Category Archives: Cheshire

Cheshire Wedding Photographer – Should always hire a Professional!

Unfortunately, once again the newspapers contain a story about a Bride & Groom’s memories of their wedding day having been ruined by a non professional photographer.

Bride and groom left with no snaps of their wedding day after photographer lost memory card in boozy brawl

The headline looks bad but when you read beyond the headlines it appears that Mr & Mrs Sanderson decided to save some money for their reception and honeymoon by asking a friend to photograph one of the most important days of their lives. It appears that the photographer, Ben Fagan, was wanting to build his portfolio but following the wedding rather than backing up the images immediately he put the memory card in his wallet. When he lost the wallet a week later after a fight in a pub he still hadn’t backed up the images. We will probably never know how good a photographer the friend was but what can be certain of is that he failed to follow what Professional Wedding Photographers in Cheshire would deem standard practice.

As a Professional Cheshire Wedding Photographer I know that wedding photographs are precious and I follow a 5-point plan to ensure that my clients always receive their images.

1) Use multiple cameras during the day.

2) Use multiple cards during the day, typically one 4GB or 8GB card per camera for each of the main stages of the wedding; the preps, the ceremony, the reception, and the first dance.

3) Have a system of recognising a used & blank card – this eliminates the possibility of using a card twice and overwriting images from earlier in the day.

4) Backup all the images to the laptop BEFORE leaving the venue.

5) Backup all images from the laptop to an external hard drive BEFORE going to bed (even if this means staying up until 3am)

This means that by the time I go to bed on a wedding day I will have at least 3 copies of all images (1 on the cards, 1 on the laptop and 1 on the external hard drive)

Tight Wedding Budget? You can still get a Professional Cheshire Wedding Photographer

Cheshire Wedding Photographer - Click for more info

It is clear that this wedding was done on a budget; 60 Guests and a UK honeymoon is not exactly extravagant but then neither is Professional Wedding Photography.

Remember; once the cake has been eaten, the flowers have died and you’ve returned from your honeymoon all you have left is your memories and your photographs.

As a Cheshire Wedding Photographer my standard 8hr coverage starts at £575 and is spread over the months before the wedding. To put this in comparison this is just £75 more than a 2 night stay in the Loft Suite at Upton House; the 5* B&B the couple in the article chose to spend the start of their honeymoon before spending a further 6 days in the Cotswolds. Looking at it another way when you add in the time spent processing the images and the time spent on the day this works out at less per hour than a typical garage charges to service your car. If you are on a really tight budget a professional Cheshire Wedding Photographer is likely to be open to negotiation for late booking or reduced coverage deals.

Professional Wedding Photography is really a small price to pay to ensure you get stunning images of your Wedding Day.

Related Blog Posts:

Cheshire Wedding Photographer – What to watch out for…

 

N.B. The prices of Upton House were checked on 15/06/2012 and was for a 2 night stay starting on 30/06/2012. Other rooms were available at prices ranging from £300 and this may not be representative of the price paid by the Sandersons.

Cheshire Baby Photographer – Celebrating the Jubilee

As well as a Cheshire Baby Photographer in Poynton, I am a Cheshire Wedding Photographer and knowing that this Jubilee weekend I would be photographing 3 weddings “on the bounce” and that with three 15 hour days (and the long hours of editing afterwards) I wasn’t going to get any time to produce something over the weekend itself so last week when I was photographing a 9 day old baby I took the opportunity to get something suitably patriotic and fit for a Queen to celebrate Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee.

Cheshire Baby Photographer – Jubilee Photograph

Cheshire Baby Photographer - Union Flag Baby

If you are wanting a Cheshire Baby Photographer or Wedding Photographer in Cheshire to help you celebrate the new addition to life or your new life together and would like more information about the services I offer then either use the Contact Me page or ring me on 07968 853 639. Whilst I’m based in Poynton, nr Wilmslow I use studios in Trafford Park and Stockport, I am happy locally such as Macclesfield, Marple or Bramhall and further afield across the North West including Chester, Buxton, Liverpool and Manchester.

God Save the Queen

Wilmslow Wedding Photographer – In front of the lens

It’s not often that a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer gets the opportunity (or indeed wants) to get in front of the camera but last Sunday I did exactly that.  Helping out student director and model Sascha Laurissa Muir in her final year film studies degree project I joined 8 other photographers at a local Family Portrait studio in Stockport and took part in a film following a Portrait Photographer in Stockport during a photoshoot. Three scenes were planned for the film by Sacsha, firstly a bridal portrait setting which as a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer was bread and butter stuff, the next was a fashion portrait with a stunning flowing burgundy dress, again relatively easy for us and finally the arty side was released with a Marylin Monroe inspired scene with selected video clips getting projected onto the model.

How a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer coped in front of the lens

It was a strange experience; firstly because I needed to sign a model release which as a Professional Photographer is something I have to obtain whenever I work with Models and secondly we were being filmed!!! Whilst the group was taking turns photographing the model Melissa Kay Roberts staring as “Demi Scarlett”  our actions were permanently recorded and as a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer being in front of the lens at the same time I’m working is not something I’m used to. To complicate matters rather than using studio flash which most of us were used to we were using video lights ably set-up by Lancaster portrait photographer – Gary Hill even with all the distractions I am pleased to have taken some great images a small selection of which are shown below.

We had the great pleasure again to work with fabulous Manchester Make Up Artist Emma Mackenzie who did a great job transforming Melissa in to Demi Scarlett. Along with make up for films she also does hair and make up for brides across the North West and as a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer I happily recommend her to all my clients.

Images from a Wilmslow Wedding Photographer in front of the lens

Wilmslow Wedding Photographer - Bridal PortraitWilmslow Wedding Photographer - Fashion PortriatPhotographer PhotographedFilming the Photographer

Cheshire Wedding Photographer on YouTube

As part of any contemporary Cheshire Wedding Photographer’s products should be the slide-show set to music and to show these off I have setup a YouTube Channel which contains a sample of the slide shows I have produced as Wedding Photographer in Stockport and will be updated through out the year.

I will also be uploading slide-shows created during Family Portraits in Wilmslow and the surrounding areas as well as in the Trafford Park Portrait Studio.

To keep up to date with my shoots please subscribe to my You Tube Channel by Clicking HERE

Cheshire Wedding Photographer on You Tube

 

Maternity Photo Shoots Stockport – Bump Photographs

From the beginning of April 2012 Photography By SimonH is offering expectant mothers near Stockport the chance to have themselves and their bump photographed in the 7th or 8th month of pregnancy to capture the joys of pregnancy.

Maternity Photo Shoots cost just £45 and lasts about 1 hour and can either be done in your own home or at a studio in Trafford Park (just 5 minutes from the Trafford Centre). Any one who books a Pregnancy Photoshoot in April, May or June will receive a 50% discount on a newborn baby photoshoot to be redeemed during the baby’s first 14 days.

Maternity Photo Shoot Stockport