Lady in Red

When I first started out doing magazine work it was in the days of film. I used to shoot on transparency film as that produced the highest quality images required by the magazine houses. For a typical magazine feature they may perhaps use anywhere between 4 - 20 photographs depending on the size of the article and how many pages it would take up. We would submit the photos in an A4 transparent sheet that held 20 images in 5 rows and 4 columns and the first thing the editor would do with this was to lay it out on a light box whereupon he could view all the images perfectly and accurately. Now the payment terms for these feature was always agreed with us in advance but what was never decided until the last minute was the magazine front cover photograph and often a double page spread for the centrefold. If the editor selected one of your images for either of these it meant more money, and on a really prestigious big name title a front cover shot could actually pay more than your fee for the whole article!

Well as you can imagine once we’d submitted our images all of the contributors were hoping that one of the photographs from our submission would stand out strongly enough to be chosen to grace the front cover. Now there was a little secret I knew about the colour red that I often used to my advantage to help give my submission a slight a edge. Red is a naturally strong colour and when viewed on the accuracy of a light box it will stand out and dominate over all the other colours. So when putting together my submission of twenty pictures I would always make sure to put in one image on each column that featured the colour red knowing that as soon as the editor laid out my transparency sheet on his light box his eye would be naturally drawn and impressed by the 'red' photos. First impressions are always very important and it was amazing just how many of these photographs were the ones that made it to the front cover. So, you will not be surprised to hear how red has long been one of my favourite colours!

Prior to Claire’s wedding I had no idea she was going to be wearing red. Often when chatting with the couple before their wedding we are not allowed to speak of the dress in front of the groom, although on some occasions it has been known for the groom to be sent out of the room so I can talk about it with the bride, lol. So it was a lovely surprise to see such a striking dress on the day. My photography started with photos of the dress which I hung on the back of the wardrobe in the bridal suite. I then shot some getting ready pictures whilst Claire had her hair and make-up done and when finished I asked Claire to just take the dress down and hold it alongside her and I grabbed a couple of quick photos like that before she got in it.

Whilst Claire and her bridesmaids were getting into their dresses I popped out and did some photos with the groom and his groomsmen. I only take about ten minutes but within that time I can get a good variety of nicely posed images and then some very relaxed and casual shots. I was then back up to the girls room and did the same variety of photos with them now in their dresses. Running ahead of the girls I waited at the foot of the staircase for Claire to descend with her father. I got several good shots as they came down and then made their way along to the small chapel. During this stage of the proceedings I just try and keep ahead of events and work as unobtrusively as possible so for much of the time no one even knows they are having their photograph taken. This allows me to capture the atmosphere and feelings of the day and also ensures people look natural and relaxed in all the pictures.

Following the ceremony it was a drinks and canapés reception and after the newly weds had enjoyed a drink and a nibble we went into their groups shots. Claire and Jamie had requested minimal group shots of just the immediate family so these took even less than the twenty minutes I would normally take. I then took them both away for their main bride and groom session for another twenty minutes or so. Although it was raining on the day I’d already earmarked during my pre-wedding recce the locations I would use in such an event and there was several nice nooks and crannies within the hotel that afforded good photo opportunities. As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh I am privileged to work in so many great venues, but I’ve also photographed weddings in more low key locations and venues so wherever you may be getting married I can assure you that you’ll still get a stunning set of photographs!

When we had finished up it was off to the marquis for dinner. We had been booked to photograph through until and including the wedding speeches which were to come after the meal. So whilst enjoying our roast beef and Yorkshire pudding I replenished and changed all the batteries and memory cards so that we were good to go as soon as they got underway. With the speeches I always make sure to get a good variety and selection of shots of each speaker and then, depending on the length of each speech, I’ll try and grab some photos of the bridal party and guests laughing and enjoying all the jokes and anecdotes. Detail shots are also very important, too, as many of these make up your memories of the day and can also be used creatively to personalise your album pages.

I’m not yet sure if we’ll get any of Claire and Jamie’s photos into a magazine but it was certainly a pleasure to photograph their wedding. If you’d like to see more of my wedding photography please visit my weddings gallery on my website or get in touch to make an appointment to meet up for a chat and look through some albums. All my contact details can be found on there so whether you prefer emailing or phoning I’d love to hear from you.

A Wedding Album question

I was asked a question at the Edinburgh Corn Exchange Wedding Fair last week that I’ve never been asked before. And just like the proverbial bus scenario, not one but three brides asked me the same question over the course of the weekend. The three brides in question all fell in love with the bespoke design and look of my Storybook albums. I only use genuine wedding albums at wedding fairs and also client meetings, so the albums that the brides were looking at are actually my own copies of albums that have recently been delivered to my newly wedded couples. It’s very important that wedding photographers show you genuine, real life weddings as it gives a true reflection of their abilities and consistency of quality throughout an entire wedding. Whilst there is no real harm in a photographer having perhaps one 'Best of' album which he may use as his main portfolio you should really be more interested in viewing the real wedding albums and from at least three different weddings to assure yourself of his standards.The three brides I was chatting with had all booked their wedding photographer but wanted to know if they could purchase their albums from me and hire me to do their album design. They were all convinced it wouldn’t be a problem in getting their photographer to provide me with the disc of wedding photographs. Now technically I could do this, but it really isn’t something I would recommend for several reasons. Let me first of all explain a little bit about how Storybook wedding albums are designed and then hopefully this may help explain my caution.All album manufacturers provide album design software for the photographers. Basically this consists of lots of page templates where the photographer can simply drag and drop your selected photographs on to the pre-designed templates as he works his way through the album. This makes album design nice and easy and also does not consume vast amounts of the photographers time. However, although I have access to the same software as all other Edinburgh wedding photographers I am fortunate enough to have the experience and skills to design each album from a completely blank canvas. This allows for great creativity and enables me to personalize each album to fit each couple and their wedding. Although a lot of photographers claim they offer bespoke album design the truth is that there are only a very small handful of professional photographers throughout the UK who have the expertise to do this and it is one reason why my Storybook albums stand out so much from those of other wedding photographers in Edinburgh. If you have visited a large wedding fair you have no doubt noted how many, if not all, of the wedding albums on the photographers stands look very much the same. This is inevitable as due to using the same templates there is bound to be a lot of reproduction.One of the limitations to the template design system is that they only utilise solid colours on the backgrounds. Now unless you have extremely strange taste I’m sure you wouldn’t want page backgrounds in solid blue or bright red or vivid yellow. So you tend to find that black and white backgrounds become the norm. Most photographers tend to lean towards black. Black page backgrounds are extremely classy if used judiciously and carefully, however if an album has quite a lot of black pages it starts to become rather dark and forbidding the further you proceed through it and as you near the end you often find it has become almost funereal. Not being confined to the templates I will quite simply create a background to fit and highlight the photographs on the page. Without being restricted to solid colours I can apply different effects, textures and sheens to the pages, which really do give them a 'weddingy' feel.With a good imagination you really can do pretty much anything, which also allows me to accommodate suggestions and idea’s from my couples as well (and believe me I get many unique and sometimes challenging idea’s and requests). When working on an album design much of my inspiration is drawn from the wedding itself. Not only having taken the photographs but experiencing all the emotions, feelings and atmosphere throughout the day I will endeavour to reflect this in the design of the specific pages. I also will take photographs on the day specifically with the intent of using them as page backgrounds or fillers. You can see a couple of examples here where I’ve taken close ups of a floral display or the chair covers and sashes for this purpose. Throughout the design process I keep every couple up to date with page proofs so they can amend and change anything they like. They can even try different idea’s just to see what it will look like or compare one thing with another. On occasion I’ve even had the couples come into my office and sit with while we try a few unique designs and effects. If a couple has a strong theme or colour scheme for their wedding day I can design the pages to the same theme so their album becomes a perfect fit. It really is a case of the album being designed around the photographs as opposed to the other way round.I have popped a few examples up here to try and illustrate but there really is nothing like seeing them for yourselves in the flesh so to speak. Viewing on a computer monitor or other device is a very poor substitute so I always recommend meeting up so you can look, touch and feel the quality. I am happy to do evening or weekend appointments if you are at work during the day and there is no obligation to book. All my contact details and numbers are on my website: Wedding Photography Edinburgh