Kelk Photography owner Nicola Wilhelmsen was named New Zealand Institute of Professional Photography Iris Award Wedding Photographer of the year after three of her recent wedding shots garnered silver ribbons.
She said winning the award on Sunday was an absolute honour.
"I didn’t go out and shoot anything specifically for the awards. It’s just my everyday work, so it’s quite nice to have that awarded."
Ms Wilhelmsen took a two-year break from entering the awards after taking over Kelk Photography and focusing on the admin side of the business, but that two-year break "was probably good", to reset her creativity and passion.
"You always aim for an award-winning shot with every picture. It really keeps you on your toes."
"The family tree one, that was great. The bride arrived on one of the mini trains and there were heaps of kids — that wedding was so, so fun."
Her business has experienced a "wedding boom" since the Covid peak, with Ms Wilhelmsen photographing about 15 weddings this past season.
Throughout her 18-year career, she estimated she had been to well over 100 weddings.
"Most have been Dunedin locals, only a few have been from out of town — Covid kind of cancelled the island weddings and there was more people having backyard and local weddings, which is always lovely.
"It’s great to get to shoot local families’ weddings."
