What is your most memorable wedding?
Obviously my own! But weddings that I’ve captured....one of them had a falconry expert doing a display in the venue grounds (nothing to do with the wedding). My bride and groom joked that it would be cool to have some photos done with the birds, so I was a bit cheeky and asked and they were more than happy to oblige! It made for some very unusual and memorable photos, it was a good bit of fun too!
Describe your style in 5 adjectives.
Relaxed, natural, creative, fun
What about your business are you most proud of?
That so many of the guests and wedding couples comment on how nice it was for us to be a part of their wedding. I often feel like I start the wedding process with clients as a photographer, but end it feeling like a friend.
What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?
Spend time talking to each other about what is important to each of you when it comes to your wedding day. That way you’ll know where your priorities are when you’re planning things like budget, venue, style, number of guests.
What is your favourite personal touch you have seen at a wedding?
There are so many cool things I’m not sure I could pick one....I love when friends and couples have all worked together to make something for the wedding, like favours and decorations. It just makes things so much more special and meaningful.
Describe your typical process with a couple.
Initial informal chat via phone or email.
Face to face meet up.
Pre wedding day venue visits.
Always available for questions/suggestions and queries leading up to the big day.
Photography of the wedding day.
Previews emailed that night or next morning.
Online preview gallery and password made available within a few days.
Full set of images delivered within 4 weeks (usually sooner).
What is the No. 1 photo that you think every couple should take?
Depends what is important to the couple, but I love a confetti or bubble shot personally!
It’s often a great way of getting a sincere, fun and natural reaction from the couple and their guests!
What is the most original photo you’ve been asked to take at a wedding?
It’s cropped up a few times with me....because of my background as a forensic photographer, couples have asked if I’ll take a photo of them laying down playing dead!
I love a sense of humour!
What do you recommend for a rainy day wedding?
The ability to trust me and roll with it!
I supply a couple of big bridal brollies and always do a pre wedding day venue visit with my couples so we have a wet weather contingency plan.
But trust me, and roll with it when I ask you to run outside for 5 minutes when there’s a sudden break in the weather, or I might ask you to come to a covered area that you may think looks uninspiring, but trust me, I always have my photo head on and can see the shot I’m after - even if it’s not obvious to you!
Describe how you got into photography.
THE NUTSHELL VERSION;
I have only ever worked in photography.
7 years for Kodak and 14 years as a Forensic Photographer, while always capturing weddings and portraits alongside my ‘day job’.
THE FULL VERSION;
I’ve always been arty/creative/visual.
I worked for Kodak when I was a teenager studying photography on wet film. I decided against going to uni last minute as I wanted to learn from photographers instead of teachers, so I used my days off work to shadow different pro photographers in a number of styles. I covered opera dress rehearsals at the London Collosium; brochure work for bespoke kitchen designers and posh swimming pool companies; journalism with national and local newspapers; glamour models for a biker magazine; weddings, portraits and events for all sorts of different clients.
I held a photography exhibition when I was just 20 showing African wildlife and soon after at 21 I joined the Forensic Photography unit at Surrey. Everything was still on wet film and I helped with the transition to capturing photographic evidence digitally.
I spent 14 years working as a Forensic Imaging Specialist which covered crime scene photography, specialist lightning techniques to show evidence not visible to the naked eye, presentation of 360 degree imagery and virtual tours of crime scenes in court and I taught photography to other members of the force.
Alongside my forensic work I have always covered weddings and portraits and shot my first wedding in 2008.
Forensics was an amazing experience, but it just doesn’t satisfy my creative side, and it’s not always that pleasant a subject matter!
So I turned to photographing weddings full time and I love it!