The WPS is proud and thrilled to bring a talented group of photographers to be our panel of judges. Each one brings a unique perspective into the wedding and portrait world.
The judges will view all the images prior to making a decision on their winners. The winners will be notified with an announcement on The WPS website with their winning badges attached.
2019 WPS JUDGES
Chad Winstead
Chad is the 2016 & 2018 Wedding & Portrait Society’s Photographer of the Year. His business started in 2013 with his wife Beth. Together they are one of the most sought after husband and wife wedding storytellers in the Carolinas. The Winsteads are also MagMod ambassadors along with award winners with SLR Lounge, Fearless Photographers and Masters of Wedding Photography.
Adrees Latif
Adrees is a Pakistani-American Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist whose career spans over two decades of covering sports, entertainment, conflict, and natural disasters. He earned a B.A. in journalism from the University of Houston while simultaneously working as a staff photographer at The Houston Post. In 1995 Adrees joined Reuters and has been based in Houston, Los Angeles, Bangkok, and Islamabad. His accolades include International Center of Photography’s 2011 Infinity Award, POYI 2011 Photographer of the Year (Agency) and the 2009 Pulitzer Prize.
Crystal Stokes
Crystal is an award-winning photographer based out of Charlotte, NC and has also been named one of the top 100 photographers in the U.S. A passionate storyteller and don’t-care-who’s-watching dancer, Crystal is obsessed with finding/creating beautiful light and turning sweet moments into stunning imagery.
Joe Payne
Joe is a British-born photographer serving the Raleigh, North Carolina community and surrounding areas including Chapel Hill, Durham, Cary, and across North Carolina. His modern wedding photography is based on fusion of documentary photojournalism and fine art portraiture. He was also awarded “Photographer of the Year” by the Wedding & Portrait Society for 2012 and “Best Photography 2013” and “Best Photography 2014” by the Triangle chapter of the National Association of Catering and Events.
Dan Dalstra
Dan is a former award-winning newspaper photojournalist who became a wedding a photographer after realizing that you could get paid to dance and eat cake. A full-time wedding photographer for the last five years, Dan has realized that his true calling is shooting destination weddings or any wedding really after the check clears. Dan lives in El Paso, Texas, and has an amazing/supportive wife (meaning she pays the bills so he can go have fun) and two really crazy kids.
Gary Allen
Gary covered the news as a photojournalist for over twenty years for various newspapers including The Raleigh News & Observer. He currently the Manager of Southeastern Camera Wilmington. His work has been published in hundreds of newspapers and magazines around the world and he has been honored with multitudes of awards for his work on local, state, regional, national and international levels. He was also named WPJA’s Photographer of the Year in 2004.