Eye-catching offers have been flooding in to a photographer after she won a highly-sought national award.
Bride and the Flower Girl by Sarah Carter was named the winner in the Wedding section of The British Photography Awards during a swanky awards night at London’s Royal Lancaster Hotel last week.
Bride and the Flower Girl, the shot which secured Bourne’s Sarah Carter a British Photography Awards a victory in the Wedding section. Photo supplied
The joyful image depicts bridge Megan Jeacock and her young flower girl playing under her veil during her special day, and proved a hit with the judging panel which was made up of industry experts.
“I’m rather excited,” said Bourne-based Sarah, who has been shortlisted for the past two years.
“To win it this year is huge, because coming away two years without wasn’t as much fun.
Lucrative job offers have ben flooding in for photographer Sarah Carter. Photo supplied
“It’s so nice to get it this year. It’s huge to have your peers come forward and pick you.”
Winning the award could also be a life-changing moment for Sarah, who has been working solely as a wedding photographer for the past nine years.
“The inbox has been flooded (with congratulations), I’ve had hundreds of messages, but apart from that I’ve also had hundreds of enquiries,” Sarah added.
“It’s helping on both sides; it’s good for the ego and helpful for other people to see your work.
“My enquiry box had a request for the French Alps for July, I was like ‘yes, book me in’.”
But it’s not just couples looking for a wedding photographer who are taking notice of Sarah’s stunning work.
“I’ve had different magazines that I read years ago contacting me now, wanting to talk to me,” she added.
“It’s lovely and a bit surreal.
“I read Digital Camera magazine for years and now they’ve shared me on their website. It’s crazy. I used to read these magazine as and now I’m in them, it’s really nice.”
While the alps may be a change of scenery to South Lincolnshire, home does offer a wonderful place for Sarah to work.
“We are so lucky where we live as we have such great venues,” she added.
”Burghley House is on my doorstep, I can’t really complain about the gorgeous venues here.”
While Bride and Flower Girl caught the eye of the judges, the image came completely in the moment.
“The flower girl was just playing underneath the veil and the bride bent down and was pointed at her mum,” said Sarah, 41.
“That was it, I was like ‘get me under there’. So I snuck under and that’s how I got it.
“I don’t really plan most of the shots, 90% of my work is candid and 10% iconic portraits.
“In the moment I could see it was good, but I didn’t now how good until I got home and put it on the big screen. You don’t have time to look through them properly on the day, you can have a quick glance but you can’t really look at them.
“It was only when the bride received the photo and looked at them and said ‘that photo has made my mum cry, my nan cry, it’s made us cry’ I realised. Hearing that feedback from them meant I got it right on the professional level, not just the artistic level.”
Bride Megan, who lives in Cambridgeshire, was the first person Sarah called when she learned she had won the award, with her subject ‘ecstatic’ at the good news.
“My job is all about the people,” Sarah continued.
“I can’t do my job without people. And I need to know my people, so I do pre-wedding shoots with all my couples so I can hang out with them before, get to know each other and how far we can push each other.
“I think that really helps come the wedding day. Then I know them, It’s a huge benefit.”
You can learn more about Sarah’s work by visiting www.sarahcarterphotography.co.uk or following Sarah Carter Photography on Facebook and Instagram.