SYDNEY — This is the work of Australia's best professional photographer.

On Monday night, Western Australian wedding photographer James Simmons won the photographic industry’s most anticipated accolade – Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the Year.

“I work really hard for what I do but I never dreamed this win was possible. I’m honoured to be positioned in the ranks of so many photographers that I’ve idolised,” Simmons said after winning the award in Sydney.

Wow! I did not see that coming! What a surreal night! Not in a million years would I have ever imagined that... http://t.co/voTChbNQQu — James Simmons (@jimmons81) September 16, 2014

Simmons, who has been in the business for five years and running his own business for two years, said what sets him apart is his unique style. “I’m a pretty adventurous person. I like to push people out of their comfort zones and give them the confidence to be photographed," he said. "I want to make people feel good in front of the camera and getting them to try something that is a bit different creates artwork they can be proud to hang on their walls.”

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Simmons grew up in a tiny mining town in Western Australia called Southern Cross. His mother was a photography teacher who converted the local jail into a dark room and some of Simmons' earliest memories are of developing the photographs here.

"Some of my first experiences with photography was seeing prints being developed here and making pinhole cameras from milo tins and doing double exposures at the local graveyard," he said.

He told Mashable this experience growing up shaped him as a photographer yet shooting while travelling inspires his commercial work.

“I just try to do my best at the time, with what I’m given. I get inspired by location, light, personalities, relationships and then I bring all of my life experience to the plate as well. I guess the way I shoot has been a combination of the way the world has shaped my experience and how I have responded to it," he said.

Simmons studied grape growing after school in Western Australia's beautiful Margaret River region and captured his friends in the surf with a disposable waterproof camera in his spare time, yet claims he wasn't a natural photographer.

After breaking his arm in 2006, he ended up studying a Bachelor of Creative Industries at Edith Cowan University. It was here he honed his skills to create the wedding photography business he runs today.

The photographer of the year award is judged by other photographers and has been running for 38 years. Other winners were announced in categories including commercial, illustrative, portrait, wedding, science, environment & nature, landscape and an open award.

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014

Image: James Simmons Photography, Canon AIPP Australian Professional Photographer of the year 2014