The Guild of Photographers Award Ceremony & The Photohubs Image Competition

Well, what a weekend I’ve had and I’m delighted to share my good news with you all. 

Creative Light 2.0 Image Competition

First of all on Friday I attended an online photography event, Creative Light 2.0, hosted by Photohubs.  An amazing online event with some great presentations by very talented photographers. Following the presentations, the last hour and a half was dedicated to an image competition which was open to all attendees. The judging was carried out live (via Zoom) by Gary Hill, Claire Elliot and Charlotte Bellamy, who are three of the panel judges with the Guild of Photographers, so a huge amount of judging experience between them. They judged every single image live and whittled it down to a final 3. It was a nerve wracking experience to watch but I’m delighted to say that I was announced the winner with my image of the ‘Duke of Wellington’ below. I have attached the 2nd and 3rd place images as well just so you can see how high the standard was in this competition. Big congrats to the runners up :). My prize for winning is £100 worth of fine art print paper from Hahnemuehle. Thanks to them for sponsoring this event.

My winning image of the Duke of Wellington statue in Glasgow.

So, that was the Creative Light 2.0 event. I learned a lot and won a competition, happy days.

The Guild of photographers 2020 awards

The next day, Saturday 6th Feb, was the 2020 Awards Ceremony for the Guild of Photographers. This event is usually a grand affair held in Crewe Hall. However, due to COVID19 it was an online affair this year and was broadcast via Facebook live. If you have seen my previous blog you will be aware that I was named as a Finalist in three separate categories with three separate images for the Image of the Year competition. The event ran smoothly thanks to the amazing organisation and hard work by everyone at the Guild. The standard of images on display was absolutely amazing and again, it was a nerve wracking experience just watching it all unfolding, knowing I had images in the running for awards. I didn’t win any of the categories, however, I was completely blown away when my image of a stag won the ‘Members Choice’ Overall Image of the Year. To be a finalist in a competition of such a high standard and amongst some great photographers is an honour in itself, but to have those very photographers vote for one my images is just something special. I can’t thank everyone who voted enough. My image was chosen from over 16,000 entries in 2020, so I am not exaggerating when I say I was completely blown away. The Member Choice award was sponsored by Digitalab and my prize is a £250.00 voucher to use with them.

It really has been a great 1st year for me with the Guild.

• ‘Members Choice’ Overall Image of the Year.

• Top 10 finalist in the ‘Urban’ category Image of the Year

• Top 10 finalist in the ‘Nature & Wildlife’ category Image of the Year.

• Top 10 finalist in the ‘Commercial’ category Image of the Year.

Members Choice Overall Image of the Year 2020

The Image of the Month competition for 2021 is well underway and it will be another interesting year given the current situation. Getting out for new photo’s is not easy, it’s also not a priority in the grand scheme of things but hopefully we will be back to some kind of normality sometime soon. take care and stay safe.

If anyone is interested in finding out more about the Guild of photographers please visit this link for more details. If you do consider joining then please use this referal link for a discount :)

Image of the Year Finalist

As you may have seen from my last blog post I joined the Guild of Photographers this year. Well it is now the end of the year and the Image of the Month competitions take a wee break in order for the Guild Judging Panel to choose their ‘Images of the Year’.

Just this week the emails were sent out to all the finalists, those whose images had made it into the top 10 of their respective categories. In order for an image to be considered for the Image of the Year it must have already won a Gold or Silver Award in the Image of the Month competition, that in itself is a remarkable achievement. From that set of images the judges choose their top 10 in each category, so it really is the best of the best that make it to the finals.

I have already way surpassed any expectations I had when I first joined the Guild about what I may achieve in competitions. Prior to joining the Guild I was not a fan of photography competitions, it has even been said by a friend that I was ‘anti-competition’. That said, I have had a good 1st year with the Guild, picking up many awards and even a few Golds. Much to my delight this week I received the news that 3 of my images have made it to the finals, in 3 separate categories. I really am over the moon with this achievement. In 2020 alone the Guild received more than 16,000 entries for the Image of the Month competitions, so to have 3 of my images make it to the finals really is an honour.

In the Urban category my image from the Glasgow Kelvingrove Art Galleries and Museum made it through.

My take on Apple v Windows still life made it through to the finals in the Commercial category.

My 3rd image through to the finals was this one of a glorious stag, which made it to the finals in the Nature & Wildlife category.

“In 2020 alone the Guild received more than 16,000 entries for the Image of the Month competitions”

The awards ceremony takes place at the start of February 2021 so not long until the ultimate winners are announced. The ceremony will be a virtual affair due to Covid and no doubt restrictions will still be in place. To get to the finals is a massive achievement for me so any thing else will be a ‘Brucey Bonus’.

To be continued… :)

The Guild of Photographers - My 1st Month

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 ;)