Hillier James Photography

Wow, so many great ones; I guess one in particular stands out- I shot one at a family farm, which was in a stunning hill top location in Suffolk (yes there is the odd hill in Suffolk ha); they had smoke bombs as the adult favours and in unison roughly 100 guests let off different coloured smoke bombs; I got some great shots in the ten or so seconds before it just became a mad colourful happy melee of people running round blindly; it was followed by the most stunning sunset...what a day.

Natural, Relaxed, Timeless, Emotive, Documentary

I guess it's not so much the business I am proud of; I am of course happy it continues to be successful but what I am really proud of is how many happy couples I have worked with and who have told me how much they love their photos. I am conscious to never forget just how important a wedding day is to people and everyone I shoot is special to me and I always strive to create something truly personal and beautiful for my lovely couples.

Timings are crucial for making a wedding flow properly. Don't let the venue dictate the timings if they don't fit with your ideas for the day; just because the other few hundred weddings the venue have hosted followed a set time table doesn't mean yours has to. Many couples fall into the trap of having a short drinks reception after the ceremony which feels rushed, only to then have a two hour gap after the meal before the evening starts. As a minimum allow 1.5 hours for the drinks reception (2 hours is the sweet spot) and try and keep the after dinner break before the music to an hour maximum, so that the day flows nicely from one part to the next and doesn't allow the energy to drop before the dancing kicks off!

I am more than happy to discuss your timings with you if you need guidance when planning your wedding, after all, we photographers are one of the only services that get to see the day from start to finish, so we know what works best in terms of timings and flow.

I'm a big fan of DIY wedding details and touches. Things that really convey who the couple are and what they are into, or anything home made. I am also a big fan of when people are not afraid to go very minimalist with their design. If you love details, go big with it, but if you don't, then don't be afraid to just go minimalist and elegant; as long as it represents you, you can't go wrong.

I am fortunate these days that many of my couples find me through people they know or their relatives who's weddings I have shot. So when they enquire with me they are already pretty familiar with me and my services. From there we normally have several email exchanges and then normally a Skype or zoom call to chat in person. I have stopped travelling for meetings in a bid to make my business more environmentally friendly as with technology as it is these days there is little need for a physical meeting; a video call saves everybody time and saves the environment too. After paying a booking fee to secure their date, I then send couples a day planner form one month before the wedding so they can provide me with all the finer details about the day. At any time during the process I am more than happy to jump on a video call if they couple want to chat things over in more detail too.

This is where I don't have an answer as there is no one shot that should be preconceived before the day. There are lots of shots synonymous with wedding photography and in the due course of the day they are inevitably taken by us, but I don't think couples should get hung up on individual photos, unless it is a special request, such as a photo with such and such person who is very special to them.

Embrace it! The weather is the one thing you cannot control, so try not to get to hung up over it. Have a contingency plan if it does rain of course, as will I, but just know that having it rain ALL day is pretty rare, so try not to worry. I have a plan for the day I follow to make sure I get the photos I need, but even that plan is fluid and can change to work in with the weather.

Years of travelling with a camera. It started in the southern hemisphere when I was 18 and hasn't stopped since. I have taken pictures of tribes in Papua New Guinea, snowboarders and skiers in the Canadian Rockies and many stunning places in between. One resounding commonality in all that is I love taken pictures of people, so weddings was a natural progression for me.