Professional Photography UK

Wow that was hard! Extememly hot and dramatic bright sun etc… but had an amazing time, here are some images from the two days

Another fantastic day with beautiful weather at Stanhil Court Hotel, Charlwood, Surrey… Certainly can’t complain this year! Congratulations to Tracey and Stephen the new Mr and Mrs Tough.

2nd May 2010 – St Bartholomew and afterwards at Stanhill Court Hotel, Charlwood

Great day, despite the weather, congratulations to you both… Have a long and happy life together!

Fantastic day at Ashdown Park Hotel, many thanks for feeding me!

Vogue Wedding Photography is excited to launch a new era in wedding photography!

The Ultimate Wedding Story Package

• Coverage could be a year!
• Presentation is built around three – yes three – quality, designer wedding albums
• Engagements, Boudoir, trash/cherish-the-dress, and of course, the full wedding day.
• Parents albums are included

This is wedding art photography, styled, delivered and presented as never before! Check it out at www.vogueweddingphotography.co.uk and make an appointment to come as see me.

Congratulations to you guys, was great fun shooting your wedding. All the best for the future…!

Great Bridal Boudoir session,  some fantastic images… You look amazing!

Another free service! To complement the free sessions and free digital image from www.babyphotographystudio.co.uk we are now offering free engagement sittings AND free digital image for all newly engaged couples.

Now here’s the kicker, you don’t have to have booked your wedding photography with us, you just need to have recently proposed and, of course, accepted to get married.

Click here for more details

Have launched two new websites that will focus on my personal portfolio work

www.stevefisherphotography.com
www.stevefisherweddingphotography.com

Is two wedding photographer’s better than one?

… this is not a stupid question, it’s a very good one!

Shooting a wedding with two photographers is more about personal choice from the photographer than offering any significant benefit to the wedding couple. The only time it has any photographic relevance is at the preparations stage if both the Bride and Groom are to be covered extensively, as clearly you can’t be in two places at the same time. When such a situation has come up in th past, it has either been a case of booking a second photographer for this stage in the day or planning the timings involved to cover both locations. A lot of the time the bride is getting ready at the wedding venue and so it is easy to arrange. It has been my personal choice really to shot on my own, as I would prefer to focus on the photography and couple rather than manage another photographer. I do however, carry two sets of kit should I have technical failure in one.

Simply put the “second” photographer falls into one of two categories, the photographer’s assistant or the independent shooter.

With regards to the photographer’s assistant, this person is usually either a family member (i.e. son/daughter) a student, work experience student or direct P/A employee. In all cases they are there to assist the photographer primarily and they don’t contribute to the photography directly and therefore the couple. They hold the bags, off-camera lighting or reflectors, etc.

The additional shooter is may be a spouse/partner/friend, apprentice or trainee, may be a business partner. They will be shooting, but the lead will come from the main photographer as too many cooks spoil the broth! You can’t shoot a wedding by committee. Their main contribution will be to provide lots of shots of people talking, drinking and congregating. There is an advantage when shooting at the church if the vicar/priest is reluctant to allow many pictures as one can be at the back and the other at the front for example

It is often the case that photographer ‘newbees’ will feel safety in numbers and the increased volume of images at the end will give them confidence that they will have something to give the couple. The experienced top-end of the market may well have very experienced or qualified second photographers who will definitely add value to the day, such setups will be able to cover the cost of having one on their payroll and will be charging higher fees of course.

The key point is if the second photographer is any good/qualified/experienced and not just there to carry the bags and hold the reflectors, then they would be at their own weddings and not playing second fiddle. It is for this point alone that I tell couples not to get hung up on how many photographers will be attending, as you will never tell the difference between a wedding shot with one professional, qualified and experienced photographer or two.

A lot of two shooter setups will market the “Buy-one-get-one-free” option and tell couples that two is better than one as most couples (having not married before) will see that this surely makes sense. Before assuming this is true, you should ask whether the second photographer is an assistant or a shooter (they will probably say both, which is not an answer), if an assistant, then no problem as a lot of us use assistants, I certainly do if one of my teenage kids are available and want the cash on a Saturday – I don’t sell this point to couples as I think it is irrelevant. If the second photographer is shooting, ask how qualified and experienced they are and how do they compare to the main photographer. Ask to see the second photographer’s work specifically, and how do they both work together on the day. After all, what is the point in paying for two photographers to shoot the same pictures…? Only one photographer can shoot the main shots i.e. groups and formals, church, car, as it will drive you mad having to pose for two photographers, listen to what they both tell you and look at their specific cameras throughout the day when asked.

I certainly offer a second photographer option for those couples who want it for an additional fee. I have also shot weddings in the past with apprentices and friends starting out, but I see this as a hindrance personally. I only use my wife who is a fully trained professional wedding photographer, trained by me and so knows exactly what I want and how I do things (she will definitely not carry my bags unfortunately!). We get booked out together a number of times a year for weddings where the Bride and Groom have big morning agendas, or for couples who often want to disappear with me for a long time on a fashion style shoot, that kind of thing, and leave Sarah to shot the reception, which is an effecient use of the time available. However, I always question such couples as to whether they really need this, and that wouldn’t the money be better spent on the honeymoon or a bigger album!

The key answer to your question is that two is most definitely not better than one as a general rule (and certainly does sound better from a marketing point of view) assuming the “one” is a fully trained and experienced professional wedding photographer. Such photographers will almost definitely work alone or with an assistant at best.