PHOTOGRAPHER FAQs
I'm not comfortable in front of a camera, will this show in our wedding photos?
You are not alone! This is a question that comes up so often for us wedding photographers. Any good wedding photographer with experience will be able to get over this hurdle with a few little tricks. I always make sure to put my couples at ease right from the very start. This is where reportage photography is so important as I am often taking pictures in the background without even being noticed, allowing the couple to be natural and unaware of the camera. The portraits are slightly different, but don't have to be stuffy awkward poses, I often tell my couples to walk together, or whisper something into each other's ear to get intimate but natural images. Great wedding photographers will always get the best out of you, trust in them to do their jobs. Believe me, wedding photographers don't want any awkward uncomfortable shots in their work either, we want our couples looking their very best. Just let us work our magic, it’s what we are best at!
More on tackling camera-shyness here.
Do we need to feed you?
I will always gratefully accept a meal if a couple offer one, but you are not obligated to provide a meal for me. Please do let me know in advance what will happen, so I can bring food with me if needed.
Either way, I will have a short break while you and your guests are enjoying your meal. No one wants to be photographed eating, so this is the perfect time for me to have a little break too.
Is it important that my images are edited and retouched?
Most definitely! Raw images should really be for the wedding photographer's eyes only. The editing process is what elevates your photos to a different level. Wedding photographers who charge only a few hundred £££ for a full day's wedding photography are often inexperienced and/or do not edit or retouch their images. Please do bear this in mind when hiring your photographer. The majority of us love edited images, the sharpness, the colours, the style; it's all created in post production. Cameras can only do so much! Retouching is a little more complicated - it can involve anything from erasing unsightly objects from your photos to removing wrinkles and blemishes or softening skin tones and so on. Retouching is also much more time consuming and, as a wedding photographer myself, I try to keep it to the bare minimum. I like my couples to be natural in their pictures and make up normally does the trick! Having said that, if I find I have taken a beautiful photo of my couples and there is an ugly sign or some litter in shot I will always retouch and remove!
Read my blog post about the real value of a good professional photographer here.
Will I receive all the images you take?
This is a great question and it very much depends on the individual wedding photographer. Some photographers offer a set amount of images within their package, but I don't believe you should have to choose between photos from your day. I believe that ALL the images of their day should be available to the wedding couple as part of their package and I do not see the point of editing images that the couple will not have access to.
Having said this, most wedding photographers will always edit out images that ‘didn’t work’ such as bad lighting, blinking or dodgy expressions. We want our couples to see the very best selection of their images, but sometimes shots just don’t work and so these will always be removed from their final gallery.
How many photos will we get?
Every wedding is different, so there is no set amount. It depends a lot on how many guests there are and how long I’m there for. Generally I will supply you with over 400 photos for a full day.
When do we need to pay you?
I ask for a 25% booking fee to secure the booking, and then the remaining balance is due one month before the wedding day. I’m happy to receive the payment in instalments.
How far will you travel for my wedding?
Though I am based in Hertfordshire, I can also travel throughout the UK, or beyond! Travel within 50 miles of Hertford is included in my packages. Please get in touch for your bespoke quote for destination weddings and travel costs.
If you'd like to speak to me about capturing your day, click the link below or head to the contact form on my website and drop me a message. I can't wait to chat to you!