The following may be of some benefit for all those seeking the use of my services and that of other photographers.

All photographers, including myself are out to make money; it is our occupation after all. We all have different personalities, likes and dislikes.

However:

"A word of warning 1" Meet the photographer who will be photographing you on the day, there is no point in booking your pictures to be taken by a total stranger. I find that my clientele have decided to book me for their wedding photographs, portraits, birthdays, graduations etc... by meeting or talking on the phone to someone they can relate too. This is where a personal recommendation has no merit; you have to get on with your photographer to get those stunning pictures.

Hence if you feel uncomfortable with your photographer, including myself, look for someone else. After all you are paying for a service you should enjoy and have fond memories of forever. Every booking makes money and pays the bills; we need you more than you need us.

This leads me to what should you look for in a photographer. After you know your photographer, have spoken to him/her, and think you will be able to relax and get on with them, I would advice you ask the simple question: "what types of style"

However;

"A word of warning 2: " There is a big difference in techniques for the end print (colour, black & white etc...) This is not what I mean by style, these are processes in print that should not concern you, you are just after the best photograph from any of these techniques. I and most other photographers will be able to supply.

There are also dozens of descriptions for capturing you image (formal, reportage, candid, romantic, classical, posed, etc...) which I and many other photographers use. This is not what I mean by style either, all these words boil down into two categories, which every photographer will probably use. They either interact with you to get you to stand, sit, jump etc... in a certain light and location, or they have no interaction, stand back and take photographs without asking anyone to do anything.

So what do I mean by styles? I mean do they stick to a check list, capturing the same sort of photograph each time. Do they do everything their way, or do they allow suggestions from you.

It is up to yourself how you wish to be treated, again we are back to getting on with the photographer. So what is my style? That I will set out now in a "word of warning 3."

"A word of warning 3" As I have said before we (photographers) do this to make money. However I don’t believe in taking money from people that may like my personality but don’t like my style and approach to photography.

So if you don’t think you would like my style, you are back to looking for someone else which I would advice you to do. It’s down to you to choose what is comfortable and relaxing. As you will see this is my sales style, you choose which package, album, location and extras you want. I advise you, you buy and that’s a sale. I get annoyed when I hear clients say they have been to other photographer's and felt pressured into a sale. Maybe they get business that way, but at least I hope every client of mine is a happy client.

Before my style shines through I always advise clients to consider which photographic style they want, then I aim for 50% of the pictures taken to reflect this. I’m commissioned by you so as long as health and safety are not compromised I will follow your directive.

What I then do ask of you is to go with me on they way I capture my photographs.

So if you, family and friends or whoever is involved are fun-loving there won’t be a problem, but if you feel being asked to jump in the air, stand perfectly still while those around you run back and forth or hide behind a tree are beyond your remit then consider going with another photographer. Please remember I am here to capture photographs, you don’t need to know why you are being asked to do various things (but I will explain if you are interested) all you should be thinking is at least this is different, creative and some fun. The end result is a picture to cherish forever.

So that’s my style: "Different, Creative and Fun," if you solely want the old 'Traditional shots' then please consider another photographer, if you want a mixture of the two, I could possibly be what you want.

Professional attitude to photography is the key to everything.

However:

"A word of warning 4” What makes someone professional. In my opinion it’s not all the latest technology, latest cameras, brand names, membership of professional organizations and letters after your name. All of which I must admit I have but it's attitude and providing a service that gets no complaints.

I work with the best of equipment, cameras, lenses, flash guns, light meters, studio lights, filters and have double or triple of everything in case of faults. Does this really mean anything to you the customer? It may be of interest to some, but when did you ever consider asking the TV repair man what he uses or how he diagnosed and fixed your television? Exactly, you are interested in the end product, so don’t be white-washed with the equipment, certainly make sure every piece of equipment has a back up and then leave it at that.

A member of various professional photographic organizations, so what? That is to the benefit of the photographer. I know several photographers that never have been trained or joined an organization, does this make them bad, no, they are some of the best around. So in your search don’t be put off by lack of letters after their name. What does Allan S. Mitchell ABPPA, SSWPP ABIPP BSc mean to you? Is it impressive, hopefully not? I want judged by you for my work and not by what a panel of judges, strangers to you and me think. To this end I continually attend training courses for all aspects of photography keeping me up to date with the latest cameras and techniques, all of which is to your benefit in the end.

So when searching for your photographer, forget the equipment, the studio locations, the letters and qualifications and look straight away at the attitude and service. In many cases this will be the one and only time you employ a photographer. So get it right, shop around, a cheap price does not mean he’s not professional this also goes for an expensive price doesn't mean you will get the service you deserve. The work is what counts, so look at it first hand.

That brings me to Prices

"A word of warning 5” Prices varies a lot in this business. It’s the way of the market. I would advice you to make sure you are getting your money's worth. Remember he/she needs you for business, so they will charge accordingly. A large studio to run and supplying handmade leather albums don’t come cheap, so this is passed on to the client. Ask yourself what your budget is, double it and look in that price range. Why I here you cry, I’m not asking you to spend double your money, I am trying to show you the reason for the price differences. There should be no great difference in what the photographer is doing, only in what he is supplying, larger prints, more prints, framed pictures, more expensive albums etc.....

After this comparison of what you get for you money and you can see no great difference, look else where. Remember you should get what you pay for, and pick what you want, not what the photographer wants you to buy to increase profits. If you see a deal you like, ask other photographers to match it. Its quality at a good price you all want, make sure you get it.

So make sure cheap quotes are supplying a quality service. A lot of photographers work from home and don't have their own studio, like myself, so don’t have to cover expenses found by High Street photographers.

Expensive quotes have no excuse for not being the best service and quality of goods. Remember some photographers have to add a few hundred pounds onto a package to cover the High Street rent and rates. This you should not begrudge them, however they should be offering you exceptional service and quality (and quantity) of goods, if not, look elsewhere.

The last thing to watch is the cost of extras, reprints frames etc....You should be paying for goods of a higher standard than those available from High Street shops and supermarkets etc... Your prints should not fade in your lifetime, frames should be well constructed and hand-made. If not go elsewhere, or don’t included it in your package.

Find out the prices for these extras before hand, we publish nearly all our prices on this web site for all to see.

Finally when you are comparing the prices please take into account that all full time professional photographers have overheads. Before we can take a wage we pay money out to the tax man, vat man, national insurance contributions, telephone, equipment purchase, advertising, fuel, postage, indemnity insurance, equipment insurance, the list goes on and on

An example being you purchase an individual print from us for £15, nearly £6 of that goes to the government and that's before we have the cost of professional lab printing, package costs and postage. Hopefully this goes some way in explaining why it costs us a lot more to get your photographs developed than it does for you to nip to boots.

What to do now?

Look at our previous wedding gallery's

Read our testimonials page

Read our wedding package descriptions

Finally read our terms and conditions

If you think we are the ones for you, contact us to have an informal meeting