Wedding Photographer of the Year

Wedding Photographer of the Year // The Wedding Industry Awards

 
Just before Christmas, I had the fantastic news that I’d won Wedding Photographer of the Year in the London and South East region of The Wedding Industry Awards. I’ve entered the awards 3 times in the past, and I was regional finalist in the 2012, 2015 and 2016 competitions, taking the Highly Commended award in last year’s regional finals. The London and South East region is notoriously tough to win. There’s a high concentration of us wedding photographers down south, and exceptionally talented ones at that, so to win was a huge achievement and one I was very proud of.

Fast forward to last night, in the heart of London’s west end, and The Wedding Industry Awards national finals. We escaped the wind and freezing horizontal sleet and slipped into the magical opulence of the Cafe de Paris, with free flowing cocktails provided by Beetle Juice and yummy food on offer, dancing girls fire eating on the stage and Roger Black, the Olympic great, polishing the awards ready to hand out to the night’s winners.

I was enjoying the evening surrounded by some great people; my husband had come along, plus friends of ours in the industry were there, many of whom were also up for the award of Best Wedding Photographer, having won their own region. As the category for Best Wedding Photographer was announced, our little group fell silent. When my name was called as the winner, I was dumbfounded.  Cue whooping, congratulations and hugs from my friends, and then 15 minutes of a hazy blur as I had to trot off to the stage to collect my award, then be whisked off to be interviewed (where I undoubtedly talked gibberish for 5 minutes, still in a state of shock).

The Wedding Industry Awards recognise and reward excellence in the wedding industry and winners are awarded based on their portfolio of images and reviews from the past year’s wedding couples. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, I’m so fortunate to work the with the loveliest, most generous hearted couples. They put complete faith in me to document one of the most important days of their lives, and every wedding is an absolute privilege to be a part of. So a big thank you to the judges for honouring me with the title Wedding Photographer of the Year 2017 , but the biggest thank you to my couples whose weddings I photographed last year and who took the time to leave such beautiful comments and reviews of my photography and of their experience of working with me (these can be read at the bottom of this blog post).

My annual round up of my favourite photos of the year is still a work in progress as I’m still working on the images from my last wedding of 2016. In the meantime, to accompany this Wedding Photographer of the Year post, I’ve picked 24 images – one from each wedding of every couple who voted. They are not necessarily ‘wedding photos’ but they were taken at weddings. There are no brides walking down the aisle, no cake cutting, no couples portraits or sweeping landscapes. They are moments. Blink and you miss them moments. 24 glimpses into what happens on a wedding day. Life, basically. Each photo was picked not because of its emotional impact, or thoughtful composition, not to show epic, orchestrated art, but to show what can be seen if you pay close attention; the minutiae of the day. It’s moments like these that I strive to capture. It’s moments like these that when pieced together, create the story of a wedding. You may not see them, but they are always there.

General Comments

“Lyndsey was like a ninja at our wedding. She would appear in one side of the room taking photographs of us and the next second she would be on the other side. She was so quick at capturing the important moments, moments that I never thought I would see on photographs. We didn’t realise how much of the event she covered until we received the photographs and it was beyond all our expectations! My only regret is that we didn’t ask her to photograph the after party!”

“We knew exactly what we wanted in terms of what we wanted the tone of our pictures to be, the role of photography and the photographer on our day. Lyndsey exceeded our expectations in every area. She blended in incredibly well at the wedding, and as a result caught some very special moments in her photographs. The best part was when the photos arrived. They were so beautiful and perfectly capture the day. Lyndsey is also impeccably efficient, with everything arriving quickly and at top quality.”

“Lyndsey was a joy to work with, she made everything easy before the wedding, was almost invisible at the wedding and brilliant post the wedding. With most weddings I’ve been to, the photographer can get in the way whilst they try to capture the day. Lyndsey was not like that at all, she seemed to have captured every intimate moment without being instrusive at all. Like a ninja, she was everywhere and nowhere at the same time!! We feel very lucky to have booked her and can’t thank her enough.”

“Lyndsey was a pleasure to work with; she was incredibly discreet and friendly and put us at ease straight away. Lyndsey works SO hard and worked tirelessly to get the shots we wanted. We loved her documentary style, which is why we chose to work with her. The images tell a story from start to finish and she has a gift to capture a whole array of emotions and moments that as a bride and groom, you may miss on the day. We love the end results – I look at our photos all the time!”

“Lyndsey was absolutely fantastic from start to finish. Super organised, really friendly and captured so many great shots from the day. Her reportage style leads to very natural shots and you hardly notice she’s there. She’s like a ninja!”

“Lyndsey is an incredible photographer. Her photos captured our day perfectly by allowing the spirit of the day to come through in the images. We wanted our photos to be modern and natural with a touch of humour and that’s exactly what we got. Even the small number of portraits and posed shots are done in a relaxed and natural way. Lyndsey was professional, calming and easy to talk to. She understood what we wanted and delivered it perfectly.”

“We were genuinely blown away by Lyndsey’s photos of our wedding! Her images captured all the emotion and fun of our day so incredibly well. Being a photographer myself, having a wedding photographer that I could completely trust was really important to me and Lyndsey did not disappoint! She made us feel so relaxed and blended into the background, capturing moments we didn’t even know were happening. We absolutely love our photos and can’t thank Lyndsey enough for being our photographer!”

“Lyndsey was an excellent communicator throughout the process. She guided us through figuring out what we wanted without being pushy. On the day, Lyndsey was like a ghost! She never intruded on our day, instead she captured some lovely moments that we would never have got to see. We love her documentary style as it suits both our personalities and artistic tastes.”

“We could not have been happier. Lyndsey made a nervous bride to be very comfortable. The results are absolutely stunning, meeting our brief and delivering natural, creative and interesting photos capturing a very special day in our life. We can look back at our photos forever and be instantly taken back. Lyndsey also made sure that she got everything possible and didn’t leave once the time had run out, she stayed late to get our first dance and some dancing guests.”

“Lyndsey was very professional and thoughtful throughout, we discussed our requirements in advance and she was able to provide good advice. On the day she blended in well and got a good range of shots. The final output was excellent in terms of the photos chosen and all the effects applied to them. The slideshow was a great feature in addition to the full photo set.”

“LG is so small and discreet that she almost disappeared on the day, but, in fact she was everywhere! Her photos were outstanding, they captured intense and often hidden moments of emotion, which is the best way to remember the event. We will treasure them. Their photographic and artistic quality was exceptional also, she created really beautiful, poetic images.”

“Lyndsey was one the most amazing parts of our wedding, we met with Lyndsey before the wedding and immediately we knew we were in safe hands and her photographs proved us right. When we received our photos we were overwhelmed, they were the most beautiful photos we had ever seen, not because we were in them but because Lyndsey has an amazing talent of catching everything that was happening that we didn’t see on our special day. Lyndsey, has given us the most precious gift of beautiful memories.”

“Having been photographed by Lyndsey before at my best friend’s wedding, i knew that our wedding pictures were in the charge of a true professional. Lyndsey blended into our day just as any guest did. Her presence was felt but she wasn’t intrusive at all and she was there to capture the priceless moments such as myself and my husband kissing Granny goodbye. Her thank you card and complimentary choccies in the post with the USB were a real treat and ensured that we still felt special!”

“Lyndsey went above and beyond what we expected, from arriving a day early to meet for a drink and discuss requirements to staying with us until the early hours. She didn’t just photograph our day, she really shared it with us and became a part of it. Our brief was to capture the ‘feel’ of the day through every tiny moment; the character of our friends & family, particular moments of emotion, the dynamics of the relationships in the room – we can see all of this in her work.”

“Lyndsey gave helpful advice prior to our wedding. On the day Lyndsey interpreted our wishes perfectly – she was non-intrusive and let us enjoy our day. We received our storybook images a few weeks after the wedding. We were really touched and impressed with how well she captured the mood and incidental moments of the day. Lyndsey’s creative and artistic eye really shines through in each photograph. We have a wonderful set of prints to remind us of our special day.”

“Lyndsey was brilliant from start to finish. We picked her because of her style – capturing amusing and lovely moments without being formal and stiff. She was great all the way through – friendly and warm, and offered some excellent advice – with some top tips that did make a difference on the day. At the wedding she was amazing – we joked that she was a ‘photo ninja’ we’d be having a special moment and spot here in the distance having seen and snapped it! The photos are amazing and we’re delighted”

“Lyndsey’s documentary style of photography captured our special day in a way I have never seen a wedding photographer do. She is absolutely unique and her eye for the most abstract but yet romantic image is at the highest level. Lyndsey’s photographs had such a rawness to them, the exact style we were looking for. Her use of light and a no flash approach worked perfectly. She used reflections and contrast to delivery the best photography I have ever seen! Thank you Lyndsey and good luck!!!”

“Lyndsey was an absolute pleasure to work with from start to finish, she was very accommodating with regards to traveling to Poland where she had never been previously. Lyndsey’s professionalism meant that straight away she blended in with the wedding party and captured perfectly the most precious moments and emotions throughout the day and night. We were impressed how quickly we received our wedding reportage which included over 800 photos of outstanding quality. Lyndsey is worth every penny!”

“She offered to meet up prior to our wedding day, right after she got off the train (it was an 8-hour travel for her) to go through the a final run down of the day in detail and addressed any concerns we had. She went out of her way, ran around in search of an address to notify our cab driver of our pick up location. We were at a small village with minimal street signs after our portrait session.”

“My husband and I wanted a photographer to capture our day but without making us a feel like we were constantly in front of the camera. We chose Lyndsey for this reason as we could see from her previous work her style was exactly what we were after. On the day Lyndsey was so great at blending into the background that we forgot she was there and what resulted were some amazing (and very natural) memories that we will treasure forever more.”

“We first met Lyndsey a few months before our wedding and she made us feel very relaxed about the wedding and the planning of our pictures. On the day she was very professional and had a very calming manor. No stress which is of course important. Great pictures that told the story of our day, exactly what we wanted. Everyone loved the pictures, each time we look we find something new in them too see.”

“Lyndsey took some fantastic photos. Captured as many moments of the day as she could. Variation of colour and black and white photos. We got a lovely slide show of some photos and received all the photos in a gallery very quickly before we got back from Honeymoon! Some photos were a great suprise as sometimes she crept around and took photos without even seeing or hearing her!”

Why They Booked

“A few years ago Lyndsey shot the wedding of a friend of a close friend of mine in Italy and they were beyond beautiful. The night we got engaged and talked excitedly about our wedding plans and future I told my fiancé I knew who our photographer was. I didn’t want a photographer to be posing shots for two hours I wanted to capture our day whilst we enjoyed it and after seeing Lyndsey’s other wedding shots I knew she was right for us. We are so glad we booked Lyndsey, from start to finish she was incredible, calming and even sent our photos package beautifully with homemade fudge to enjoy whilst went through them. Lyndsey clearly loves her role in other people’s special days and I saw this as soon as I saw the pictures of the Italian wedding, that’s how I knew the day we set our date we had to book Lyndsey and we did and that is honestly the best decision we made when planning our wedding.”

“We looked through Lyndsey’s website and saw that her wedding photos were perfect and everything that we were after.”

“We loved her work immediately because of its humour and unusual/ modern composition – her photos reminded us of Martin Parr.”

“My husband is also a wedding photographer so he was really fussy about who he picked. I wanted a female photographer so I felt more comfortable around them especially whilst getting ready. I selected a few photographers for my husband to be to choose from and we both agreed on Lyndsey. Her style of photography was so natural and fluid. From the moment I sent an inquiry to receiving our photographs, she has been a dream to work with.”

“Website had some stunning photos on and they were all very natural.”

“We booked Lyndsey first and foremost because we loved her work! We loved her reportage style of photography and wanted that sort of coverage for our day. When we met with her to decide whether or not we’d book her she was so nice and easy to get along with. She was able to answer all our questions and actually gave us some advice to help plan our day which was really helpful. After that meeting we knew she was the right photographer for us.”

“As set out above, I booked Lyndsey because of the style of her photography. We did not want lots of posed photographs but rather wanted to capture the story of our day and in particular those parts we missed because we were trying to talk to all our guests!”

“Because she’s the best!!”

“Once I saw Lyndsey’s photography I didn’t need to look anywhere else. Her style fitted perfectly into ours. She has an eye for a frame and I particularly liked her use of depth, contrast and reflections.”

“She had the best portfolio”

“Firstly Lyndsey came highly recommended to us, following our own due diligence we found her skills and vision the most outstanding in comparison to others. In our opinion she was deifinitely ahead of the rest of the field. After making contact with Lyndsey her lovely personality shone through and we couldn’t wait to work with her.”

“Lyndsey’s photos captured moments which were unstaged, and she really managed to get pictures which were so explicitly showing emotions. I wanted photos which showed the joy, nerves, excitement of the day, as well as having beautiful photographs of the people we loved the most at the most special day of our lives. She was so personable and clear about what she offered. I liked that our visions were so aligned, and really felt like she listened to us, so our photos were exactly what we had been after.”

“Lyndsey’s portfolio made a great impression, her photography had elements of Martin Parr’s humorous way of documenting societies quirks which I really liked.”

“Her style of photography was exactly what we were looking for – not too formal, but capturing the fun, happy and special moments. Her website was great, and we loved her pictures – they made us laugh and smile, were stylish and non-cheesy. We got in touch and she was very friendly and helpful – and proved to be a great choice.”

“Lyndsey’s portfolio of photographs alongside the numerous accolades, testimonies and endorsements she has received really speak volumes and were the key reason I booked.,”

“Beautiful photojournalistic photos”

“I wanted a photojournalist and loved her work.”

“When we looked through her portfolio we were impressed by the beautiful but real style of her work. The images provoked an emotional response from us when viewing the weddings of strangers so we felt sure she would deliver the same for us. Also, she was a delight to communicate with; professional, creative, kind and very patient!”

“We love her journalistic style photography. She relies solely on natural light and the pictures and moods of the scene. She has a keen eye on the contrasts of architecture and people. She is able to capture all the special moments, amazingly quick to spot and capture the emotional moments.”

“From looking at Lyndsey’s portfolio we loved the creativity in the images and her talent to capture emotion in an effortless way. We wanted to have images of the real moments throughout our wedding day – emotional, exciting or funny and this is exactly what Lyndsey managed to do. Lyndsey was very friendly and easy to talk to leading up to the wedding so I knew she would be the right person for the job.”