it’s a strange thing when you’re recognized for doing work that you love.

in november i was named in the 30 Rising Stars of Wedding Photography by Rangefinder Magazine. at first i felt excited about it, but then kind of weird. like i should pocket the bonus points and move on without mentioning it anywhere because it feels awkward to toot my own horn. however, after about a month i’ve come around to feeling pretty good about seeing the feature in the print magazine. i didn’t realize Rangefinder Magazine selects the final 30 photographers out of an initial 150 that are nominated by industry heavyweights. i have no idea who nominated me as i never submit for blog features or network with people in the industry… but thank you! it’s an honor to be among the best dc wedding photographers.

check out all my full gallery of selected images here.

and check out the full print magazine and all the other incredible winners online here.

at the end of the day i’ll always want my clients to hire me for the work i’m going to do and not the work that i’ve done, but i’m really happy to have this issue of rangefinder on my coffee table.

// by Sam Hurd