I received some great news last week! I recently was accepted into the Artistic Guild of Wedding Photojournalist Association http://www.agwpja.com/ – An amazing collection of photographers from around the world who specialize in artistic and creative wedding photography. They host a competition in which they choose images that represent the most compelling and artist representations of the emotions and excitement of weddings. After being accepted into the guild, one of my photographs received an award in their most recent competition. The category in which I was recognized was ‘Found Details’. I took this image at Chris Dirksen and Linda Gressell’s beautiful wedding in Rochester, New York. They were a very fun couple to work with, and I feel honored to have captured the moment. Here’s the image – and the judges comments.

Judge’s Comments: 1. I really like this. I love the crop and the angle and this could really be a fashion piece as well as a wedding shot. The colors in the background and foreground all come together here and add nice touches. Well done.

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Ranked 16th Internationally on AGWPJA

http://www.agwpja.com/

I have also been ranked 16th internationally by the association (AGWJPA.) Not bad for being a member for only a Month! Hopefully I can continue to work my way up to number one as I get more exposure both Internationally and in San Francisco!

Here’s a little more about what it takes to be a {AG}WPJA member:

The Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association is a distinct division within the Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA). The [AG]WPJA focuses strictly on the artistic and “fine art” aspects of wedding photojournalism.

Over the years, the WPJA has embraced unbridled artistic expression in wedding photojournalism. This has transpired through contest categories, such as Digital Manipulation and Enhanced Images, designed especially for such photographs. The introduction of this new WPJA chapter (the Artistic Guild) comes as a response to an expressed need from members, judges, as well as brides and grooms–the desire for the WPJA to create a new platform specifically for Artistic Wedding Photojournalism.

[AG]WPJA members are international wedding photojournalists, who excel both in creating outstanding images through a documentary approach, and in the art of post-production processing of wedding photographs. In a nutshell, [AG]WPJA photographers take great candid pictures, enhance them using the technology available, and deliver museum-quality images from your wedding day.