And now Canberra snapper Dan O'Day - the boy from Charnwood - has been recognised for his spectacular wedding photography.

He has been named Australia's best wedding photographer.

"I'm stoked," he said.

He was bestowed the honour at the Australian Professional Photography Awards in Melbourne.

O'Day, 40, had won the state level award before but never the national award.

"It was something I was always working towards," he said.

The APPAs are the largest awards for professional print photography in Australia and one of the largest in the world. It is the only professional photography awards in the country that require physical prints to be submitted for judging.

More than 580 entrants submitted a collective of almost 2200 images to be judged.

O'Day won the top award with a portfolio of work that clearly showed he is far beyond the usual wedding photographer.

"They're looking for people doing groundbreaking work, that there is an element of innovation, and also good day-to-day practice," he said.

The four winning images comprised a wedding in New York, two in Sydney (one of which had the The Jezabels playing BTW) and one in Melbourne.

A former Charnwood High student, O'Day is regularly asked to photograph weddings, proposals and engagements from Bali to Paris.

He is also being asked to speak at wedding conferences around the world. This week he's off to New York for a speaking engagement. Later it's to Stockholm and Spain. He'll also do weddings in New York and Washington DC while in the US.

It's usually not holidaying or expat Australians who are seeking him out overseas but simply couples living around the world who've seen his work and love it.

We did suggest O'Day, to celebrate, should do an exhibition in Canberra of his wedding work - and he reckons that just might be a goer.