my styleIn a nutshell
Ok, let’s dive into my approach on your wedding day and why couples book with me; obviously it’s because of the outstanding picture quality, great compositions, beautiful colours but its much more than that, couples book with me as they want a relaxed vibe at their wedding, they want a wedding photographer who is easy going and cares about couples having a wedding day rather than a contrived photoshoot in a field leaving guests wondering where they are. If that sounds like you, we’re off to a good start!
You may have seen the statement ‘It’s a wedding, not a photoshoot’ elsewhere on my website as this one statement really does reflect how I want your images to appear.
For the majority of your wedding day I work in a documentary fashion, letting the day unfold as natural as possible, anticipating moments and beautiful interactions from friends and family. The only posed part of your day is the family portraits which you can read about below. Even the couple portraits are 95% unposed, authentic and relaxed; generally holding hands and taking a walk through the venue grounds with a touch of editorial beauty thrown in for those couples who want to showcase a bit more of a posed connection on camera.
I’m hoping my approach so far is resonating with you, if so keep reading. If not, I’m probably not the guy for you and I wish you all the best with your wedding. Hopefully you’re still here. Let’s carry on!
Your storythrough my eyes
My photography is driven by human interaction and emotion, observing and documenting the beautiful authentic and honest moments throughout your wedding day; Dad crying as he see’s you for the first time, nan wiping a tear during the speeches, the super tight hugs after the ceremony, these are the moments I love to document – I’m there for you and your story.
No two weddings are the same and that’s due to the people, i.e. you, your guests and your family – this is why I document your story and don’t approach weddings with preconceived ideas or shot lists, I let your day dictate the images, I observe and capture the moments that are real and honest to your day – creating images that you look back on and feel the emotion and the atmosphere rather than staged false and contrived poses.
As a luxury wedding photographer I work with just 20 select couples per year in order to give my fullest effort, more care and attention and to deliver a high level of service and quality, the benefits of exclusively shooting 20 weddings compared to say 60 per year, is I never work back to back weddings which allows me to stay late and be fresh in order to deliver the very best I can for my couples.
the formalfamily portraits
When it comes to the ‘family photos’ I always advocate a V.I.P approach taking just 10 minutes with Grandparents, Parents, bridesmaids, Groomsmen and Siblings. At this point in your wedding day you have around 60 minutes before sitting down for speeches or your wedding breakfast and I want you to be with your friends and family enjoying yourselves, instead of standing in a spot waiting for aunty Susan as she went to check in. You get it right?
Nobody wants to stand in the same place for 40 minutes. Keeping it to the VIPs makes the family formals relaxed and straight forward (usually).
If your looking for more group photos such as all aunties, uncles, second cousins, etc – They are possible later in the day when your under no time constraints, however, I would always advise sticking with the VIP groups and then just enjoy your day.
Remember the whole reason you book with me is to enjoy your day and not turn it into a photo shoot. It’s always worth saying I’m there for you and if you want 100 group photos thats fine but you will miss out on a lot of the authentic and heartfelt moments I would usually document by standing around doing groups.
the superrelaxed portraits
Most couples hate getting their photo taking, never mind being asked to do awkward poses you would never do in real life. Just like the rest of the day unfolding naturally I believe your portraits should too. My extent of direction will be suggesting where to stand or walk – nothing staged, nothing posed, unless your a couple who want’s editorial styled photographs, in those circumstances I can direct you, but, on the whole the portrait sessions are kept really relaxed and light-hearted.
As I eluded to earlier, the wedding is a wedding, not a photoshoot. I see group photos and couple portraits as a trade-off. The longer I spend capturing them the less time I have to document your wedding guests laughing, drinking, chatting, jumping about on space hoppers, you get the idea.
So with that in mind when it comes to couple portraits I usually find two 5 minute windows in the day where you won’t be missed ask you to hold hands and simply go for a walk. The two 5 minute portrait sessions are super relaxed, I can even play your favourite music whilst we capture them to help relax you further.
The after-partyI've got you covered
I love to shoot the dance floor, typically an hour of dance floor carnage from 8pm-9pm is enough to complete the story of the wedding photos.
I stay later to really complete your wedding story rather than just leaving straight after the 1st dance – for couples who have things planned later into the night such as fireworks or maybe it’s New Years Eve I do offer the option to add further hours past 9pm.
