Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs

Hertfordshire wedding photographers Steve Shipman Photography – happy to travel!

How far do you travel for weddings?
As Hertfordshire wedding photographers, we travel anywhere, and we are happy to photograph at beautiful wedding venues throughout Hertfordshire, London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Essex, and will include travel costs up to one hundred miles from St Albans. Thereafter we charge forty pence per mile. If your venue is over one hundred and fifty miles away, we would book an overnight stay in a local bed & breakfast, for the night before and possibly the night after the wedding.

Is Steve the actual photographer?
Yes, I am your photographer and me and my associate photographer are the people who arrive on the day to photograph your wedding.

Why is Steve such good value?
Our commitment to you is total, before, during and after your wedding day. I offer a pre-wedding portrait session, which is a lot of fun and will help you get used to being photographed. I meet with you before the day to recce the wedding and reception venues. This is invaluable, as it gives us all a chance to walk through the day, thinking about the pace and timing, and to create ideas and identify positions for photography, inspired by yourselves and the location. It is often the moment when you realise how it’s all actually going to happen, and it can be quite an emotional time. You can have your pre-wedding photo session then too. It can be useful to meet the Wedding Planner and ceremony officiates if they are available.

Many people think that wedding photography is just a matter of turning up on the day and taking a few snaps. On the day itself, we work completely in the moment, recording the events and your emotions, all your friends and relatives, the love and the laughter. We are experienced photographers, and can cope with high emotions, changeable weather, and unexpected happenings – they do happen! We often pre-visualise our images, anticipating a moment, or planning shots for your album, We know where to be and when to be there, to create amazing images of your wedding for you.

Afterwards, we edit the images, and finish each one in Photoshop. We don’t ask you to imagine a colour image in black and white, for example – we show you. All your images will be colour corrected, cropped if necessary, enhanced and gently retouched, to reveal the excitement or subtlety of each moment recorded. Working with care and consideration, our post-production work can take several days. Our involvement with you continues with guidance on choosing your album photographs, and may involve several trial album designs until you are completely happy before ordering the finished album. You can see some details of our beautiful albums here.

Why are there two photographers?
My associate and I work in a very complimentary way, photographing from two different points of view. We each see things differently, use different lenses, and your photographs will reflect the graphic and gentle, scenic and detailed, exciting and sensitive approach that we each bring to you. We can be with each of you for getting ready shots, and we meet at the ceremony venue, where we can often get shots from the front and the back without moving about too much. Later, I may be doing formal group shots, while my associate is photographing your beautiful dining area. You end up with a wonderfully comprehensive collection of images.

What ‘style’ of photography do you do?
Reportage or Documentary photography is often requested of us, and we will certainly document events unobtrusively as they happen. We are also happy to photograph your family groups for you, and with good organisation by Groomsmen and Bridesmaids, we can do eight groups in about twenty minutes. We also create beautiful contemporary portraits of you, which may involve some gentle direction from us, perhaps including a fabulous background or element that will look stunning in your album. This is a key part of our photography, and we like at least twenty minutes during the reception alone with just you, the bride and groom. The ceremony is always discretely photographed as it happens, and guests are photographed with you and around you throughout the day. We make it fun – some gentle direction will always result in a perfect photo.

How many pictures do you take?
We typically take about two thousand pictures during the day, which we will edit down to about five hundred for you to see.

Do we choose the album pictures?
Yes. Your package includes three ways to view your pictures. Your DVD Slideshow will play on a computer or television, and is a beautiful presentation of your photographs, set to music. Your online gallery will show the same images, each with their file numbers, and is a great way to select your favourites. Your Image Catalogue is a printed book with thumbnails of all your images, each approximately one and a half by two inches, again with their file numbers. Finally, we create a prospective album design for you, with our choice of images, showing how brilliant your images will look in an album layout. This is a great starting point for you to make your own selection, and is viewed online. You can see some album details here.

Do you take formal groups?
Yes, we will happily photograph family groups and friends with the bride and groom. We ask for a good friend or relative, Best Man or Bridesmaid, to help us organise people, and recommend that you have no more than eight groups to photograph. It’s the bit of the day everyone dreads, but we make it a lot of fun.

Do I need to arrange food for the photography team?
We would appreciate a hot meal when you have yours. We don’t stop working, but six or more hours without eating is tough, and we need re-fuelling to maintain our energy levels. We don’t photograph people eating, but we are constantly ready for fun moments, even during the meal. We’d like a quiet out of the way corner to sit, but not too far from you. We don’t eat meat, but chicken and fish are fine.

What kind of cameras do you use?
We use both Canon EOS and Nikon professional quality digital cameras, with a selection of zoom and prime lenses, with back-up equipment.

What kind of prints do you produce?
All our prints are good old-fashioned photographs, printed on light-sensitive paper. We don’t use ink-jet prints, as they are fragile and I have yet to be convinced of their longevity. Our prints and albums will, with care, last well into the next century.

What if we have to postpone our wedding?
Assuming we are available, we will re-schedule the date for you, and transfer the booking fee to the new date. The booking fee is not returnable if the wedding is cancelled.

What if you’re ill on the day?
We are part of a small consortium of photographers, each able to cover for the others at short notice. Having said that, I have not missed a photography shoot in over twenty years.

What time do you start?
Ideally, our photography starts with the bride at least an hour before you are due to leave for the ceremony. Your booked time starts when we arrive and start working at your first venue, and finishes as we leave in the evening. Travelling during the day, for example, between church and reception, is included in the day’s booking.

Can we have the High Res Files?
Yes, we include the High Resolution files on disc as part of your collection. These are the same files we use for your album. We give you a letter of authorisation to show your printer when you order prints.

How long do you keep the images for?
We archive everything in perpetuity.

How long before we receive our album?
Usually ten weeks after signing off the design. It can take longer coming up to Christmas, and we recommend, if at all possible, finalising your album design by the first week of October.

How ‘professional’ are you?
I am a full time wedding and portrait photographer and I occasionally do corporate shoots for Blue Chip companies in London, usually during the winter months. I am a qualified Licentiate member of the British Institute of Professional Photographers, and a proud member of the International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers, where prospective members are judged and approved only by other members, all of whom are professional wedding photographers.