Church Photography Restrictions Didn’t Prevent Us from Getting an Award-Winning Photo

Alice and I are both members of the prestigious Wedding Photojournalist Association (WPJA).  This exclusive organization represents some of the most talented wedding photojournalists in the world. An offshoot of the WPJA is the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (AGWPJA). The AGWPJA focuses more on special effect photos.

We are excited to announce that both of the images we submitted to a recent AGWPJA photo contest have been honored with awards.  One image was taken during a wedding at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan. St. Patrick’s is both breathtaking and an important center of Catholic life. We can definitely understand why brides would want to get married there! Unfortunately, for us wedding photographers though, St. Patrick’s is difficult because it has very strict rules.   They actually assign security personnel to keep an eye on us during the ceremony!

St Patrick’s does not allow the use of flashes or tripods.  We, however, have one of the best cameras in the industry for taking photos in low light even if we can’t use a flash. Its speed also allows us to create High Dynamic Range (HDR) images without having to use a tripod. HDR photos are created by combining several shots into one final image to show the dramatic details in both the bright and dark areas of the Cathedral.   For those not interested in the technical details, let’s simply say we didn’t let the church’s restrictions prevent us from creating an award-winning image!

The other winning image was taken at an Indian wedding reception at the Hyatt Regency in Long Island.  We love photographing Indian weddings because of all the vibrant colors in everyone’s clothing.  We caught this great moment of a young kid dancing in his white suit to the cheers of his friends and family.  We changed some of the color tones to spice up the moment.

We hope you enjoy these photos as much as the contest judges did!