Richardson and Keisha's Pre-Wedding Shoot

We had a full and enjoyable day with Richardson and Keisha at their wedding and reception venues early this month.

It was a cold, wet and foggy day just perfect for photography! Obviously, we had to adjust our plans for the shoot and stay indoors.

We started at Bromley Methodist Church which is the venue for their wedding in April. This is a light, airy and modern building and we have visited the Church on two occasions and have consistently received a wonderful warm welcome from the Church members. 

We arrived early and to our surprise were able to buy coffee and toasted teacakes to consume on the premises - what a wonderful way to attract new members to the congregation - food Saturday morning and a warm welcome - excellent! 

After a few shots in the Church we decided to go the the reception venue Farleigh Golf Club in Croydon some 10 miles away. The Club is set in a  350 acre estate on the North Surrey Downs and features a 27 hole Championship golf course with views stretching to Canary Wharf and The Shard. Although the fog was lifting a little we could not see the City much to Robert's disappointment.

The Clubhouse has just benefitted from a multi-million pound upgrade and looking around the facilities and the Course you can understand why the Club is so popular. The staff were also very accommodating ensuring we had a room available for our use and also taking us out on a Golf Buggy to see the Lake on the Course.

Here is a shot of Keisha driving the Buggy with the Lake in the background. Later she had to drive over a narrow bridge crossing a rather wet ditch - she was a little nervous here and couldn't stop giggling.

Overall, we had a lovely day with a young vibrant couple. We shared a late lunch together and left to join the traffic on the M25

Bob

Tips for brides (2) The relationship between you and your photographer.

Part Two: What you can do to help the photographer make the most of the day...

Organising a wedding is exciting and fun, but it can also be stressful. There are so many things to think about and so it is easy to forget some of the less essential things that need thinking about. One of these is the relationship between yourselves and the photographer. So, here are some tips for when you are thinking of booking a photographer, and for what needs to be done to make sure that you will get the very best out of him or her on the wedding day. 

In the previous post I identified what you should expect from your photographer. In this post, lets look at what you can do for the photographer to make the day run smoothly.

1.
Always leave 3hrs between the start of your ceremony and sitting down to eat the wedding breakfast. You will need slightly longer if there is a fair bit of time travelling from the reception to the venue. This will provide ample time for all the photos and will still leave you time to mingle with your guests.

2.

If the photographer is shooting your preparations, hairdo, make up, getting ready etc do make sure that you are fully dressed and ready to leave for the ceremony at least 30min before leaving. This gives the photographer time to take all those beautiful formal shots of you,  and of you and your parents and bridesmaids. If you are running late and are rushed, these photos will either not happen of will be too hastily done to be perfect. Exactly the same applies to the Groom if there is a photographer with him.

3.
Group photos after the ceremony really are a photographers nightmare! It always takes forever for a photographer to get all the various groups together and much time is wasted.

We like to get the group photos completed first so that the guests do not get restless and then spend 30 minutes with the bride and groom to capture those lovely romantic poses that make the wedding photos special. So it is essential that the group photos are organised in a timely and efficient way. We always ask the couple for a list of all the group photos they want, and it is even nicer if they can give us the names of the key people in the groups. For example, it is so much more personal when we can ask Mr & Mrs McGreggor to come forward rather than calling out "Mother of the Bride." Even better is for the ushers to be able to get the groups ready so, as we are taking pictures of one group, they are organising the next group.

4.
When you are organising the reception, do make sure that the photographers will be fed. It is almost impossible for them to bring lunch and leave it in the car on hot summer days. Few photographers will want a full wedding breakfast, but a plate of sandwiches served at the same time as your meal, helps them cope with what is a very long working day and shows that you do care for them!

5.
Check the weather forecast a week beforehand, and, if rain is forecast, invest is some plain white or transparent umbrellas. Coloured umbrellas can spoil the bride's colour scheme and can leave a colour cast on the skin. We always carry two white umbrellas with us, but if you need more they are worth the small investment.

I hope this helps.

If you have any photographer stories, do share them with us. Also, if you have any questions, please ask them and I will do my best to answer your queries.

Anna

Tips for Brides (1) - The relationship between you and your photographer.

Part One: What you should expect of the photographer.....

Organising a wedding is exciting and fun, but it can also be stressful. There are so many things to think about and so it is easy to forget some of the less essential things that need thinking about. One of these is the relationship between yourselves and the photographer. So, here are some tips for when you are thinking of booking a photographer, and for what needs to be done to make sure that you will get the very best out of him or her on the wedding day. 


1.
The photographer should always meet up with you at the beginning of your relationship, to find out the sorts of shots that you like or don't like. When you have that first meeting it is important that you can talk openly and honestly and share your thoughts and views. If you do not feel relaxed and comfortable with them, do not book.

2.
Always remember that the photographer is working for you - and not the other way round. It is your special day and you will need to share with them exactly what your expectations are, both on the day and beforehand.

3.
You should never feel under pressure to make a booking whilst the photographer is with you. We always leave our customers to think things over before booking. If you do make a booking whilst they are with you you will have seven days to change your mind and they should inform you of this.

4.
At this first meeting, you will be asking about the cost of the services they are offering. So often packages are offered online, but when you come to the point of signing up, or even worse, after the wedding, you find that there are many additional costs that were not initially apparent. So, ask exactly what cost is incurred. Is the storybook extra? Do you have copyright of the DVD of images? Will prints have to be bought from the photographer?  Is there a DVD slideshow included?

5.
Some photographers charge high prices. Whilst many of these are excellent photographers and worth every penny, just make sure that if you are paying mega money that the photographer's skills are worth it. Take a look at their portfolios and see if their work is exciting enough to warrant the high cost. I heard a horror story last week of a Mum who paid in excess of £2,000 for the photographer. He was there for the day and for that she received a DVD of the images. That would have been OK if the images had been really excellent, but they were little more than 'happy snaps' that an amateur could have taken with a point and press camera. Always remember though, that the day spent at the wedding is only a fraction of the time it will take for the photographer to process all the images, upload them, create a DVD and possibly a slideshow, and to create a storybook. It is at least a week's work and so prices do reflect this.

6.
Always ask how long it will take for you to be able to view the photos after the wedding, and will the photos be available online to view? We have heard tales where photos have not been available to the bride and groom many until weeks after the wedding day. In one case, the bride had not seen her photos three months later.

7.
Always ask what backup equipment the photographer will have on the day. Equipment can go wrong and it is vital that backup cameras and other equipment are available. Always ask if they hold professional indemnity insurance. You need to be able to feel absolute trust in your photographer on the day.

Anna

If you have any interesting photographer stories - do let us know.

Part Two will cover what the photographer will ask of you.

Pre-Wedding Shoots

PRE-WEDDING SHOOTS

Chris & Mia

We have only recently started to do pre-wedding shoots. In our early weddings, some of the couples, unused to having their photos taken, were so tense on their big day that they found it hard to relax in front of the camera. We realised that the pre-wedding shoots are invaluable in respect of the photos we are able to take on the actual wedding day.

Unless we are used to posing in fron of a camera, most of us feel nervous and uncomfortable. we are hypercritical of our own bodies and rarely believe we will look good. You know the feelings I am sure..."my nose is too big,"... "my boobs are too small," and all the other faults we find in ourselves.

On our pre shoots, we show you how to relax into the poses so that you cease to feel uncomfortable in front of the camera. Hopefully, we enable you to develop a trust in our ability to capture you at your best, so that on your wedding day you feel relaxed and trusting in us.

The pre-shoots take about two hours. We produce the images in a variety of styles, high contrast, dreamy, centre weighted and normal, so that we can find out which styles you like and do not like.

You will get a DVD of all the images, online viewing and a DVD slideshow set to music.

We will be sharing other images from our pre-shoots in future posts.

Anna & Bob

You can see all the pre-shoot images we have taken at :

http://annashawphotography.smugmug.com/​

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A big hello to all our friends and followers.

We thought we would try and create a blog to share our ideas and news, our excitements and hopes.  We have have learned so much from you all over the past few years and hope that this will be the place to communicate and have some fun at the same time.

Do please add any thoughts, ideas or tips so that the blog will be an interactive place for us.

Anna & Bob