CELEBRATING AMAZING WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY
The NineDots Awards are our annual celebration of the very best wedding photography from within the NineDots community and further afield.
Once a year, photographers and creatives are invited to submit the work they’re most proud of so we can celebrate photographs filled with moments, creativity, personality, craft and, above all, great storytelling.
An annual awards event celebrating brilliant photographs and the photographers who made them.
INDIVIDUAL CATEGORIES
photo: Andy Gaines Photography
‘Best Wedding’ Photo Collection
15 photographs. One wedding. One story.
This is what wedding photography is all about.
Great wedding photography isn’t about creating one incredible photograph. It’s about consistently seeing, anticipating and documenting a wedding from beginning to end.
This category celebrates exactly that.
Submit a collection of 15 photographs from a single wedding that shows us how you see a wedding day – the people, the moments, the atmosphere, the portraits, the details and everything in between.
We want to see a collection that transports us into that wedding. One that makes us feel like we were there, even though we weren’t.
The individual photographs matter.
But the story they tell together matters even more.
photo: Ben lee Photography
Best Documentary Photograph
Real moments. Real people. Real weddings.
This category celebrates completely unposed moments captured as they happened – the tears, emotion, humour, chaos, connection and wonderfully unexpected things that make every wedding unique.
It’s about being in the right place, at the right time, and seeing something worth remembering.
photo: Fer Juaristi
Best Individual Portrait
One person. One frame. Make it count.
A great portrait doesn’t need a couple.
This category celebrates photographs of individuals on the wedding day – brides, grooms, guests, family members or anyone else who finds themselves in front of your camera.
It might be beautifully simple, full of character, creatively lit, quietly observed or completely unexpected.
We’re looking for portraits that tell us something about the person in the photograph – and about the photographer behind the camera.
photo: Aisle Glam
Best Couples Portrait
Wedding portraits with creativity, personality and purpose.
From beautifully simple portraits to something bold, artistic or completely unexpected, this category celebrates photographs of couples where the photographer’s creativity and vision shine through.
We’re looking for images that go beyond simply showing us what someone looked like – we want to see how it felt.
photo: Chris Armstrong
Best Ceremony Photograph
The bit where they actually get married.
Churches, registry offices, woodland clearings, city halls, back gardens and everything in between.
This category celebrates great photography from the ceremony itself — the nerves, the emotion, the reactions, the rituals, the chaos and those tiny moments happening around the edges.
Documentary or creative, quiet or spectacular, we’re looking for photographs that capture something of what it felt like to be there.
Because you’ve only got one chance to photograph it.
photo: Andrew Billington
Best Getting Ready Photograph
Before the party. Before the Reception. Before the ceremony…
The nerves. The anticipation. The chaos. The quiet moments. The people crammed into bedrooms. The finishing touches that aren’t quite finished.
This category celebrates everything that happens before the ceremony begins.
From beautifully observed documentary moments to portraits, details and something completely unexpected, we’re looking for photographs that capture the people, atmosphere and anticipation of getting ready for a wedding.
photo: Sarah Craig
Best Party/Reception Photograph
When things get a little less sensible.
Bad dancing. Great dancing. Flying drinks.
Questionable shirts. Incredible light. Absolute chaos.
This category celebrates photographs from the point in the wedding when everyone lets go.
We’re looking for energy, atmosphere, humour, movement and moments – photographs that make us feel like we’ve somehow ended up right in the middle of the party.
photo: Amy Sampson
Best Analogue/Film Photograph
Slow it down. Make it count.
This category celebrates wedding photography captured on analogue film.
35mm, medium format, black & white, colour – it’s all welcome.
We’re looking for photographs that embrace everything we love about film: its imperfections, unpredictability, beautiful tones and the intention that comes with having a limited number of frames.
photo: Robin Goodlad
Best Flash / Artificial Light Photograph
Don’t find the light? Make it!
This category celebrates photographs where flash or artificial light transforms the scene.
From beautifully subtle portraits to dramatic lighting, direct flash, colourful dance-floors and wildly creative setups, we’re looking for photographs where the photographer has taken control of the light and made something brilliant with it.
Any technique. Any subject. Any part of the wedding day.
The only rule? You made the light.
photo: Natalie Martin
Best Creative Image
For the photographs that don’t quite fit into a box.
Reflections. Silhouettes. Layers. Light. Shadows. Movement. Multiple exposures. Strange compositions. Happy accidents. Or something we’ve never seen before.
This category celebrates experimentation and photographers who see the ordinary a little differently.
If you made something that made you think ‘that’s cool’ / ‘wtf’ / ‘wow’, it probably belongs here!
photo: Rebecca Carpenter
Best Pre/Post-Wedding/Styled-Shoot Photograph
Outside the wedding day.
Engagement shoots, pre-wedding sessions, styles shoots, destination adventures and everything in between!
This category celebrates photographs created outside of the wedding day itself – whether that’s an incredible portrait, a genuine moment, a styled shoot detail or something completely different.
Best Wedding Film
Wedding stories that move.
This category celebrates brilliant wedding film-making – whether created by a dedicated filmmaker, a photographer shooting hybrid coverage, or something in between.
We’re looking for films with personality, emotion, atmosphere and a strong sense of story.
Highlights films, short films and creative edits are all welcome.
Emerging Photographer of the Year
New talent. New voices. Brilliant photography.
Everyone starts somewhere.
This award celebrates photographers relatively early in their wedding photography journey who are already creating exciting, distinctive work.
Submit 20 photographs from across multiple weddings that represent you, your photography and the work you’re most proud of from the past year.
We’re looking for photographers who’ve been shooting less than 3 years who make us excited about what comes next.
NineDots Community Honours Award
Great photography matters. Great people do too.
The wedding photography and filmmaking industry is full of people doing great things beyond simply making great work.
The NineDots Community Honours recognise those who support others, share their knowledge, create opportunities, champion positive change or simply help make the industry a better place to be.
Maybe it’s someone who has helped you personally, someone who is always generous with their time and experience, someone who brings people together, or someone quietly doing great things for others in the industry.
Each year, NineDots members can nominate someone they feel deserves recognition and tell us why. From those nominations, we’ll select a small number of people to receive a NineDots Community Honour, celebrating the positive contribution they’ve made to the wider wedding photography and filmmaking community.
This isn’t about awards, followers or necessarily having the best portfolio. Just simply about recognising good people doing good things!
ONE AWARDS EVENT. ONCE A YEAR.
We want a NineDots Award to mean something.
That’s why we’re keeping things simple.
The NineDots Awards happen once a year, with the photography and filmmaking awards judged by a carefully selected panel of photographers and industry leaders whose work and opinions we respect.
Alongside the individual categories, we’ll crown our NineDots Photographer of the Year and Emerging Photographer of the Year, recognising photographers producing exceptional bodies of work.
And through our NineDots Community Honours, the community itself gets the opportunity to recognise some of the people who make this industry a better place to be.
One annual celebration of great photography, great filmmaking and great people.
Because ultimately, NineDots has always been about the same thing:
Great photographers. Great photographs. And a community that pushes each other to keep getting better.
