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Ever hopeful that we're now seeing some real light at the end of the tunnel, it was amazing to get back to shooting recently with some awesome suppliers - back to it with a real bang!  I first met the guys at Illumination Pyrotechnics when I was fortunate enough to shoot a wedding alongside them at The South Causey Inn and we hit it off immediately - Craig and Jen are a cracking team and lovely, down-to-earth people - always a pleasure to work with! Since then we've shot various weddings together and the odd other event along the way too. As we started to ease out of lockdown restrictions in mid 2021 the guys asked me if I'd be willing and able to come and shoot some images of the fireworks show they were putting on at the amazing Thief Hall in North Yorkshire. Of course I jumped at the opportunity, little did I know what was to come! The day before the shoot Jen called and mentioned that there was a) a potential model with wedding dresses and b) possibly an actual proposal happening on the day! oh and c) there was an awesome TikTok celebrity at the centre of it all! Wow, that all escalated quickly!! When the day arrived, I have to admit, after more than 12 months not shooting a wedding until the week before this shoot, I was so excited to be getting out to shoot fireworks, nevermind the rest!! I'd gone through my old checklist of what I might need, added a few more bits into it, threw a few extras into the boot too just in case I'd forgotten something and I was good to go!! A crazy day ensued, meeting Jack Jenkins of TikTok fame, shooting a fantastic proposal with indoor fireworks at Thief Hall, working with an amazing model and finally after a long, but very enjoyable day, shooting some unbelievable fireworks with our model and the whole team. Check out the Vlog of the whole day on Jack's YouTube channel below - why not show him some love and subscribe too! Here's a few images from the day too...
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 TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER 2020& PHOTOGRAPHERS BAR IN 3 CATEGORIES & THE SILVER BAR For a few years now I have entered images into The Guild of Photographers Image of the Month competition and 2020 was no different, even if it was a difficult year for most photographers.
Being an award-winning photographer is something that appears to be more and more common these days, so I wanted to do more than just grab an award for a single image I wanted to show my consistent level of quality and the Guild’s competitions do exactly that as you build up points and awards across the year. In February I’d usually make the annual pilgrimage to Crewe Hall for The Guild of Photographers awards, obviously Covid had different ideas for 2020 and the event had to be held virtually. All things considered It was still a great night, with a few familiar faces, but also some outstanding new talent on show too. Having worked at my image entries across various categories throughout the year and digging through the back-catalogue when weddings and pretty much everything else photography related stopped! On the awards night it was announced that I had achieved the accolade of one of the Top Ten International Wedding Photographers from all of those entering the competition. I’m very proud of that achievement and even more so that it was my second time in the Top Ten. In addition to this, I also achieved ‘The Bar’ in 3 categories, for consistent quality awards across the year. After that, I was also awarded ‘The Silver Bar’ – something only awarded to those photographers who have achieved a total of 5 or more Bar’s in their time in the Guild. Read more about my ‘Bar’ Awards here. If you're interested in joining the guild read more about it here and use my discount link to save 10%!  PHOTOGRAPHERS BAR IN 3 CATEGORIES & THE SILVER BAR& TOP TEN INTERNATIONAL WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER 2020 How do you stand out above the other photographers?
Over the last few years, the phrase award-winning photographer is becoming more and more used. That’s no bad thing really, everyone who produces award winning images should be recognised for it, but if there’s so many, then how do you stand out from the crowd? One of the ways I thought I could do this was by getting involved in The Guild of Photographers Image of the Month competition and setting targets for achieving ‘The Bar’. When you enter the Image of the Month competition you can enter images across a variety of categories such as Weddings, Newborns, The Natural World etc. The Bar can be achieved in any of these categories by scoring 24 points or more in that category. Points are awarded for each image you enter, but to achieve The Bar you need to achieve the equivalent of a bronze award for every single image entered over an 8 month period – the rules are a bit more complex than that, but that’s it in a nutshell. 2020 was a difficult year for a lot of photographers, especially with most photography work being non-existent for the year, good job I had some stored up in my back-catalogue! In February I’d usually make the annual pilgrimage to Crewe Hall for The Guild of Photographers awards, obviously Covid had different ideas for 2021 and the event had to be held virtually. All things considered It was still a great night, with a few familiar faces, but also some outstanding new talent too. As the awards were announced it got to The Bar awards and I was one of only a handful of people to achieve The Bar in three categories – Weddings, The Natural World (landscapes and wildlife mainly) and the Open category (anything that doesn’t fit in the other categories!). I’m very proud to have won awards consistently all year that have them amounted to the required amounts to achieve The Bar in all three categories. As I have entered in previous years this was not my first set of Bar Awards and as I have now achieved more than 5 Bar Awards I also received The Silver Bar. In addition to this, I was also confirmed as one of the Top Ten International Wedding Photographers. Read more about my ‘Top Ten International Wedding Photographer’ Award here. 2021 is looking likely to be another difficult year for us photographers, but hopefully we’re all heading for bigger and better things – I’m really looking forward to getting stuck into shooting again this year and aiming for more awards! If you're interested in joining the guild read more about it here and use my discount link to save 10%! I joined The Guild of Photographers a few years ago when I was first getting into photography 'properly', to try to advance my work, take some inspiration from other photographers and to push myself to improve. A few years down the line and despite some ups and downs that most have, I can safely say that The Guild has helped me to improve my work and my business in various ways.
From entering the Image of the Month competition, to the awards night, meeting other photographers and joining a number of buddy groups, to get feedback and constructive criticism from other photographers, I am now a multi-award-winning photographer, achieving the Top Ten International Wedding Photographer status twice, winning awards from Bronze right through to Gold and achieving the Photographers Bar in various categories. If you want to know more about the guild, whether or not it's worth joining or ask questions about it, then please feel free to email me at nigel@inspireanimage.co.uk If you want to join the guild of photographers, you can get discounted membership, by using the link below - in addition I'll also get a 10% discount on my membership, so why not! Join The Guild of Photographers Here!  I am very proud to announce that The Fellowship of Photographers Association has asked me to be a contributor in their newly founded organisation, to provide an angle on Landscape photography and Landscape Photography Workshops for The Fellowship. Although in their very early stages of development, The Fellowship has a good following and some amazing photographers already in their ranks! At present there is no charge at all to be involved, simply go to and like the Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/Fellowshipofphotographers/ As part of this, we have already created the first (of many hopefully!) Landscape Photography Workshop in North Wales for later this year (or whenever it can take place if it does need to be rearranged!) - find out more about that, here: http://www.inspireanimage.co.uk/fellowship-workshop.html Other workshops are also available for members and there is also currently a free monthly image competition - why not have a look and get involved.  |
AuthorNigel Hepplewhite - Owner and operator of Inspire an Image Photography - ambitious North East based photographer. Archives
May 2021
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