Meeting with my Uncle and his Fiancé

Today I've met with my uncle and his fiancé at their home in Kidderminster to discuss their wedding plans. Despite them telling me 'to do whatever and they will pay my expenses'. I have told them this is vitally important to the job, I want to be as professional as I would be with any potential client and it makes no difference that they are family.  They were extremely impressed with my knowledge of La Brasserie and the registry office in terms of where we could take photographs and that I had spoken to the venue holders. I had also brought along my laptop so we could discuss what types of images they wanted.  I thought this would be good idea as I do not have a wedding portfolio of my own and I wanted to know what kind of style they were looking for.

We've also discussed potentially going to a different location to do a one on one shoot with the bride and groom. My uncle mark wasn't particularly interested, but his fiancé was! So I have put it in my preliminary plan (in my WBL folder) and left it for them to discuss. In the mean time I will be typing up my plan and looking at costs for Wedding books & prints. We have discussed payment for the day and I said I didn't want to be payed for something that I have no experience for and although I do not doubt my ability, it might not be exactly what they want. Instead I asked for my expenses to be paid, for example cost for insurance and ordering their Wedding book, maybe parking. They have also insisted on paying my travel expenses from Plymouth and back again, which I thought was really nice of them and this would really help me out.

I'm now going to write up some form of  'contract' and send it to them to sign

More insurance...

Freelance insure

I got this quote today from a website with pretty much the same website as Coulson Pritchards but its giving me a quote that is £50 cheaper for the year, this would work out at £17.50, this is significantly cheaper than the other quotes so far

Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurances

I've been looking at Public Liability and Professional Indemnity Insurances for the date I aim to photograph the wedding. This will cover my liability for any damage I may cause to another person, or property, accidentally whilst undertaking work. This could be a simple accident such as someone falling over a tripod to being “bumped” with a long lens right through to more serious issues that could leave people scarred or disabled for life.It will also cover me for damages to the photography equipment, this is vitally important as the equipment I will be using will probably be rented from the college and is extremely expensive. Indemnity insurance will cover any failure I might have to do my job, for example, the card gets damaged loosing the pictures of the Wedding day. This will cover any claims made against me, protecting my business and providing compensation to the clients. If this scenario was to unfortunately happen, the payout would be costly as Wedding photographs are considered 'irreplaceable'.


From looking around I've only managed to find yearly cover for such things, the basic package, costing around £250 +. Obviously for one Wedding this wouldn't be cost effective. These are the companies I've been in contact with:

Towergate

Coulson Pritchard.

Another option would be one day insurance but this works out at £50 for the one day and doesn't cover me for as much, this is supplied by http://www.events-insurance.co.uk. Going by the quote from Coulson Pritchard, it works out at £260 for the YEAR so this would be approx £21.60 for one months policy (may be slightly more if theres a charge to pay monthly).

I will see what Towergate say when they get back to me.

The Registry Office

I didn't like the idea of only being to one venue, as I had more questions about the registry office and where I could photograph there. So I decided to drive down there and ask a few questions. It turns out that you can't normally photography outside the church next door and I suppose this would look a bit like a lie anyway, as their wedding won't have taken place here. The registry office does have some nice Arches of its own though, big enough to photograph a fairly substantial party of maybe 8 - 10 people. The land outside is also not bad, grass and trees with a clear skyline, this could be a romantic location for me to bare in mind. I feel a bit more relaxed now that there is somewhere to photograph at the venue.

La Brasserie Kidderminster

I rang la Brasserie this morning and asked if I could possibly look at the space that has been hired for the Reception meal so that I can judge what I can achieve photographically. The staff member I spoke too was really friendly and helpful, he explained that the space was fairly empty at current as they move things into the room to the requirements of the event, but I could look anyway. When I go to the venue I was shown the room, I was expecting a small venue as I've been to this restaurant before, I didn't realise this venue had a back room that you can hire for events. A member of staff showed me pictures of the room and how it would be layer out on the day (the pictures that are above). The room looked nothing like these pictures so I was grateful they showed me them as it gave me a great indication of what I could do. This room is called the Wilde Suite and holds 40 people. There is a good amount of light in this room and I can't see how I'd have a problem photographing the guests at the table/speeches/cake cutting. There is no where for the photographers to be taken of the groups or bride or groom but I presume these photographs are being taken at the registry office or outside the church next to the registry office, this will have to be discussed with my uncle and his fiancé in a weeks time. 

Family Portrait Shoot - Tony Cobley

Sunday 25th Of March I went on a family portrait shoot with Tony Cobley as an assistant. This is not something than Tony does often, but advertises them as part of his commercial work and he often sells vouchers during the Christmas period, for these type of shoots. I was extremely excited to go along for this as portraiture is something that I am extremely interested in. Tony explained to me that these type of shoots were extremely rare as many people do prefer to go to a professional studio for photographs as it is less stressful for them and often has a lot more space. The shoot was to take place in the family home of the people we were going to photograph. Tony talked a lot of the way to the location about what was to be expected, which made me feel reassured. He said he aimed to get the typical family shots out the way quickly as this is what everyone wants during these kinds of shoots. He said he would be asking the family what they would be after so that he can make sure he gives them what they want but also he would try and shoot artistic, contemporary shots for the family to look at. On arrival, we met the family and began to set up the studio in the living room. We used a four light set up with a professional white paper backdrop - Tony stated that this was his typical set up for these kind of shoots and also for his portrait work (mostly for professional business portraits), as it keeps the background pristine white without shadow and also hides marks. Tony had pre-set lighting measurements that he usually starts with as it saves time, which I thought was a brilliant idea! After a few test shots of me, Tony was ready to go! It took approximately 1hour to unpack the car and set up the studio, which I thought was reasonable considering there was so much to do. We had given the family paperwork to look over as we set up, which provided them with prices of prints & frames etc. These were all extremely professional looking and I noticed Tony had also snuck his business card in there!

We were photographing two parents & two small children. Because we were photographing children, Tony warmed them up to being photographed by asking them to join in with test shoots and seeing what faces they could pull. By using this as a game they really began to enjoy being photographed, which showed in the photographs. The parents then joined in and we achieved some nice group family shots. I occasionally had to alter lights and sweep the backdrop as dirt got onto the floor. Once the children started to get bored with the games, Tony encouraged them to bring toys into the shots and pose with them, which kept the games going! The youngest boy, got bored extremely quickly so we left him to play with his toys and calm down as he was getting a little stroppy and decided to photograph the parents as they wanted photographs in their skiing gear. They also wanted photographs with their dogs, which proved tricky as the dogs didn't want to sit still, but we tried a couple of times and managed to get a couple of shots with both dogs and both children in.

After the shoot Tony did a quick edit of pictures, cutting out all of the photographs that were blurred, had people blinking in etc and then uploaded all of the photographs to his laptop. He then put the photographs into lightroom and showed them how to make a short list of their favourites. Whilst they looked through the images, we proceeded to take down the studio.

The family had been given a £200 voucher, the shoot was £100 so this left them £100 for prints and/or canvases. Tony talked to them about the prices and what they were looking for. This took a long time as they were extremely indecisive, but Tony explained that this was typical of this kind of shoot as he didn't typically give people the contact sheet, but on this occasion as they were placing a pretty large order that he would send them low resolution copies with his watermark on, for them to choose from and that he would do them a deal once they had selected what they wanted.

Here are some of the images of the day:

I really really enjoyed the day and I felt I was apart of this family afterwards, they were extremely welcoming and friendly. This is the type of business I would be interested to starting. The day was extremely tiring and despite allocating three hours for everything we easily spent an hour to an hour and a half over, as the family were so nice and we spent extra time talking through potential packages that they could have. 

Renaissance Photography Prize 2012 ... Continued.

The results are back for the Renaissance Photography Prize 2012 competition and unfortunately I didn't place. I'm glad I entered however as it was for a good cause (breast cancer) which I try to give money too anyway. From entering I've concluded that entering several of these type of competitions could be expensive and the chances of winning is still extremely unlikely, which is the same as the free photography competitions. I'm not saying skill doesn't come into it, because that is a crucial part of entering a photography competition. However everything about entering is premium, the price, the prize and of course the competition! So I probably won't be making a habit out of entering competitions that I have to pay an entry fee for! 

Industrial Shoot for The Sign Shop at Plymouth Community Homes

Today I assisted Tony Cobley on an Industrial shoot for The Sign Shop, at Plymouth Community Homes. The sign shop is a non profit organisation that used to be part of Plymouth Community Homes. It has now branched out and has become its own business, in which the profits go towards improving the City of Plymouth. The images were created to advertise the commercial side of the business and will be displayed in a brochure and on a website.

This way day two for Tony on this job so most of the negotiations and assessing the clients needs had already been achieved before I tagged along for work experience. Tony explained that he had received this job through a marketing agency, so most things had been pre-determined by the agency. We chatted about how to get across the right messages for the clients needs, how difficult it can be when dealing with the general public and how sometimes the client being opened minded and uncertain about what they actually want can be negative. Your own personal taste might not be what they had in mind, leaving them unhappy. I realised that agency and corporate work minimises this as often they know exactly what they want, how many hours they want to book you for and how much they want to pay.

We worked with the Mark Powell a leading member of the sign shop team came with us on our shoot, to point out which signs in the Plymouth area his company had made. This worked out really well because he was able to show which signs he wanted photographing but also gave us information about each one. He was a really nice guy and was very laid back in allowing Tony to use his own creative style when Photographing and seemed really positive about the images created.

These are some of photographs that were taken today

(Copyright of Tony Cobley Photography)

The shoot was cut in half as Tony had worked over the scheduled hours yesterday due to the weather being considerably better. I was really impressed with Tony's time management as he had checked the weather in advance for both days and planned around this. It has made me realise that my time management needs stepping up as there is no room for chance in running a business. 

Over all the day was extremely successful, the client was happy with the images and I feel I now understand a different area of commercial photography. However much I prefer photographing people, photographing in this kind of way is a lot less stressful and I'm sure I will have to do some form of shoot like this in the future if I plan to take on any kind of commercial work. Tony was again a pleasure to work with and he even brought us donuts :)

Been There. Seen It. Got The Tshirt.

Our live exhibition on the 13th of March was a complete success. The planning that went into it was fairly substantial considering it wasn't a venue based exhibition and there were no photographs to print, mount and frame! It took a lot of work to get the exhibition advertised and without the advertisement nobody would have shown up. Matt and Shaunie did some work for Drakes Circus, covering a student event, which got us free poster advertisement for a few weeks, Emma managed to get an article in the Herald, which I feel broadcasted our artwork to a large audience and I went around with an armful of leaflets, delivering them across Lipson, I don't think this got us many viewers but I couldn't think where else to advertise!

This is our poster and also what I posted at peoples houses in leaflet form

Herald news paper article

Us on the go, on our exhibition! 

The day was extremely tiring but we were approached by many members of the public which was extremely rewarding. I spoke to many people and I think this boosted my confidence a lot regarding talking about my work. I really recommend this form of exhibition. Although I consider it less 'professional', it gets people talking about your work.

Wedding Planning ...

I've been reading up on photography planning for a Wedding so that I am 100% prepared for my meeting with my Uncle and his fiancé on April 12th to discuss what they want from me as a photographer on their Wedding day.

Research
Approach:
What I've read so far is that a wedding will have a set agenda of photographs that are usually always required. Despite the size and culture of each Wedding I may photograph will be varied, there is always only one bride and groom (obviously sometimes the same sex in the case of civil partnerships) and these are going to be the main focus of my photographs. I've found that, what is true for one wedding might not be for another, even if the Wedding itself is very similar. This is down to the people I will be working with. Family dynamics vary greatly, I will need to establish if people are intimidated by the camera and accommodate to make them feel comfortable. Using perfect lighting and perfect direction will not always create the best photographs, if people look awkward, it will be my job to move them to a more flattering position, therefore I need to be able to judge people's body language very carefully.

Camera equipment: 
The camera body needs to be able to handle the intensity of the day, I've found that a lot of photographers state that amateur camera bodies have the capability to handle a wedding just not quite with as much speed and fine-tuning. So I may borrow something like the Nikon D700 from the stores for this date and maybe the Nikon D200 as a back up body (if the stores will allow me, or I will use my Nikon D90, which is more of a basic camera however with the correct lenses it should just about be able to do the job)

In terms of lenses  I've read, Lenses with a large maximum aperture of f/2.8 or larger are extremely valuable for weddings. The option to use available light, even in dark churches or dimly lit reception halls, is a strong tool for the wedding photographer. Even more important is the option not to use a flash, as few people would describe the light cast by an on-camera flash as romantic. Furthermore, some locations have restrictions on flash photography during the ceremony itself, or a bride might specifically request that a flash not be used. The extra two stops of shutter speed between a f/2.8 lens and a cheaper f/4-5.6 kit lens can make the difference in getting the desired photograph. I have considered using a wide-angle zoom len. This lens makes it possible to photograph in confined spaces, such as the bride's dressing room or a packed dance floor. The wide angle perspective creates a sense of expansiveness and grandeur by showing the entire church or ceremony location. Wide images are easier to create with a full-frame sensor camera, as there are no f/2.8 lenses in the 10-22 range that gives and equivalent field of view with a small-sensor camera. Another lens that I will probably take to the wedding is a 70-200mm  telephoto zoom, fas this will be important for ceremony images. Very few wedding parties want the photographer in the way during the ceremony. Most likely, you will be photographing down the aisle from the back of the church. 200mm is long enough to be able to take 3/4 length images of the bride and groom without creeping too far forward down the aisle and 70mm is wide enough to take in the bridesmaids or groomsmen as a group without switching lenses. In my Uncle's wedding I probably won't need a zoom of this capacity as it is a small affair at a registry office. 

Lighting:
I have found that I will need a dedicated flashgun. This is because on very bright days or when the subject is strongly backlit, fill-in flash will be essential to avoid shadows on faces.
Continuous light can be considered in particularly dark corners of venues or if there are a lot of people to photograph inside, when I look at the venue I will judge if I want to take continuous light with me or not on the day.

Other Equipment:

• Reflectors and diffusers will be essential to manipulate light as they are extremely portable.
• Tripod
• Camera bag
• SD cards and back up SD cards
• Extra batteries
• Gaffer tape (to tape down cables if there are any)

Stage Managing:

Something new I've found whilst reading about planning for a wedding as a photographer is, stage managing. This is the art in which careful composition allows the photographer to stage natural looking shots without posing the subjects. This involves careful planning of the location, finding somewhere to frame the subjects with something clean and neutral, with good light. The trick is to pre-empt what you are going to do and quickly arrange the subjects, the shots will look natural because the subjects haven't lost interest. The difference between this and 'grab shots' where people gather together and say, 'can we have a quick photograph?'. Is that people are unlikely to think about the composition and will often block shorter people out of the shot etc. If you were to approach every photograph in this way you are VERY unlikely to achieve the clean lines and strong graphic images that the couple will expect.

Sequence:

I've read its very important to know exactly what is happening and when, where the bride is getting ready, what venues they are using etc. By knowing this information I will have a better understanding of the time we have available and I will be able to plan efficiently, this should hopefully help me keep in control of the day and therefore keep me calm! 

Guide line for sequence and key shots that are likely to be required:

•  Bride getting ready: Bride portraits when she's looking her best, informal candid shots (e.g. dad putting on his tie, bridesmaids helping the bride etc) Home details (something borrowed, something blue. love letters to the bride, makeup, flowers etc.)

• Bride in her dress: details of her dress, the lace etc. pick a room with good lighting in advance.
• Bridesmaids and bride's mother: If they are already ready aim to get some group shots and portraits if you have time. 
• The groom: (with best man and ushers)
• Guests arriving: shots of them entering the venue.
• Bride arriving at the ceremony: detailed shots, fine vantage point with good lighting, spontaneous moments that capture a story
• The brides entrance/start of service: Detailed shots of the service, grooms reaction to bride, key ceremonial shots, people crying etc. 
• Signing the register: emotional shots, try and capture this moment without interrupting, however stage the shots of signing too, to make sure you have everything. 
• Candid shots & confetti after ceremony
•  Before the guests seated for the reception: Venue shots, table dressings, cake etc. Informal shots of guests arriving. 
• Group shots: Planned group shots, give lots of warning to the party
• Couple shots: Get them alone, close in shots and long shots, plan the scenery and lighting. be polite to the wedding party and try to avoid people following the couple so that they don't distract.
• Speeches/ cake cutting: Detailed shots 
• The first dance
• Evening candids

Preliminary Plan & Final Plan:
On my meeting with any couple I need to discuss,

• venues, time structures
• important people, parents of the groom, parents of the bride, bridesmaids etc. 
• Fees 
• Types of imagery they are after, style, specific shots etc.

Once the preliminary plan has been made on the meeting, make sure you have created an updated FINAL plan before the wedding and print extra copies, so that you know EXACTLY what your doing and when.

Key things for the final plan: 

• Names of all the important people (this will help me stay professional and allow me to address everyone by name)
• Reminders for must have shots (ones that have been specifically asked for)
• Notes for parking, routes to each venue and key staff members at each venue
• Sensitive family issues -Write down if there are any family issues, e.g. divorced parents of the bridge or groom, estranged children, deceased parents (discuss these issues with the bridge and groom before the wedding so that you know what the boundaries are)

Venues:

Before the wedding I will need to check out each venue, not only to pick out key photography spots but also to time between locations, check for parking and to considerer a plan B in case of bad weather. 

Couple shots:

I've learnt many tricks from researching about wedding photography. The most important is how to keep the bridge and groom calm and get natural beautiful shots. I've found that many of the sources I've looked at have expressed taking them away from the party, to a more quiet secluded part of the venue or if the couple want, to take them somewhere local that you've found to photograph them, e.g. a beautiful field, a beach etc. This will prevent people from the party following and distracting you or the couple and allow you to get more beautiful shots. I've also found that many photographers express a desire to use a long lens or wide angle lens and to shoot from a far, this will allow the couple to be more relaxed and feel alone and hopefully be more natural. It is also important to take close up couple shots too. 

Group shots:

The group shots are probably going to be the most stressful. It is important to stick to the schedule and not feel pressured by other members of wedding party wanting their picture taken. Kindly express that you will do them if there is time and the couple have scheduled specific photographs. Tony Cobley also warned me about being pressured by other family members as it will ruin the schedule and I may struggle to keep on track with getting the more important shots. 

After the wedding post production:

As soon as the wedding is over back up the photographs in a couple of places so there is no chance of you loosing them. 

Editing will be difficult for the first wedding as I don't think I will understand exactly what people are looking for, so I think I will just get rid of obvious bad shots, blinking people etc. I might mess around with filters to add effect just to give the couple something more to consider. I will also touch up the skin slightly in the portraits of the bride and groom but I don't want to get into extreme editing as I want the couple to look natural and they will obviously look beautiful anyway, its there wedding day! 

Meeting the couple after post production:

Before meeting I think I will create a low resolution watermarked CD of all the edited final selection images and send it to the couple so that they have chance to look at the photographs and decide what they want to do with them before the meeting. During the meeting I will run a slideshow on my laptop so they can see the images whilst we discuss what they want in terms of outputs. These could be prints, wedding albums, final CD. I will need to have a rough idea of prices and create an order form. 

Renaissance Photography Prize 2012

I've decided to bite the bullet and enter the Renaissance Photography Prize 2012, It has a entry fee of £15 however I really like the freedom of the competition - so wish me luck!

My Aunty & Uncles Wedding Plans

My Aunty and Uncle announced around Christmas that they were planning on getting married in the Summer and asked if I would like to be the photographer. I was delighted by this but also terrified as I had only been to a wedding once in my life and it also turned out to be the one I assisted Tony in photographing last September. So I was extremely nervous about my lack of experience but I am determined to do well as I am getting paid and they are my family members! The date has been set for the 21st of July 2012, at the registry office in Kidderminster. The reception meal, is to take place at La Brasserie, a local fine quinine restaurant, followed by the reception party at Kidderminster Carolians RFC - Wyre Forests Premier Rugby Club. I'm extremely grateful that the affair is a small one, but thorough planning is essential. I'm now going to conduct some research to help me prepare for meeting up and discussing what type of images they are after. I will also be looking into what equipment to take and insurance. I've found a book called 'Dream Wedding Photography' by Lorna Yabsley. It covers all the basic areas of Wedding photography including different types of ceremonies, planning of the day and unique style. Hopefully it will give me some of the insight I need, I think it will be the perfect starting point for this project....

(Book Cover)

Advertising myself.

After much research I've decided to go with a free domain for my website as I don't feel that paying for it will be beneficial at this point. I've worked it out that the cheapest is about £6 a month, however that is £72 a year and that money can be better spent on actually creating work, especially as I don't have any form of income right now other than my student loans. I just want to get my work seen and although I will come across as an amateur photographer with an unprofessional website, my work will be seen to the people that are interested. I'm hoping that people will be considerate and if they like my photography style they will book me on my photographs and not my website.

http://www.wix.com/zoey_roberts/photography


I've also created a business card ready for my exhibition on March 13th 2012. These will be given out to the public, in hope to get some freelance work. I did research into business card prices and found that Vistaprint.com were considerably cheaper than many providers however moo.com provided better quality cards. I decided to go with moo.com as I wanted to make an impression with my cards as my website makes me look less professional with its free hosting.