The print orders will come directly to me, they won’t be sent out to someone I don’t know. Your photos will be individually processed and printed at my usual professional lab. This means I’ll be able to monitor everything before it gets sent out and make sure the quality is up to scratch. You should receive your pics within 14 days of ordering.

I’m keeping the prices at a reasonable level, so this should be an easier way for friends and family to order, even if you have the high resolution files as part of the package.

With the bride and groom’s agreement I’ll be leaving details of how to log on to galleries at all future weddings, for guests to pick up. If you’ve had a pre wedding photography session, I’ll use one of the images to design a unique card for the occasion. I think they should make quite good souvenirs even if you don’t want any prints.

So far everything seems to be working smoothly but, if you have any problems or would like something that’s not listed, please come straight to me and I’ll process your order personally.

If I have any images to work with I’ll try to design something personalized, with all the gallery details, to leave out at the wedding. This should save the bride and groom the trouble of passing on the information themselves. Here’s one I did earlier!


More information on the wedding photography page

Find more information about booking me as your wedding photographer here

If capturing a good image on camera is the most important part of photography, then post processing comes a close second. I said I would show a few examples of the difference between the basic corrections you would get on your CD of photos, and how the same image could look after professional retouching. I’ve been having a bit of trouble finding something to show you without upsetting any former clients, so I’ve picked a portrait rather than a wedding photograph.

The two photos below show Michelle with her six month old son, Elliot. Michelle looks lovely in any photo, but was up with a teething baby for most of the previous night and is a bit tired. (Elliot, on the other hand, has had a very nice rest and is looking forward to his next daytime snooze!).

The difference between the two photos is quite subtle and I hope it shows on your computer screen. The photo on the left is how you would receive it if it was part of my wedding photography package. The basic work has been done, the colour and density are fine. This could be taken to a printers and you would get a perfectly good print. The photo on the right shows the same photo with retouching. The most obvious work is underneath Michelle’s eyes. I’ve lightened and smoothed the skin here, which makes her look as if she has had a decent nights sleep. I’ve also done some light retouching on the skin, taken off some shine, lightened the eyes and done some dodging and burning on both their faces. I’ve done a curves adjustment to increase contrast and reduced a slight yellow cast. The edges of the image have been darkened and blurred a little to bring the focus more to the faces. In preparation for printing I would also sharpen the image, depending on the final size, and put on borders and keylines as required.

Anything you can see here would be much more obvious in a decent size print or in an album. I recommend to my clients that they order their more important photos through me, rather than printing straight from their CD or DVD. This way they will cost a bit more, but you will be getting the very best from your images.

This is a very light retouch, just a little tweak can sometimes make all the difference. I like to keep portraits looking natural and not overdo the Photoshopping. There are other times when some of the more noticeable effects and adjustments can look great, I’ll try and show some of those in another post.

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The sessions will be for about an hour or two at a location in or around Brighton, plenty of great places to choose from.
You will be able to see all the photos at my office and you’ll get a set of proofs on disc. Hard copies are available if you want them, but you don’t have to buy a single print if you don’t want to.
If you are a bit camera shy, this is a good way of getting used to having your photo taken. If you are a complete show off, then what are you waiting for?

I’ll be doing up to six free sessions, and that will be it for the year. So, if you are interested, please get in touch soon. This offer also applies to anyone who has recently booked me.

David.

From Julie and Alex’s engagement session on Brighton Beach

See a selection from Evanna and Tom’s pre-wedding session

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If you’ve booked a professional wedding photographer you are probably hoping to have some photos of your wedding ceremony. Most churches and registry offices will have some sort of photography policy in place and these can vary wildly, from being very relaxed to extremely restrictive.

Whenever I take a wedding photography booking I will always contact the church or registry office to check what I’m allowed to do on the day. Sometimes I’m given permission to walk around and use a flashgun on my camera throughout the whole service, in other venues I’m told not to use the flash, to stand in one place or not to take photos during certain stages of the ceremony. Everybody has their own ideas of what is appropriate and I’m happy to go along with that. Whatever is agreed, I’m quiet, unobtrusive and don’t disrupt the wedding.

However, after a recent experience with a local Sussex church, I’ve decided to point out to my clients the effect that these agreements can have on their record of the day. I took a wedding booking a few weeks ago and was asked by the groom to sign a photography agreement with the church. The agreement was very limiting, absolutely no photographs during the ceremony, I was to stand in one place and not move until escorted by a verger etc etc. I would be allowed to take some posed photographs of the signing of the register but nothing else.  This meant that the couple would have no photographs of their wedding ceremony at all. I discussed this with them but it was their local parish church and they decided that they wanted to go ahead.

This weekend I received a letter from the vicar banning me from taking any pictures at all! She seemed to think that I had altered the photography agreement before returning it, I hadn’t, all I had done was to sign on the dotted line and return it. It was a very hostile letter, quite surprising from a vicar, even more surprising as I had done nothing to deserve it. The situation is still unresolved. The wedding is in the middle of August so, even if the couple decide they would like to change churches, they may have difficulty finding somewhere.

Whatever restrictions are made they are going to have some effect on the photography. Churches are generally quite dark, so a no flash policy means the photographer is going to be using camera settings that may cause camera shake, bad colours or  grainy effects. If they are told to stand in an alcove and make sure they are not seen it’s probably not going to give them a very good viewpoint to shoot from. Sometimes these policies can seem a bit mad, the photographer is told not to use flash on threat of eviction, then as soon as the service starts half the guests pull out their cameras and the flashes start popping.

The point of this story is that some vicars, priests and registrars just don’t like photography or photographers in any shape or form. It’s really worth checking how your venue feels about this before you make a booking. For some people the ceremony is a time that shouldn’t be disturbed by anything, others would like some discreet photos taken of the occasion. If you do want some photos of your ceremony, check your church or registry office photography policy before you make the booking. It’s your day.

After the wedding…

I managed to get the ban lifted, after the vicar realised that I hadn’t altered the agreement. It turned out that the document had been photocopied and the big red ‘NOs’ had faded out of the text. So the wording read ‘I understand that …. photography will be allowed during the ceremony’, instead of ‘NO photography’. I don’t think many photographers would have done this and expected to get away with it. A bit of common sense might have fixed the problem, but it took three weeks of letters, emails and unanswered phone call to sort it out. I was offered no apology by the vicar, even though she had caused the couple some serious anxiety and threatened my livelihood.
On the day she was even more difficult than I expected and, by standing right in front of the bride and her father, prevented me from taking photos even before the ceremony began. This seemed so intentional that I’ve made a formal complaint to the Archdeacon of the diocese.

David.

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We are spoilt for choice with locations in Brighton, so decided to go to Brighton Pier and the Pavilion to try some shots. The weather was fantastic for January but very cold. We spent an hour or so on the Pier, by which time everybody was turning blue. We then headed for the Pavilion, which wasn’t a great deal warmer, and spent a final half hour there.

It was a good session and, if it hadn’t been Evanna’s graduation day, I’m sure we could have carried on for a bit longer. Tom and Evanna were both great to work with and I’ll be looking forward to photographing the wedding.

Pre wedding photos of Evanna and Tom on Brighton Pier

Enjoying the ride

Establishing some ground rules

Destroying an historic building

Mysteriouser and mysteriouser

Taking in the sights on Brighton Pier

Outside the Pavilion

With Evanna's Mum and Dad on the pier

The Pavilion again

Don't mess with us

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