WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY #73

WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY #56

Bridal Beauty Emergency Plan Strategy Four: The Beautician Part five

What to order?
A few days before:

2.Total wax

This form of torture needs little introduction. It’s a form of torture for women by woman and those glossy magazines. You know the kind, which tell us that being the way we were born is just not good enough. Anyway as you can tell I feel it’s us who should be paid for this pain. I will also admit to a sick pleasure, which descends right after having your body hair pulled out by the roots. Not indifferent to the euphoria one feels after a tattoo. And if you are brave enough for a Brazilian version be prepared for quite a surprise and a crazy itch afterwards but hey you only get married once.

Bridal Beauty Emergency Plan Strategy Three: Exercise – part three

Stretching

Stretching does wonderful things to one’s muscles. Other than making them supple, stretching also tones your muscles. The act of stretching is a quiet, slow action, which does wonders for the stress levels. Once you start stretching, notice that it soon becomes something you feel the need to do. Yoga is the ultimate form of stretching since it often incorporates meditation. Meditation and stretching are two excellent ways to fight the effects of stress. Stress makes you ugly and sick. Stretching is very important before and after exercise. Doing it before ensures you do not hurt yourself during your workout. If you stretch afterwards it can help avoid stiffness. Exercise and stretching should be started gradually or you will hurt yourself and have to stop. Which would put a dramatic stop on your beauty plan.

Bridal Beauty Emergency Plan Strategy Three: Exercise – part two

Feeling strong energised and happy is the best feeling in the world. The human body is a machine, which loves to be used. The more you use it the stronger it gets, the longer it lasts, the happier it is and the better it looks. Exercise is the ultimate drug, offers immediate gratification during exercise with delicious endorphins and then the bonus after effects on your body and mood. You can’t beat it. Exercise is the cheapest and most dramatic of all the strategies to reform your body. It’s just starting that is difficult.

Bridal Beauty Emergency Plan Strategy Two: Supplements

Vitamin & detoxifying supplements


Vitamin C allows toxins to be broken down and discarded by the body. So a good vitamin plan would be a good Multivitamin and maybe a little extra Vitamin C. Vitamin B is very good when combating the effects of stress. A natural immune booster will ensure your good health when you are travelling and experiencing stress. Stress places havoc on your skin and hair, a course of vitamins, which are geared towards nourishing hair, and skin can also be a good idea. I also like tonics, which are added to water and help clean out the system. I recommend using only natural supplements and make sure you are not over doing some vitamins like Vitamin D.

Bridal Beauty Emergency Plan - Strategy One : DIET– part six

Metabolism Stimulating Diet

It would shock you to know how much weight you would loose just by getting rid of the excess water you are retaining. The number one substance, which aggravates water retention, is sodium. The number one weapon against water retention is water. Flood your body and it lets go of its reserves. But this takes one to two days to kick in. Water retention is also effectively reduced with exercise, saunas, steam rooms and massages. And if you are prone to swelling in general avoid all alcohol for at least three days before your wedding.

Wedding Photography in Italy - part one

Firstly I want to make it quite clear that Italian wedding photographers are the best in the world. The below, in no way disputes this fact, I know what a touchy bunch artists are. All clear? Good. (Please don’t slash my car tyres.)

I hate to say it, but during the eighties and nineties wedding photography in Italy was really scary or at best, embarrassing. You can see the after effects of the torture inflicted in the eyes of young Italian couples. “PLEASE, no posing,” they beg. So naturally everybody flung themselves onto the other side of the scales. Reportage is the only style most Italian photographers and clients want to see. There are very few who are mixing reportage with fashion and portraiture photography.

What if I want my pictures to look like fashion photographs? Part three

Be prepared to pose and practise posing. Make a scrapbook of images you like and poses you like. Practise these and share them with me so that we are prepared and on the same page. As I have mentioned creativity is the art of play. If you don’t come ready to play the result will be a painful fruitless exercise and you would have wasted your money. Most people have little experience of posing and on a shoot is not a good time to try for the first time.

The pictures included in this blog are a mix between fashion and wedding portraits. Can you tell which are which?

Ideas on ways to save without anyone noticing – part 03

6. Don’t have sixteen bridesmaids

Traditionally it’s the bride who has to fit the bill for bridesmaids’ dresses. SO logically having four or five really makes things expensive. And if you shop for them at a nice shop like Monsoon you are likely to pay a lot less than you would at a Bridal boutique.

7. Don’t get married from end of May till mid September

Everything is more expensive during this time. Flights, hotels, and venues all increase price wise during peak season. You are far more likely to get discounts from service providers if you marry out of high season. Good photographers can sell Saturdays during those months four times over, it’s therefore unlikely they would offer you any kind of discount.

Good lighting at your venue – Part 01

May seem like a strange thing to consider when choosing a wedding venue. But one would be surprised to discover the difference a little ambient lighting can make. Photography is all about light and if you want great pictures you need to consider the lighting. So a venue which makes use of good natural light with huge windows or compensates for the lack of natural light with gorgeous artificial light, is an important consideration. Sometimes (and especially for video) we will be forced to add a little of our own lighting.

Why do I have to pay a deposit?

Two days ago a mother of a bride called me to cancel, two months before her daughters wedding. I had already turned down two large weddings because I was booked. When she called I went scampering off to see if the other couples had already booked other photographers which they had. Now although I have promised the cancelling bride that if I manage to sell the date she would not loose her deposit. But it’s unlikely that I sell the date at this late stage. So the thirty percent deposit helps cover the loss of earnings incurred. I am sorry for the bride who is cancelling because she had a change of heart, but I am running a business. I have a booking manager because I am a big softie when it comes to the hard stuff. A big softie who was making no money till I hired my precious booking manager.

Great photographers book fast

Good photographers limit the number of weddings they do each year and so book up quickly. Make sure you do your research fast and don’t leave it till the last minute. I often get calls from desperate brides who have left things for the last minute and can’t find ANY photographer at all. If you book a year in advance you will find that may get better prices since the prices often increase the next year. Make sure you choose well and you are sure. Once you are sure about your choice make sure you get a deposit paid and a contract signed. Then you can be relaxed about the most important investment of the day. Because it’s the most important investment of the day it should be the first one you take care of.

Charming your service providers.

We all do it, try much hard for those people we like. Now I know your florist, wedding planner and photographer are at your service but I can tell you, charming your service provides will give you the deluxe service. They will do back flips for you and you will all enjoy your wedding more. This in turn will make for good moods all round. Nothing worse than a spoilt brat bride, who believe me, all the service provides will give average service to and avoid the rest of the time. But a lady will be treated as such and we all try a little hard for those we like.

Why is wedding photography so expensive? Part 03

Popular wedding photographers are always expensive, the more popular they are the more expensive they will be. Becoming a popular photographer means they have worked on their skills for years and deliver their best year after year. This is easily checked with references. Unfortunately the old proverb stands true, “you get what you pay for”.

There is a huge responsibility placed on the shoulders of a wedding photographer. Added to this pressure is the limited time, the groom who does not want to be shot, the mother in law who wants five hundred groups, the priest who want her to stand at the back of the church and all your guests with their digital camera who keeps standing in front of her at all the important moments. It takes a special skilled person to deliver breath taking results every time, no matter what the conditions or pressure levels. And if they are this good every time, it means they work so hard at it that they have no life.

The worst mistakes you can make as a bride. – part 02

6. Over doing the tan.. especially if you man if very fair
7. Get drunk and stay up late the night before
8. Wear your shoes for the first time on your wedding day
9. Forgetting to kiss your dad when he delivers you to your future husband – this is often a very hard and emotional moment for a parent. We only find out when we have our own children just how hard. I cringe when I see a sad dad being ignored and left without a proper farewell to the past.
10. Stressing about the small stuff and not living in the moment on this your special day

So why the strict rules with meetings?

Now as we all know, practise makes perfect. So I should be practising my photographic skills, so that you will have the best wedding images every seen. If I spend my time on clients who aren’t sure I loose a lot of practise time. Already if I just see the people who book me, we are looking at over 50 meetings. Added on the second meeting and ten who don’t take me. It means I do 100 meeting in a year. Which is fine when it’s a constructive meeting but really frustrating when someone is unprepared and unconvinced.
Each and every wedding and couple are important to me and I promise you everything but try and remember it’s a balancing act.

What to do when it’s impossible to meet?

Sometimes during the summer season it’s absolutely impossible to meet. In June I shoot nearly everyday and so it can sometimes be impossible to meet. Also for international weddings outside of Italy it really becomes difficult to meet. So what can you do to help me to get to know you?

1. skype me… just as good as meeting in person really
2. write me long letters all about you
3. send me pictures of you
4. add me to facebook
5. send me pictures you love

Of course you can do all of the above even if you do get a chance to meet me.

The next stage – the meeting

Then once this chemistry has been certified and you have seen our pricelist, and you are still interested in me I am more than happy to meet. I bring along album examples and we discuss details, photography, venues, tastes, styles… and sometimes life in general. We will laugh, plan, whisper and giggle some more. But it will be a comfortable meeting with my clients prepared. Knowing which questions they want to ask. I don’t want to convince anyone to take me. If clients aren’t sure about my work then I am not the photographer for them. Most clients come to the meetings pretty sure they love the work but not sure about the nutter behind the camera. So I prefer this meeting to be about my new relationship with my client.

The chemistry phone call #2

This magic is an absolute must when it comes to making beautiful pictures. I can usually tell in the first three minutes of a chat if a bride and I are going to gel. I have recommended other photographers in the past to brides I felt were needing a different kind of photographer. If I don’t like the people I shoot, it’s hard to make special images. And if you don’t like me, well then you would be just silly hiring me. So basically we both have to feel the love.