Awarded Photographers Bar

As some of you that follow my blog or Facebook page will know that on Saturday 6th February I headed off to the Guild of Photographers Annual Award dinner. Held at the magnificent Crew Hall in Crewe. It was my first time as I only joined the Guild at the beginning of 2015. A lovely setting for a Black tie event, lovely food, a great way to catch up with fellow photographers and very well organised.

I was thrilled to gain two awards on the night from the highly respected Guild of Photographers.

I was awarded membership of the Guild’s ‘Photographer’s Bar’ & Top 20 Photographer of the Year in the Open Category.

The Photographers Bar

The Photographers Bar is a distinction that is very difficult to achieve, as it recognises an exceptional level of professional skill in photography. Fewer than 100 other photographers have achieved the Photographers Bar in the three years since its inception. During this time, over 30,000 images have been entered for assessment by photographers across the UK and from overseas.

Submitting and having images assessed every month for a year and reaching the required standards to become a member of the Photographers Bar is very, very demanding.

The Awards were presented by Lesley Thirsk, Director of the Guild of Photographers

I was also given an award for being in the ‘Top 20 Photographers of the Year’ in the Guild’s Open category, coming in 14th position. This was secured as a result of the high judging scores achieved for my pet portraits in the Guild’s monthly competitions throughout 2015. The Open category includes the follow genres so is a big category to do well in. Pets, Sport, Wildlife, Nature, Macro, Landscape, Fashion, Digital Art and more.

All the images I submitted into the Open Category were Dog Portraits, which is the side of the business I am very passionate about. So was thrilled to have my work recognised.

I had two images short listed in the top 10 images for Pet Photographer of the year but unfortunately was not the winner this year. Its always good to have a goal to work toward! I will be chasing that title this year!