Last month I had the pleasure of being a finalist at the Photographer of the Year competition at the Newborn Photography Show in Coventry. What an awesome couple of days it was!

As a finalist in the child category, I was nominated in a great company of some amazing photographers that I admire, so it was a true honour to be there, only 1.5 years after I picked up a camera for the first time.

The finalists had to submit only one image per category: newborn, child and maternity. My chosen image, that made it to the final, was a photo of two of my favourite little models, Elvia and Harlow. I first met them when they were only a few days old, when they came to see me for their newborn session. They were brilliant then, and this never changed. They rocked their sitters session, and their cake smash was a blast, too.

The chosen photo lets the girls characters shine through. The are always fun, mostly giggly and with possibly the widest, sunniest, and most infectious smiles I have ever seen with babies of their age.

The overall winner, and the winner in my category was the super talented Kristina Vanagaite, with her image of a mother holding a toddler, at the sunset. The image was described by the jury as the one they still remembered weeks after the final votes were placed. Kristina is incredible, so being nominated alongside photographer so talented was a privilege in itself.

On day two of the event, I joined a group of other photographers, and had a day of shooting with Gary Hill, one of UK’s top lighting specialists.

The event was a blast, and I truly enjoyed it. The organisers, Tracy Willis and Sarah Wilkes went above and beyond to make sure everyone had a fab time.

I am definitelly coming back next year. Nominated or not 😉