WEDDING PHOTOJOURNALISM CONTEST: WPJA 2015 Q3 PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST

I love starting 2016 reviewing my wedding photography from the past year, thankful for my clients and their fun/crazy/absolutely beautiful weddings, and I couldn’t be happier to start this year winning a whopping FOUR awards in the latest Wedding Photojournalist Association’s  Quarter Three wedding photojournalism contest!

This organization is devoted to wedding photojournalism and moment-driven wedding photographs that aren’t staged or created.  As a photojournalist with over 15 years of experience, including 11 years as a staff photojournalist for the Chicago Tribune, I love being surrounded by such talented wedding photojournalists, check out all of the winning wedding photographs here!

I love this first photograph from Angela and Kevin’s wedding at the Chicago Harold Washington Library.  I remember Kevin’s parents exclaiming that he wasn’t feeding wedding cake to his bride in a “pretty” way, which made him a little self-conscious, and I love this moment of these two!

Jess and Bryan’s wedding at The Lodge Oak Brook Hyatt  was just a happy day, I love her expression in this photograph, along with the guest at left, sipping her drink. This photograph is one of two award-winning wedding photographs featured here I shot with my Olympus OMD EM1 mirrorless camera.  I purchased this camera for my trip to Bucharest, Romania last year to speak at the Fearless Conference, and I’ve used it a few times for weddings last year, mostly during receptions.  Considering I used it for 2 of these 4 photographs, I think I need to use it more often!  I love holding this camera at waist level, which allowed me to get this lovely low angle for this photograph, and I didn’t knock the cake over, which is equally awesome.  I have nightmares that one day I will actually bump into someone’s cake, which apparently influenced my photography, because I was standing next to a cake in three of these award-winning photographs!

Angelica and Sultan’s  wedding at the historic Cheney Mansion was a fun wedding.  Somehow, the cake cutting knife was missing, which led Angelica’s father to leave the reception in search of a grocery store and a new cake knife.  Lucky for me, the knife broke immediately, and I love their reaction to this.

Nicole and Anthony’s wedding at the Bridgeport Art Center actually provided two winning photographs from the same wedding!  I shot this quiet moment with my Olympus OMD EM1  and liked it because of its resemblance to a painting, which the judges noted.  Nicole looks like a beautiful china doll in this image.  This was one of the few quiet moments during a loud and beautiful day, and I’m happy to have captured this moment for them.

PHOTOGRAPHERS, I have spaces available for my Moment-Driven Photojournalism Workshop in Chicago this April 5 and 6 and September 13 and 14!  Contact me for a FREE strategy session to see if you’re a good fit for the workshop!  This 2-day shooting workshop will help you recharge your photography, focus on moments, especially during portrait sessions, and you’ll leave with a fresh edit of your website images, highlighting your strongest wedding photographs!

Thanks, everyone, and I wish you all a Happy New Year!