Mark O'Brien Photography

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  • £2,000Price from
  • 50+Weddings shot
Hi! I'm a wedding photographer based in London and shoot weddings all over the UK. I gravitate towards a documentary approach, going for real expressions and emotions for down to earth couples ;-)
Mark O'Brien Photography Pricing & Costs

Pricing for suppliers

Prices Start at
£2,000
Mark O'Brien Photography Details

Photography Style

Documentary

Products and Services

Bridal Prep Shots
Back-Up Equipment
Online Proofing
Flexible Hours on the Day
Stay Through Speeches
Stay Through Dancing
Large Group Shots
Second Shooter Available
Wedding Albums
Personal Online Gallery
Pre-Wedding Venue Visit
Pre-Wedding Consultation
Digital Editing / Airbrushing
Photo Printing
Mark O'Brien Photography Full Description
It’s all about people, not about photos! I think it’s crucial to choose a wedding photographer that you have a good connection with and trust. My philosophy has always been to shoot a wedding from the inside rather than the outside. Being professional is important, being personal is the key. I like to capture people the way they are, not engineering them into someone they’re not. It's not actually that easy to do this, it's more than simply turning up and firing away. To me, it's all about understanding who my couples are - it's why grabbing a coffee and talking about how you two met is really important. I'm genuinely interested, as it will help me to push the right buttons on the day - and GET YOU! All of my couples are very different, if I can capture them the way they really are, all my work will be different. When your friends and family view your wedding photos, I want them to say “that’s so them!!!”. Working with me means that you will get my full attention. I'm big on communication, it's important for me to know how you tick and what's important to you... it's equally important for you to understand my ethos towards shooting weddings - that way we can work as a team and build the atmosphere that gets you the truly great photos. I'm partnered with GraphiStudio and have a range of beautiful wedding books and albums - nothing gets printed until you're totally happy with it. Do get in touch to find out more!

Personal Message from the Manager

Name of Wedding Contact: Mark O'Brien
Welcome to my Bridebook profile - I hope it gives you a taste of my photography flavour. Please do get in touch if you'd like some more info about working with me... I'd love to hear about you and your big day!

Experience

Year Business Was Established
2011
No. of Weddings Hosted
More than 50
Public Liability Insurance
Yes
No. of People In Team
1
Reviews
(6)
(6)
Isabella & Ryan
Happy couple married in June
December 2018
Mark was absolutely fantastic!

Mark was absolutely fantastic from the very first time we met him. He met with us before the wedding and we even went to visit our venues together. Our guests are still telling us how lovely and great our photographer was. No one could have done it better! Thanks Mark!!

Philippa & Manuel
Happy couple married in August
December 2018
Mark was a fantastic photographer!

Mark was a fantastic photographer. As I was overseas planning the wedding was difficult. I had many skype conversations and emails with Mark and he was very patient and very helpful. He made a real effort to get to know us and what we wanted, he even visited all the venues before the wedding. He helped from start to finish and on the day he was great I even forgot he was there. I have recieved the photos and they are fantastic, I cannot wait for the album!!! Thanks Mark for everything if I ever need a photographer again you are the one I will choose!

Ishma & Kasim
Happy couple married in April
December 2018
Mark is an amazing person!

Mark is an amazing person! He photographed our wedding and I can't even find a fault. He really made an effort to get to know us and understand what we were looking for and really captured our personalities in our pictures. His customer service and communication is to the highest standard and we really enjoyed working with Him. Definitely recommend him if your looking for a fun and fabulous photographer for your big day. Thank you mark. From Ishma and Kasim

Stephanie & Craig
Happy couple married in February
December 2018
I couldn’t have asked for a better photographer!

Craig and I couldn’t have asked for a better photographer on our wedding day. After meeting Mark for the first time we knew that we could relax in the knowledge that he would take amazing photos and it was a huge weight off our shoulders as we had 100% confidence in him. The pre-wedding shoot was great fun and got us practicing poses for the big day. On the wedding day itself, Mark gave great direction and got everyone involved. The end product was just what we had hoped for and after hearing horror stories from friends who had problems with their photographers, we feel very luck to have met Mark.

Cat & Matt
Happy couple married in August
December 2018
Couldn’t be happier with our decision to have Mark

We couldn’t be happier with our decision to have mark as our wedding photographer. He was professional, easy and fun to work with and the photos are 10x better than I thought they could be. He seemed to capture every part of our day and make it look absolutely beautiful, yet on the day we hardly knew he was there. Thanks mark, your great! X

Diana & Stephen
Happy couple married in October
December 2018
One of the best choices we made for our wedding!

Having Mark as our wedding photographer was a great experience and one of the best choices we made for our wedding day. From the moment we met Mark over email, to when we had our pre-wedding meeting, he immediately put us at ease and made us feel comfortable and confident about our decision. On our wedding day, Mark was punctual, professional and always had a smile on his face. He was wam and friendly with our guests, but assertive enough to get everyone in the right place, at the right time, for our gorgeous group photos. We had such a happy evening the other day, going through the photos, laughing at the moments he had captured that we did not even know about, reminiscing on emotional moments and generally just reliving the whole magical day! Our wedding photos are stunning, perfectly capturing the essence of the day, telling a beautiful and romantic story, from getting ready in the morning @ The Petersham Hotel, to dancing the night away in the evening @ Pembroke Lodge. Mark captured not only the beauty of our elegant guests but also the natural beauty of our romantically autumnal landscape setting @ Richmond Park. Thank you for all your attention to detail in photographing all the little things we had worked so hard on, and for being a wonderfully easy and happy presence throughout the day! Your photos are full of character and timeless. They will give us pleasure for years to come and we are so grateful for this special treasure. We could not have asked for anyone better to be part of our special day! We wholeheartedly recommend Mark O'Brien Photography! Diana & Stephen

Mark O'Brien Photography Location & Contact Details
Address
Worcester Park, Greater London, England, United Kingdom
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FAQs
Find out a bit more from our FAQs

What is your most memorable wedding?

I photographed a wedding in Tours, France. It wasn't a destination wedding in the traditional sense - two brits getting married abroad. Oh no - two French people getting married in France, with an English photographer. They discovered me on Facebook and asked if I'd be interested in doing it - how could I refuse? I had a lovely translator (my French is much better now) and totally loved it. The traditions were very different and we finished at 3am with Chinese Lanterns - the couple then drove off in a vintage Citroen 2cv... how French is that??? Oh yeah, there was an airshow blasting away directly above us as we exited la mairie! Amazing experience and I've been back a few times shooting their friend's weddings. Does that mean I'm global now?

Describe your style in 5 adjectives.

Gallivant, explore, discover, gut, instinct.

What about your business are you most proud of?

Well, I don't try to be too business like actually - I'm an "I" not a "we", unless I have a second photographer for the day of course. I guess my moto would be, human being first, photographer second. Being professorial is really important, but being personal is HUGE! I'm happy to put this at the centre of my business.

What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?

Commit to not getting stressed about it right from the moment you get engaged. Your wedding will feel like it's for everyone else at times, but remember - it's an expression of you as a couple. Don't let the day become bigger than you.

What is your favourite personal touch you have seen at a wedding?

I think it's pretty cool when couples write their own vows - a minute or two when someone opens the lid on their real feelings in front of all their friends and family. It's probably the only time they have ever done/will ever do this... if it doesn't choke them, it chokes everyone else! Also happens in the speeches sometimes.

Describe your typical process with a couple.

Initial contact is usually made online, which is great for covering items such as availability and services. However, I usually recommend scheduling a phone call so that we can dive a little deeper into exactly how things are done. Once a couple wishes to commit to a booking, I guide them through a very simple procedure of signing the terms of agreement and placing a deposit (which is 25% of the total fee). Once a couple is booked in, we can then turn out attention to the fun stuff - including a visit to the venue(s) and plenty of tea & coffee whilst discussing you and your wedding plans. The wedding photos will be culled and edited over a couple of weeks after the wedding, then made available to view and download from an interactive online gallery. If an album has been ordered, the couple can select the images they'd like featured from their online gallery. There will then be opportunities to make amendments afterwards.

What is the No. 1 photo that you think every couple should take?

Yes, I defiantly think you should take the No. 1 photo... and the number 2, 3, 4, 5... I think the priority should be to capture stuff as it happens and not get bogged down with some sort of "the" shot. That way, you'll always end up with "the" shot. Having said that, I love taking that last photo before I go! I usually arrange something creative and original outside in the dark and testing it on one of the guests. I can then ask the couple to pop outside for a minute and get something really special... very quickly. That's always worth doing!

What is the most original photo you’ve been asked to take at a wedding?

I was asked by the Father of the bride to take a photo of him punching through a watermelon. He was based in hong-kong and trained MMA fighters for a living... he spent 45 minutes driving around Portsmouth looking for a fruit and veg shop. Sadly we never found one... we had to settle for him twisting an apple in half :-(

What do you recommend for a rainy day wedding?

Embrace it! Reflections, halo lighting effects, puddle portraits, umbrella shots, rain on window photos... see it as an opportunity to do something that you can only do on a rainy day. I brief all my couples on "what if it rains". Look out for a rain photo at night in my gallery - you can't do that if it's nice ;-)

Describe how you got into photography.

My parents took my younger brother and I to Venice when I was 6, my Dad let me shoot a roll of slide film in St. Mark's Square with his Olympus OM10. I didn't know what I was doing, but I remember being totally blown away when my Mum projected my photos onto our living room wall when we retuned. I've been addicted ever since!
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