .. Images that are very well crafted (difficult to achieve)
Bronze Bar .. Images of a strong standard at a national competition level (something to be proud of)…
Classified .. Images of a standard worthy of acknowledgement relevant to the genre entered but which are not deemed award winning at national competition level.

The pictures I’ve entered have been entered in the Wedding section. Entries into this section must be taken at a ‘real’ wedding or civil partnership. And it fills me with delight to say I’ve been awarded 1 silver and 4 bronze bars for the images I’ve submitted.

The image that has been awarded a Silver Bar is this one:

This was taken at Mark and Marie’s wedding at the Midland Hotel in Morecambe.  I love that hotel and Mark and Marie are a very photogenic couple which definitely played a big part in helping me achieve this standard…

The images that have been awarded a Bronze Bar are:

This is another one from Mark and Marie’s wedding – we wandered out of the hotel and found some very cool and very wedding appropriate wall art.

This is Susan and Callum at the West Tower Exclusive Wedding Venue near Ormskirk, Lancashire.  It was such a warm day and that evening sun and the shadows it cast were to just lovely.

These two images were taken while I was second shooting during last summer’s season.  The first was taken of Amy and George at the Double Tree by Hilton Hotel and Spa in Chester and the second was on the beach on Emma and Finn’s wedding day in Formby on the way from the ceremony at St. George’s Hall to the reception at the Birkdale Golf Course.  One of the reasons I love second shooting is because the remit is to support the primary photographer but get something different to what they get.  Sometimes this results in the freedom to be very creative which I think explains the success I’ve had with these two images.

A number of images I’ve entered have also been awarded classified which is still a great score (nominally 70 points out of 100) although not quite as shiny as one of the metallic bars!

I am really enjoying entering these monthly competitions – it makes me think about the pictures I’ve taken and gives me something to aim for.  Given that a gold bar is so difficult to achieve, I don’t have unrealistic expectations but I’ll keep it in my sights and see how close i can come as the year progresses…