2016 WPPI Second Half competition

We’ve been entering the AIPP state and national awards for a couple of years now, but rarely do we venture outside of that to more international competitions. We’ve seen friends achieve some great successes in the WPPI competitions (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International). In previous years I’ve watched the winners galleries go by, checking out all of that incredible work, and thought how excellent that would be to be able to produce work of that level. Wanda’s been encouraging/pushing/hounding me to enter it for a while… (Everybody needs a Wanda!)

…So, finally took the plunge and entered the 2016 WPPI Second Half members-only online competition, with a goal of not embarrassing myself, and a hope that of the eight images entered, maybe four of them would get over the line for a silver award.

Goal achieved!

Very pleased to announce that, as well as getting all eight prints over the line, The Final Voyage of Skuldelev I achieved a gold award (one of only four awarded), and was awarded First Place in the Creative Division – Illustrative category! This is huge!!! HUGE!! Yayayayayayayayayayayahhhh ahem sorry. Inside voice. Inside voice. Sssshhhhhhh. There you go.

Several of the images from the 2015 QPPA/APPA season were still eligible for entry, and it was great to be able to give them another run – particularly Sleepless, which is really close to our hearts.

Congratulations to everyone that entered – including Adam Hourigan who won Creative Division – Wedding Contemporary, and the legendary Lisa Saad who placed in not one but two categories! If you want to see some incredible imagery, take a few minutes and check out the winners and finalists gallery.

Big thank-you to the judges for the WPPI competition – see you again at the print awards in a few months 🙂   Huge thank you to everyone that collaborated on these images! And MASSIVE thank you to Wanda and the kids for being the bestest and most supportive family anyone could have.

Of all of these, I think The Final Voyage of Skuldelev I (aka “the viking picture”) is the only one I haven’t blogged about yet… I’m still writing it. Coming soon, I promise.

Introducing Pearly and Brantley

We are beyond excited about photographing Pearly and Brantley’s wedding a little later this year. We met these two a few years ago when we photographed Pearly’s sister’s wedding, and it was very cool to hear from them when their date got closer. 🙂

These guys are super cute and super fun – if this is what it’s like photographing them for a one-hour session, we can’t wait to see them for their wedding!

 

Worthless

Worthless is the second print from our entries in the 2016 Australian Professional Photography Awards. It’s been difficult to sit on this image and not let it out in to the world, so after a gold at the state awards and a silver at the national awards, it is lovely that we can finally share it!

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Normally, I have a lot to say about images. This one though, not so much. Quite often storytelling images like this peek in to a moment in history for someone. This one – at the time it was made, it was incredibly important to someone, because of who they were and where they were at on their journey. That’s their story to tell, if they want to.

I’ll leave you with some behind-the-scenes images, and finally, a little video to show you how it came together.

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