If you type in ‘Wedding photographer London’ into Google 46 million web pages are listed. And that is just specific to London. It just goes to show what a competitive industry wedding photography is.
Most modern couples are looking for something quite different from the photography their parents probably had, and rightly so, as times have changed not only in terms of modern camera gear and techniques but also in terms of style and composition. ‘Reportage’ and ‘Contemporary’ are words widely used within those 46 million websites, and I use that sort of 
vocabulary also as that’s generally what modern couples want to see in their wedding photographs. They want to see all of their friends and family having a great time at their party, and they want to remind themselves in the years to come what a great do they put on, and how good they looked and how happy they were on their
wedding day.
I believe that successful wedding photography involves not simply portraying the main events of the day but capturing the mood and spirit of the occasion. To do that you need to be able to get in close without getting too close, ‘unobtrusive’ is another word we photographers use a lot. You also need to produce a good set of group shots as well as the animated photographs, and I think these group shots are often the most difficult to make a good 
job of. The group shots need to be well lit and well composed, throwing a group of people no matter how 
smartly dressed they are won’t work. The groups need to look balanced, not only in terms of family groupings, but also well structured. It’s also essential to have a responsible member of the bridal party on hand to help assemble the groups so the photographer can concentrate on getting the shots of the group coming together and moving apart. Some of the best animated shots can be taken as groups form and move apart again.
Key photographs such as confetti throwing and bouquet tossing also need a little bit of organising, 
it’s important that the photographer is a good position and that the throwers are coordinated. 
Photography is all about being in the right place at the right time and very little about what gear you have.
Post production is a very important part of the process. One you’ve loaded all of the images onto your computer, and there may be in excess of 1000 images, you can then enhance your style as a photographer. Most of the couples I’ve photographed 
over the years ask for a mixture of black & white and colour, and they also know that each image starts life as a colour image which can be manipulated almost to their specification.
I then put the finished set of photographs on my website which can be password protected if required, and send a DVD with the high res images to the couple. The couple normally have their finished set of photographs about 2 weeks after the wedding day, often a 
nice surprise for when they return from their honeymoon.
I also offer a selection of wedding albums as part of my wedding packages. This year my digital packages have been very popular as the couple can pay for the photography and the digital photographs and start making an album when funds allow.
Take a look at my wedding page on my website and send me an email for more details.
Simon and Karon have been buying my photographs for years and they have a large collection of my London and New York photographs in their house in Clapham, South West London. I was very pleased when they asked me to photograph their wedding. For More information on wedding photography go to my dedicated wedding photography site.
