A FEMALE wedding photographer has won a prestigious regional award after only one year officially in the industry.

Julie Robinson, 50 from Bowness was ‘delighted’ when she was crowned best female photographer in the North West Weddings Awards.

Julie has always had a passion for photography and after four years of investing in equipment and practicing, she decided to set up her own official business last May while working as a HR manager for Impact which owns the Lake District Hotel group, Merewood, Cragwood and Brierywood.

Julie said the awards ceremony was even more poignant as she left her role with Impact the previous Friday after 21 years with the business and is focussing on her photographer career while helping a friend with her business, Catering Appliance Superstore.

She said: “There were over 400 nominations in my category and I really didn’t think I would win as I only really started doing photography last May so you can imagine my happiness at having won the prestigious award which is presented to suppliers who go above and beyond and nominated by wedding couples.

“Last year, ironically was a great time to join the wedding industry.  When the restrictions were lifted there was a huge demand for wedding suppliers (photographers) and for additional cover due to Covid meaning I quickly built a great network of photographer colleagues as we all worked together to help each other out. 

“It’s a huge privilege to play the role of photographer on people’s special day. Photographers are so important as it’s one way to remember your day and share the story with people who weren’t there and pass pictures down to generations.

“You become close to your clients, it’s all about capturing the emotion on the day. I will spend an hour with the bride before she gets married, and she might tell me the story about how she and her husband met and it is all quite emotional and you forget the technical bit and you just caption the story; every story is different.”

Julie said how starting her business at 50 didn’t stop her from chasing her dream and anyone can start a business at any age.

She said: “I lost my mum when I was quite young so it was important, I was present and could bring up my own children, but they have now left home, and this is my time to throw myself into something I love with no strain.

“You can really start a business at any age.

“Being older also helps in this industry as the hardest thing about weddings is coordinating people and you have to direct people without being too bossy and I would never have been confident enough when I was younger but you don’t care what people think when your older and you just have the confidence to direct people.”

Visit Julies website at: https://www.julierobinsonphotography.com