So this happened ......
Equestrian Image of the Year 2021
Runner up Equestrian Image of the Year 2021
Sometimes, something so good happens, that even though you know it to be true, your brain just doesn't believe it.
In The Guild of Professional Photographers Annual Awards, one of my images won
The Equestrian Image of the Year
and another image came Runner up Equestrian Image of the Year.
This is what The Guild of Photographers say about this ......
"PRESS RELEASE International Recognition for Local Photographer Local Photographer Sharon at Cleo Bolt Photography has gained international recognition by scooping awards in the Equine category of the Image of the Year Competition. Sharon’s images won Equine Image of the Year AND Runner up Equine Image of the Year with the Guild of Professional Photographers, a highly respected national photographic body. The Guild received over 13,000 entries to its Image of the Month Competition during 2021, from both photographers in the UK, as well as overseas! From all those, two images by Sharon were was selected as the overall Image of the Year Winner and Runner up of the Equine genre - a remarkable achievement when one considers the number and standard of the entries. Sharon was also nominated as a Top 10 Photographer of the Year in the Open genre. And Sharon also had two images in the Top 10 images of the year in the Bird genre and an image in the Top 10 Image of the Year in Animal genre. These Awards were announced at an Awards ceremony at Crewe Hall on Saturday 5th February 2022. Steven and Lesley Thirsk (the Directors of the Guild) said – “We are both proud and delighted that Sharon has achieved this recognition with her striking images. The Guild has very demanding standards when judging photographic competitions. The judging is undertaken by a panel of internationally recognised experts from a variety of photography backgrounds, so Sharon for Cleo Bolt Photography quite rightly should be delighted with their extraordinary achievement”. On hearing the news Sharon said .... “well honestly, it was my dream come true. I put my heart and soul into my images, I want to deliver only the very best for my clients and this recognition puts me where I want to be, which is the very top of my profession”. Members of the Guild are committed to achieving the highest standards of professionalism and to a journey of continuing professional development.
The biggest thank you to everyone at The Guild and to all of the judges for chosing my images as runner up and winner in the Equestrian Image of the year category. This is what we all spend the hours and hours working towards, and yet in my wildest dreams, I'd never have thought I would be achieving this. Thank you to the judges and to my wonderful buddy groups, they know who they are, and they know that without them, I'd not be here saying thank you.
Many, many congratulations to all of those who took part, the finalists and the winners yesterday. It's a huge privilege to be in your company."
