If you are getting married, do it in style is my take. Never do things by halves. Photography is certainly one aspect you should never scrimp on. You must hire the top wedding photographer. Better still, hire more than one. As a top wedding photographer I certainly cannot be in all places at the same time. Hiring more than one photographer is expensive no doubt but when you have a couple of them you are sure one is covering the main event while the other is wandering about and keeping a keen eye open and his finger on the shutter to capture all those tiny little denouements taking place at the venue.

I have also experienced that the personality of the photographer has a lot to do with his style of photography and the results he delivers. More importantly, someone who readily mingles, is professional yet develops cordial relations in an instant, is a “smoothie”, gets the subjects to pose naturally and delivers great images. Then again, without being furtive or sneaky, you can be obviously hidden while taking candids. That is a knack only a few have and it calls for practised mastery of years in the field.

A wedding can be distracting with so many elements vying for attention but some have the knack of staying focused or “smelling” out something about to happen. Maybe their eyes twitch or their fingers itch. The point is when there is one top wedding photographer manning the main event while the other captures side plays, your wedding story album will be so much more impressive with a collage of emotive pictures that tell a bigger story. Infinitely so and you get more than you spend.

If we are today one of the best wedding photography firms in the UK, it is our joint effort as a team that has won us awards and recognitions, the best testimonials photographers can have. I contribute

Eva Nazarin is a gem. Quiet, unobtrusive, she lets her images speak and they do, beautifully. She has this special knack of making women in the wedding look so outstanding, something that only a creative mind with a vision can achieve.

One would think Mitzi Bannatyne would be a lively, energetic soul standing out at weddings. Surprisingly she has that unique knack of blending in so well with the background, the subjects never really know she has them in her sights. This is a mind welded to a camera. Her images are proof of what I can only describe as instinctively intuitional photography.

Theodore Letty is the crouching tiger pouncing at the most opportune moment but only with the shutter trigger finger. From royalty to commoners Theo has done them all with a flair and panache you admire.

James Hanover is a different kettle of fish, more contemporaneous I should say. He has this knack of making friends with just about everyone and positioning himself to take shots which others say are pure magic but which I say are the outcome of years of dedication and expertise.

With a team like this we deliver on all fronts, delivering a final album that satisfies clients who expected the best wedding photography.

 

To look at a reportage wedding photographer as he casually saunters across a wedding venue or just stays motionless in one place, you would think he is not serious or dedicated enough to want to capture the timeless image. Not so. Like tigers, reportage photography is learning the art of waiting patiently yet being ever ready to pounce the moment an action or a spark in an eye signals a great photograph in the making. The finger automatically depresses the shutter button and there you have it.

When I think of reportage it brings to mind the discipline of a martial art practitioner or a yoga practitioner. The martial art expert practises so much every response becomes instinctive and intuitional resulting in a perfect synchronisation of body and mind. The yoga practitioner balances the two “nadirs” so that his inner being is in harmony with the exterior and there is control, balance and fluidity. Neither is achieved through learning or in a short time. And without the patina of creativity, reportage photography is like covering a local news event: read today, forgotten tomorrow. The genius lies in creating images you view once, again and many times without ever tiring of finding new interpretations.

Why has reportage gained in popularity? Look at the way the wedding photographer blends in, does not intrude yet manages to create a storyline and a drama in the final composition compiled in the wedding album. What makes it difficult is that he has to make the best of his position and available light. What makes it easy is his experience and mastery of the style. But then that is a long road.