Recently, I got accepted into the ISPWP. Membership requirements to the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) is strict. They only accept experienced (having shot more than 50 weddings) and best photographers from around the world. A quick browse through their contest award winners is enough proof of the quality, talent and professionalism of the members. Check out the requirements here. It isn’t like any other ordinary wedding directories where any photographer is open to list their services for a fee. Membership here is earned. So far there are only 2 Malaysian members.

I know that there are many photographers who are against joining contests. Perhaps it is mainly due to certain bodies focuses to much on profiting from contest entries, biased voting process, and the law of large numbers in action (the more you submit, the higher chances of winning). Somehow I find the images on the ISPWP contest galleries very inspiring – and clearly demonstrates mastery of the craft- being aware and able to capture split second moments, possessing the creativity in composition and setting up a scene and capturing priceless expressions. No amount of post-processing can rival these basic and important traits of an excellent wedding photographer.

Early this year I submitted 7 of my favourite images for the quarterly contest and was lucky enough to garner a 12th placing recognition in the “Kids will be kids” category. Its far from being an excellent result but this spurs me to continually improve my craft. Being able to capture impactful story telling pictures is and have been my goal in every wedding.

Here I would like to share that image and my 7 other submission which well.. did not make it into the top 20 (but I still like them 🙂 )

Submission for the”Engagement Portrait” category

Submissions for the “Family Love” category

Submission for the”Kids Will be Kids” category

Submission for the “Humour” category

Submission for the “Framing the Subject” category

Since we are at it, and on a pretty random note, I would also like to share my picture that received an “Accolade of Excellence Award” from WPPI early 2011