F.A.Q.

How many photographs do you take?

It depends on how your day unfolds – every wedding is different, with different things happening and different timetables. But for me it will always be a case of quality over quantity. Some photographers promise 100 pictures, others promise 1000 pictures. As a professional photographer who takes great pride in what he does, I will always put quality over quantity. What good are 1000 ordinary photos? Even a million ordinary photos? But to answer the original question! I normally show 200-300 beautiful images from a full day’s wedding.

How much time needs to be set aside for photography?

At the getting-ready stages, I recommend that you each set aside 45mins for posed photography – that’s 45mins of posed photography for the bride PLUS 45mins for the groom. We can agree precise timings but normally I will photograph the groom/bestman/ushers first before knocking on the bride’s and bridesmaids door. This means the boys being ready for photos in the morning. And it also means that girls will need to keep on top of the hair & make-up team so they don’t run late! By far the most crucial photography time is between the end of the ceremony and the start of the wedding meal / receiving line i.e. the drinks reception. I always recommend a minimum 2 hours drinks reception. This gives you time to mingle, chat and to really enjoy the day with your guests! And it gives me enough time to photograph everything I need (both candidly and formally). It is important to stay on time; if things run late before/during the ceremony and your drinks reception is cut short by the venue, then photography is definitely going to be affected.

What if the day runs late?

If you run late, it simply means less time for photography. All the beautiful, directed shots which you see on my website, they all take time to create. They don’t happen instantly. Without time, even with the best will in the world, there’s not much I can do in that regard. 

It’s worth noting that, in my experience, late running usually (not always but usually) starts with the hair and makeup team. I’ve photographed hundreds of weddings and I’ve been to bride’s houses, always several hours early, and still not managed one single bridal portrait and in each of those cases it was purely down to the hair and makeup team running late. Everything then becomes a panic which normally means the bride is rushed straight from the makeup chair and into the car! Leaving me completely bewildered. I can personally recommend amazing make-up artists (who are not divas!) who purposefully leave enough time for photography. If the bride looks stunning but I’m left with no time whatsoever to photograph her looking stunning, then that’s a real shame because pre-ceremony is when the bride is looking absolutely PERFECT.

Have a word with your venue too, especially about maintaining that all important 2 hour drinks reception. Certain venues have no flexibility and simply will not accommodate a bride who is running late -  their take is that if you run late, in order to get back on schedule, you must sacrifice your photography time! Taking away photography time like this in one big swoop will have a huge effect on how many photographs you’ll get from me. Much better to have that bit of flexibility built into your timetable, a buffer, in case you need it. You might not. The ideal drinks reception in my experience lasts a full 2 hours (even after late running). 

Why a minimum 2 hours drinks reception?

60mins for the bride & groom and the wedding party to mingle, chat and simply enjoy being congratulated by family & friends. Hug, kiss, make merry! And whilst you drink champers with your friends, I get to capture all my natural, fun shots of the family & guests. This is followed by 30mins of posed family groupshots - I think it’s important to do a handful of these at every wedding, especially for the folks! And then finally 30mins of beautifully posed, dramatic bride & groom shots, around the reception venue and away from everyone else. Having photographed hundreds of weddings over 13 years, I can say with certainty that these 2 hours are barely enough and will absolutely fly by. Don’t be tempted into anything less; it’s not a race to get you seated! Enjoy your drinks reception and enjoy photography without being pressurised into being seated before you’re ready.

Is there anything I shouldn’t do?

One thing you needn’t do is to give me a long list of shots to take! Before you book me, have a real good look at my photography. Look at the style, the creativity and the variety of pictures. Rest assured, that’s what you’ll receive if you give me free rein to photograph your wedding the way I see it. By all means give me a list of say 5 or 6 important formal family groups – I’d very much welcome that. But a list of 100 shots will be like clipping the wings of my imagination. It’ll turn me into a robot photographer, a paycheck photographer, with the sole purpose of churning through that list, one shot after another, in whatever limited time we have. I’ve never wanted to go down that road of being a production line photographer. You’re investing a lot in me to be imaginative, don’t go against that by restricting my creativity before the wedding day even begins. Trust me. Give my imagination the freedom to fly and I promise to deliver a set of wedding photographs which will take your breath away.

Are there 1 or 2 of you?

It’s just me! Some photographers work in pairs, others work on their own. For me, it’s a control thing! Because everything goes through my personal camera lens, I’m reassured that every picture taken meets MY standards. I’m a bit of a perfectionist and I need to know exactly what’s been photographed and how it’s been photographed. It also means that I know precisely how the storybook design (all the time building in my mind) is looking at every stage of your wedding day. And in terms of overall coverage, there’s no reason why, with a bit of forward planning, 1 photographer cannot cover every single part of the wedding day just as effectively as 2 photographers. I guess, finally, it comes down to the quality vs quantity thing again. When you’re faced with the choice of having 1 great photographer to cover your wedding or a pair of average ones – what would you choose? More photographers does not necessarily mean better photographs - it means you just get a few more average ones.

How do I book you?

Booking me as your wedding photographer is really straightforward – I’ll email you a simple booking form to complete and there’s a booking fee to be paid, which is normally £500 or 50% of your booked package, whichever you prefer. Once the completed booking form is back in my hands and the booking fee paid by bank transfer, your date is 100% secure in my diary. Please note that I work on a first-booking-form-through-the-door basis. I don’t hold dates provisionally for anyone, regardless of what stage their enquiry is at. It really is the fairest way for everyone, given the number of enquiries I get and each one at a different stage of the decision-making process. So if you want to secure me for your wedding to the exclusion of everyone else, let me know ASAP. Until I am in actual receipt of a signed booking form plus the booking fee, all dates in my diary remain free to other bookings without notice – meaning someone else can jump in at anytime with their booking form/booking fee to secure my services for the date you’re enquiring about.

What if I live outside Scotland?

I regularly have the pleasure of photographing weddings where the couple and the wedding party come from outside Scotland e.g. from all over England, Europe, America, Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong. Booking me to be your photographer from abroad is equally straightforward. Yes, I always love a face to face meeting before the wedding, where we can talk and get to know each a bit more but it isn’t crucial. Or very practical especially if you live far away. But distance is not a hurdle at all. We can have regular communication by email or phone, payments can be done by bank transfer and delivery of your disk or album after the wedding, by international courier.

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