Award-Winning vs "Best Of" — What Wedding Photography Awards Actually Mean
- Brad Winegar
- 2 days ago
- 5 min read
When you search for the best wedding photographer in Salt Lake City, you'll find dozens of "Best Of" lists. Best of SLC. Best of Southern Utah. Best of Utah Valley. The badges look impressive. The titles sound reassuring. But here's what most couples don't know — the majority of those awards have absolutely nothing to do with the quality of the work.
As someone who has been recognized as the #2 wedding photographer in the world out of 13,000 photographers across 178 countries, I think it's time someone explained the difference.
What "Best Of" Awards Actually Are
Most "Best of" awards you see plastered across wedding photographer websites are popularity contests. Plain and simple.
Here's how they typically work: a local publication or website puts together a list of nominees, then opens the voting to the public. The photographer with the most votes wins. That's it.
No panel of judges. No review of the actual photographs. No technical assessment of lighting, composition, or storytelling. Just votes — which means the winner is whoever has the biggest social media following, the most engaged email list, or the most willing to repeatedly ask their audience to "vote for me!"
I've been invited to participate in these contests many times. I've always declined. Not because I don't think I'd win, but because winning tells you nothing meaningful. A photographer with 50,000 Instagram followers and average work will beat a technically brilliant artist with a smaller following every single time. That's not a photography award. That's a popularity contest dressed up as one.
What Industry Awards Actually Are
Real photography awards are a completely different animal. They are judged blind — meaning the judges have no idea whose work they're evaluating. There are no followers to leverage, no email lists to mobilize, no social media campaigns to run. It's just the image, sitting in front of a panel of expert photographers, being evaluated on its own merits.
Here's what I mean in practice:
WPPI — Wedding & Portrait Photographers International WPPI is the largest and most prestigious wedding photography competition in the world. Tens of thousands of photographers from every country submit their best work. A panel of respected industry professionals judges each image on technical execution, artistic merit, lighting, composition, and emotional impact. Winning at WPPI means your photograph was recognized as among the best in the world — by people who shoot at the highest level themselves.
Portrait Masters Portrait Masters is one of the most respected accreditation bodies in the world for portrait and wedding photographers. To be recognized, you submit a portfolio of work that is evaluated against strict technical and artistic criteria by a panel of master photographers. There are no shortcuts and no popularity votes. Either your work meets the standard or it doesn't.
IPPA — Intermountain Professional Photographers Association The IPPA Photographer of the Year award is the highest recognition given by the professional photography association serving Utah and the surrounding region. It is judged entirely on the quality of submitted work — by fellow professionals who understand at the deepest level what separates good photography from great photography. Being named Photographer of the Year by your peers in your own industry is one of the most meaningful recognitions a photographer can receive.
Why This Matters for Your Wedding
You might be wondering — why does any of this matter when I'm just trying to find someone to photograph my wedding?
It matters because the photograph taken on your wedding day will hang on your wall for the rest of your life. It will be the image your children and grandchildren look at decades from now. It is, quite possibly, the single most important photograph ever taken of you.
When a photographer has been recognized by a blind panel of world-class professionals — not by their Instagram followers — it means their work genuinely stands up to scrutiny. It means the lighting is correct, the exposure is perfect, the composition is intentional, and the emotion is real.
A "Best of SLC" badge tells you a photographer is popular in Salt Lake City.
A WPPI win, a Portrait Masters recognition, an IPPA Photographer of the Year title, and a #2 ranking in the world tells you a photographer's work was judged by the best photographers on the planet — and came out on top.
The Philosophy Behind the Work
I'll be transparent about something. The reason I don't participate in popularity contests isn't just philosophical — it's because I believe the work should speak for itself.
My entire approach to wedding photography is built around one idea: that your wedding photographs should be so good that they stop people from scrolling. That they make someone catch their breath. That they're still stunning 30 years from now, when trends have changed and filters have gone out of style.
That kind of work gets recognized by professionals who know exactly what they're looking at. It doesn't need a popularity vote.
When other photographers come to my workshops to learn how to shoot at this level, they're not there because I asked my followers to vote for me. They're there because they've seen the work and they know it represents something genuinely different.
What to Look for When Choosing Your Photographer
When you're evaluating wedding photographers, here's a simple framework:
Ask about their awards:
Are they juried awards or popularity votes?
Who were the judges — professionals or the general public?
Are the awards regional or international?
Is the recognition based on the work or the following?
Look at the work itself:
Are the shadows and highlights both detailed, or does everything blow out to white?
Do the images have depth and drama, or do they all look the same?
Can you feel the emotion in the photographs?
Would you want these images on your wall in 20 years?
Consider the experience:
Does the photographer talk about making you comfortable and keeping the day stress-free?
Do they have a system — or are they just showing up and hoping for the best?
Do other professionals in the industry respect their work?
A Final Thought
Choosing your wedding photographer is one of the most important decisions you'll make in your entire wedding planning process. Your flowers will fade. Your cake will be eaten. Your dress will go into a box. But your photographs — and your video — are the only things that will remain exactly as they were on the day you got married.
Don't choose based on who won a popularity contest. Choose based on who produces the kind of work that takes your breath away — work that has been recognized by the people who know photography best.
I'd be honoured to be that photographer for you. Feel free to reach out — I'd love to hear about your wedding and talk about how we can create something truly extraordinary together.
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