When looking for a wedding photographer you will type in a generic term like ‘wedding photographer Cardiff’ into your search engine and get hundreds and thousands of hits. So you start clicking on various websites and will get a flavour of what the photographer has to offer by looking at their images. But it is less easy to get a sense of how they will approach the day and what they are like as a person.
It is more important than many people realise to have a photographer that they get on with as you will spend lots of time with them – even if you are not directly in their company. It is also difficult to see how they would be with the guests and how they would approach the day. Is their vision for lots of formals and a long session with the two of you? Will they make you do ‘hilarious’ poses? Or will they just do documentary style and spend no time with you?
So this blog is about how I tackle the day and a little about me – which is difficult to put down in words … you are much better off meeting and chatting for that – but this will be a flavour of that.
- Firstly I won’t be a (insert your own expletive here) on your day. I know this is not about me and, although I love the photo booth and having selfies with you, I am happy to be the least important person present. You and your guests are what make the day tick and why would I want to interfere with that by lumping about shouting and annoying people. The nicer I am to you and your guests the better the photos will turn out. It is also important for me to be able to get recommendations for future work. It’s amazing how much of my work would be lost if I had bad people skills!
- Secondly, I really believe that you should spend as much time with your guests as possible. The day will go by in a flash and it is really important that you enjoy every minute of it and I always believe that I can play a large part in that. I will always try to be as efficient with the time I spend doing the ‘formal’ photos. If you have a groomsman or family member that can help with that then you will spend less time waiting for Uncle Brian to get away from the bar. I do not want to be doing any shouting to cajole the guests so help from family and groomsmen helps this and allows the guests to feel more relaxed. I also would like about 20 -25 minutes of your time for the shots of the two of you. This leads nicely to my third point …
- I always think that as the Bride and Groom on the day you should have some control over how long the shoot goes on. What I mean by that is that if you are both wanting only 10 minutes of photos then that’s fine. If you get to a point where you are bored during the shoot and you want to get back to your guests then I would really like you to tell me. I do not want your day to have regrets or to force you to do things that you don’t want to. We will get lovely shots in 10 minutes and more in 20-25 minutes. It depends how important this is for you.
- I will always try to photograph as many guests at your day as I can BUT with one slight condition. I do not keep or even give you photos of people not looking like they are having a good time. I want your photographs to be full of laughter and fun and of guests enjoying the day. I work hard at trying to photograph everyone but if guests are in deep conversation I will not take a photo. There are, of course, exceptions to this but only if it has an artistic quality that I love about it.
- In my session with the Bride and Groom, there are a few things that I am trying to achieve for their photographs. I like them to look natural, I like the couple to enjoy it and I like to have a laugh in this session and make it really easy for them. This session is not about posing – it’s about finding a way to photograph you both that is comfortable and cool and that makes for a photograph you love. I will not ask you to jump around or do anything cheesy – that is not my style.
- I also like to create a few moments with the two of you where you are shot in a more stark and striking way. This may be naturally with the sun (although that is rare on wedding days!) or using my lighting to create photos that have more depth and are often silhouetted and create stunning prints. Its a photo of the two of you but one that is slightly less standard. I also use the lights for the photos on the dance floor – which can work wonders when the DJ / band rock up with not enough lights!
- Finally I would love top have a selfie with you both on your wedding day. I love spending time with the bride and groom and I like to show it and let future clients see it too.
I think that is probably most of what I want to say … yes, there is more but if you want to hear more of my ramblings then we are the best meeting up and having a chat. I try to keep it relaxed and informal and make it fun for us all. You can get in touch here.