I'm a bit of an awards junkie.
I've never found anything else as challenging as entering professional awards. I started out entering NZIPP New Zealand print awards. Through that I learned all about paper choices... how to fit an image so it looks its best presented on a gallery wall. I also learned how to see my work in a very different way, as all the judging is live and judged by a room full of other photographers. It gives you a keen eye to see your work in a new way, to keep pushing to be better, and to not just take a snapshot but really tell a story with your images.
The print awards were brutal, as they judged not just the images but the paper choice, which is so different to only digital awards. One year I was taken aback as an image was originally judged as a gold but brought down because of a little sliver of hair on the face. Ah, hair! But I always look out for little things now in images that could pull your eye the wrong way, so I'm thankful for all the honest feedback I've had over the years from other professionals in the industry.
Print is still one of the most beautiful ways to truly preserve your photos, and having them printed, matted, and framed properly... the way you'd see them in a gallery... makes all the difference.
I went pretty hard and entered a good 80 prints over the years into these photo awards, and then started to branch out and enter any other professional awards I felt were the real deal... from Australia's APPA to WPE in Europe and the Sony Alpha Awards.
Award entries
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My free time is always spent thinking about what I can create artistically, and because of this I love having photography awards as a bit of an outlet to share my work and keep me on my toes creatively.
Rachel Jordan is a 5x Master of Photography, Sony Alpha Wedding Photographer of the Year 2025, and founder of Two Little Starfish, based in Kerikeri, Bay of Islands, Northland, New Zealand.
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