And the winner is...

What does it feel like to win a major photography award? 

Have a look at the video I secretly recorded when I won "Overseas Photographer of the Year" at The British Professional Photography Awards.

British Professional Photography Awards "Overseas Photographer of the Year"

Amazing! I can't believe it! What a night!

I just won "Overseas Photographer of the Year" at The British Professional Photography Awards for the second time!

The "Overseas" awards are for all the entries outside of the UK. There were over 3000 entries and photographers travelled to the awards ceremony from as far away as Russia and Singapore.

The image that won for me is a shot I took of entrepreneur Niall Shanahan. I always feel a good portrait is a collaboration between the photographer and the sitter. There is only so much the photographer can do with lighting etc, the rest has to come from the subject and Niall was great at giving me what I wanted in this shot.

I was surprised to win with this image to be honest, as it's what I would call a "quiet" portrait, it doesn't scream "look at me". But the judges commented on the power of the image to draw you in and the depth of the blacks and print quality.