Once again happy new year to everyone and may it be a prosperous one.

OK, a lot to blog this month so I thought I’d start off with my recent success in the 3rd Quarter competition of the WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association)

I gained 2 successes both in the ‘Ceremony’ category with a 7th and 12th placing. Apparently there were nearly 14 thousand entries so I was pretty please to get not only one but two. The first image below was from Serena and Ivan’s hindu wedding ceremony in Northants which came 7th. The second image is from Suzie and Lars wedding at Syon Park which came 12th.

JUDGES COMMENTS: Nice to see some other kinds of weddings rather than traditional caucasian American weddings. I realize wedding photographers take the jobs given to them, but it is important for building even a diverse body of work to take advantage of all the different kinds of cultures.

I was delighted to gain 2 awards in the WPJA 3rd Quarter judging. The top one was from Lisa and Dave’s wedding at The Haven Hotel in Sandbanks this last October. This gained 13th place in the ‘Emotion’ category.

The bottom one was from Jo and Phil’s wedding at Tylney Hall in Hants last August. This gained 20th place in the ‘Humour’ Category. I’ve also added the judges comments as well

I was recently asked to give a talk to some Lithuanian wedding photographers at their annual get together in the city of Klaipeda. Unfortunately due to a heavy work load I was unable to attend. I did however agree to judge their print competitions. I was asked to judge 2 categories – Reportage and Funny wedding moments. This was really interesting and fun to do.

I finally chose this image for the reportage category

This was taken by Liutauras Bartasius. This is a sweet and simple moment. I particularly liked the way the rainbow leads the eye towards the subjects and also how it matches the colour of the flowers.

For the funny moments category I chose this image

This was taken by Ruta Doksiene . This image really intrigued me and it made me look twice – always the sign of a good image. I don’t know what is going on but it made me smile. A clear winner which stood out well above the rest.

Its good to see wedding photography developing all over the world at such a fast pace. This wasn’t the case when I started out 25 years ago. But with the digital and internet age now firmly established everyone can pick up and learn new ideas so much easier.

I was pleased to get an award, 18th place, for this image in the recent WPJA 2nd quarter judging.

This was taken at Praveen and Harmeets wedding I photographed in July this year. It took place over 3 days and this particular image was taken on day 1 at Praveen’s parents home straight after the Henna ceremony. This was extremely difficult to take as I was crammed up against a wall and couldn’t get the camera to my eye. I therefore had to guess, manually focusing.

Fortunately it worked out OK and was well worth the effort.

Canon 5D mark ll, EF24mm 1.4L USM

shot at 1600 iso @ f2, 1/500th

Neil Palmer wedding photographer Berkshire

I was delighted to gain a 12th place in the WPJA 3rd quater competition. This particular image was classified under ‘Groom getting ready’

Sometimes the best images happen unexpectedly as was the case here. I had just packed my bags and was walking out the front door when I saw this. Luckily my camera was still round my neck and I managed to grab this real quick. You can see the judges comments below.

JUDGES COMMENTS: Not often you see someone with real scissors trying to cut their beard. It’s a little soft on his hand, but you can still feel the intensity the man has in getting his beard trimmed just right.

What a good way to start this blog !

Last month I was delighted to received 2nd and 4th place in the WPJA quarterly competition. Overall this places me in 8th position and the highest placed UK photographer

The winning images can be viewed below with the judges comments.

JUDGES COMMENTS: Even though this image has some distracting foreground and background elements, the moment is so strong, tender and story telling that it rose to the top. Nice use of natural light. The photo captures such a wonderful intimacy between the subjects that the viewer fails to feel the photographer’s presence.

JUDGES COMMENTS: Another fun, surprising moment. I like the tight framing – it’s clean and a quick read. It makes me laugh every time I look at it.

Love the profile angle that not only catches the stuck-out tongue but the neck resting over the back of the chair. The composition is strong due to the clean background and including just enough hand and curling iron to give context.  Excellent crop.