WHAT’S YOUR BEST SEASON FOR A WEDDING?

Oh my gosh, that’s so hard, as every season has it’s joys for a wedding. Spring weddings, have a burst of new life and often some of the most stable weather all year! Summer weddings, with those gorgeous long summer evenings, where you can take your time to do those gorgeous couple portraits. And Winter Weddings, especially if they are Christmas Weddings! But all round, because I’m a Autumn lover, those Autumn Weddings with the best light of the year and those amazing colours, has to be my all-round favourite!

SHOULD YOU FEED YOUR PHOTOGRAPHER?

Personally, it’s not in my contract - it feels a bit rude to me. Having said that 100% of my couples always do it, and it is SO appreciated. Their view is that those little touches they can do for you, like offering food and drink, goes someway to showing how much my hard work is appreciated. I am often at a wedding for 10-12 hours, on my feet for much of it, pin sharp focused, so a 15 minute sit down with a hot meal nourishes me no end! Just a main course though please - if you give me 3 courses you’ll find me on the sofa for a nap!!

HOW MANY GROUP PHOTOS ARE TOO MANY?

I personally would say anything more than 6 main group shots (between your wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast) and you’ll be feeling like your day is one big photoshoot! Having said that I split my group shots putting some in the morning and some between the wedding ceremony and wedding breakfast, so those 6 don’t include portraits of the bride and bridesmaids, groom and groomsmen etc. My style is much more documentary wedding photography, capturing those natural moments on the day, but completely understand a few, selected group wedding photographs are a must for most of my couples.

HOW DO YOU PREFER TO CONTACT YOUR COUPLES?

Now, that is an interesting question?! Face to face, or telephone every time! I’m a sucker for human connection so for me it’s all about those human ‘touch points’. I understand though that everyone is busy, so as technology has developed, so have I.

I often communicate with my wedding couples via Skype, Zoom, Whatsapp video, FaceTime, whatever they prefer. Especially if they are overseas, it so helpful, to building that relationship, even if they are the other side of the world.

I do a lot of video’s too for couples too. Rather than reading great big ‘walls of text’ a little visual snippet helps build that relationship. After all you need to gel with your wedding photographer as you will be spending most of your wedding day with them…even seeing them in your underwear!

DO YOU DO ANY OTHER PHOTOGRAPHY APART FROM WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY?

Yes, I absolutely do! Many of my wedding couples come back a few years after they have got married, to ask me to capture their children, so family portraiture is a big part of my photography business. I have many couples whose life journey I have followed through from engagement, to wedding and then the start of new life with them. One of my favourite couples, who are now more like friends to me, have been with me for 9 years, now and I am currently photographing their second child on my Bumps to Babies Collection.

As well as portraiture and events for wedding clients, I have a thriving business photographing brand photography for businesses, entrepreneurs, and sports personalities, as well as my overseas charity brand photography I do.

Each additional job you book me for, or recommend me a gift voucher comes whizzing your way, as a huge thank you for your loyalty.

HAVE YOU EVER LOST ANY CLIENTS PHOTOGRAPHS?

Yes, once! There we go - I’m the brave one who says it happens sometimes.

It was 11 years ago, before technology was what it is today and everyone was using CD’s to back-up images. I was using the best discs money could buy and I had backed-up everything, but when I went to retrieve it, 8 of the images (out of 1,000) were unable to be opened. It turns out there was a “sector” on the disc that had not been manufactured properly and was corrupted in the factory. The only images that were lost, was the ‘everyone’ group shot. The bride in question was so sweet and because we had the smaller group photos, she was happy, and even sent me a bunch of flowers, to say thank you for everything I’d done.

I have always been the MOST safe and secure person when it comes to image storage. I have hard drives, which work on a RAID system and back-up twice to safeguard against disk failure AND I have cloud back-up. Other photographers I know think I’m crazy! I have two full sets of memory cards too, so that I never deleted from the memory cards, until I’m sure they are safely on another form of media.

WHAT’S THE BIGGEST CHANGE YOU’VE SEEN IN WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SINCE THE START OF YOUR CAREER?

The length of time I am at a wedding day, for sure! When I first started everyone thought I was mad as I was there for a whole 6 hours; from the start of the wedding ceremony to the end of the speeches, after the wedding breakfast. Now its normal for me as a wedding photographer to be there between 10-14 hours, right to the end of the party, to capture the whole day.

IS IT TRUE YOU CRY AT EVERY WEDDING?

Yes, who wouldn’t shed tear?! It’s such a beautiful moving day, and as I get to know my couples so well on the lead up to their wedding day, I am invested in their lives. I have always said the day I stop crying at weddings is the day I stop working as a wedding photographer, as I simply won’t feel it anymore, and therefore am not giving my all.

Don’t worry though - I’m not a blubbering wreck in the corner, it’s just a small ‘something in my eye’ usually hidden behind the camera, during the First Look, the vows, the wedding speeches, or the Father / Daughter dance. Certain pieces of poignant music trigger me too and I can never get through A Thousand Years by Christina Perry in one piece, thanks to a very emotional first dance 6 years ago!!

YOU ARE ALWAYS ON THE GO, ALWAYS TRAVELLING, ALWAYS WORKING, NEVER AT HOME ON A WEEKEND - WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO KEEP GOING?! AND HOW DO YOU DO IT?!

LOL…you see the crazy home life, the packing up, the loading the car, the declines on neighbourhood events and summer BBQ’s, so you might have a skewed view of my life! Although we are currently in the quieter winter period, so maybe I’ve just forgotten how crazy life gets in the summer!!

I’ve been asked this before and do you know, I couldn’t put my finger on it then either. I think for me, every day is different and I am wholly a master of my own destiny, choosing to craft a business, and way of life I love. Having said that, I don’t love filing my end of year accounts, so maybe that’s not entirely true!! No, seriously, I genuinely love wedding photography, my business, my wedding couples, my suppliers, and it sounds cheesy but doing the best for and by them, is what motivates me to get up in the morning and get going.

And as for how I physically manage it…I eat as well as I can, and keep as fit as I can. I juice every morning, make sure I eat my 5 a day, have a balanced (often mainly vegetarian) diet, and, as I’m always sober at most of the big events I’m at, don’t get chance to overdo the G&T’s! I also walk the dog (lots), run, throw shapes on a yoga mat and do some strength training to keep my muscles working for lifting that blinking heavy camera equipment at weddings!

love. V