Professional Photographers with a special love for Portrait and Wedding Photography – 07525 752823Last updated by at .
Congratulations Jen and Nick
On Monday night some good friends of ours Jen and Nick were blessed with their beautiful daughter Lilly.
I’d like to wish you two all the very best and to thank you for letting us see her so soon.
Regards,
Chris and Laura
It was lovely to be there to share the moment.
Lilly wasn't really in the mood for posing, not that she even knows what that is yet!
Sometimes things just come together.
Sometimes when in a photo shoot things present themselves in ways you could never imagine.
Emma was over for a 50′s inspired shoot, a bit of pin up, some cheesecake styles and a modicum of burlesque.
My Westie Harvey always like to be involved in my work, he’s my boy after all but what I didn’t count on was him stealing the show with one on my favourite images of last year.
This image, quite literally went global and thanks has to go to Emma who brought the bubbles in as well as Harvey for just, well, being Harvey.
One of the many dresses
We’ve had some commercial work in the studio in the last couple of weeks. One was for Anna Linderholm, the dressmaker.
Anna, whilst being a designer for a while is just moving into the mainstreamand I was commissioned to take some photos of here work.
She makes all the dresses herself and they are all custom in their fit. I sense big things for this lady as the clothing is of an exceptionally high standard.
As I’m mainly a Sussex Wedding Photographer I don’t get asked to do much commercial work but when I do I quite enjoy it.
Anna (right) designs all the dresses
I get a lot of job requests....
This blog post is aimed solely at those looking to get into the photography business and how to approach other photographers to obtain it.
I’ve been compelled to write this for a while now. Over the last year I’ve received some 27 requests for work and rather than now reply to every single one individually as I have done I’m going to cover it in a blog post instead.
For the most part, I work alone. I already have an assistant who has been with me for years and I also have other photographers who I already know quite well (and trust) who I can call on. So there isn’t anything here for you, not now, and probably not in the future. I’m sorry.
I receive polite hand written letters, emails and I even took one phone call on a Sunday from someone. A Sunday, from someone who’d just bought a 450D and wanted to become a ’Sussex Wedding Photographer’. I like to think I’m a model of politeness when I reply to EVERY letter and email I receive. I always have a positive attitude to those eager to get into the trade and I love to assist the next generation of photographers in coming into the field.
However, with every reply I’ve sent… and I mean EVERY reply I sent to those who emailed me to asking for a position paid or unpaid working alongside me I’ve had no response whatsoever. Nothing, zip, nadda, a big fat zero.
With the letters I received I sat there and looked at every single one on an individual basis, replied to it positively (took around 20 minutes) and offered areas they could try to which I received not so much as a thank you.
I’m a professional photographer, whose work they liked enough to email me about a placement yet there wasn’t enough respect there to even acknowledge that I’d given up my time to reply with the best assistance I could with a thank you?
Even if I can’t offer you work NOW doesn’t mean to say I won’t remember you in the future. Even if I couldn’t offer them work I may of found a few weeks later another photographer crying out for someone.
So now I recruit amongst those who I’m already aware of and will be referring all future emails to this blog.
Some of the letters complained about how photographers never replied to them but considering I sent 27 replies without so much as a ‘thank you’ I can see why!
In short, be positive and polite…… a dead end is never truly a dead end in this industry, things just don’t happen overnight.
Wedding Photography Copyright....A very misunderstood subject
As I’m primarily a Wedding Photographer, January to March is when I get most of my inquiries and this year has brought in more emails than ever before.
In this digital age one question pops up more often with each passing year and that is the question of wedding photography copyright which confuses both clients and photographers.
With all my images I give a license to copy, or ‘Right to Copy’. What this means is that they can make copies for friends and family, design and print their own albums and make their own prints for framing as many times as they like, forever. Everything any Bride and Groom will want to do with their images in the first place.
This isn’t wedding photography copyright. I consider myself an artist, I decide when to press the shutter on the camera, the settings, the positioning and how to artistically finish the photo off. I keep the copyright to protect myself and those whose pictures I take from commercial entities and theft.
Because images are now so easily accessible online my work can appear in various places without my knowledge. As copyright holder I can have these images removed.
Were you aware that any images you upload to facebook become the property of facebook, which they can then use commercially for profit? If you held the copyright and uploaded them there would be nothing you could do to stop this but as I hold the copyright they have to take them down. (I do also supply my images facebook ready)
People also steal. An image uploaded online could then be copied and used elsewhere by someone unknown to you. Think your facebook privacy settings protect you? Think again.
I’ve had whole galleries of my work show up on another photographers website. This photographer was new and needed material to get business and thought they were far away enough that I wouldn’t find them.
If I was to hand out actual Copyright I would relinquish any creative ownership of the images. To use any of them as part of my portfolio would involve making payment to the couple, for my own artistry, which doesn’t make sense.
Take any book in your home, look inside the first few pages and you’ll find the copyright information. Yet this can be a book that you’ve owned for 20 years or more which shows that whilst you own the book outright the creativity that went into making it still belongs to the author.
Any photographer who gives away Copyright isn’t a professional or do not clearly understand what the word Copyright means or how it impacts themselves or their client.
In the age of music and movie downloads it is more important than ever to protect the copyright.
Feel free to comment on your experiences with Wedding Photography Copyright!
