How to choose your Wedding Photographer - Top Tips and Trade Secrets

I'm going to cheat today. Hope you don't mind. I have been asked to write an article for a wedding magazine on the above topic. As it's a subject I thought would be of interest to many of my blog readers I'm simply going to publish it here first, which of course saves me some extra writing. The final version may of course get edited, altered or even spiked! :O Fortunately none of these affects my fee, lol ;) So here goes with the original and full 1200 word version...



On October 5th 2009 newly weds Mark and Sylvia Day made history by becoming the first couple to successfully sue their wedding photographer for "woefully inadequate" service. No doubt you will recall all the news and media coverage this generated both in the UK and across into the USA, too. After seeing this item headline the BBC news I decided that I’d write an impromptu blog article that week on the subject. To be honest because it was done on the spur of the moment it wasn’t the best article in the world and it wasn’t really intended to be. It was simply a few brief thoughts on the hot topic and some comments that I thought may help other couples in the future from booking the wrong kind of photographer. However, somehow google quickly found and indexed my article and it suddenly started appearing on the first page of their results for "couple sue wedding photographer". My visitor stats for the next few weeks went through the roof! The piece very soon became my most read article by a country mile and continues getting many hits even now, over two years later. Of course if I had known this was going to happen I wouldn’t have thrown the feature together so quickly!

What is interesting though is despite all the publicity generated and subsequent advice that proliferated wedding magazines, websites and blogs we’ve seen at least three more couples since then sue their wedding photographer and according to what you read in online wedding forums there’s many more couples preparing to do likewise! So what exactly is the problem and how can you avoid experiencing the same disappointment?

The first thing I must say is that there are a great number of superb wedding photographers out there! Sadly, however these are greatly outweighed by the poor wedding photographers. Why is this? Well the wedding photography industry in the UK is un-regulated which means that quite literally anyone can buy a half decent camera and then declare themselves to be a professional wedding photographer. It is estimated that in the UK well over 60% of those purporting themselves as wedding photographers are in fact Weekend Warriors (part time Saturday snappers). With so many excellent online resources it is possible for a first timer to instantly create a very impressive and business like website, too, which can make it quite hard initially to determine exactly who or what they are. How then can you separate the wheat from the chaff?

It is most important that you learn to develop a discerning eye for quality. Many people make the mistake in thinking that all photographers are very much the same. This is far from true! Just as a perceptive person can distinguish between Banana Split Delight and Chanel No.5 if you learn what to look for you can do likewise when comparing photographers. Here’s a few tips...

Study the photographs carefully. What is your first impression when looking through an album or gallery? Are the photographs eye catching and pleasing or are they lacklustre? Do they have impact and do the people in them look good? Now study them more closely.

In the reportage type photographs (also known as photojournalistic where the couple have been photographed unknowingly) has the photographer consistently made the couple look good throughout the whole day or is he a 'warts n all' snapper? Do these images tell a story in their own right or are they merely candids that could have been taken by anyone? Can you see clearly the reason why the photographer has taken each shot or do some images leave you somewhat mystified?

In the staged or posed photographs, particularly the bride and groom set, are these photographs fashionable and stylish? Do the people in them look good? Does the lighting and angles used make the couple look flattering? How are they posed? Do they look natural and relaxed or stiff and awkward? Remember, if a lot of the couples look ungainly and frumpy it is highly unlikely the photographer is going to suddenly learn a whole new style and skill set for your own wedding.

You can also learn a lot about the photographer from his main portfolio or his adverts. The photographs that he has chosen are the shots that in his own mind are his very best photographs. Look at them carefully based upon the questions considered above. If you feel these images do not meet the criteria then there is probably no point looking any further. Just an aside, I often get asked about unusual photographs such as where everyone is asked to start jumping up and down, all the guests being asked to charge across a field, or all the ladies kicking their legs in the air, and similar. If you look through the portfolio’s of the top wedding photographers in the country you will find that virtually none of them do this type of photograph, which may reveal something about their creative merits.

In addition to the above there are a few other 'tells' that can help you avoid post wedding disappointment. One of these indicators can be price. In the UK the average spend on wedding photography is approximately £1500. All photographers set their own prices so they will do so generally based upon where they perceive themselves to be on the market ladder. If the photographer himself estimates his own value as low as say £500 obviously that does not reflect well on his competence or skill levels. Another necessary consideration is insurance. All bona fide professional photographers will be fully insured. The account of a wedding photographer who slipped while taking a shot and stepped backwards into the cake is of course a rare occurrence but one that emphasises its importance. For a wedding photographer insurance is a very expensive item yet one that many part-timers decide they can do without. Make sure your photographer has both Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurance.

I don’t want to bore you with talking about equipment but here’s something you may never have thought about previously. Your wedding day is of utmost importance and to ensure we capture it to the highest standard possible we invest in the very best equipment costing several thousands of pounds. We have to have two or three of every item for backup purposes. This also includes our hard drives where we store your wedding photographs after and during their editing and our monitors and printers which are carefully calibrated to make sure that our albums and prints are perfectly and accurately produced. Again, problems of a technical nature occur very rarely but it is worth while checking your photographer has everything covered just in case.

I hope some of the above is of help in weighing up and choosing your photographer. Whilst some couples have been successful in suing their wedding photographer that can never alleviate their disappointment or bring back their precious memories. By contrast there is nothing more thrilling than when you see your photographs or album on your return from honeymoon and seeing just how stunning you look and what a fantastic job your photographer has done in capturing all the magic of your special day! Choose your photographer wisely and you’ll never ever regret it!

A Melville Castle wedding

Well I have no more weddings at Melville Castle this year but no doubt will have many to look forward throughout 2012. There will be a new team in place in the new year and this beautiful wedding venue will be taking bookings once again for weddings and events.

Lynne and Alasdair booked me for their wedding at the beginning of 2011 and their original wedding date was May 2012. However, when the Aurora Group made the decision to pull out of Melville Castle at the end of this year they moved some of the wedding dates they had booked for 2012 forward into 2011 and so Alasdair and Lynne ended up tying the knot several months sooner than they had planned. Although that of course generated a lot of frantic work and effort for them, in the end it was such a fantastic wedding I’m sure they didn’t mind one little bit!

Lynne and Alasdair had booked me for just about the whole day, starting with pre-wedding photographs through until the first dance. When they booked me they were both living and working up in Aberdeen and came down to Edinburgh one weekend to do some wedding organising. After using the internet to search for and then compare wedding photographers in Edinburgh they finally narrowed down their shortlist to three and thereupon had made appointments to meet with the three of us over the weekend. Unknown to me at the time I was the Edinburgh wedding photographer who had the first appointment on the Friday afternoon with the other two photographers scheduled for the Saturday. However, Lynne and Alasdair phoned me later on the Friday evening to say after meeting and chatting with me and looking through my albums they had cancelled their meetings with the other two photographers for the following day and were going to book me. Well I just LOVE clients like that! :)

I was due to start the photography from 12 noon at Melville Castle. So I duly arrived in good time to find I was actually there ahead of the bride! It’s not often that happens! lol Lynne had gone into the city to get her hair and make up done and ended up running a little late. She arrived at around twelve thirty and we went down to the bridal suite where upon I began doing some dress, shoes, flowers and other detail shots. As Lynne had already had her hair and make-up done there wasn’t opportunity to get this type of 'getting ready' shot but instead that gave a little extra time which I used to do some pre-wedding bridal portraits. If you read my blog regularly you will be aware that I am currently competing in the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers - Photographer of the Year contest. Each month the SWPP runs a monthly image contest across the main wedding and portrait categories where all professional photographers can enter one photo per category. These are then judged and the results announced the beginning of the following month. So far this year I have managed to win awards in one category or another every single month, which I am absolutely delighted about! One of the photographs from Lynne’s pre-ceremony set scored me a 'Bronze' in the Traditional Portrait category. Little did I know at that point that I would end up entering four more photographs from this wedding with all five of them winning awards! (The categories I entered were Weddings Traditional, Weddings Photojournalism, Weddings Contemporary, Monochrome and Traditional Portraits)

The first photograph in today’s blog is the one from the Weddings Traditional category. All the other shots today are all reportage or photojournalism shots, as I promised last week that I would use more of this style in my next blogging. I did a tiny bit of cheating with the girls on the staircase photograph as I quickly asked them to pause for one second when they had all reached the perfect spot so that I could see all their faces at the same time in the picture. Strictly speaking this doesn’t classify as a photojournalism image as the SWPP contest rules are quite rigorous and state that a 'photojournalism' shot must have no intervention whatsoever by the photographer. Knowing this of course meant I wouldn’t try and enter this particular photograph into that category but it wouldn’t stop me shooting it nevertheless as it still is good Storybook photography. All the remainder of today’s photos definitely do fit the photojournalism criteria and as you study them you will see how none of them have been staged, faked or re-created. Personally, I never try to re-create or stage a supposedly storybook moment as I believe to a discerning eye you can always tell that it isn’t really authentic. On the other hand a truly genuine spontaneous moment is absolutely priceless!

The second to last photo shown in this blog is the shot that won me the award in the Weddings Photojournalism category. It occurred a split second after the first kiss and capturing it was purely down to experience and timing. As the ceremony is progressing towards its conclusion most wedding photographers are readying themselves for the first kiss photograph. You never know for sure at what exact point this will occur as every officiate differs as to when they will utter those immortal words "You may now kiss the bride". Some of them never say them at all which makes things all the more harder for us! lol You also never know for how long the first kiss will last. Some couples will linger their kiss for several seconds which is great for us photographers allowing us to shoot several photographs possibly getting both full length and close ups. For other couples, particularly if they are feeling quite nervous, the first kiss can be the briefest moment imaginable and then we have to really be on our toes! So you’re doing your best trying to anticipate when the moment will come and then of course making sure you are in the right place at the right time and fire the shutter at the perfect instant. This happens very fast and there is a natural tendency for a photographer to instantaneously check the back screen on his camera to see if he caught the moment or not. However, from experience I have noted how on many occasions immediately following the kiss the couple will share a warm, intimate gesture which is often more emotional than the first kiss itself. This may be an embrace, a touching of heads or the whispering of some private words. For this reason I never lower the camera but instead am more alert than ever. I think the shot here from Lynne and Alasdair’s ceremony really illustrates the rewards of this and shows the difference between simply a nice wedding snap and an award winning image. It has captured the full gambit of emotions - happiness, joy, contentment, love and excitement that the couple have for one another and that they are feeling at this exact, precise second. This instant in time lasted for literally a split second and will never ever occur again. I can tell you it is exceedingly rewarding capturing these never to be repeated, fleeting moments and one of the reasons I love my job so much!

A November wedding at The Quay, Musselburgh

I love November weddings! Mainly because you don’t have to wait until 10 o’clock for a sunset! lol In all seriousness though weddings that occur towards the end of the year always have such beautifully atmospheric lighting due to the fact that the nights are drawing in quicker. Jemma and Mark’s wedding at The Quay in Musselburgh turned out to be a perfect example and from the 393 photographs that we took throughout the day we got some real crackers!

This was the first time I’d photographed a wedding at The Quay and hopefully I will get many more here in the future. It is a very popular wedding venue and as an Edinburgh wedding photographer I will very much look forward to working here again. I was already very familiar with The Quay as I live only a short drive away and have carried out several magazine commissions in and around the Firth of Forth coastline including the picturesque Fisherrow Harbour which sits adjacent to The Quay. I have also eaten many times in The Quay restaurant which is well known throughout the Lothians for its superb food.

Jemma and Mark booked me for their wedding photography as last year I had photographed the wedding of one of Jemma’s friends, Gillian. Gillian and Gary had a fantastic wedding at Craighouse which I thoroughly enjoyed photographing. You can see some of their photos in the next issue of Best Scottish Weddings magazine which comes out the first week in December as it is being run as a Real Life weddings feature.

Jemma and Mark had booked us for pre-wedding 'getting ready' photos through until the first dance. As we drove through to Jemma’s parents home on the morning I could see that the weather was shaping up pretty good and with a bit of luck we’d get a nice sunset at the end of the afternoon, something all wedding photographers in Edinburgh enjoy! We arrived just before noon and started with a few photographs of the wedding dress, shoes, flowers, etc before grabbing a few hair and make-up shots. I also snatched a couple of photos of the wedding cars parked outside the house just as we left to head down to The Quay for some photos with Mark and groomsmen.

Jemma and Mark’s wedding party was quite large, somewhere in the region of 140 guests. Most wedding photographers in Edinburgh will probably agree that 80-90 day guests is about the average. The Quay complex is equally large however and also has several function rooms so can accommodate things with no problem at all. I did the photographs with Mark and his bestmen, two of them, in one of the side rooms overlooking the harbour. Although I had planned on doing the group photographs after the ceremony in front of the large window of the ceremony room the way things worked out following the newly weds exit I could see it would be more advantageous to use this same room instead. Most weddings never go 100% to plan and its part of the job to be flexible so that everything still runs smoothly.

As usual I captured plenty of photographs of the ceremony itself working quietly in one of the corners. Everyone enjoyed a wee drink for a few minutes following the marriage and then we got the group photographs underway. I deliberately timed these carefully so that we’d finish for around 4pm. I knew the sunset time was quarter past four and I really wanted to be outside doing the bride and groom session so that it would coincide with the setting sun. Things went pretty much perfectly here and we got out for some photos on the beach and then by the harbour for the first ten minutes or so before I took Mark and Jemma around to the opposite side of The Quay so that the sunset would be behind their heads. As you can see the sky was a glorious colour!

Following the sunset shots the other image I wanted to finish with was the bride and groom at the main entrance to capitalise on The Quay’s lighting. Most lighting is enhanced at night when things get darker and subsequently the artificial lighting appears more dramatic. However, the secret with night photography is to catch the sky as it turns deep blue. It is quite easy to assume that night photography will always have black skies, but in between the dusk and the skies becoming black there occurs a brief period of time where the skies are actually deep blue. This is the optimum time for night photography as it is far more dramatic than having a plain black sky. The last photograph here is a reasonable example. It is not perfect as really I would prefer the sky to have turned a touch deeper blue but I am aware that at this time of year I don’t want to keep my bride and groom outside too long as I don’t want them becoming cold. As I knew that the sunset shots were going to be stunning I was happy to compromise on the night sky.

Mark and Jemma’s evening reception went over beautifully. Some great speeches, a scrumptious meal and lots of fun! Between the meal and the cake cutting I had plenty time to do a few requested photographs for some of Jemma and Mark’s family and friends, and I also made sure I got a photograph of Gillian and Gary, too. We were then back in for the cutting of the cake which was carried out on the dance floor before going into their first dance. All the photos I’ve blogged today are from Mark and Jemma’s bride and groom session, simply because I love the striking November lighting. When I blog next week’s wedding I’ll try and use more of the reportage images.

Engagement Shoot at The Point Hotel

A busy period just now what with wedding fairs, Edinburgh portrait sessions, album designing and still a couple of weddings to photograph before the end of the year. Last weekend was the Edinburgh Corn Exchange wedding fair, the biggest in central Scotland, and then this Sunday I’m down in Newcastle for the Great North East Bridal Show, one of the leading wedding fairs in the North East of England. I really enjoy doing wedding fairs as it’s a chance to showcase my albums and Storybooks which being bespoke designed makes them really stand out above the template system of designing used by most wedding photographers.I fundamentally believe that a photographers work should speak for itself so I love having the opportunity to lay out three or four albums and then just step back and allow couples to browse through them and see the quality of photography that I provide. I’m not much good with clever sales tactics and I don’t have the gift of the gab so it’s probably just as well I have a more laid back policy, lol.

As we are in the middle of the autumn wedding fair season I’m going to take the opportunity to talk about pre-wedding Engagement Shoots. My last engagement shoot was with Nikki and Russell just two weeks ago. I took them to the Point Hotel in the centre of Edinburgh who very kindly gave me use of the stunning Penthouse Suite function room that looks out across the city towards Edinburgh Castle. I’ve photographed many weddings at the Point Hotel Edinburgh and also do a lot of photography for the hotel which is why they were happy to allow me use of the Penthouse for the photo shoot. If you haven’t yet booked your venue for your wedding and wanted to consider the Point Hotel I’m sure we could arrange an Engagement Shoot for you which would give you a chance to see around the Hotel for yourself and also sample how great your wedding photographs would be if you held your wedding here. Please drop me an email or give me a call if you’d be interested.

Engagement Shoots are pretty much win win events for all involved. Firstly, it gives you the chance to work with a professional photographer who can coach you through the secrets of how to look good in front of the camera. We can try different poses and sequences and experiment to see which ones you feel most comfortable with and that work best for the style and look of the photographs you’d like. If you are the type of person who doesn’t really like having their photograph taken, or feels uncomfortable in front of the camera lens this is an excellent opportunity to learn tips and tricks of how to relax, look good and feel confident in front of the camera. If you haven’t yet booked anyone for your wedding photography it also lets you assess your photographer and the quality of his work. Very often I run promotions offering free Engagement Shoots for this very reason as the quality of the resulting photographs is so high the couple will go on to book me to photograph their wedding.

A typical Engagement Shoot will last around 45 minutes. I try not to make it too much longer as a 30-45 minute slot is quite close to the time you will have for your main bride and groom session on your wedding day and it allows me to demonstrate how I can produce a large variety of different images within a modest time frame. For Nikki and Russell we ended up with around 50 different photographs.
They will then pick their favourite image which I will have printed and mounted up into one of our wedding signature mounts which goes on display on the wedding day for guests to sign and leave congratulatory messages on the special signature mounting board. For the photo shoot itself and the signature mount print I currently charge £90, but keep a look out for special offers and promotions. You can purchase any of the remaining photographs from the session at the normal print rates or we can compile all the images from the shoot into an Engagement Image Book. The first picture you see in this blog post is the opening double page spread of a 12 x 8 inch Engagement Image Book.

I don’t know how many other wedding photographers in Edinburgh offer Engagement Shoots but I’m sure they will become more and more popular. I had a thoroughly enjoyable time with Nikki and Russell and love their photos! I think they loved them too. Here’s a quote from an email I received from Nikki after sending through her photo proofs...

"Many thanks for your time yesterday. We were both surprised how much fun and comfortable it was. The photos are stunning! I was gob smacked when I saw them especially as neither of us like having our picture taken. I will email you later in the week what pictures we want to get and as soon as I have a confirmed date I’ll be looking to book the date with you."

I mentioned in last weeks blog, Karen and Norman’s wedding at Barony Castle, how I’d entered two of the photographs into the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers monthly contest (October) and I’ll be entering a couple of the photographs in this weeks blog into next months contest, too. I managed to win two awards in the 'Bridal Portraiture' category (the back of the dress shot of Karen in the window) and the 'Weddings Contemporary' category (2nd to last shot from last weeks blog of Karen by the mirror) both Bronze. The last time I did an Engagement Shoot I managed to pick up an award in the Contemporary Portraiture category with one of the shots so I’m hoping I might do well again with the images that I’ll enter from Nikki and Russell’s shoot. I’ll let you know in due course.

Another Barony Castle wedding

I’ve photographed many weddings at Barony Castle but this was the first one where I ended up photographing the newly weds in the bath at the end of the day! In fact it’s the first time I’ve ever photographed the bride and groom in the bath! But first I’ll back track and go from the beginning.

I first met Karen and Norman many months ago at a Melville Castle wedding fair. Impressed with my Storybook albums they made an appointment with me for later in the week at which they booked. I meet with all my couples again about four weeks before the wedding day for their pre-wedding consultation. As a part of this meeting I discuss with them album design and preferences. Norman and Karen had chosen to add the award winning Bellissimo album to their overall package, which of course recently won the industry’s Wedding Album of the Year 2011. Every album I design is bespoke to each couple and their wedding, I do not use the generic album design software that most wedding photographers use as the template system results in many of the pages being duplicated by many photographers and therefore all the albums end up looking much the same. Starting from a complete blank canvas is just so much more creative. The page designs and layouts will be tailored to fit the wedding and the couple themselves giving them a unique and exclusive album. One of the reasons I like to discuss idea’s ahead of the wedding is just so I can have a good idea of the look and feel that each couple will like so that I can get my first draft as close as possible to how they want it to look.

For their photographic coverage Karen and Norman went for eight hours coverage so we’d start with some getting ready photos at Karen’s parents home and run through until the first dance. Karen’s parents live just outside Edinburgh so not far for an Edinburgh wedding photographer to travel. Karen’s sister was to be bridesmaid and her two young sons pageboys so we got some great shots at the home of everyone getting ready and enjoying the pre-wedding preparations. We are able to get plenty of details shots at this point including things like the dress, shoes, bouquets, jewellery etc as well as getting the reportage shots as the hair and make-up is done. It was a nice warm, sunny morning and time seemed to fly by.

I finished up at the house around 1pm and set off for Barony Castle to be there in time to get a few photographs of the groom and groomsmen prior to the ceremony. I was really looking forward to the wedding. My last two Barony Castle weddings both resulted in me winning awards from the SWPP (Society of Wedding & Portrait and Photographers) so it’s a venue I’m fond of. Amazingly, in the short time since leaving Karen’s parents house and arriving at Barony Castle it had started to rain. Although this isn’t a problem as there are plenty of alternatives for photographs on a rainy day I knew Karen had set her heart on taking the walk along the riverside up to the gazebo for some photographs, so I was hoping for her sake things might clear up.

After doing some photos with Norman, his bestman and ushers myself and Mike, the videographer from Watch the Birdie, were patiently waiting in the lobby for the brides arrival. By now it was raining quite hard and as there was limited space, both in the lobby and at the castle entrance car park, we worked out the best way of working to ensure we both got the photographs and footage we wanted. I’ve workedwith Watch the Birdie many times (probably because I recommend them so much lol) and they are a great company to work with who produce a high quality product. It was nice on this occasion to be working with Mike for a change as Geoff (the owner) usually eats half my dinner and dessert at the weddings we work together! At least today I wouldn’t go home hungry ;)

Karen duly arrived and we dodged out to get some shots in the back of the car and then a couple of posed photographs before we hit the aisle. From here on in I’m working photo-journalistically all the way through until the group photographs. The declarations, vows, ring exchanges etc always make for great moments and I move quietly from one corner to the other capturing these. The ceremony room at Barony Castle creates quite a difference in light levels when everyone is standing compared to when they sit down and I know from experience this upsets the camera’s metering (you would think a £2000 camera wouldn’t get upset over anything wouldn’t you!) so I switched everything to manual and selected the settings myself as we went through the proceedings.

Drinks and canapés after the ceremony, then the group photographs followed by a half hour session with Karen and Norman. It was still raining so we did everything inside using a few well known locations together with a couple I’d earmarked on my pre-wedding venue check. After these the rest of the day is photographed photo-journalistically again with shots of everyone enjoying themselves and having fun and of course speeches and toasts. At the end of the meal it had momentarily stopped raining so I asked Karen if she wanted to nip out for ten minutes and get the photographs along the riverside and at the gazebo. She was delighted! When we returned the band were running a little late and so Norman asked if I’d go up with them to the bridal suite and get a couple of photographs there. I’m there to do whatever my couples want on their wedding day so was happy to oblige.

We went up to the bridal suite and did a few shots positioning them in various locations in the large, spacious room, including the mirror shot you see here which I’ve just entered into this months SWPP image contest (so fingers crossed). When we finished Norman and myself were commenting on how gorgeous the bathroom was. Which resulted in me suggesting how about you climbing into the bath for the 'bride and groom in the bath' photograph that appears here. As you can see they were happy to oblige!

We still had a little time before the dancing got underway so Karen instructed me to go down and get something for myself from the chocolate fountain. I ran down eagerly down the stairs however once I’d gotten there I discovered Mike had beaten me to it and all that he’d left was a strawberry! Pfff! Come back Geoff all is forgiven!

Win Your Wedding - Norton House Hotel

Things are incredibly busy right now and I’m loving it! The wedding season is beginning to tail off a touch and so I’ve been doing a lot of portrait sessions and shoots following a highly successful promotion after being signed up by Edinburgh’s Great Deal’s. I also think it’s highly likely that a well known fashion name will be running a Kool Kids photo contest in Edinburgh sometime before the end of the year but at the moment that’s top secret so please don’t tell anyone.

I had a great time at Ocean Terminal last weekend for the Debenhams Wedding Weekend and now I’m getting ready for the Edinburgh wedding fair this Sunday at the Hilton Edinburgh Hotel. That’s providing I survive my shoot at the National Mining Museum Friday night, of course. For the first time in over 30 years the National Mining Museum Scotland is going to be illuminated at night and the Switch On is this Friday. The switch on itself is being carried out by a top secret prominent well known person (yes lots of secrets this week) and after photographing them pressing the Switch On button the museum want to hoik (my spell checker is telling me that 'hoik' is spelled wrong...it doesn’t realise it’s this weeks new word) me up on to a precipitous, over hanging rooftop so I can get some dramatic photographs of the floodlit Colliery. I’m really looking forward to it! The photos will be amazing!

Last weekend of course I photographed Diane and Steven’s wedding at Norton House Hotel. Diane and Steven were the lucky couple who won the Forth One Win Your Wedding contest. This is justabout the biggest prize on Scottish radio where Forth One pooled together some of the finest wedding companies in Scotland who donated their services for free giving the winning couple a dream wedding day worth well over £15,000. The wedding venue was the superb Norton House Hotel, one of Edinburgh’s most popular and delightful wedding venues and other winning prizes included Diane‘s wedding dress, flowers and decorations and arrangements, wedding cars, honeymoon, hair and make-up, photography, wedding cake, piper, fly over by the Red Arrows and first dance song performed by Lady Gaga. I missed photographing the Red Arrows flyover because Lady Gaga was busy asking me if I thought her hair would look okay in the photographs ;)

The day went great with nice sunny weather and a fun filled humanist ceremony. As with all weddings I am there to do whatever you want me to soI was more than happy to do a few family photographs with Steven prior to the ceremony and then I was awaiting the bridal arrivals. I got a few quick photos of Diane with her bridesmaid and flower girl both in the wedding car and then at Norton House entrance. I also photographed her alongside her Uncle Eddie who was going to be walking her up the aisle and giving her away before we headed inside, too. I love the Ballroom suite at Norton House because it is so spacious and I was able to photograph the ceremony from many different angles and vantage points whilst remaining as unobtrusive as possible. Earlier in the day I photographed the set up of the room, the floral arrangements and decoration as well as the cake that was on display just for the benefit of the other companies who had supplied them. I do this at most weddings as I’m always happy to help out other wedding suppliers with photos and images of their beautiful products.

I received a phone call this week from Sky TV’s 'Four Weddings' who are wanting me to put forward one or two of my future brides to be featured on the program in the near future and also later in 2012. So if you have booked me for your wedding photography or are about to book me please let me know if you are interested. I’ve discussed this with one or two of my forthcoming brides so far and the consensus of opinion is that it seems a rather scary proposition! lol. Anyway, if it’s not too scary an idea for you let me know and we can work things out.

If you are planning on coming to the Edinburgh wedding fair this Sunday you may be interested to know we will have the new Kate Middleton replica Royal Wedding dress featuring in the exclusive Pretty Woman fashion show. It looks absolutely amazing close up - even to a guy! There will be complimentary drinks and canapés, performances throughout the afternoon from Scotland’s finest string quartet, John MacKintosh will be piping the opening of the fashion show, I’ll have the award winning Wedding Album of the Year 2011 on my own stand and there’s also the chance to win a free engagement photo shoot followed by a romantic meal for two at the Hilton in the Prize Draw at 4pm. If you stick around for a while after the conclusion of the fashion show we should be doing a mini fashion shoot with the models which you are welcome to watch. I’ll even do you your own portrait too if you like :)

I won't win the VOWS this year :(

With the announcement of the VOWS awards nominees having been made since my last blog I thought I’d take the opportunity to say a big Thank You to all the newly weds whose weddings I had the pleasure of photographing this year and who gave me a vote. In the photography category to reach the final shortlist of eight each company required 15 votes and sadly I just missed out with 25 (scratches head confusededly).

If you read my blog regularly you will know that I have been thrilled to pick up a remarkable number of awards for my photography so far this year. As the year progressed and I photographed more and more weddings I received some lovely Thank You cards and gifts from my newly married couples. Although I have never actively promoted the VOWS many of these couples mentioned in their cards that they had voted for me in the VOWS awards and when the number reached 16 I began to think it might be a good idea to write to some of my other couples asking if they would consider giving me a vote too. So at the beginning of September (closing date for VOWS votes was Sept 20th) I did this and nine couples replied that they would indeed send in their votes for me.

I was rather chuffed about this. I target 30-35 weddings a year (as most of my couples usually add on a Storybook album to their packages this allows me to dedicate enough time for their album design as well as to fit in some portrait sessions and magazine assignments, etc) so I thought 25 votes was a pretty good percentage. However, when the short listed finalists were announced I was not among them (breaks out the violin, lol). To be honest I wasn’t unduly concerned as I’m an Edinburgh wedding photographer who runs a small family company and I do not employ other photographers so obviously I don’t photograph as many weddings as the larger companies. But I was interested to know how my votes compared against the finalists so I emailed the VOWS organisers for the stats and figures. They kindly sent back the following information...

In the photography category they received a total of 1,059 entries. For a company to reach the eight short listed places as finalists they needed 15 votes. Philip Hawkins Photography fell short having only 11 votes. Pooo! (Please note the organisers didn't actually say 'Pooo', that was me!)

I certainly cannot see 16 couples, totally unprompted, sending me Thank You cards which say they have voted for me making it up. I hadn't even mentioned anything about the VOWS to them. And even if none of the other 9 remembered to vote if my maths is right I'm still above the 15. Oh, well, I guess next year I’ll have to ask the counting officers to check under their desks and chairs, lol.

Although it does sound rather confusing (btw, I hope you spotted this weeks new word earlier) I didn’t dwell on it for long as the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers results for the September monthly contest were published beginning of October and I managed to pick up no fewer than four awards in the categories of 'Weddings Contemporary', 'Weddings Photojournalism', 'Weddings Traditional' and 'Bridal Portraiture'. All from the same wedding! So I was a very happy photographer! (Grrr, I meant to say wedding photographer Edinburgh as it’s good for my SEO, lol) So the four images are the ones you see here.

It’s a big day for lots of people tomorrow (Friday) especially Diane and Stephen who were the Radio Forth winners of the Win Your Wedding 2011 contest. I’m charging up all the batteries and stuff as we speak in readiness to do their photography for their Norton House Hotel wedding in the afternoon. I’m then at Ocean Terminal shopping centre Saturday and Sunday for the Debenhams Wedding Weekend followed by the Edinburgh wedding fair at the Hilton Hotel the next again weekend.

I am already receiving great interest in our first photography course in Edinburgh for 2012 (details are now up on my website). Date is January 7th at the Edinburgh Hilton Hotel. It’s an all day course Getting to grips with digital photography. So if you know anyone who has perhaps recently taken up an interest in photography or maybe receives a new digital camera as a Christmas present or anyone who simply wants to understand their camera more or improve their photography level please pass on the details to them. Places are limited so its first come first served. We also have several other classes and courses coming up too so you may like to bookmark the link.

Once again may I say thanks to those of you for all the Thank You cards, emails and presents. I’ve popped a selection of them up on the Testimonials page on my website and I’ll also be using others in various promotional and marketing materials. I know that last week I was talking about news and rumours so I’ll finish up today with the rumour that one of my weddings will be a feature article in the next issue of Best Scottish Weddings magazine and another one will feature in Hitched Real Life Weddings!