Just a quick post while I have some time. I've been trying to do some more second shooting of late. I always find it a good opportunity to be creative and enjoy myself slightly more when not quite so much pressure is on me. It's also a good way of learning a little bit more about the business, as whilst I am happy with what I am doing (or my customers are more to the point) I have to be realistic that I have only been in the business a fairly short while compared to many other photographers.

Building a good relationship with my peers in Bristol is important to me for this reason, and I know that should one of my second shooters have to back out last minute I am confident that one of my other associates could jump in at the last moment. Especially living in Bristol, photography in general is very popular - even wedding photography!

Labels: Bristol, Thoughts, Web, Wedding Photography

So Adobe have announced the third version of Lightroom, even if it is beta this shows some of the new features. What am I most looking forward to?

Well the watermarking will mean that I no longer have to export to Photoshop which will be a big time saver.
Being able to publish to flickr is really nice. Probably not that much of an importance for the business but its nice to have this feature integrated. I guess Facebook will be next...

Exporting a video slideshow will also be nice. I do hope that they integrate some nice new transitions. I like Ken Burns don't get me wrong, but some funky features like that have in iMovie would be well received.

The printing module looks excellent, hopefully this will save me a lot of time when it comes to making albums in the future.

All in all it looks like a nice update, especially if the speed is improved on. Especially when it comes to rendering the photos for input and output as this is a big bottleneck in my workflow. Unfortunately this could well be due to my ageing Macbook Pro, but I'm currently in denial!

Labels: Bristol, Equipment, Gear, Thoughts, Wedding Photography

I was recently asked to photograph a wedding in the Bristol Oncology Hospital at the last minute. The wedding was scheduled to take place in June 2010 and I was deeply honoured that the couple had asked me to come along and photograph their ceremony.

I took a call on Monday night to photograph the wedding on Tuesday night and I was free. I was due to set off on holiday the next day for two weeks so I charged my batteries and made sure all my memory cards were clear. It was a beautiful occasion and I really captured the emotion of the evening. I guess the reason I thought this warranted a blog post was because the event really was set apart by the venue. As plans were set in place literally on the day the ceremony took place in a waiting room in the hospital rather than the country grounds of a beautiful country house.

The spontaneity of the event really set this wedding apart in my mind and whilst the venue may not have been quite so grand the importance and emotion of the event was there every minute.

This kind of got me thinking about how important the wedding venue is for the photography. I always thought that the photographers who charge more, got better images (IN PART) because their clients could afford nicer venues. Thus things look a bit nicer in general as you have more opportunities. Whilst there is no doubt in my mind that a nice/expensive venue is preferable there is no reason why you can't work creatively to use what you have to your advantage as I found out.

Labels: Bristol, Thoughts, Wedding Photography, Wedding Photography Locations

An easy way to be creative at a wedding is to change the backdrop and get away from the other people at the wedding. For example when going to the Bristol registry office for a ceremony there are some beautiful parts of Bristol that make a nice backdrop for any wedding photographer. All it takes is for you to get the bride and groom to plan this in to their schedule so that you get 10-15 minutes with just them. This really helps spice up the pictures.

Not only do the shots visually change, but getting the happy couple away from everyone else lets them relax. When they don't have a crowd looking at them they will be a lot more comfortable and relaxed. Then you can encourage them to play, have a kiss or just enjoy a few moments together sitting down talking.

Labels: Bristol, Guide, Techniques, Thoughts, Web, Wedding Photography, Wedding Photography Locations