How far do you travel for weddings?
We don’t just do Hertfordshire Wedding photography! We travel anywhere, and we are happy to photograph at beautiful wedding venues throughout London, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire and Essex. I include travel costs up to one hundred miles from St Albans. Thereafter we charge fifty pence per mile. If your venue is over one hundred and fifty miles away, we would book overnight stays in a local bed & breakfast, for the night before and the night of the wedding.
Is Steve the actual photographer?
Yes, I am your photographer and with my associate photographer we are the people who are with you on the day to photograph your wedding.
Why is Steve such good value?
I am passionate about quality. We use the finest cameras, lenses, and post-production equipment and technology to give you the very best service. Our commitment to you is total, before, during and after your wedding day. I meet with you before the wedding day to recce the ceremony 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, both indoors and out, 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 emotional! It can be useful to meet the Wedding Planner and ceremony officiates if they are available. I also offer a pre-wedding portrait session, which is a lot of fun and will help you get used to being photographed.
On the day itself, we work completely in the moment, recording the events and your emotions, with all your friends and families, the love and the laughter. We are very experienced photographers, and can cope with high emotions, changeable weather, and unexpected happenings – they can happen! We know where to be and when to be there so we can create amazing images for you.
Afterwards, we edit the images, and digitally finish each one. 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 takes 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.
Why are there two photographers?
My associates are all professional wedding photographers with their own practices. We 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 each be with both of you for getting ready shots, and we meet up at the ceremony venue, where we can often get photos 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 tables. You’ll have a wonderfully comprehensive collection of images.
What ‘style’ of photography do you do?
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 both, which may involve some gentle direction from us, perhaps including a fabulous background or visual element that will look stunning in your album. The ceremony is always discretely photographed as it happens, and guests are photographed with you and around you throughout the day.
Do we choose the album pictures?
Yes. Your package includes three ways to view your pictures. Your online slideshow will be your first viewing, and is linked to 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. You also have a USB of the finished high resolution image files to keep. We can create a prospective album design for you, showing how brilliant your images will look in an album. This is a great starting point for you to make your own selection, and is viewed online.
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 gather people, and recommend that you have no more than nine groups to photograph. We can supply a list of typical wedding groups. I know 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. 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 area to sit, but not too far from you. We don’t eat meat, but chicken, fish or veggie 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 large 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 or USB as part of your collection. These are the same files we use to print for your album.
How long do you keep the images for?
We archive everything in perpetuity. But I highly recommend backing up your own set of image files to at least two hard drives.
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. You can read more about my Queensberry albums here.
How ‘professional’ are you?
I am a full time wedding and portrait photographer and I occasionally accept corporate shoots for Blue Chip companies in London, usually during the winter months. I am a member of the Master Photographer Association, and a proud member of both Fearless Photographers and the Best of Wedding Photography, where prospective members are judged and approved only by other members, all of whom are professional wedding photographers.
Congratulations of you have read this far! If all the above sounds like your cup of tea, please get in touch here!