I photographed quite a few winter weddings at the end of last year and the beginning of 2010. Some of the photographs from my favourite wedding have just been featured by Kat Williams on the rather wonderful Rock ‘n Roll Bride. This is the second time I have been featured and it’s always an honour.
You can check out the feature right here.
Also, don’t forget to join my Facebook page for an exclusive 15% discount on your booking.
Now this is what I call original. A couple programmed an 8-bit Mario-style game as their wedding invitation and sent it out to their friends and family. In order to unlock the details of the invite, the recipients had to first beat the game.
The time and effort that must have gone into this brings a smile. I hope it inspires.
[via Mashable]
[photo credit: Offbeat Bride]
Today marks the official launch of my Facebook page, so please stop by and become a fan. There are plenty of photographs and all fans will receive an exclusive 15% discount on their booking.
I have also decided to include a special behind-the-scenes Polaroid Gallery which contains wedding images that would not usually see the light of day. I thought it might provide a rare look at some of the funny things I see when I’m on my wedding travels. I hope you enjoy it.
If you know any friends, family or colleagues that are getting married in the future, please do send them the link to my facebook page.
Thanks, and hope to see you on there soon.
Some more personal favourites from the last few months of weddings:
The months closing 2009 and into 2010 have seen me photograph some truly beautiful winter weddings. Despite fewer hours of daylight, what light I did have to play with was great, and even stunning on occasion.
I travelled up and down the country, photographing weddings in some fantastic locations and venues. Amongst them, I took in the pink flamingos of London’s Kensington Roof Gardens; the understated interiors of the beautiful Victoria Hall in Saltaire; the amazing sculptures in the garden of the Broomhill Art Hotel in Devon. It’s hard not to love what I do.
Here are some of my favourites from the season so far:
Raymond Blanc, OBE and celebrity chef, visited Milton Keynes last week to cook for the Wolverton & Greenleys community. The wonderful event was hosted at Wolverton Museum by NHS Milton Keynes, and the whole affair was orchestrated by my good friend Angela Rice. The event was very low-key and the press were not invited, but I was asked to document the day as it unfolded, so as you can imagine I was very excited to take part.
I’ve had a rare couple of weeks away from weddings, so it was great to get out and shoot an event such as this. Raymond was charming, funny and easily one of the most inspirational people I have had the pleasure to photograph. At several points I had to do all I could to stop myself from standing around and just listening to him, because his words were so inspirational. So much fun to shoot, especially the kids who really got into the food and got a lot out of the day.
Huge thanks to Clive for letting me get up close and personal. I almost burned my elbow on the oven at several points!
I’ll let these photographs do the rest of the talking:
Over the next fortnight I am not shooting a single wedding. It will be the longest break I have had this season and I am going to use the time wisely to research several Milton Keynes wedding venues for my upcoming Best-of series.
This summer has seen some wonderful weddings (and some very challenging weather conditions). It has been a great year so far. The next few months will see me photographing quite a number of autumn and winter weddings, so I am looking forward to some nice light and expecting very cold fingers!
I do have one session in the next two weeks. I would dearly love to reveal the details right now, but I am obliged to keep my lips pursed for the next few days. The only thing I can say is that it is not a wedding, but the prospect is very, very exciting. More to come!
Choosing your wedding photographer can be a stressful affair. There is a wealth of choice when it comes to finding the person who will document your special day, and like many people, this may be the first time you have hired a professional photographer. It can be quite daunting, especially when you consider how much you have to pay for the service. So how do you choose?
Your first port of call should be to look at as many wedding photographer portfolios online as you can, because this is the best way to get a feel for the style of photography that you enjoy. Every professional photographer displays their work online these days, so you should have no problems in finding them through a quick search. Compile a list of the photographers whose work you like and set aside some time to speak with them over the phone. At this stage, it seems natural to set up a meeting to see them in person, but this can be very time consuming and you probably won’t have the chance to meet everyone on your list. Resist the urge to go straight to a meeting and instead put your energy into staging an effective initial phone call, which will give you the extra time to screen more photographers and do so effectively. There are a number of simple questions that you can ask over the phone that will help you whittle down your list of photographers and make a more educated choice.
So, in this post I present to you five hot-button questions that will weed-out the superstars from the charlatans. I guarantee this will make life easier and lead to the right wedding photographer for you.
1. How many weddings have you photographed?
A simple opening question. Any photographer worth their salt should be able to give you an approximate, if not exact, number. This will give you an idea of how experienced the photographer is. Professional wedding photography is a very difficult job involving a number of discrete elements. It takes years of practice, so beware of inexperienced wedding photographers who will be less likely to produce the results that you want. Experience counts.
2. What is your full time job?
The answer to this question will tell you if the photographer is a full-time professional, or a part-time hobbyist. The essence of a professional is that he or she makes a living out of their photography, so they have to be good at what they do (otherwise they don’t eat!). Conversely, there are scores of hobbyist photographers around who will snap your wedding cheaply. They have regular jobs during the week, and will shoot your wedding on their free weekends, leaving them with no time to prepare for your important day and no time to work on the results after the wedding is over. They are much less likely to possess the knowledge, skills, technique and talent of a professional, primarily because they do not devote most of their time to photography. Professionals eat, sleep and breathe wedding photography. It will show in the results if you hire a part-timer or enthusiast.
3. What happens if your camera breaks?
The answer you receive to this question will be very telling. Quite frankly, many inexperienced or part-time wedding photographers do not carry back-up equipment. That is truly a scary thought. If their camera fails when the confetti is being thrown, your entire day will be lost. It’s not like you can return next week and do it all again after the photographer has got their camera fixed. Wedding photography professionals know this, and carry back-up cameras and equipment with them everywhere they go. Be cautious of any photographer who only carries a single camera, or claims that modern cameras don’t break. They do.
4. How will you cope if the weather is bad?
In the same spirit as the last question, the answer to this can be quite an eye-opener. True professionals are able to deal with any change in the elements, both in the equipment they carry (flash units and specific lighting for indoor photography is just one example) and their ability to deal with change. Non-professionals will struggle when answering this, so listen carefully to the responses you receive.
5. Can you accomodate…(special items that aren’t part of the package)?
This one can catch out any wedding photographer, even the professionals. It’s your wedding day and if you are spending good money on a photographer it’s important to get what you want. Most photographers have certain packages containing various aspects of their service, and many can be quite rigid about shoehorning their clients into one of them. Perhaps you would like to mix and match certain elements across two packages, or maybe you have some ideas of your own that you would like to include. A good wedding photographer will be able to educate as well as accomodate you. Be concerned of those that are too uncompromising as they may prove difficult to work with.
Ask smart questions, use your instincts and it will lead you to the right photographer.
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New business cards
I had some new business cards printed up. I wanted to go for something simple and this was the result. Click the image to see see them close up.