Weddings, Photo-shoots and Commercial assignments

What an incredibly busy and exciting year 2012 has been! To be honest I really didn’t think anything would eclipse 2011 for me after being featured by ITV in their five week run-up to the Royal Wedding as one of the top 12 wedding photographers in the country. It generated enormous interest and exposure and I was thrilled! However, this spring I’ve had the same amount of publicity after BBC Magazines included me in their Top 12 Wedding Photographers feature.

I’ve also ended the year by having several photographs published on the International Professional Photographers Society pages. I can’t tell you how chuffed I was at this as they only feature a very very small percentage of professional photographers work from all over the globe and the images have to be literally out of this world! Two of the photographs are in this blog; the wedding photograph of Emma and Stuart at Dalhousie Castle and the Storm over Melville Castle.

One of the things my friends and family are always amazed about is how, despite having been taking photographs professionally since the age of 16, my love and enthusiasm for photography has grown more and more over the years and is stronger now than it has ever been! When I was a young boy I got hooked on photography at 8 years of age and all I ever wanted to do was leave school as soon as possible and be a professional photographer. I am very fortunate to have had that come about and still be doing what I love almost 30 years on!

Weddings and Photo-shoots are of course my number one priority but I still enjoy freelancing for magazines and the commercial work I pick up, too. This of course has a great knock-on effect on my wedding photography as you learn some of the most highly prized secrets of the trade from magazine Editors and Publishing House designers which have a great impact on your skills and creativity. And it’s also nice receiving my Royalties every December ;)

December is always an extremely busy month for most wedding photographers in Edinburgh, especially those who do photo-shoots, too. Not only with the photography itself but also all the print, canvas and album orders. I’ve managed to get all my orders out today so everyone should receive everything in time for Christmas. This also includes my landscape prints and canvases that sell from website as well.

One thing I am going to mention is the price for my framed prints if you have had a photo-shoot or wedding with me. I do so simply because everyone has been telling me what great value for money they are, especially compared with other photography studio’s. So, a large 20” x 16” framed photograph is £69.95, a medium 16x12 is £59.95 and a 12x10 only £49.95. All my framed prints come in photo noir style, classic black frames with matching mounts. There’s a couple of pictures of them on my facebook page.

January is always a busy month for couples looking for and booking their wedding photographer. I’ve recently carried out a few tweaks on my website to try and provide all the information future bride and grooms need about myself and my services and costings.

2012 has been another year where poor wedding photographers have appeared on the news as disappointed couples attempt to sue them for their money back. Many of the experienced pro’s like myself work hard trying to help and educate couples in how to tell the difference between photographers and standards of work. An important point to remember is do not assume that all wedding photographers are the same, because they are not. In fact there are huge differences!

I do not who it was that coined the term “Frumpographer” but it does actually help in highlighting that it is not all about the packages and options but rather what you are paying your money for is the skill and level of expertise of the photographer himself and it is this that will directly affect how you look in your wedding photographs. So when comparing one photographer against another do so by looking carefully at his work. Even if you initially know little about photography you can soon train yourself to recognise the difference between what is a good photograph, a poor photograph and a stunning photograph. Go into the photographers Gallery and look at what they considers to be their best photographs and then compare them side by side.

Talking of looking at photographs please remember that if you click on any image here it will open a larger gallery style viewer so you can see the photographs at a larger size.