Deciding who the right people are to create the story of your wedding day is huge decision and investment, so having the piece of mind of knowing that you understand the process of securing your date, and what to expect from us along the way, reassures you that you’re in safe hands. Here are the questions we have been asked most often from couples we have worked with before.
There are a lot of different ways to describe styles and approaches to photography and I have never felt like I fitted neatly into one because I tend to incorporate bits of them all at various points of the day.
The best way to describe what I do is mainly photo journalistic and documentary as I prefer to let things happen rather than setting things up or overly manipulating them. But I want to make sure you and your wedding photos look amazing, so if there are suggestions I can make to improve the aesthetics with positioning and lighting then I will. Many couples also want a little direction at certain times because they are unsure and if that is how you feel then I am happy to give that direction and encouragement.
The main thing for me is that you feel comfortable and relaxed. I create natural feeling work that will be authentic to you as a couple and your personalities.
In our opinion, both are as important as each other, but they provide you with different memories. Being able to hang a frozen moment in time, on your wall, to enjoy everyday as you sit on your sofa or walk past it in the hallway, is where still images thrive. A video is more focussed, you have to purposefully watch it, but when you do, the sound and movement combined really brings the memory back to life. Modern videography allows for greater creativity, potentially way beyond what you have previously seen!
Before your wedding we will have sent you a questionnaire to find our a little more about you both and details about the wedding day timeline and the key people involved in your day, these questions are key to us creating your unique story. Then a week or two before the big day we arrange a video call to go through all the fine details and become acquainted with each other before we spend the day together!
Your balance is usually due 2 weeks prior to the date of the wedding, unless you have requested an alternative arrangement with me.
Before this date an invoice reminder will be sent via email and the final payment is preferred via bank transfer but card payments are also available.
The booking process is really simple and can all be done online through our client portal.
When I send you a quote over you will be able to select the options you want from a list, and once you accept the quote you will be provided with an online contract to review and sign electronically. Following this there is a short form to complete collecting your contact information and following this an invoice for the £250 booking retainer will be generated. This can be paid via bank transfer or card payment, the process is then complete and I am officially your storyteller!
After you enquire with me through our contact form, or email/call I will send you some more information and invite you to have a video/phone call consultation. I use a scheduling service so that you can choose the time and method that suits you rather than having to message back and forth to find an appropriate time.
I love to get to know people and give you the opportunity to ask any questions directly. You are welcome to visit me in person if you prefer at my studio based in Yorkshire near Wakefield.
Absolutely, I would always encourage you to look through full photo galleries and a variety of films before you choose your wedding storyteller.
Once I know a little more about your plans I will send you more of my work which matches the style of venue and the time of year you plan to get married.
Typically with photo and video work the copyright remains with the creator apart from more complex commercial arrangements. I give you permission to distribute, use or print your images however you like as long as it is for personal use – they are your memories.
If you wish to sell any of the work I produce for commercial gain then I would expect to be included in this arrangement to protect how the work is used.
We always aim to deliver your films or photographs within 8 weeks of the wedding, on many occasions it will be much sooner than this. Our contract does say it may take up to 6 months, this is in case unexpected life events happen that delay our progress – we never want to rush the quality of what we deliver.
My preference is to be with you ‘All Day’ because I think this is the best way to tell a full and comprehensive story. My all day coverage is typically 10 hours and this will cover most peoples plans from getting ready in the morning until after the first dance in the evening.
But weddings are unique and not everyone will have the same format and timings for their day, so I am flexible around you plans and what you want. If you require extended coverage you can pay an hourly rate to extend the day beyond 10 hours to whatever you need it to be, and I also have the option for adding on additional days for multi-day weddings.
Of course, it would be daft not to have our gear insured and we have public liability and professional indemnity insurance. When using the drone we use a pay as we go drone insurance service.
Most people don’t need to know how the sausage is made, they just want it to taste good! But if you want to geek out with me about camera gear, we use a number of Sony Mirrorless cameras and we currently have the Sony A1, the A7siii the A7 iv and a number of other cameras as well as a range of Sony, Tamron and Sigma prime and zoom lenses. We use DJI drones and gimbals, rotolight LED video lights, godox strobes and rode/zoom/tascam/sony microphones etc to capture nice clear audio. We have your wedding covered – but we use all this stuff sparingly because we don’t want you to feel like you are on a film set!
That is completely up to you. I can advise you what will work best once I understand a little more about your plans and the logistics of your day. Most weddings I can cover by myself as a solo photographer / videographer, but obviously additional storytellers mean that more can be captured.
For example, capturing both of you getting ready in separate locations, or where there are multiple venues incorporated into your day, are likely to require at least 2 storytellers. If all of your plans are taking place in one venue it is likely 1 storyteller will be able to capture everything. It may also depend on the service we are providing and the final products you would like to receive.
It may feel like the prices you are quote seem expensive for providing a service on your wedding day. However, consider that we have invested tens of thousands of pounds into equipment, even more into education, and there are the ongoing costs of running a business.
Thats before we add in the time spent planning and consulting with you before your day and the days after the wedding it takes to edit your story into the finished product we send to you. Although we love what we do, we have to charge enough to run a sustainable business and have a reasonable standard of living.
Expensive weddings are a luxury and we are providing a luxury service – but we know how valuable our service will be to you in the future.
Absolutely. Although I offer both photo and video for some weddings, I enjoy working alongside other photographers and have been fortunate to spend wedding days with some amazing talents in the photography industry.
If you have already booked a photographer or have one you specifically want to take your photos, then I would always prefer you go with them for your stills and I can make you an amazing film!
The benefits as we see it are you can have just one person, or one team capturing your day, so it keeps communication before, during and after the wedding simple, you only have one invoice to pay, and there will be consistency between the aesthetics of the photo and videos. Depending on what you are looking to book there may also be some cost savings compare to hiring two separate businesses.
Historically the equipment used for photography and filmmaking was very different, high quality video production required a lot of expensive equipment that was heavy and complicated to use. In recent years technology has advanced to a point where cinema quality footage can be captured on photography style cameras. This enables us to switch between still and moving images quickly and with ease.
The ability to compose images and tell the story consistently between the two formats comes from many weddings worth of experience, and focussing on capturing people and the emotion in a natural way, rather than sticking to technical rules and old fashioned methods.
The short answer is yes. If you can afford both video and photo they will probably be the best investments you make for your wedding day.
If I had to choose just one it would be video because I get to feel more emotion through moving images accompanied by sound, but that is just my preference. Fortunately because I offer both and can provide a hybrid photo and video package you may not need to choose as both may be affordable!
In our opinion, both are as important as each other, but they provide you with different memories. Being able to hang a frozen moment in time, on your wall, to enjoy everyday as you sit on your sofa or walk past it in the hallway, is where still images thrive.
A video is more focussed, you have to purposefully watch it, but when you do, the sound and movement combined really brings the memory back to life. Modern videography allows for greater creativity, potentially way beyond what you have previously seen!
It’s difficult to work out what constitutes being ‘qualified’ in a creative industry, because anyone has the ability to learn how to do something and offer a service. So it is probably more important to establish if you personally like the work someone creates, are then consistent in what they produce and do you get on with them as a person.
But if you want to judge on something measurable, then I have around 10 years of experience capturing weddings, with lots of reviews from happy couples, and I have a first class honours degree in Media and Photography.
If you have a question that hasn’t been answered, I would love to hear from you.