So its pretty safe to admit that I am a little late to the Infocus conference/Iris awards debrief party.  My tardiness in no way reflects the enormity of my emotions over what was one of the most fabulous few days of my photographylife to date.

I initially wasn't going to enter the Iris awards this year (due to all sorts of reasons - nerves, downright fear, being too busy yadayadayada) but late one night (minutes before the close of entries) I bit the bullet and entered some images.  This resulted in a last minute printing mission for the wonderful team at Queensberry - who were AMAZING as always; a flying visit to the courier and many many days of nervous regret and self doubt.

I flew to Wellington not knowing what to expect from the extended weekend, last year I attended the judging but not the conference - I was on foreign ground.  Slightly nervous and still feeling like the new kid at school the award judging began.  It turns out, I was in no way ANY less nervous than last year - but looking around the dimly lit room I was in good company as we all shifted in our seats, bit nails, wrung our fingers and put on masks of indifference to combat nerves, some of those nervous photographers were the Masters of Photography, people I look up to, their work I have admired for years.  (Cue increased nerves as it further dawned on me that my images were not only being judged by the most talented photographers but alongside their work).

I'm just going to press pause on the  judging and give serious kudos to the amazing photographers who became new friends & better friends over the weekend.  Without them I'm almost certain I would have torn out my hair, bitten every last nail and possibly run home with my tail between my legs!  We had fun, between the stress, the excitment, the celebrations and the odd consolment there was a lot of laughter, a fair few drinks  (that may be an understatement), some dubious dance moves and (I hope) long term friendships fostered.

I was pretty stoked with two bronzes and 3 high professional standards this year on these images.  Although even more beneficial is the inspiration I have to advance my craft, hone my skills and keep doing what I'm doing! 

So Iris 2016 came to an end & the Infocus conference began.  Nothing I write here will do justice to Infocus, so I'm going to keep it pretty brief.  The speakers were inspiring, thought provoking and uber talented.  There were tears (in a good emotional way), lots of fun, I learnt so much and in short can't wait for next June to do it all again.   What an epic bunch of rockstars!

Thank you all, the judges, the speakers, the friends and the co-ordinators - what a ride!