Awards - A boost of confidence and assurance of quality

Have you ever entered a competition or an award program and won a recognition or medal? How did it feel? Amazing, right? However it is nerve-wracking at first. Entering can be a big personal challenge, as you need to overcome certain fears. Some are driven by the adrenaline rush that comes from competing and showcasing their best and for others its a part of their journey to learn. For me, it's all of this and more.

Many years ago I have entered a few small competitions with my images as I was starting my journey into photography and had never won before with only one exception. So I gave up on competitions all together and worked on improving my craft. Then in 2022, I finally gathered all my courage and entered 5 images into The Portrait masters image awards open to photographers from around the world.. All of my images got a Bronze Award, reaching professional standard! I entered without any expectations, I was just curious to find out what other successful professional photographers thought of my work. I was blown away and very happy with the results!

Seeing other entries, especially the top 20 and the winners, was a big eye-opener for me. It showed me what I needed to work on, and what I should focus more on learning and improving upon.

This year I entered for a second time and again all my images were given high enough score to consider my work of a professional standard. In my head I was already a winner.

Receiving these awards from a panel of world renowned professional photographers is a huge honor and I hope it will reassure my clients of the quality of my work.