Competition reveals best wedding photos of the year

By Dean Murray via SWNS

The 7th International Wedding Photographer of the Year winner has been announced.

Organizers say Tara Lilly from Canada scooped the grand title of 2023 International Wedding Photographer of the Year.

Tara's entry features a happy couple, Mikaela and Mitch, getting an unexpected guest in the form of a bird landing on the bride's head at their mountaintop wedding in Whistler.

The entry out-ranked more than 1,700 images submitted across 11 categories, submitted by over 300 wedding photographers globally.

Organizers say: "This wonderfully joy-filled capture was entered into the “Single Capture” Category for our panel of international judges to assess and rank."

The rules required that entries in this category could not be manipulated or photoshopped beyond standard adjustments to color and exposure.

"So no bird (a Whiskey Jack) was artificially added in the making of this image," organizers add.

Dee Kampe, last year’s Grand Winner and one of six judges of the 2023 Awards, says: "It was an absolute joy judging so many diverse entries and the quality of imagery was off the charts.

"I was drawn to the winning entry for its perfection in capturing this chance encounter - it’s joyous, uplifting and makes me grin from ear to ear just looking at it.

"There’s pure unfiltered emotion, there’s surprise, there’s the unexpected. It encapsulates the emotions and narrative that runs through an entire wedding day in a single frame."

Luke Simon, International Wedding Photographer of the Year Awards
Curator, says: "With the successful completion of the 7th Annual Awards we continue to provide exposure and a unique platform for wedding and elopement photographers to have their best images reviewed and judged by our team of highly awarded and experienced educators and judges."

Other categories included Solo Portrait, Engagement, Black and White and Epic Location.