Late last year, I entered the Australian Photography Magazine "Photographer of the Year" competition, where people are asked to enter "their best work", and be judged by a panel of experts. 

I submitted my images, and promptly forgot about what it was that I submitted. 

Today, to my surprise, I got an email informing me that my images were "Commended", which means that I made the first short-list of images in the "People and Portrait" category that I entered. 

![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/holoz0r/oFH245sI-image.png)

These are the images that I submitted, all of which, I've proudly posted, right here on my Steem feed, and on the blockchain! 

The first was a shoot with Bree (in fact, the second shoot I did since starting with my camera again!) The other two were with Kelsey, both indoors, at the same shoot, and the final image with Sarah. 

It's a mix of lighting and locations used. 

First was 100% natural light with a reflector. The next two images were mainly flash with a tiny bit of ambient light. 

The final was natural light with no reflector or light augmentation on a day when it starting raining a tiny bit during the shoot. 

I've produced oodles of work since I made and submitted all of these images, and I feel like my photographic skill is constantly improving with each and every shoot I complete. 

Here's my certificate, which is much more than a participation award! 

![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/holoz0r/2Z5YBv2N-image.png)

I'm super proud of my achievements! 

Looking forward to my next photographic assignment!