NZIPP Iris Awards 2016

It had been quite a while since I had entered the NZIPP Iris Awards for one reason or another. So this year I decided to give it a go. I have to admit I was pretty nervous as it is not easy getting an award at Iris and it had been such a long time……

Oh well I figured why not! And then spent weeks agonising over what to enter, getting the prints right and all the other things that things that you worry about! The thing is although it takes a lot of time, a lot of mental energy and also a very patient and supportive family (thanks Glen for listening to me going on about it for weeks!), I always learn so much about my work by going through the process. It always help to lift it up a notch. So even if I came away with nothing the learning process itself in invaluable.

The judging takes place anonymously over 3 days in an open judging room, so you can sit and watch whilst your work is being judged. I decided to dedicate three days to making the trip over to Wellington to watch as its is always such a valuable source of learning. Its also incredibly nerve-wrecking – I had forgotten how much! By the time my first print came up I had already had two coffees – well that was a mistake! My heart was going ten to the dozen!

My first print was in the Landscape category which is notoriously tough – the category is filled with entries from all the big names in NZ Landscape photography. I have to admit, I did wonder what on earth I was thinking  entering as Landscapes are something I do for myself and are not my area of expertise at all! I was thrilled when it was awarded a bronze!

The next day was my biggie with the reminder of my prints up in the Classic Portrait and Classic Wedding categories. For these categories, I hadn’t photographed anything specifically for the awards. All of the prints were from my everyday client work. I was thrilled when both of my wedding entries picked up awards and then gobsmacked to find I had also received three more bronzes for my portrait work! And what makes it even more special for me is that is all the sort of work that I do day to day for my clients.

So enough from me here are the winning entries –