Booking a Photographer : Important Tip #1

Once you've narrowed down your photographer choices and are arranging to meet with them to discuss your plans, make sure you're meeting with the person who is actually going to be photographing your wedding.

This may sound obvious, but larger studios and companies may have multiple photographers and, even if you meet one of the photographers and not a designated "sales" person, it may not be the same photographer that will turn up on your wedding day.

I'm a one-man-band, so it will always be me that answers emails, answers the phone or turns up to meetings. And its always me that will be there on the day, and that edits, processes and prints your photographs.

Photography During the Ceremony

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As a photojournalist, I'm obviously keen to photograph as much as possible during the actual wedding ceremony. Unfortunately I occasionally come across a venue/registrar/vicar/priest who puts restrictions on what I'm allowed to photograph - sometimes banning it altogether!

This is usually because they've had a bad experience with a photographer being disruptive by either getting in the way, or using flash, or just generally being a nuisance. I like to reassure people that I don't use flash during the ceremony and, just like the rest of the day, I try to be as low-key and unobtrusive as possible.

I always recommend that couples bring this subject up with their chosen venue as early as possible and make it clear that you want your photographer to capture the ceremony. The worst case scenario is when both you and I expect to be able to get photographs during the ceremony and then are told at the very last minute that its not going to be allowed.

What is a Photojournalist?

A photojournalist is simply someone who tells stories using photography rather than words.

Most people's idea of a photojournalist is that of a war photographer, running around in a flak jacket or one of those big fishing vests with bulging pockets and half a dozen cameras hanging off them. Or a member of the paparazzi scrum outside a nightclub with a flash going off at 6 frames a second. Both of these stereotypes may be a practising a type of photojournalism, but that doesn't mean all photojournalists conform to the stereotype.

I'm a photojournalist. When I'm working at a wedding I wear a suit. I carry two cameras and a small shoulder bag. Otherwise I try as much as possible to blend in and look like a guest. I'm not a war photographer or a paparazzi and I see no reason to act like one.

Five Reasons You Should Hire a Photojournalist

Here's a great blog post from american journalist Andrea James about why you should hire a photojournalist. My favourite is number 3...

"3. Consider your moment captured — How much would you pay to make sure that THE moment of your event is captured forever? This is what photojournalists are trained to do every day. At my own wedding, I knew that I didn’t have to worry about making sure our photographer (and friend) was capturing crucial moments. He was everywhere. When I saw the photos, I was delighted and saw new aspects of my own wedding that I had missed."

Read the rest here : Five Reasons You Should Hire a Photojournalist

Visiting Venues

I'm occasionally asked by prospective wedding clients whether I visit the venue in advance of the wedding day to have a look around and familiarise myself with the place.

This is one of those things that some photographers use as a part of a sales pitch - that somehow them visiting venues in advance makes them more professional. Personally I really don't see the point. It may be helpful for a photographer specialising in formal groups and portraits to have some ideas for possible locations for setup pictures, but for a photographer shooting in a candid, documentary style, it defeats the whole approach.

The whole point of documentary style photography is to capture what is happening on the day, wherever that may be happening. If a great picture happens in the car park then it's still a great picture, regardless of whether you visited a year previously and decided that under the tree in the garden was a good place for pictures. What happens if there's a lorry parked in front of your chosen tree? Or if the tree fell down six months ago?

You cannot predict the weather or the lighting, and you definitely cannot predict what is going to happen on the day.

A photojournalist needs the ability to quickly assess the current situation and adapt to it.

Obviously I make every effort to find out about the location, directions, parking etc. - the practical stuff to do with the logistics of the day. But I don't concern myself with finding out the light levels, where the bride will be sitting, or whether there is a photogenic tree in the garden. There's nothing I can do about any of that stuff, so I deal with it when I get there on the day.