job until we knew we had enough bookings and consistent enquiries to make a go of photography .
Looking back , some of my work was terrible but I think every photographer would say the same thing looking back at their work .
The clients loved what I was doing , loved Linda and trusted us to photograph their weddings . The enquiries kept coming and two years after going part-time with my day job , I was given an ultimatum by my employer - the other worker I was job sharing with had given his notice ... I needed to come back full-time or quit .
I quit and we made it work . I was a full-time photographer and Linda and I were running a successful and fast growing photography business .
In hindsight , quitting was the best thing for growing the business and I should have done it earlier . Quitting meant no safety net and it was time to commit to the business , get serious about marketing and going for it .
Talk us through your process of getting ready to shoot a wedding , what gear do you take , bags ? What about lights or reflectors ? Maybe fill us in on a typical day .
Before a wedding I don ’ t like to do anything much . I like a no stress , easy morning and I ’ m already focussed on the day and somewhat absent from everything else going on .
One hour before I need to leave , I have a bit of a routine in packing the car , checking gear , showering and changing . After so many interview for PhotoBizX and hearing about split pants and embarrassing moments , I always wear dark underwear and take spare trousers . Gear wise , this has changed a lot since the beginning and is always evolving . Currently I ’ m using a Domke shoulder bag which I love for it ’ s ruggedness and simple utilitarian looks .
For shooting , I ’ m using a Fuji X100f and a Fuji XPro2 with a range of lenses , almost all primes . My go to lenses are the 23mm f1.4 ( 35mm equivalent ) unless I have the X100f with me . Otherwise it ’ s the 56mm f1.2 ( 85mm equivalent ) or the 90mm f1.4 ( 135mm equivalent ).
For the reception coverage , I ’ ve been using a Nikon D750 and primarily a 24-70mm f2.8 lens and SB900 Speedlight with Yongnuo triggers for any off camera flash work .
I ’ m yet to shoot with the Fuji EF- X500 flash which I now have and am hoping this will mean the end of using the Nikon for reception coverage . Until now , the Fuji ’ s just haven ’ t delivered the kind of functionality I like when working with flash at a reception . The Nikon and speedlight combination on the other hand , just work flawlessly .
In addition to my shoulder bag , I have extra speedlights , a sunbounce reflector , tripod and other gear in the car but honestly , I rarely use any of it on a wedding day . Since discovering and moving to the Fuji system , I love working light , with minimal gear and I ’ ve only just added the X100f to the kit - until now , my preference has been to work with a single camera body - Fuji or Nikon . I ’ m making an allowance because of the small size and light weight of the X100f .
And after you ’ ve finished , what do you do ... back up wise and also post processing ... what do you do there ? After any shoot , I drop my card and paperwork with my studio assistant , Tenneille . She downloads and backs up all the files over two separate hard drives . The files on her computer are backed up via time machine and the copy on the external hard drive are also copied to another drive automatically .
From here , all our work will be on the one set of files with the knowledge we have three other copies backed up plus the original card .
I shoot in JPG and don ’ t use Lightroom so our workflow probably differs from most pro photographers .
Following an edit / cull in Photo Mechanic , files are renamed and numbered . These renamed files are all put through a photoshop action for ‘ enhancement ’ and they are now client ready .
We don ’ t do anything else with the files at this stage unless a client is purchasing an image . Commercial , wedding and portrait clients will all see these enhanced JPG ’ s with no other work being done on them . Album designing and sales sessions are also carried out with these enhanced files .
Once a print , album or file is purchased , we ’ ll do some additional retouching in either or both Photoshop or Alien Skin ’ s Exposure .
It ’ s a simple , streamlined , fast and easy approach for handling image files .
Do you have any moments that stand out as a wedding photographer ?
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