The Image of the Month Competition is not just a monthly competition, it is so much more!

Getting a monthly award is one thing, but obtaining awards month after month to gather points (which are added together at the end of the year to determine the winners) is another, hence the Photographer of the Year title chase is so demanding ... as is producing that one very special image which could become an Image of the Year!

Entrants have to get the approval of a full Panel of highly respected and qualified judges from multiple photography association backgrounds - it's tough (but also very beneficial to enter as it really makes you think)!

In 2019 there were over 13,500 images entered into the competition so the corresponding awards are well deserved. They are also of incredible value for those in business, and great personal recognition for those who are not.

Our winners for 2019 were announced at a prestigous Awards Night on 1st February 2020, and they are all named below...

Good luck to everyone who enters the competition in 2020! You 'have to be in it to win it' as the saying goes ... so why not push yourself, take on the ultimate challenge and enter!

 

THE PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2019

These are based on points accrued over the course of the year from up to 3 monthly entries in a genre.

People can "give-up" along the way as the competition is a marathon with an emotional roller coaster ride - perseverance is key to doing well!

Below are the Guild's Winners and 'Top' photographers in each category ...

maternity, newborn & baby CATEGORY

Sponsored by Digitalab

  1. Winner: Lynne Harper
  2. Runner-Up: Anneka Harden
  3. Clare Wilson and Debbie Longmore
  4. -
  5. Tina Stobbs
  6. Sarah Wilkes
  7. Sarah Smith
  8. Alison Connolly
  9. Laura Spence
  10. Clare Perry

open CATEGORY

Sponsored by Colorworld

  1. Winner: Ian Knaggs
  2. Runner-Up: Heather Burns
  3. Andrew Ford and Nick Brown
  4. -
  5. Debbie Longmore
  6. Claire Osborne
  7. Chris Chambers
  8. Gaille Gray
  9. Sue Dudley
  10. Ed Burrows

PEOPLE CATEGORY

Sponsored by Colorworld

  1. Winner: Sarah Wilkes
  2. Runner-Up: Lynne Harper
  3. Roxanne Bunn
  4. Debbie Longmore
  5. Martin Clark and Iain Poole
  6. -
  7. Helen Walker
  8. Claire Osborne
  9. Lynne Williams
  10. Nikki Goodeve

pets CATEGORY

Sponsored by Digitalab

  1. Winner: Jason Allison
  2. Runner-Up: Karen Riches
  3. Stephanie Chapman
  4. Debbie Longmore
  5. Jackie Eke
  6. Helen Walker and Stacy Joyner
  7. -
  8. Nikki Goodeve
  9. Dawn Cotterell
  10. Iain Poole

THE NATURAL WORLD CATEGORY

Sponsored by SIM Imaging

  1. Winner: Henry Ransby
  2. Runner-Up: Ann Aveyard
  3. Jayne Bond
  4. Gary Neville
  5. Chris Chambers and Duncan Graham
  6. -
  7. Claire Norman
  8. Iain Poole
  9. Tim Wilde
  10. Sue Dudley

WEDDING CATEGORY

Sponsored by SIM Imaging

  1. Winner: Chris Chambers
  2. Runner-Up: Lee Hatherall
  3. Ann Aveyard
  4. Lynn Stanfield, David Conway, Simon Newbury and Ani Evans
  5. -
  6. -
  7. -
  8. Victoria Amrose
  9. Stacey Oliver
  10. Lisa Wildgoose

tHE GUILD'S PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Epson

(AWARDED TO THE MEMBER WITH THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF POINTS FROM ANY CATEGORY ABOVE)

WINNER: Sarah Wilkes

 

THE GUILD'S ALL-ROUND PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Sponsored by Loupedeck

(AWARDED TO THE MEMBER WITH THE HIGHEST COMBINED SCORE FROM ANY 2  SECTIONS ABOVE)

WINNER: lYNNE hARPER

runner-up: cHRIS cHAMBERS

3rd: Sarah Wilkes

4th: Heather Burns

5th: Debbie Longmore

 

IMAGE OF THE YEAR WINNERS 2019

Sponsored by One Vision and Infocus

8-12 images (not photographers) were selected as finalists for each genre. Their digital monthly entries were then converted to print, from which the overall winners were selected. The winners were...

*** Please click on any image to view them full size instead of as thumbnails ***

'Baby & toddler' CATEGORY

Winner: Annie Griggs
Runner-Up: Anneka Harden

'birds' CATEGORY

Winner: Laura Galbraith
Runner-Up: Henry Ransby

'children's portraiture' CATEGORY

Winner: Clare Wilson
Runner-Up: Lynne Harper

'Classical PORTRAITURE' CATEGORY

Winner: Jason Allison
Runner-Up: Sarah Wilkes

'commercial' CATEGORY

Winner: Neil Bremner
Runner-Up: Ian Knaggs

'CONTEMPORARY' CATEGORY

Winner: Paul Smith
Runner-Up: Emma Whittenbury

'CREATIVE & DIGITAL ART' CATEGORY

Winner: Helen Trust
Runner-Up: Ivan Trotman

'equine' CATEGORY

Winner: Dawn Cotterell
Runner-Up: Emma Campbell

'event, sport & action' CATEGORY

Winner: Michael Peat
Runner-Up: Arron Gent

'flora & insect' CATEGORY

Winner: Ruth Morris
Runner-Up: Nick Brown

'LANDSCAPE' CATEGORY

Winner: Helen Trust
Runner-Up: Neil Pitchford

'MATERNITY' CATEGORY

Winner: Natasha Ince
Runner-Up: Eva White

'NATURE & WILDLIFE' CATEGORY

Winner: Claire Norman
Runner-Up: Helen Walker

'NEWBORN' CATEGORY

Winner: Lynne Harper
Runner-Up: Lynne Harper

'PETS' CATEGORY

Winner: Jason Allison
Runner-Up: Stephanie Chapman

'URBAN' CATEGORY

Winner: Nick Brown
Runner-Up: Nick Brown

'WEDDING' CATEGORY

Winner: David Bostock
Runner-Up: Chris Chambers

 

the overall IMAGE OF THE YEAR WINNERS

Sponsored by One Vision and Infocus

the 'members choice'

(As voted for by Guild Members)

WINNER: Claire norman
RUNNERs-UP: sarah smith & sally masson


THE 'judges CHOICE'

(Chosen from all the above category winners)

WINNER: nick brown
RUNNERS-UP: jason allison & claire norman

 

The founder's cup

Sponsored by Datacolor

The Guild of Photographers started life at the Guild of Wedding Photographers in 1988 and It's founders were Roy Doorbar and Ian Gee. They both sadly passed away in late 2016, and the 'Founders Cup' is a prestigious photography award which acknowledges what they started, and their aims of supporting photographers and raising standards in the industry by encouraging personal development

Entry comprises of a 3 image themed body of work, which is intitially entered digitally. Following initial judging those selected as finalists then resubmit their work in a printed format for final assessment.

The competition is restricted to those who have not won a national competition before and have not attained the level of Craftsman with the Guild (or equivalent elsewhere).

WINNER: nick brown

RUNNER-UP: barbara macferrin

 

PHOTOGRAPHERS BAR WINNERS

In each month of the Guild's competition points are awarded to the higher scoring images. The 'Photographers Bar' is awarded to those photographers who obtain the equivalent of a point an image from their pre-chosen 24 entries throughout the year.

Angela Adams -- Jason Allison -- Victoria Amrose -- Ian Austin -- Ann Aveyard -- Joanna Banks -- Mark Bannister -- Paula Beaumont -- Nizar Birch -- Sharon Bolt -- Jayne Bond -- Ian Bower -- Magda Bright -- Nick Brown -- Roxanne Bunn -- Heather Burns -- Ed Burrows -- Emma Campbell -- Chris Chambers -- Stephanie Chapman -- Kayra Cinar -- Martin Clark -- Alison Connolly -- David Conway -- Catriona Corrigan -- Dawn Cotterell -- Victoria Cracknell -- Lorraine Dale -- Sue Dudley -- Paul Eccles -- Jackie Eke -- Emily Endean -- Ani Evans -- Steve Evans -- Antje Farmer -- Peter Farrington -- Andrew Ford -- Cheryl Foreman -- Vicky Glanvill -- Nikki Goodeve -- Duncan Graham -- Phil Green -- Danny Hampton -- Anneka Harden -- Lynne Harper -- Hayley Harraden -- Lee Hatherall -- Nigel Hepplewhite -- Jane Hodges -- Molly Hollman -- Dora Horvath -- Dave Jagger -- Malcolm Jenkins -- Stacy Joyner -- Ian Knaggs -- Debbie Longmore -- Michael Love -- Tracey Lund -- Stephanie McGahan -- Tracy Main -- Suzanne McGowan -- Lucy McGrath -- Ruth Morris -- Gary Neville -- Simon Newbury -- Claire Norman -- Vicky Norton -- Debra O'Connor -- Stacey Oliver -- Tom Ormerod -- Claire Osborne -- Edward Payne -- Clare Perry -- Neil Pitchford -- Iain Poole -- Sandie Powner -- Bernard Pretorius -- Henry Ransby -- Ceridwen Raynor -- John Retter -- Karen Riches -- Christine Russell -- Sian Shipley -- Alice Slee -- Andy Smith -- Matthew Smith -- Sarah Smith -- Laura Spence -- Cliff Spooner -- Lynn Stanfield -- Tina Stobbs -- Mel Taylor -- Ivan Trotman -- Helen Walker -- Clare Walpole -- Deanne Ward -- Tim Wilde -- Lisa Wildgoose -- Sarah Wilkes --Annette Willacy -- Lynne Williams -- Erin Wilmshurst-Smith -- Clare Wilson -- Katrina Wilson -- Kate Wise -- Helen Woodland -- Peter Woods -- Philip Yale -- Micheala Young

images of the awards

A fabulous evening had by all! Photographs from the awards ceremony captured by Rachael Foster of Rachael Foster Photography can be downloaded by the following dropbox link. It is important to credit Rachael Foster when sharing images from the following link: AWARDS IMAGES