Yesterday saw me shooting my final wedding of 2011 and I couldn’t have asked for lovelier couple or better December weather, even if it was a bit cold. Julia and Dan were married at Fanhams Hall Hotel in Ware and it was day full of love and laughter when they were joined by their family and friends. They were married in the Great Hall which is always a stunning venue and even more so at this time of year with the Christmas decorations up. Dan had even written and recorded a song for his ‘Princess’ and this was theme was enhanced by an astounding fairy-tale castle cake hand made by one of their guests – it certainly got my ‘Cake of the Year’ award!

Dan and Julia are leaving for a three week honeymoon tomorrow that will include Peru and St. Lucia, have a great time and here are just a few pictures from yesterday.

In a few weeks time Julia and Deiniol are to be married at Fanhams Hall in Ware and as part of their wedding photography package we met today to run through the final details and do a few photographs. Rather than use Fanhams Hall we had a stroll through Hatfield Forest near Takeley in Essex and we were very lucky to avoid the fog and gloominess that had been prevalent all week. Quite a few laughs were had and I’m really looking forward to the wedding in December, fingers crossed for another day of lovely weather.

Planning your wedding can sometimes be stressful as there are so many suppliers and services to choose from. In my experience as a Hertfordshire wedding photographer I have realised that no two weddings are the same but I have found that brides and grooms tend to ask very similar questions during the initial consultation so I thought I would put together this list of questions you should ask your professional wedding photographer prior to booking them. This is not a definitive list but hopefully it covers most of the important points that are relevant to wedding photography.

1. How many weddings have you photographed?

This is a relatively easy question to start with and will help you determine how experienced your wedding photographer is. Wedding photography can be incredibly demanding and having an experienced wedding photographer can make a huge difference to the day as each wedding is a unique affair and an experienced professional wedding photographer will have encountered many different scenarios and problems that could affect the quality of the final images. This could include lighting problems, weather conditions, venue restrictions and an experienced wedding photographer should know how to deal with them. As I mentioned in my Wedding Photography Guide there are many keen amateurs trying to get into the wedding photography business particularly during the current economic climate and whilst they may be cheaper do you really want to take the risk of hiring someone who may have a meltdown should things start to go wrong because of their inexperience?

2. Will you be the photographer at my wedding?

This may seem an odd question but some wedding photography companies employ the services of associates and although this approach may be slightly less expensive you want to ensure you are speaking to the actual photographer who is shooting your wedding. The relationship between the bride and groom and their wedding photographer is a key element and it is vitally important you meet the photographer who will be with you on the day. Greenlees Wedding Photography does not employ associates and the work you see on my website, in my albums and prints is by me.

3. Can I see some complete weddings?

Absolutely! My sample albums are not made up of images taken from different weddings but tell the complete story of a wedding day from start to finish. Your wedding photographer should also be able to show you examples of more ‘difficult’ days such as inclement weather and if you are booking a winter wedding ask to see examples of complete winter weddings as they can be more challenging from a wedding photography point of view.

4. What sort of coverage do you provide and is it time restricted?

Wedding photographers vary in their approach to how much coverage they provide and their packages often reflect this in terms of price. Some wedding photographers set the amount of hours they provide their photography services for but I find this can be somewhat restrictive. I realise this issue can be contentious within the wedding photography industry but my approach is that when you book me you get me for the day whether it is for four hours or fourteen. I have never known a wedding to run to time and this can add extra stress to the day if the bride and groom are clock watching because their allotted time window for photographs is running out. My normal coverage is from about two hours prior to the ceremony to after the first dance to ensure I can document the day and capture all the passion, romance and emotion that is associated with a wedding.

5. How much do you charge for a second photographer?

All my prices include the services of an assistant who also acts as a second photographer and depending on the wedding they can be set various tasks throughout the day e.g. getting detail shots of the reception room whilst I photograph the formal or group shots.

6. Can I get my images on a disc?

As above all of my wedding photography packages include a disc of all the final images. You can expect upwards of 350 photographs from your wedding and all of them will be edited and supplied in a high resolution format, I also provide smaller versions that have been re-sized and optimised for Internet and e-mail use meaning you can put them on your own website or Facebook, or e-mail them to friends or relatives who live far away who were not able to attend your wedding. However, I do retain the copyright but you are able to print the images without any restrictions.

7. How long will it take to see my wedding photographs?

I usually try and upload the highlights from the day within 24 hours to give you a taster and the remainder of the final images would normally be ready and uploaded to your password protected area of my website within 14-21 days although this may take slightly longer during very busy periods such as the height of summer.

8. How far will you travel?

As far as it takes! Obviously, as a Hertfordshire wedding photographer the majority of my work is in Hertfordshire and the Home Counties but I have photographed weddings in Ireland and Italy and thought the UK. There are no extra fees for weddings up to 50 miles away and for venues that are further we can discuss that at our meeting. With regards to destination weddings the only extra costs are for any expenses incurred.

9. Can your packages be changed?

It goes without saying that you are client and whatever your requirements are I will try and fulfil them – provided it is possible and legal! You should treat my wedding photography packages as starting points and the only limit is your imagination, I love it when couples come up with unusual or quirky ideas as it helps to get the creative juices flowing so please get in touch if you have any special requests.

10. How long do you keep the wedding photographs for?

I retain all images indefinitely and all photographs are backed up to separate hard drives for archive purposes. You will also be supplied with a disc of your final wedding photographs and I would recommend you make some copies and keep them in a safe place.

I hope this has been useful and if you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact me.

Colin Greenlees

Greenlees Photography

Hertfordshire wedding photography

It’s YOUR day

The date is set, the wedding venue is booked and then you realise there is a long list of things that need doing – flowers, cake, dress, colour scheme and most importantly from my point of view, wedding photographer. There appears to be an endless amount of Hertfordshire wedding photographers to choose from, so how should you make your decision? Prior to starting your search for a professional wedding photographer, consider what you want to achieve when the final wedding photographs are presented to you once your wedding is over as they are vital in rekindling the memories and emotions of your wedding day, provided the wedding photographer has done his or her job properly!

Have you considered the type of wedding photographs you want?  Natural, non-posed wedding photography?  Formal wedding photographs?  Or maybe a selection of reportage, documentary, and relaxed posed photographs? What you must also consider is how you would like your wedding photographs to be presented to you?  There are many options to choose from including beautiful albums, fine art prints, canvasses or maybe you would just like all the final digital wedding photographs on a DVD.

The client/photographer relationship
In my opinion one of the most important elements to consider when searching for a professional wedding photographer is to imagine the relationship you will have with the photographer on the wedding day itself. At some point I am sure we have  all been to a wedding and encountered the ‘sergeant-major’ wedding photographer – I am sure you the type. This is the sort of photographer who marches around barking orders at everyone and who thinks they are the most important person on the day and that the wedding day revolves solely around them.  You have to ask yourselves, do you really want this type of person on your wedding day?

How well do you think you would know your wedding photographer after a meeting at your home or the venue. Yes, you will have seen the wedding photographs they produce but have you seen how they work? Some time ago I introduced the pre-wedding photography session as it allows the bride and groom to build a relationship with their wedding photographer and see how the photographer works. It also gives me, as a wedding photographer, the chance to build a rapport with the couple and give them little hints and tips when taking some relaxed informal photographs and it gives the bride and groom a chance to get used to being in front of the camera. This helps them to relax on the wedding day and I believe this is reflected in the quality of the wedding photography images I produce.

Wedding photography styles
A traditional wedding photographer is one who is very formal and structured in their approach to wedding photography. Not so many wedding photographers adopt this style these days but if you go back 15 or 20 years this was how the majority of wedding photographers conducted business. Most of the photographs will be set up and the people in them will generally be positioned and ‘posed’ by the wedding photographer to achieve the results they want.

Reportage wedding photography is when the photographer documents the events of a wedding day in a journalistic manner and is very much a ‘hands-off’ approach to wedding photography. This style of wedding photography does not require much interaction with the guests thus allowing the wedding photographer to authentically document the day.  This style can also be known as photojournalistic wedding photography.

Fashion wedding photography takes it’s style from the fashion industry and in particular the glossy magazine type of images.  This approach concentrates almost exclusively on the bride and groom using poses with more than a hint of ‘attitude’ and is very suited to contemporary, urban weddings.

What is my style? To be honest I do not like to pigeon-hole my style of wedding photography and I simply introduce myself to couples as Colin from Greenlees Photography and tell them I am a Hertfordshire wedding photographer. I always tell my prospective clients that my style of wedding photography is my own and I believe I have developed my approach to wedding photography incorporating the all best bits from the different styles of wedding photography and this is reflected in my how I capture those timeless moment from a wedding.

Recently, a friend who is a very well respected wedding photographer in his own right, commented that he could immediately recognise my wedding photographs and I took this as a huge compliment as it shows my style is uniquely identifiable and is a validation the work I have put in over the years. When I asked him to define it his reply was that it is the “Greenlees Photography style of wedding photography”!

Why do wedding photography costs vary so much?
The price of wedding photography is always an important consideration when a couple is selecting a wedding photographer for their wedding day.  I am sure you have seen some wedding photographers who charge as little as £250 to photograph a wedding, but what every bride and groom should ask is “Are we getting value for money?”.  There have been many occasions when wedding guests have commented to me that it must be easy being a wedding photographer, their perception is that we just turn up for a few hours, snap a few photographs and go home. Obviously, it is good to hear that I make it look so easy, but the reality is quite different.  Before the wedding takes place there are meetings, pre-wedding shoots and planning to take into account and once the wedding day has finished, the work of being a wedding photographer has only just begun. The photographs are meticulously backed up, reviewed, edited and the final touches are applied to ensure the final photographs are pleasing to the eye in terms of composition and aesthetics.

When your professional wedding photographer photographs your wedding day they should be in possession of professional grade equipment and they must have spare equipment in the event of failure or even theft. You might think the latter scenario is far-fetched but a couple of years ago I had a camera and lens stolen when I was doing the wedding photography at a high-end wedding venue. As a professional wedding photographer I was able to use my back-up cameras and lenses but the main issue was the camera had about 180 wedding photographs on there that could not be replicated.  How would the ‘cheap’ wedding photographer with one camera have coped with this situation? Professional grade equipment is a world away from a standard digital SLR camera and lens that some ‘wedding photographers’ may own and you must always ask them what they would do in the event that they cannot use their camera for whatever reason.  This equipment does not come cheap and when you factor in the cost of additional cameras, lenses, flashes and the amount of peripheral equipment required such as computer and software, lighting stands etc and you can soon appreciate exactly how costly the correct equipment is to buy and maintain.  There are other considerations when looking to hire a wedding photographer and two of the most important ones are that they must have professional indemnity insurance and public liability insurance both of which protect the wedding photographer and more importantly, the bride and groom.  You must also ask yourselves if it is worth taking the risk by employing the services of a cheap wedding photographer offering their photography services who ultimately may not be able to deliver what they have promised because once the day has gone there is no second chance to get those wedding photographs.

I hope this has been useful to brides and grooms when considering their wedding photography requirements and if you would like any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.

Colin Greenlees

Greenlees Photography – Hertfordshire wedding photographer

2009 was a fantastic year and just for fun I thought I would post my favourite images from the weddings I have covered. With so many favourites to choose from I have really struggled coming up with this shortlist and there is where you come in – I need your votes to help me decide which photograph should be the “Wedding Photo of the Year 2009″.

If you think I have missed out a favourite of yours let me know and I will add it to the list of contenders. Anyone can vote and as an added incentive I’ll send a mounted, fine art metallic 15×10 print to the couple whose image wins.

Simply place your vote by leaving your name and comment at the end of the post and I will announce the winner shortly after this closes on 31st January 2010.

Having opened the Golden Envelope, the contenders (in no particular order) for the Greenlees Photography Wedding Photo of the Year are:

1. Jo keeping an eye on David whilst getting ready at Castle Durrow in Ireland:

2. Mel enjoying the sun having travelled all the way from Brisbane, Australia for her marriage to Dan:

3. Paul and Anna enjoying their first dance as Mr & Mrs Beggy:

4. Helen and bridesmaids at Hanbury Manor:

5. Andrew & Josie braving the cold weather:

6. A father’s proudest moment, Rob and Claudine just before her wedding to Maurizio:

7. Hannah & Matt enjoying a romantic moment:

8. A beautiful sunset for Vicki & Miles:

9. Another lovely couple who had travelled from Brisbane, Andy and Sally were married at Fanhams Hall in Ware:

10. Danielle having the final touches applied to her make up:

11. Noel and Louise who had a great wedding at Tewin Bury Farm:

12 A stunning sunset for Mel & Dan at Crondon Park Golf & Country Club:

13. Confetti shower for Simon & Jenny:

14. Rebecca & Mike were married at Fanhams Hall in Ware, I’ll let you decide what he is thinking in the bridal suite!

So those are my picks for the 2009 wedding photo of the year. When you leave a comment please remember to leave your name as any anonymous votes will not be counted. Don’t be alarmed if your vote/comment does not show straight away as they all need approval before they are visible – this is to stop the spam entries.

Have fun and good luck to all the finalists!

It was great to be back at Fanhams Hall Hotel in Ware for Rebecca and Mike’s wedding. Rebecca is a portrait photographer (no pressure ) and Mike is very laid back and they were quite happy to let me do my thing. Since I was last at Fanhams Hall the leaves have started to turn and there’s a bit of a chill in the air and unfortunately we were greeted with gale force winds and driving rain. However there is no point in worrying about the one thing you can’t control and it did little to dampen the spirits of their family and friends. Rebecca and Mike certainly didn’t let it bother them and everyone had a fantastic day.

Yet again I had another great couple that it was an absolute pleasure to photograph and I’d like to wish them the very best for their honeymoon in Thailand and Borneo.

On to some pictures…..