Hello all, I'm a little bit late to the party to post this blog, but I've been a little busy catching up on work since my trip to Auckland.
The NZIPP (New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography) have just recently had the annual Iris print judging awards and Infocus conference.
This year it was hosted in Auckland and it was also the 75th anniversary of the NZIPP, which was all held and the Pullman Hotel.
There were records being broken all over the place, record numbers of entries, awards and attendees to the conference.
I entered the Iris awards for the first time last year, I entered four images and received four bronze awards for my efforts, not bad for a first try.
I really tried to push my entries a little further this year. I entered four in the wedding classic category, one in the creative portrait category and three in Landscape.
It would be my first time entering any personal work too, not sure if that made it easier to handle critique or not.
I came away with five bronze awards, two silver and one gold award! I was stoked! Out of around 1,300 entries only 43 received gold awards. I also had enough points to receive my associateship member status too. I had entered eight prints this year, seven of them came away with awards. I also had a lot of my images discussed this year which is something I missed out on last year. Not every print is discussed, most are judged scored and gone within a minute. The feedback I received was fantastic, all of my wedding entries were all almost talked up to a silver award, which is encouraging for me to do more!
I think I received something far more valuable than all the awards put together though.... Motivation, confidence and some more very talented, supportive friends in the industry.
What a cool bunch of people I got to hang out with!!!
I loved my trip to Auckland, staying in the city gave me a different perspective on the place! There is a lot more to the city than I had previously thought. The people were all so friendly, the service was fantastic everywhere we went, and most importantly lots of great food!
I took some photos around the city when I had a break from three straight days of print judging and really enjoyed it. I have included some of these in the post below, along with my winning entries.
I really wanted to have a special mention to Barry and Kerry who I have been working for for over seven years now. Without them pushing me slowly and gently over all those years I wouldn't be half the photographer I am today. Sure they made me do some jobs that I was reluctant to do but I'm glad they gave me a little nudge out of my comfort zone with each one.
Kerry and Barry were also very involved in the NZIPP for several years. Kerry gained her associate status 22 years ago and was also a judge for the awards. Barry was also the president of the NZIPP for two years.
I am so motivated now for the up and coming wedding season and can't wait to get out shooting again soon.
Nicola Wilhelmsen
The medal on the left is my associateship medal that I received at the industry awards over a week ago, the medal on the right is Kerry's associateship medal that she received 22 years ago.
Check out the amazing array of work that received awards here:
http://www.nzipp.org.nz/nzippweb/Default.aspx?tabid=458
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