Dagmara's striking image wins award

Dagmara Shannon was winner in the Newborn category with her striking black and white image of twin boys Cody and Kyle at just 10 days old.

A professional photographer for three years now, Dagmara was shortlisted in two of the competition’s categories - Newborn and Child.

“I have always been interested in art in one form or another and as long as I remember I have been taking photos,” she said.

“I love photographing new babies as it’s such a special time, and it’s fascinating to me how the newborn was ever able to fit in mummy’s tummy.

“I have been interested in anything about pregnancy, birth, and newborns for years, so it was only natural that I was drawn to photographing them.”

Based in Banbridge, Dagmara works from a small home studio and says competing is a way of improving her talent and craft.

“It’s a fresh pair of eyes, (usually a few pairs), looking at the images, nit-picking and feeding it back, it’s the only way to learn and evolve.

“I want to be the best I can at what I do.”

The Newborn Photography Show is the only trade show in the UK aimed at newborn photographers. Dagmara said: “All the top names of the genre from around the country gather there and run various workshops and seminars.

“They also have beautiful stalls with all a newborn photographer can dream of from photo props to insurance.

“The Newborn Photography Show’s Photographer Of The Year 2015 competition was open to all and each photographer was able to enter one image per category.

“It was a great surprise as the shortlisted images were of the top quality.”

Through her work Dagmara strives to showcase the outer and inner beauty of her subjects and her awards from a number of prestigious bodies bear testament to that.

To view more of Dagmara’s work visit www.dagmarashannonphotography.co.uk