Culcreuch in the Winter

In mid-March I photographed a wonderful wedding at Culcruech Castle in Fintry for Joanna and Stuart. Despite the last remnants of snow on the ground the weather was beautiful and we all managed to enjoy a little bit of the wintry sunshine outside!

Two Different Types of Album Styles

Although I do offer two 'Coverage Only' packages for clients who want my style of photography, but would prefer to save money by not having an album (or by perhaps making their own), the vast majority of my clients recognize the importance of having their photographs displayed in a professionally designed and constructed album and choose one of the album packages I offer.

After a lot of research I decided to use an Australian company who could offer me a wide range of designs, a fantastic level of flexibility and completely custom-designed layout and cover options. Perhaps most importantly they were also very modern in their outlook and produce lovely contemporary products.

I know that it may be tricky to understand the differences between the two types of album I offer (Matted and Storybook) without seeing them in real-life and I also want to try and make sure that my customers realise that other photographers sometimes use the same name for some of their products that are quite different to mine - I hope this blog post will help clarify a few things!

What are Matted albums and Storybook Albums?

These two albums are actually both almost the same underneath!

I use the term Storybook to explain the construction of one of the types of albums I use. My Storybook albums consist of an album with blank card pages onto which is mounted a page-sized sheet of standard photographic paper with any number of images printed onto it. The surface is completely smooth and flush with the surface of the album page. I tend to keep the pages white and use a fine black border around each separate image on each page. Because the images are printed onto photographic paper, I have full control overt the image quality and the pages have a very long lifespan, just like any standard photograph. These albums should not be confused with 'magazine' style albums - these are products printed onto thin paper using a method similar to the way a magazine is printed. You should also note that my Storybook albums won't have background images (unless you specifically request them).

The term 'Storybook Album' is simply a name I have given to the albums I use that give the appearance of having the images printed directly onto the page and has nothing to do with 'telling the story of the day' - all of my albums do that!

The other type of album I use is called a Matted album. A Matt (sometimes called an Overlay) is simply a piece of thick card that is placed on top of the whole of each page and has bevel-cut apertures to reveal each photograph underneath it. Underneath the matt / overlay the page looks exactly the same as the Storybook albums. The layouts are the same, the design process is the same and the printing of the images is also the same. The matts that I use as standard for the Bespoke albums are thick black card with a white core and the matts for the Studio albums are slightly thinner and don't have the white core. White matts are available for both the Bespoke and Studio Matted albums too.

In short, my Storybook albums are perhaps the most contemporary style of album I use. They are modern, minimalist and clean-looking. The matted albums are the more classic choice - they offer the more traditional style of presentation but are designed in a very modern way with multiple images on each page. I don't mind which you choose!

Click here to view a gallery of images of the types of albums I use. (opens in new window)
Details about the Studio Matted Albums

Wedding Video Links

I have recently added links to three wedding videographers that I worked with last year that I know the bride and groom were happy with and, perhaps most importantly, work in a similar style to myself.

It is unfortunate but I meet couples who have, quite rightly, been very choosy when picking their photographer - they decided upon a style and then took the time to discuss all the finer points with them - but then they picked a videographer without giving it a second thought. Even as a photographer I would have to say that the videographer is equally as important on the day and couples should be just as picky when it comes to choosing them as they are when they book me.

If you are hoping to have a relaxed, romantic and fun wedding day with your family and friends, and you picked a photographer who will work with you to achieve this, you do not want to end up with a cheesy videographer who is nagging you all day to pose here and there and do 'funny' things for your film. Just as with photography, there are a lot of videographers out there and you have a wide range to choose from and I would definitely recommend that you put in a little work before choosing one.

An English Winter Wedding

In February I traveled down to lovely Harrogate in North Yorkshire to photograph a wedding. The couple, Dickie and Amy, had seen my work previously and were absolutely dead-set on having a reportage photographer cover their wedding as they wanted almost no posed shots at all. They really wanted me to just capture their day for them without interfering, and this suited me fine!

It was a lovely day, if a little cold, and the wedding was a large but very relaxed affair. The ceremony was in a beautiful church in the village where the groom's family lived and then all 250 guests walked a short distance to the village hall for the whole reception. There was no set meal and instead they used a fabulous catering company who produced never-ending bowls of curry and stew followed by plate after plate of desserts. I hadn't come across this idea before and, I have to say, I thought it was a brilliant idea!

Don't worry, I'll still take a few pictures of your family!

As a reportage-style photographer almost every couple I meet with to discuss their photography asks whether it is OK to have a few, slightly more posed, family pictures. In reality I suspect that some people are so worried about this aspect that they are put off of the reportage-style approach to photography.

Unfortunately the term 'reportage' is misused a fair bit these days and this doesn't help. I regularly hear of photographers promising the bride and groom that they will have reportage coverage of their wedding when, in actual fact, they just pose all of the pictures as normal, but in a more humorous way...

The true meaning of reportage photography is literally 'to report, or record' the event. (Have a look at the WPJA site).

For me the approach is a simple one. I have one goal - to record a wedding day completely, using beautiful story-telling imagery, with the minimum of interference. Whilst I am fully aware that a photographic record of a wedding is very important I certainly don't believe that the emphasis of the whole day should be on the pictures - it should be on the wedding itself.

I will turn up at a wedding and shoot continually, taking pictures of everything that catches my eye and everything that is an integral part of the day. However, I also know that weddings are family events and, unless specifically told otherwise, I will always be very happy to take a few family pictures through the day - don't worry! These family pictures just won't be the main focus of my photography. The same applies to pictures of the bride and groom. I know that they will want lovely shots of the themselves and I am always very happy to take a few slightly more controlled shots. The difference is that I do it in a natural way - no awkward poses, no leaning on trees and no pensive expressions. And no 1 hour photoshoots either!

I am frequently told that the wedding party were unaware of my presence at the wedding and that they are amazed how many wonderful shots I captured without them knowing. This makes me very happy!