At the weekend I attended Crewe Hall for The Guild of Photographers annual awards evening. It is the first award ceremony I have ever attended, so I didn’t know what to expect. Like the Oscars for photographers in all fields, but on a much muted scale.

I was nominated for an award… Image of the year in the newborn category. Only 10 images in each category are chosen out of thousands of entries, so I was pretty proud of my achievement already! But having looked at my competion of the other 9 I was not confident I would win. Some might say that it is being modest, or quietly confident, but I can genuinely say that I was in no doubt I would win the category. The standard was very high. Every single one was beautifully crafted. But for me, I was going to enjoy my moment of even reaching a nomination in the prestigious industry board such as The Guild of Photographers.

As a busy mother of 3, and hardly ever getting an opportunity for a night out, the occasion was not lost on me. I wanted to enjoy every part of the evening. From getting glammed up (it was a black tie dress code) to actually being able to have a child free, non-interrupted conversation with my husband (well, I wasn’t going to go on my own!).

The evening started off with a tasty 3-course meal and lots of photography related conversation.

And then the business of the awards…

(As predicted), I lost out to the amazing Anneka Lewis for her stunning portrait of a father and newborn for image of year. Her picture is truly stunning and a deserving winner!

Slight disappointment ran through me (well, I am human) but it was quickly quelled by a sip of wine and an engaging chat to my new photographer friends on my table.

As the evening went on, the images and their winners were announced. Absolutely beautiful pictures displayed with their authors collections their hard earned, and well deserved awards and certificates. It was so amazing to see the talent on display and some really breathtaking photography.

And then, the shock of MY name being called out for one of the top 10 photographer for newborn, maternity and baby photography category!!!

It is still sinking in, even as I write this. And I will probably never quite believe that I actually achieved something so big. Imposter syndrome is real, and it weighs heavily on me. But now I am going to take this opportunity to acknowledge that I really enjoy and love my job!