Valentine's Day

After a week off from shooting it was good to get behind the lens again on Saturday to photograph the wedding of Amanda and James. And the weather showed it did have a heart after all, with no rain or snow in sight and temperatures managing to get into double figures, just!
The ceremony was held at the Archbishop's Palace, a nice setting for a wedding by the river in Maidstone, a venue I know very well. I was a bit concerned about the group pictures after the ceremony, as the couple really wanted them taken with the Palace in the background. Not especially difficult you might think, but given that it was a Saturday, Valentine's day and the Palace has two ceremony rooms, there was the potential to have six couples outside at the same time if the previous couples wanted lots of pictures and the following couples were early! I had a Plan B to fall back on, but in the end we had a lucky break and managed to get all the images needed.

After the groups, we let the guests move on to the reception while we wandered off around the Palace and did some pictures with just the couple. Lots of good place's at the Archbishop's to take pictures!

The reception was at Priestfield Stadium, home of Gillingham Football Club who were, luckily, playing away. I'v worked at the side of the pitch at Gillingham quite a few times in the past but this was my first wedding reception at a footy ground! It was very surreal to photograph a bride and groom in the Rainham End!

Back to photographing football this week, I have a shoot at a Russian restaurant with the Premiership trophy and some Russian Arsenal supporters mid week and game on Saturday.

Uncle Bob

One of the things that came up a few times at the Excel wedding show over the weekend was brides using relatives or friends to shoot their wedding images. I would be chatting to a bride who had stopped at my stand and ask them if they had found a photographer for their wedding. "Well, sort of" was the answer I got from brides who were using relatives or friends, 'Uncle Bob' as they are affectionately known! One bride even admitted that Uncle Bob had recently shot a landmark family birthday, "I even gave him a 4 gigabyte card so he should have been able to take hundreds of images during the day, when I looked at them on my computer the next day, he'd only taken 15 pictures......"
The digital age has changed photography over the last eight or so years, most mobile phones these days have a bigger file size than the first pro cameras I had. Compacts and DSLR's are now better, faster and cheaper than ever before and almost everyone has a camera of some description available to them. Just because someone has a DSLR and enjoys photography doesn't mean they can produce a body of top quality work that captures the day. And they can't go back next week and try and shoot it again, you only get one chance.
But this is the biggest day in a brides life and after the cake has been eaten and the champagne drunk, photographs are the only things you have left. I love shooting weddings, I could happily shoot one every week, but it's a full on day. Once started, you don't have a minute to waste to get all the images your couple want. You have to know what's going to happen next, what lens to have on your camera and where to be. You have to know what to do when things go wrong, when things run late (which they always do!) and when the wonderful British weather conspires against you. And after the big day, how to process and edit over 14 gigs of raw images and produce a beautiful book.


If you know a bride who has "sort of" booked her photographer, please get her to think again. Let Uncle Bob take the pictures he wants to take and enjoy the day, let the professional photographer do a professional job.