Kit for a wedding

I often get asked what essential you should have in your Kit for a wedding.I'm sure I will forget something on the list, so feel free to add in the comments! 

•  Comfortable shoes (yes you are at a wedding, but your feet will ache at the end of the day) 

• At least 2 cameras, even if your back up camera is a simple point and shoot, ALWAYS, ALWAYS have a back up 
•  Lenses, now these are your choice, I always have my wide angle for the group photos, my 18-270 for the ceremony makes sure I can get the brides smile and zoom in on Dad wiping a tear away, and then a prime lens for my bridal portraits. 
• Batteries, you can never have enough, I have got into the habit of finding a plug point as soon as I get to the venue and plugging my charger in, as soon as a battery dies I put it on there, I also have 8 spares.
• Memory cards, again, you can never have too many of these
• tripod
• reflector
• a small blanket, just something you can let the bride sit on. (make sure it's a light color, I use a space blanket)
• A flash gun (I use a speedlight)
•  A Flash diffuser (I love the Gary Fong one)
• water, a few bottles to drink!

I then have a bag of "essential goodies" that I take to all my shoots, not just weddings. I make sure everything is super small size in here and refill when need be.

• Duct tape (Great for everything from fixing broken cameras and taping loose branches out of the way)
• Various safety pins
• Various bobby pins and hairclips
• a nail file
• a tiny sewing kit
• breath mints
• band aids
• headache tablets
• hand cream
• chapstick
• fingerless gloves
• hand sanitizer
• wet wipes
• tissues
• A FEW DOLLARS in change (the amount of time I grab my camera bag and forget my wallet, those dollars have helped me get a quick snack)
• a cereal bar (great for a quick pick me up between shoots)
• A small sharp pair of scissors
• a lens cleaning kit
• a bungee cord
• A black Sharpie

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Wedding lists

I decided to write this post to help brides know how to prepare their photographer for a wedding. It's all about organization! Your wedding photos are the main thing you have to remember your day. So organize, and plan them. 
I am pretty flexible and even if my contract says 5 hours I usually stay longer, to get the shots in the contract. But if you want specific shots make a list. It is essential to make a list of all the people you want in formal photos, how you want people put together, eg bride, groom and brides Mom, bride and mom, bride and day, bride and step-mom, etc. And  put their name in.Try make sure you don't leave dear Aunt Mildred out, or step family,weddings can be a time of healing fences so include all family.
Make a schedule and stick to it. If you have booked you photographer for 5 hours and you want specific events photographed make a schedule.  GIVE a copy to the wedding organizer, the photographer, your Matron of Honor, your best-man and then tell your guests where and who will be in the formal photos and when they will take place, eg "Formal wedding photos will take place at the park on Beaumont Road after the ceremony, immediate family and the wedding party will proceed there and all other guests will proceed to the reception."
Also if you have any specific poses you want, or photos with items, put those in a bag/box, put your lists on a clipboard in that box too.
The more you communicate with your photographer the better, I don't mean text them constantly, but do write down exactly what you want and give it to them.
There will always be photos you wish you had got, the ill child, the invalid grandma, if you work with your photographer they will usually be able to make some extra time to take photos of those people a few days later, but this is a favor so you need to work round their schedule.
And last but not least, your photographer is editing YOUR photos, be nice to them.
 You can find more about my photography here
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Aaron and Rachel in Highland

I spent the whole week, with my fingers crossed worrying about this wedding. Here in MI we have had amazing thunder storms all week, but the weather behaved and we got some great outdoor shots. Aaron and Rachel are a lovely couple who had a amazing wedding, lot's of good food, fun guests and lots of laughter! What more could you want?

You can find more about my photography here
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Newborns are hard work!

So a newborn session typically takes 3 hours. 3 lovely hours of cuddling a new squishy baby. But also of stopping for feeds, rocking and remembering just how hard a newborn is. No newborn session is ever complete without at least one of us being peed on. More of what I do can be found HERE

You can find more about my photography here
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Before and After

A number of people have asked me how this photo was done! So here exclusively I will show you how! My glamorous assistant, aka Kitty, my daughter, hung onto the fabric for dear life in gale force wind, while I snapped shots, and with the help of my much cursed other assistant, Photoshop.   , I did the rest.

 KITTY                                    

 

And here is another photo from the same shoot. 

How to see if anyone is stealing your images

I often have wondered if posting my images on Facebook, Google+, twitter, my blog, etc is safe. I do always watermark my images and put a copy write notice but, you never know......or can you find out? I'm going to show you how to have a check to see if anyone is using your images. The common term for this type of search is called "reverse image search" I did this in Firefox, but I believe the process is very similar in other search engines, the wording might be a bit different, but if you can learn to use a dslr you can learn to do this!

The first thing I must however tell you is, if you have a dslr camera, you should be able to put specific info into the metadata,(if you don't know how, do a search with the make of your camera ) Well when you do this make sure you put your name in and phone number. Then in the case of ownership deputes you info is always there.

                                                                      

 The first step is to find your image on your site and right click. A pop up box will appear click "copy image location"

 

               Take this copied number and paste it in your google search bar. Click search!

The next page will look like this on, click on where it says "search by image"

and....

  

The next page will show you hopefully that your image isn't being used anywhere else, or will show you where people are using your images, even if they have cropped the image or altered it, like removed the watermark.

Photographers should not work for free

By definition, " a professional photographer" is someone who makes an income taking pictures. Yes, it’s something we do for fun, but at the end of the day, it’s our profession. In order to have a successful profession, you have to make a sustainable income.

•  It’s a business and like any business, start-up costs are expensive.

•   Equipment is expensive, as is maintaining it. The average camera body I use is $3000, lenses $1000 each, Speedlight(Flash) $800, Memory cards $80 each, etc, etc, when I add it all up, my camera bag alone has about $10 000 equipment in it, then there is the pc you need. I have a macbook pro, and photoshop, and add on actions.....That's another 10 000, plus training and college.....

• Photography is time-intensive and time is money.Most people think it is just arrive at a shoot, click, click, click, upload, crop, and make money. It's not. I spend on average 30 min editing each image and then often just throw away the results.

So how do I go about letting people know that I do not work for free?

The first reason and it’s simply this: I, as a person (i.e. friend, daughter, advocate, etc.) am a separate entity from my business.

For example, say I have a friend who owns a dress boutique. I would never expect (I hope) to be able to shop this boutique for free, to just take any clothes I wanted. 
Why not? The business is a separate entity from my friend and subsequently, our friendship. The same is true for photographers.

We wouldn’t expect a free jewelry from a jeweler, free meals from a chef, nor flights from a pilot. But for some reason, photography has slipped the radar on this and it’s a common expectation that we can do our work for free.

With some good communication and armed with a few examples, we can help others to understand that we’re a separate entity from our business and we cannot make a profession out of something done for free.

Make sure you have price lists available, when friends ask you to do a shoot, say sure, I'll send you my prices, what is your email? Of course offer them a discount or something extra, but don't work for free.