Wedding Reckie

so just to be extra prepared for the wedding i have booked in july, i visited the venue so i knew what i was working with. As i was taking photos outside of the church i was approached by helpful man who turned out to be the minister(Ray),  he let me inside the church which was even better for me to get a feel for the place as i had never been there before.

Here i could plan to get some back shots of the bride walking into the church with the father. hopefully the weather will be on our side. Maybe some portraits of her by herself or with a few brides maids.
















Entrance to the church really nice area to get some detail shots of the location. Lighting in the venue was really good as the church was surrounded by large windows, it was just right.

such a large space to work with, giving me a lot of options to move around getting portraits and side shots of the couple.
I was told by the minister that the couple will stand just before the steps to get the married, and then will move up closer to the alter after.

Photographers get to use the balcony to get sum above shots of the bride and groom. i plan to make full use of this to produce some creative images.


will have to be careful of the lighting (ceiling lighting) make sure i get them out of the shot. wont be able to get straight on shots.

Studio hire..

so if i was approched by a client that wanted some studio shots, again needing to explore my options outside of the university. Coming across www.thewhiteroomstudio.com which has everything you need to know about prices and hiring it out.
I would need it in a easy accessable place to be good for clients to find. and with this one just being off Mutley its in a perfect location.

Prices: £7.50 per hour

but you can also hire out Models, Make-Up artists, Hair and Fashion stylists who can be booked for your individual requirements.


Prices:


1 hour £15 (minimum 2 hour booking)
4 hours £40 (half day)
8 hours £80 (full day) 

Equipment hire.

As ive decided not to stay on at university to do my BA top up year, i've been thinking more and more about how i would be able to source equipment away from the college. So far my own personal equipment consists of :

Nikon D60

Tripod 

Flash 

2x 8GB memory cards

But if i was going to be doing weddings on a regular basis i would maybe need to upgrade my own equipment (which right now i don't have the money for) or hire from a plymouth based rental store.

Ive been looking online and came across www.hirental.co.uk/ which gives you everything you would need to be prepared. Ive taken snapshots of what i would personally go for if i where to hire from them just to see how much it would cost me.

I chose the D90 because from experience of using it around the college it gives really nice results. alot of depth in the images which i think would really help with achieving the best quality images for the clients.

So out of the lens on offer i would either go with one of these to. I like to do a lot of little personal shots (fly on the wall) when doing weddings and i feel i would be able to capture those little moments much better.

Just incase the weather isn't up to its best to think on your feet and put up a mini studio in the location would really make the client feel like you know what your doing and that just because its gloomy outside they can still have some nice family shots together. 

So going by this website i would be looking at spending £136.19 for a 3 day equipment hire.  I wouldn't need a tripod as i already have one. and this would all be included on the price you would give to the clients 

Weddings assistance

I will be assisting Tony Cobley on a future wedding after the work based learning deadline. 22nd May 2012.

Clients : MR & MRS Lewis (to be)

I feel this is a great opportunity for me as i have done weddings before but to watch someone with a lot more experience in the field would be a great help for me.
not so much that i will then go and copy everything that Tony does, but just to see what other ways there are to make it more efficient for the photographer.
Tony had sent me through the forms he goes through with his clients, just so i had a good idea of how the day was going to be planned out and what was expected of me. Planning ahead is always a good option and have a back up plan if things don't go to plan is even better, thats what i got from the forms (everything has been thought of).
I think its going to be a challenge in itself to assist someone as i've never done it before, but its all experience.

Wedding 4

managed to secure my 4th wedding. A builder working on my parents house got talking to me about his up coming wedding. He sed he already had a photographer but the soon to be wife wasn't to sure about them as it was a friend of the family and hadn't seen much of their work. so after a bit of discussion about what they were looking for, I tried my best to make them feel comfortable with me, I also amended my website so they could easily see the photographs i've been taking.
After offering some extra prints in with the price they have decided to go with me.
still waiting to meet with the couple and get everything signed and confirmed.

Price : £350
includes me for where ever they need me
a disc with the images on (model release signed for me to use them for advertising purposes).
and 2 prints

Tony Cobley assistance

Today I assisted a well known photographer who has visited the university serveral times. I contacted him via email to see if I would be able to do some work assistance with him. To both gain more experience and just to see how some one more established within the commerstial field. I was contacted to assist with a portrait shoot for a business firm in the city centre.

I was contacted by a text message.
Meeting at 8:45 at 22 lockyer street plymouth.
asked to dress fairy smartly ( this would make a good impression on tony himself and also the clients he was working with.)

after introductions we got straight to work transporting Tonys portable studio to a spare room which had been set aside for us to work. Throughout the set up it was a time for us both to get to know each other, for me it was interesting to find out how tony got started and his own practise back in college; He seem interested in my current project of exploring my family and new cameras.

Tony talked me through the risk assessments for the room such as wires, lighting and tripping over floor plugs. Testing lighting and doing pre shots to make sure everything was set up for when the clients started to arrive. we had 11 people to shoot in total.

By this time i was mostly observing but after each model tony would talk me through the photographs he had taken he would always have the model standing as it gives better posture, he would have some image of them looking straight at the camera and then some looking at me or another model slightly out of shot to mix it up. how he connects with the model was really important he would try to make them laugh and suggested they came up in pairs so it wasn't so intrusive.

 He had a interesting way of working where he would get the client see the images he had taken and be involved in the editing process cutting about 20 images down to 3 or 4 making it easier to process and get back to the client faster, something to take away with me for further shoots.

After everything was finished and packed away I thanked him for the opportunity and was nice to hear i'd been very professional and made a great effort. I've also been offered the opportunity to assist him on  a wedding in May which I took as a good sign for further work experience.


link to his website

Engagement party coverage

As a favour for my sister i covered her engagement party as a present from me to her. Documenting the couple having fun times with family and friends. Here are a few images from the shoot. model release signed so i can use for advertising purposes. Over all happy with the results.  

equipment used: 

Nikon D60 with attached flash gun. 

i had also brought along my tripod just in case of any group shots and would need a stabiliser.

First family shoot.

So for my first family portrait shoot. there was a family get together and requested a whole family shot. There had never been a time for them all to be together in one place so was a big occasion.

As there were so many of them i thought outside would be the best place and give more room. the weather was bright outside so no need for artificial lighting. 

composition wise there wasn't really any plan but to have the taller people at the back and then graduate down. they also wanted to include the dogs so to have a few people kneeling just made it look better and to keep the dogs in place.  

As it was for family i didn't charge for this photograph. but made them sign a model release so i could use it for advertising of other family shoots. They seemed pleased with the results and all wanted a copy for themselves. 

Family portraits.

I advertised on Facebook that i was offering portrait sessions over the easter period. i was doing this to help with my work based learning to cover more days of work experience.

I had quite a bit of interest and have now got 3 different clients that wish me to take images of their children, pets and the couple them self.

Organising dates to come.

wedding 3

Today i had a meeting with a new client about their wedding and what they were looking for we discussed venue and the plan for their whole wedding. also got them to agree to a price of £300 including the cd with the images on and sign a model release for the images created and signed a contract.

I made it clear to the couple that the copyright still remains with me as i took the images but i grant them the use of the cd to reproduce images either through me or somewhere else.

client is going to get back to me with further image ideas and group shots that they wish me to do on the day

Pre wedding shots- at the Elfordleigh they have been offered a slide show projection. Going to be taking pictures of them before the wedding (possible location plym bridge) to be put into the slide show.

wedding is on the 21st of july
Im going to be with her the whole day as i am also invited to the wedding. the couple seem pretty relaxed and are happy for me to take images as the wedding is going on and before.

i will start off at the house taking images of the bride and bridesmaids getting ready. Then images in the car and setting off. i will be going in the limo with them so i can get better shots of the bride in the car.

venue : crown hill church then on to elfordleigh for the reception.
             (planning on doing a venue reckie so i can get a feel for the place and plan better for the day.)

Talked about a whole group shot at the church. idea! taking it in stages so everyone can be seen panorama editing for a canvas in their home.

Royal Air Force

Photograph everything, from equipment and public relations portraits to reconnaissance photographs from the air. 


Photographers support RAF activities worldwide during both peacetime tasks and deployed war operations using modern digital systems. They can also undertake a variety of duties, ranging from identity photographs, photographing engineering faults of ground and air equipment to police photography – even photographing a Royal visit! With the benefit of training and on-the-job experience (gaining nationally recognised qualifications along the way), RAF Photographers can develop the skills to set up and publish their products on computer networks; they can also be involved in the production of films and videos.

Reading the information on the RAF website really helped with understanding what would be expected of me when i decide to go into the service. but i still had a few questions on the process as it doesn't make that clear. 


So i made a trip down to my local Royal Air Force careers office. Doing this backed up my choice of going down this path and made me excited about other prospects that could become available to me. 

Similar civilian jobs:

• Commercial and industrial photographer
• Medical photographer
• Photographic laboratory technician
• TV/film/video photographer

The skills i will gain in the royal air force can possible give me more skills to do any of these jobs out side of the royal air force. Ive been interested in medical photography and had looked into it before. but was disheartened by all the qualifications needed to pursue that choice.


On the website they have stories of photographers in the forces and what they have to do in their daily job. for me this helps but could also give a false opinion of the job. From reading online blogs of people interested in joining the force, there have been some mixed responses, so i have planned to take a year out to think really hard about my decision and my career means everything.

Wedding 2

Client: Steve and Wayne (civil ceremony)

Venue: Registry office on the hoe.

What we discussed in meetings:

They didn't want anything fancy and they also didn't want me to be at the reception just the Registry office as there weren't going to be many people. For me this just shows how weddings can be so different but with the same underlining structure.  discussed how they would like me to give them the images and they were happy with just a disc of the images. A price of £100 for the time i was going to be there. I didn't want to charge to much as i wasn't going to be there the whole day. 

Also they had already a list of the images they wanted and who would be in them.

On the day: 

So i arrived at the Registry office at the agreed time. Waited for them to arrive and after they did i took a few image outside the venue of the couple together and before everyone entered.

Again as it was a different registrar and i just wanted to check whether i could take images. i was allowed but had to be discreet. 


images throughout the wedding and then the group shots. 
after the group shots were over i had the CD of images to them within 2 weeks. 


A learning curve of this wedding, as it was done through a family friends work place. I could no longer get in touch with them as they had then moved work place. at the time i hadn't got them to sign a model release form because they had told me they didn't want me to use them for advertising purposes. 
If i were to do it again i would change a few things and get them to sign a model release form stating that they didn't want them to be used for advertising purposes. I didn't know how important they were to the process and always get contact details. 

My website.

So a part of being a professional photographer you need to have some sort of online portfolio so people can access that easily and get in touch with you. 
Making a website has always been a big part for me as i'm not very computer friendly. It confuses me with all the codes, so to find a website maker that is easy and straight forward had been hard up to this point.


Looking at some of the other fellow photographers on my course and how they went about making their own website. Some people paid for it to be made for them, other just made them by hand. I came across wix.com and it was so easy to set up and understandable.


Apart from my portfolio i had never really got a chance to put all my photography into one place and see how they sit next to each other. this was a long process and i didn't realise how much work i really had. 


It was easy to understand the working of the website but it took ages to get it the way i really wanted it to look. 
Look wise i wanted something clean and professional, I also wanted it to keep in theme with my business cards which are black whites and greys. I choose this colour theme as a have a high interest in black and white photography, so there was a link involved. 


On the website there were a choice of different choices and i wanted something that would give impact, and let the viewer get a taste of my work before looking into different areas of my work.

2 hours....
The next stage after the home page was completed i wrote a passage that i needed to promote myself. i wanted to include previous experiences i've had so they could get a idea about what i've done. Such as weddings and working with clients through other projects (Attik dance).  


2 hours....
Such websites like flickr are a good way of keeping images in one place. Tracking them and my progress through the photography course. So when it came to adding my images i knew exactly where to go to get a bulk of my images for the site. 
I split the sections into portraits, landscapes and weddings as people can relate easier rather than putting whole series on and making them hard to get to. 


1 hour....
for this time I updated my website and added my photographs from the weddings I've done. having a website up and running is an easy way for potential clients to access your work instead of carrying around a portfolio all the time. I updated this so my latest potential client could see my work and be confident that they were making the right decision on asking me to do their wedding. 




With some more weddings happening this year i plan on putting more images on there.
Im really pleased with the result and think i've achieved what i was looking for and asking peoples opinions to get it just right helps. I want people to think of me in a professional manner. 


There are adverts on the website so far but you can purchase a domain name and this will remove them from the site. making it just yours. i plan on doing this some time soon. but here are the prices. 


 One Year: $14.95   Two Years: $27.90    Three Years: $38.85
web site address:
Link to website

Wedding 1

Originally wanted to have some work experience with a family portrait studio, things changed when they no longer provided work experience. 


First wedding experience..


client: Mr and Mrs tatem.


Venue: Wedding was at the registry office on the hoe.
             Reception was at elfordleigh.


what we discussed trough meetings: 
During the time i spent with the couple, they were pretty laid back and were quite happy for me to just blend into the background and experiment. They wanted group shots which i organised with asking for the names of the people they wanted in each image. so on the day it would run much smoother. This was my first ever wedding so organisation was key. model release forms signed and a contract printed up and also signed by both of us to show the agreed terms. A price was agreed at £100 and then prints after bought through me which the price would then be given to them.


They wanted me there for the whole day and as it was a family friend i would also be attending the wedding. 


On the day
- I started off at the brides house taking images of her and the bridesmaids getting ready. 


- Registry office waiting on her arrival, in this time i took images of the Groom arriving and groomsmen. 


- Brides arrival images of her in the wedding car and then a portrait of her in the dress by herself. also while they were getting organised to enter taking images of the bridesmaids. Children playing and guests.


- I thought it would be best to ask the registrar whether it would be ok for me to take images while the wedding was going on, as i had heard some places don't allow photography. Her response is that i was allowed while it was going on but to be discreet, there would be a fake wedding certificate so i could get both the bride and groom together.


- The lighting within the venue was limited and trying to control the light to get the best images  was a challenge. 


- After the ceremony it was then a few shots in the garden with the confetti being thrown and then onto the reception.( the group shots would be at the elfordleigh)


At the reception..


- A huge job of getting the group shots out of the way. i had previously planned these out and confirmed them with the couple. I must say they were easier than expected, but i had some trouble with the hole group shot; Could of used a different lens to get the best out of it.


- Now it was the time i got to experiment with the couple by them selves. leaving to party to go down to a lake where they wanted some personal shots of just them. It was a good experience and the results gave me confidence that i was making them happy with what i was producing.


- After the cutting of the cake and the first dance my services where no longer needed. they had over looked my results and where happy. an told me to enjoy the party.