Holy smokes people I won an award…and an awesome award at that!

Austin Wedding Photographer, Award winning photographer, New Braunfels wedding photographer, top Austin wedding photographer

So what makes this award so awesome?  Well, for starters, my personal photography heroes have won this award in the past.  People who inspire me and are true masters of their craft; Ben and Erin Chrisman, Davina Palik, Sergio, Huy, Jenny Jimenez, Tyler Wirken, David Murray, my wonderful good friend Fer Juaristi – who I convinced to give a workshop here in Austin not too long ago.  And, my own personal wedding photographer, Kate Mefford.   So yea, these people rock.   They are some of the best wedding photographers in the country and when I look at their work, I realize just how far I still have to go in this journey.   And while I feel about the size of a pine nut looking at such incredible work and looking at my own, its good because it constantly pushes me at every instance to pursue greatness and continue to improve.  I am lucky enough to be in this small circle of photographers, they are my friends and my mentors. So, you can say I am learning from the best of the best.

So why else does this award rock?  Well, they only select the top 10% of images to win awards. So considering I am competing with these photographer bad asses, to win an award is HUGE.

Another reason why I love this award, because its about awesome photography and real moments.  Its not about how much money a couple spends on their wedding or the fact that the couple is gorgeous, its about the straight hard-core photojournalism and the art of amazing light and composition.  Its about the courage to be a fearless photographer.  Fearless?  What the heck are photographers afraid of, well….a lot.  First off, we would love to be a fly on the wall at your wedding, to capture your event from afar with a 300mm bird watching lens.  But you can’t do that and get great images.  To make great images you have to get close sometimes.  And for me, I am hoping no one notices me. I want to be invisible.  I don’t look stupid getting my big behind on the ground or having to climb up to get a better shot, or be in the middle of a dance circle.   I would much rather stand back and observe, but you just can’t get great shots from afar.  We must get close, and therefore, we have to quickly gain trust from our clients and their friends.  Its a bit scary, especially for artists.  But I push through and do it every weekend for my clients.  I put my body through some crazy torture (try doing squats for 8 hours straight) because I believe in what I am doing and what I am trying to give to these two people and their families.

I also love this moment because its reminiscent of a photograph by Henri Cartier-Bresson, who talked about capturing the ‘decisive moment‘.

Anyway, you can say that I am one proud gal this past week.  A big thank you to the awesome currators for this round in the competition. The fact these people (aka..supreme photographer heroes) saw my images freaks me out…the fact that one of them chose me as a winner…blows me away.

Austin Wedding Photographer, Jenny DeMarco