In the wedding industry I have numerous comments on my music stuff saying how cool it is I do that. But on the flip side, even though a hell of a lot of music photographers do weddings too they keep it quiet or separate their websites (which I’m guilty of). But why is that?

I guess the obvious answer is that there’s still preconceptions out there about wedding photography – it’s something photographers do on the side to pay the bills that they don’t really enjoy. I mean who would enjoy organising families and getting them all saying ‘cheese’ at the same time? Well, me actually. Ok maybe not the cheese bit but weddings aren’t as they were. People are so creative with their weddings and they’re not a stiff, made fun of function anymore. In fact, as much as I love music photography, celebrating the love of two cool people and creatively capturing that can often beat a lonely night in a pit, battling through drunken people or trying to get home at 2am on endless night buses. OK, music photography isn’t always like that but just saying….

When I go and meet a couple I feel like I’m not going to meet new couples, I’m almost making new friends. In fact scrap the almost, I have made new friends through photographing weddings. I went to a festival wedding recently, then a couple of weeks later I did an engagement shoot in a cinema for a couple who are getting married there, I can’t wait to meet their mates as they’re brilliant people who I feel I have a lot in common with. I have a wedding this summer where the bride and groom are diehard Back to the Future fans and are doing their wedding creative DIY style. A few weeks later, I’m travelling over to France to photograph a wedding for a couple I met through partying in Brighton. Another couple are having a countryside wedding and have booked the Disco Shed for their partying (for which they’ve invited me to stay for) – the Disco Shed are friends of mine who I know through the festival circuit. I hope you see what I’m getting at here. I mean seriously, how cool is my job? Made even cooler for combining the two!

This certainly isn’t a post about music photography vs wedding photography, it’s a post to address the fact that photographers can very happily do two types of photography. Not because one earns more than the other, but because we enjoy both.

And there’s the added personailty to our work. For instance, my wedding and bridal photography allows me to bring my own edge to live music photography. Vice versa, I have a very editorial, spur of the moment style to my wedding photography that I’ve got through learning to get that moneyshot with live music. Very much like a fashion photographer would be able to bring a completely different view to wedding photography.

Someone once told me I have to specialise. It stuck with me but now I’m not so sure. And I do specialise but I specialise over a few types of photography. An ex-boyfriend actually said to me ‘I just think you should aim higher than being a wedding photographer’. I can only hope he gets as much joy from his job as I do.

A fellow photographer asked me the other night if I preferred music photography over wedding photography and having thought about it, I absolutely love both types of photography in different ways but equal amounts. I also love other types of photography I do equally. I just love photography. Surely there’s nothing wrong with that?

So, holding my head proudly, I’ve combined my Facebook page and linked my websites to each other. But how do you feel about it? Do you prefer a photographer to be focused 100% on a certain type or do you like to see them keeping it fresh? Maybe you’re a photographer with the same frustrations.

My initial reaction was to be angry and then I realised, much like the response to the post, there are massive pre-conceptions about wedding photography. I think I might have once been guilty of it too.

But you should know, I absolutely adore everything about my job but I put in an insane amount of hours and I’m far from rich! I also have a lot of photographer friends and I know they’re in exactly the same boat. I think this is why, when the article went live on Petapixel, you could literally hear the seething of millions of photographers world wide.

As I thought more about it, the more I realised I wasn’t so bothered about the bride thinking we charge the earth, more that she thinks we’re in it purely for the money. So I’m posting this as I want people to know that most wedding photographers are in it because they love meeting you, they love what they do and they have passion for your day. I want you to know the amount of love, money and hard work that goes into your wedding photography and hopefully it will quash any pre-conceptions that we ‘just rock up and earn a months wage’. I hang out with other photographers and sometimes my friends who aren’t photographers come along for the ride – they all say the same thing ‘listening to you guys talk is amazing, your faces light up when you talk about what you do’. And it’s true. Above all, we WANT to be a part of your day. That said, we have to pay the bills and overheads along the way. It might seem like a lot of money to pay out but it’s one of the most important days of your life and one that needs to be documented properly. Your photography will be the only thing that lasts from the day for the rest of your lives (and beyond that too).

I do hope the break down the writer of the response gives helps you understand why your wedding photography costs what it does. I felt they put it together extremely well (way better than I ever could!) and I hope you found it enlightening.

Do you feel like wedding photography is too expensive? Has the article made you see everything in a different light? I’d be interested to know what the general opinion is about photography pricing. Use the comment box below to share your views!

“Professionals undeniably have their advantages, experience and skill being foremost. However I discovered some of the downsides to professional photography when I got married (granted, over twenty years ago.)

Our photographer was a multiple award winner, with long experience, and past president of the state wedding photographer’s guild. But she also turned out to be very opinionated as to exactly what was going to be shot. We were married in a gorgeous chapel on the campus of the College of St. Catherine, and the chapel photos were very nice. But then she took us next door to a small, fusty parlor, and shot the wedding party with the bride and groom seated on a couch.

The majority of my wedding photos feature the bride buried in the rucked up skirts of her gown, and me with my knees around my ears, while the wedding party looms over us in the background, surrounded by fleur-de-lis wallpaper.

Being in the middle of my own wedding, it took a long time for me to catch on, but finally I pressed the photographer to come outside. The spring day was gorgeous, the manicured lawn features willows and a circular pond with a bridge to an island in the center, all features any photographer would enjoy.

No, no, she would have none of it. Finally I got her to take one – ONE – photograph, outdoors, with the bride and I under a willow. And that VERY grumpily.

One of our chapel photos won a First Prize, and a 26 inch copy sat in the front window of her shop for over a decade. I’m glad that she got what SHE wanted out of our wedding photography. A pity that, as the bride and groom, we didn’t get what WE wanted.

Yes, a professional offers many advantages. But when the professional is also too self-focused, ego driven, the results can be as disappointing as going with Uncle Bob.

By the way, I’ve BEEN “Uncle Bob,” and I think my photographs turned out very well. As I told the bride later, “A professional might have more skill, but nobody could have CARED more about the quality of these photos.”

Firstly, I’d just like to say what a shame it is that people experience this with their wedding photographers. I’d hate to think I would ever grow to be so stuck in my ways with doing something I absolutely loved to have this attitude to shooting someone’s wedding. But as with any industry, there is always a couple of rotters giving the rest of us a bad name. So, I wanted to offer some constructive advice on how to choose your wedding photographer. Photography is so important on your day and some thought should be put in to ensure there’s no regrets, after all, this is your investment.

1. Style

Have a think about what style of photography you’d like at your wedding. This is really important to ensure your photography is going to reflect the overall feel of your day forever. Think about the type of wedding you’re aiming for or have arranged and think about what style suits – maybe you’re going for a whimsical/shabby chic day, or maybe your theme is film stars or a festival vibed wedding – do the photographers you’re looking at have any experience of these kind of weddings or do they have a style that suits it? Maybe you’re having a laid back day that is simple and traditional – a photographer who specialises in vintage may not suit a day like this. Does their gallery give you confidence that they’ll achieve the look you want? It would be such a shame to put so much effort into the details of a day to have it forgotten about forever if the photographer can’t capture the essence.

2. Give yourself time & research

I hear people tell me a lot “I just googled for my photographer” and the majority of these people weren’t happy with their photographer. Just because a photographer has clever SEO and is on the first page of Google it doesn’t make them good (disclaimer: it doesn’t necessarily mean they’re bad either). Think about your wedding photographer right from the word go, don’t leave it until last minute. Wedding photographers get quite booked up so avoid disappointment by getting in touch ASAP. Also, don’t feel scared to contact them if they seem busy, they want to hear from you! In terms of finding a photographer, try blogs or just shout out on Facebook and ask your friends on there – word of mouth is often the best way as they will have experience of the photographer so they come with a trusted recommendation! Also, do you want a male or female photographer? It’s worth thinking about whether you want bridal preparations photographed or not and who you would feel more comfortable with for that.

3. Don’t rush in

This is the most important thing when choosing your photographer – MAKE SURE YOUR PERSONALITIES DON”T CLASH! If you both have different ideas of what you want from your photos, it’s going to be tough. Whittle down your choice of photographers based on their portfolios and try and meet with as many as possible. You really don’t want what happened to the above guy to happen to you! After all, the wedding is about YOU, not what the photographer wants for their portfolio. Consider an engagement or ‘try before you buy’ shoot with the photographer you’re leaning most towards – it will be a great way to see if you ‘click’ and well worth the money if you avoid booking someone you turn out not to feel comfortable with.

4. You never know

If you come across a photographer you like the look of but they only offer packages not in your budget, don’t write them off immediately. Though photographers have spent a lot of time factoring in many things to get their packages right, quite a lot offer discounts for various things – late bookings, certain venues, weekdays etc. Just get in touch and see what they can do for you and if they can’t do it, they may have a recommendation for another photographer who can, after all we are industry professionals who network with each other.

5. Provide a mood board

Try not to offend a wedding photographer by sending them someone elses image and asking for photos just like that. We photographers like to be creative and imitating someone elses work isn’t really what we like to do. The best photos are taken off the cuff without too much setting up. Instead work with your photographer and give them a ‘mood board’. Pinterest is particularly good for this.

6. Communicate with your photographer

If you’ve worked really hard on something for your day, let your photographer know. For example, if you spent hours slaving over your favours, make sure they know you’d like a good shot of them.

7. Allow your photographer time

Remember to allow time for each shot – a photographer might shoot 3-4 images of each shot to ensure the lighting and composition is right so hold of delving that knife into the cake until they give you the green light!

8. Be natural

Don’t automatically think you have to smile for the camera, sometimes, especially if you’ve chosen a photographer with a photo journalistic style, your photographer will prefer you to capture natural moments.

9. Make sure you’re both on the same page

I recently photographed some sideline images for a dear friend as she had hired a photographer to do the main images to allow me to enjoy the day – he spent the entire day getting them to pose for photos until he was entirely satisfied. By the time the family shots came about they were far too exhausted to bother with them and therefore didn’t have any formal shots of one half of the family that had travelled halfway across the country to be there! Couple shots may look visually stunning on a photographers website but how much effort had to go in to get them looking like that? Some of you will want lots of endless posed photos, other people may choose to spend as little time away from their guests as possible. Find out your photographers ethic towards posed shots and ask them to give you an idea of how long that should take and make sure it suits your requirements.

10. Lasting memories

Seriously consider talking to your photographer about albums. Photographers have experience in making sure your images are presented in such a way for you to get the most out of your memories. Speak to them in the pre-consultation about how they think best to display your pictures and whether they offer it as an extra option further down the line if your budget doesn’t allow it just now. You could also ask your guests for gift vouchers from the photographer as wedding presents to contribute towards the cost of an album.

Most of all, you should enjoy your day and feel comfortable with your photographer! You can’t recapture the spirit of your day except on the day – choose a photographer to reflect that.

You may remember my friend Steph’s wedding and I thought I should give you more information about her dress because it’s so amazing.

Well, this amazing dress was from Ian Stuart who you’re probably all familiar with as he’s won numerous awards. For good reason though. My favourite of his current collection is this dress – look at that amazing wrap! It would do wonders to cover my arms. Now all I need to do is find someone to marry me!