Last month (April) I made the decision to join the ‘Guild of Photographers’ in an effort to improve my photography skills and challenge myself, and I am so glad that I did. It has been an amazing experience so far. To be honest I was apprehensive about joining the likes of the Guild, or any of the similar photography bodies out there, as photography is only a hobby for me, and not a profession. The Guild however caters for all levels and genres of photography. During the current pandemic they have went above and beyond the duties of a photography organisation in order to keep all the members active and engaged with the Guild. They have been laying on tons of educational and informative webinars for the members, and even member exhibition webinars. The Facebook page is very active and a great social hub for the Guild.
Another great aspect of the Guild is the members ‘buddy groups’. Basically, members form a private group (usually a maximum of 10 people) and help support each other with their ‘Image of the Month’ submissions, by providing constructive critique and a second pair of eyes prior to submission of their images to the IOM. Although I am a brand new member to the Guild, I can already see how people get obsessed with the image of the month competition. The standard is extremely high. Click here to see past winners. Just to get on the bottom rung of the awards (a classified award), the panel of judges have to deem your image as being to a professional standard and worthy of passing on to a client. The awards range from ‘Classified, Bronze, High Bronze, Silver and Gold. The ultimate award is a Platinum but I don’t believe anyone has achieved that for several years.
The 21st of the month is a big day in the Guild.
The 21st of the month is a big day in the Guild. On the 21st of each month they release the results of the ‘Image of the Month’ Awards. In my first month I submitted 6 of my images. I was absolutely delighted to find that all 6 won awards, one of them even scooped a much sought after ‘Gold Award’. To say I was gobsmacked is an understatement. 5 days after the results were announced I received an email from the Guild letting me know that the judging panel had selected my Gold Award image as one of the ‘Top 4’ images for the month of April. Talk about the icing on the cake. As well as the accolade of being in the ‘top 4’ I will now also receive a framed print of my Gold Award image from the Guild.
My total haul was - 1 x Gold Award, 3 x Silver Awards & 2 x High Bronze Awards. I’m over the moon with these awards, especially the gold, as from what I’ve seen so far, out of over 1500 images entered each month, only about 15 or so receive a Gold Award…well chuffed. Please see my award winning images below. Hopefully I’ll be posting more award winners next month ;)
