Have you ever had something happen to you which forces you to stop and pinch yourself?
I had one of those moments earlier this month. I was at a workshop organised by the
Professional Photographers Association of N.Ireland. I was particularly enthused about the workshop mainly because the speaker was a legendary photographer called Yervant. Yervant, who lives in Australia has won pretty much every major worldwide award you could think of. In photographer circles he’s super well known – think what Beckham is to football or Lewis Hamilton is to Formula One. He’s even got a range of wedding albums named after him!
Anyway, Yervant started his workshop and I was instantly engaged. His rather unique Australian / Ethopian accent and fab sense of humour meant that this workshop was entertaining and very educational.
I had also entered some awards in the PPANI annual event – and guess who was one of the main judges!
So that night I won Pet Photographer of the Year, Family Photographer of the Year and was a runners up in the Commercial Category. FANTASTIC! The next day there were a few bleary eyes at part two of the workshop. I’m not a great networker – so It was unlikely that I was ever going to dander up to Yervant and strike up a conversation. Next thing I knew, Yervant strolled over to me and started telling me how much he liked my work! WOW! Here was the ‘2010 Most Influential Wedding Photographer Of Our Time’ telling me he had enjoyed my work!
It was a day to remember – and a day to get an extra shelf on the awards wall. Thanks to you all for your support!
Thanks,
Peter
