New Wedding Albums Available

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Folio Albums samples​

After a lot of research and trials, I have finally decided to partner with Folio Albums and offer their range of superb quality albums to my wedding clients. I have very particular requirements when it comes to albums. I know what I like and I'm very picky about print quality, colour balance and consistency. Folio Albums give me all these qualities and more. They are hand-made and bound in the UK and the materials used are archival and environmentally sound - even down to their carbon-neutral shipping.

From their website ...

"Our paper is recycled or bought from sustainable sources wherever possible, and we use environmentally friendly packaging that protects your albums while keeping waste to a minimum.

Your album will be wrapped in a sleeve made from natural, unbleached cotton and then carefully placed in a sleek keepsake box made from recycled materials."

and ...

"We’ll make your album in the UK using as many local suppliers as we can to cut down the jet fuel used to bring it to you. Our pigment based printing process uses less toxic chemicals than traditional photographic prints and there is less waste.

Once your album is ready we’ll ship it to you using UPS’s carbon neutral service. Our website is also PAS 2060 certified carbon neutral."

The design is very simple and understated, putting the emphasis where it should be - on the photographs. The range also allows me to offer a variety of cover finishes and colours, as well as smaller "parent" copies of the main album.

See the "Albums" page for more details.

How to Make Sure You Don't Accidentally Hire an Amateur

One of the age-old problems with being a professional photographer, whether its wedding photography or another branch of the industry, is the so-called "Weekend Warrior" - the keen amateur who has a real job during the week and likes to earn some extra money by shooting at weekends.

When you're looking for a photographer for your wedding you need to be aware that these people exist and make an informed decision about the person you decide to book.

I'm not going to say that amateurs shouldn't shoot real jobs for real money if they want to. Personally, I'm comfortable enough in my own abilities as a photographer to not see the part-timers as a threat to my business. If budgets are tight, or you know someone who is keen to have a go at shooting your wedding, and photography is not a high priority for you, then a part-timer or amateur is a good compromise.

However, if photography is high up on your list of priorities for your wedding day (and hopefully you're reading this because it is!) then you should make sure that you hire someone who does it for a living.

A full time professional photographer has to be good at it or the bills don't get paid.

So, how can you filter out the person who owns a nice camera from the real professionals?

- Do they use a written booking form/contract? Its important to get an agreement in writing in case anything goes wrong.

- Are they insured? Both Professional Indemnity and Public Liability insurance are an absolute must these days.

- Do they have backup equipment in case of failures on the day?

- Do they have colleagues they can call on to take over the photography in case of last minute emergencies?

- Do they have reliable transport?

- Do they answer emails/telephone calls promptly, even during the working week?

- Are they available to meet up in person during the working week?

- Are they registered for income tax or do they ask for "cash-in-hand"?

And lastly, does what they offer seem too good to be true?

It costs money to run any business, and photography in particular is an expensive business to be in. If someone is offering to photograph your entire wedding day for a couple of hundred pounds then there is no way that person is making a full-time living as a photographer. Its just not financially possible.

Gimmicks

If you look at enough photography on a regular basis you start to notice techniques which photographers use as way to stand out from the crowd and make their pictures look different. The trouble is that other photographers see these techniques, copy them, and everyone ends up looking the same. How many of the following techniques have you noticed making an appearance in wedding portfolios recently?

- "Vintage" Photoshop effects

- Overlayed textures

- Fisheye lenses

- Cheesy, awkward looking poses

- Dramatic, moody, artificial lighting

- iPhone Hipstamatic/Instagram type photos

- "Photoshopped" fake skies

- Tilt/shift "making things look tiny" lens effects

- Selective colouring

- HDR (High Dynamic Range) processing

- Fake-looking blurred backgrounds

None of these techniques can "save" a bad photograph. They can only dress it up as something a bit "different". Gimmicks are just that - cheap and easy ways to make your pictures look different. But photography doesn't need gimmicks to stand out from the crowd - it just needs to be good.

The only real way a photographer can differentiate themselves from the crowd is their eye. Every photographer has their own vision, their own way of seeing and capturing the world, and that's what you should be looking for when you're trying to find the right photographer for your wedding - someone who sees the world in a way that inspires you.

What Do You Want to Remember?

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When you look through your wedding album next week, or next year, or in twenty years, what memories do you want those photographs to bring back?

Do you want to remember the time when the wedding photographer told you to go and stand by that tree and look into each other's eyes?

Or the time when the photographer told you to stop half way down the aisle and smile?

Or the time when the photographer told everyone to throw the confetti at you?

Or, do you want to remember the way you felt on your wedding day, the friends and family that congratulated you, the reaction of your parents as they watched you say your vows?

As a wedding photographer I see my job as capturing the real moments and emotions of your wedding day - not creating fake ones.

Booking a Photographer : Important Tip #2

When it comes to choosing a photographer, its important to choose someone who is showing work that you would be happy to receive yourself.

Photographers are careful about the work they choose to show in albums and on websites. Its chosen to show off their style at its best, and to attract clients that want that style.

However brilliant a photographer is at shooting traditional, formally posed photographs, it doesn't mean that you can ask them to shoot photojournalism and expect the same level of quality. And the reverse applies too - photojournalists call themselves that because that's what they're good at. And if you're looking for a contemporary, editorial fashion style of photography then again, make sure that's what the photographer is showing as their best work.

You know the saying "Jack of all trades, master of none" - really good photographers tend to be really good at specific things.

It doesn't mean that a photojournalist can't shoot group photos or that traditional photographers can't shoot candid photos. They just won't be as good at it as a specialist.

I specialise in photojournalism because its what I'm good at. The work I show on my website and in my sample albums is photojournalism and clients come to me because that's the way they want their wedding photographed.