ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS
NOBODY ACTUALLY ASKED
01
WHERE ARE YOU BASED?
DO YOU TRAVEL?
I live in Brighton but work throughout the UK + internationally because I am currently capable of movement.
I genuinely love to travel all over the place for weddings because it gets me out of the house.
What I’m saying is – I’ll shoot your wedding, wherever it is, as long as it’s not in my house.
02
I AM THE REAL LIFE
CHANDLER BING - HELP.
I don’t think I’ve come across a couple who have ever said “Fuck yeah! We love having our photo taken!”
The way I work is probably a lot different to what you imagine. My portrait work isn’t posed, it’s simply me interacting with you + shooting whatever happens during that time. Sometimes that’s a re-enactment of your first date, sometimes it’s an impression of an animal. It’s honestly led by you but from one photophobe to another – I gotchu.
Over 13 years, I’ve developed a very particular (otherwise useless) set of skills that give couples a safe place to be unapologetically themselves in front of camera. I can’t do basic DIY but I’m an absolute ninja at camera-button-pressing + turning “Chandler Bing” into “Chandler Ding-Dong”.
I’ve never said that line out loud + I’ll never use it again.
03
EVERYONE IN YOUR PHOTOS LOOKS, SUPER EXTROVERT.
WE’RE NOT...WILL WE STILL LOOK HAPPY IN OUR PHOTOS?
There’s a misconception by a lot of people that my work is only for super extrovert, camera confident couples that have super quirky weddings. Most of my couples aren’t super confident. In fact, a lot of them are fellow introverts + tell me that they genuinely HATE having their picture taken. Most introverts I know are only shy at first + eventually open once they feel comfortable around people. I photograph natural expressions by genuinely getting to know every couple I shoot so it has nothing to do with you + a lot more to do with me. The images you see are who they are as a couple. I’d never dream of asking a couple to do something that wasn’t an accurate representation of who they are. Quite often, these things happen naturally as a result of interacting with you as a normal human person – not a “client”
04
HAVE YOU HEARD OF GROUP PHOTOS?
Hello concerned parent, Nan, and/or pet.
Yes, your mantlepiece + Christmas cards are in safe hands.
I like to keep group photos fast-paced with lots of energy so that the photos reflect genuine personalities of friends + family, rather than the still, lifeless corpses of Victorian family portraits. I like people to look alive in my photos – just a personal preference.
Before the wedding, we’ll discuss exactly which group photos you want + I’ll share my family-sized bucket of wedding wisdom (time-saving nuggets included) which will keep things flowing so that you can get back to the party + I can get back to eating wedding cake capturing your friends + family in their natural habitat.
You can check out this post here for some examples of how I approach personality-filled, relaxed group photos.
05
ARE YOU INSURED?
Yeah, man. I don’t trust myself in public places without a crap load of public liability insurance
06
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN SHOOTING WEDDINGS?
I first started appearing at peoples weddings with a camera when I was 18, wearing a slightly metallic suit, hair gel + a generally lost expression, which still suits me to this day.
Over the last 13 years, I have been an undercover Bridesmaid, flashed people 1000’s of times (funny because camera flashes), I’ve been the only guest at a wedding + I’ve tricked countless people into thinking I’m lifelong friends with the Bride + Groom for my own amusement.
07
WHAT IS IT ABOUT YOU + FREDDOS?!
I don’t need to explain my chocolate animal preferences to anyone. Freddo just touches me in a way that the Milky Bar Kid doesn’t, anymore.
08
WHAT’S THE STRANGEST MOMENT YOU’VE PHOTOGRAPHED AT A WEDDING?
Oh boy. There’s a lot. Let me buy you a drink + I’ll share some stories. But in the meantime, here’s a picture from a time where I bumped into my year 3 primary school teacher, one of my brides + my accountant…in the toilet.
420
DO YOU BACK EVERYTHING UP?
You betcha! I actually wouldn’t be able to sleep if I didn’t have your images backed up. The entire raw selection (before they are narrowed down) are imported + backed up onto a separate hard drive. The final selection of images is also backed up to a very specific cloud + to an external hard drive which is then stored off-site. I also like to recreate every photo in crayon in my spare time, so there’s that.
10
WHAT IF IT RAINS, SNOWS OR A VOLCANO ERUPTS ON US?
I encourage my couples to avoid trying to pre-visualise the weather because it’s something that clearly only *I* can control with my God-mind. I’m more than ready to deal with all the elements + have plenty of experience of getting genuinely adequate photos regardless of the weather… excluding volcanos.
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