A Welsh Wedding... part 1

Last year, I had the pleasure of being invited to Swansea, to photograph the wedding of Jen and Rob, who I'd met (and gotten chatting to) at a wedding back in 2010.

Their wedding took place at Craig-y-Nos Castle, just north of Swansea, which, for the historically appreciative of you, formerly belonged to opera singer Adelina Patti. For the paranormal fascinated among you, it's also allegedly haunted, and finally for the geekily eagle eyed of you, was the setting for a Doctor Who episode, Tooth and Claw. (And for bonus points it's the one that establishes the Torchwood Institute). Quite frankly, aside from being a gorgeous castle in stunning settings, the place is a pub quiz masters dream.

As Rob and Jen had already completed the formalities prior to their big day, we were able to meet up before the ceremony, and do a little pre-wedding shoot.

It was actually one of the most relaxed days I've ever been to, and being able to have a wander with the couple before the ceremony was great.

As a photographers experience, doing this was brilliant. It's fantastic if you're quite happy to have things mixed up, if you're after something a bit different, and perhaps you just don't want to adhere to old traditions. It also has the potential to help relax the couple before the ceremony, take a little bit of the edge off the nerves, and I imagine it would work best if you were both staying at the venue you were having your ceremony.

I know there's an emerging trend from America (the country which brought us Trash the Dress) where some couples and photographers have a "first look" photo shoot, which is where the couple have a mini shoot on the day before the actual ceremony, where the bride and groom are captured when they first see each other (and the emotions) without anyone else around. First look photo shoots involve the couple in their formal bridal and groom attire.

While this is different from the meaning of the First Look, I think dressing casually and comfortably there is scope for having a mini shoot as Jen and Rob did, if you want to keep your dress pristine and your suit looking neat and tidy, and you don't spoil the surprise of seeing the dress if you want to keep it a secret until the ceremony.

The 2012 Wedding Predictions

As we're only a touch over a week into the New Year, and I'm still managing to feel all New-Yearsie (that's a word, right?), I thought I'd dedicate today's blog entry to predictions for the coming year for weddings and ceremonies. I decided recently to ask a hand-picked panel of wedding industry businesses to help me with this particular post. I wanted to know their ideas and thoughts and insights into what they think will become the big trends and themes for the year ahead.

Having started my business about 15 months ago, it's been amazing to me to watch how quickly wedding fashions and trends come and go. Some have a natural limited lifespan, while other trends have such longevity, they're easy to adapt and evolve into something new.

So what do we think we can see in the next 12 months?

Over to the experts....

Weddings will still be concentrated heavily on detailing for most weddings. Less Shabby Chic more Elegant and sophisticated. Brides dresses shall become focussed either around a fashion influence for the 2012 which is Drop waist (1920s styles) due to the two films ; The Artist and The Great Gatsby our this year. Or the dress will take on longer sleeves, lace and A-line from the influence of the Royal Wedding Dress from Catherine the Duchess of Cambridge. The wedding colours will be fresh/clean for spring/summer and towards the latter months the pantone colour of the year (burnt orange) will be more widely used with bold colours.
- Mel, Homegrown Bride Blog
http://homegrownbride.com/

‘Uplighting and mood lighting will be big for 2012. Following on the trend from American weddings, I predict brides will be keen to personalise their function suite and make it more atmospheric by adding LED uplighters, fairy lights and candles. They can also enhance the space in accordance with their colour scheme too!’
-Laura, LFT Events
www.fabulousweddingshow.com

• Yellow, either on its own, or mixed with greys, creams or pastel shades.
• Vintage - still big, but particularly accents of patterned retro fabric and the inclusion of vintage books. People seem to be focusing on using more props to make table decoration more interesting or themed and vintage/childhood memorabilia seems to be a strong theme. I'm also often being asked to source vintage glass and silverware for my couples.

I know thats only two things but they do seem to feature quite heavily in my bookings this year! I think the overall feel is a very creative one, with couples and their friends making items for the wedding, whether that is stationary, decorations, or even flowers and outfits. Maybe bridal DIY but with an emphasis on simple, chic ideas and a more luxurious style than previously. I've seen a few perplexed MOB's listening to their daughters' creative plans!
- Sophie, I Heart Flowers
http://iheart-flowers.blogspot.com/

Top trend/reception detail that I am seeing a lot of interest in is speciality stations. Whether that is a dessert bar, a candy buffet, speciality cocktails/signature drinks or all together. This has been influenced by the american wedding cocktail hour. A Scottish twist can be added with a scottish favourites bar - dumpling, tablet etc.
- Alison, Plans and Presents
http://www.mrspandp.com

Over the years styles of favours have changed from sugared almonds to lottery tickets. Why not try something a little more personal... handmade bracelets can be created to tie in with colour schemes of your day or particular styles.
- Jo, Jo's Highly Strung
http://www.coriandr.com/shop/joshighlystrung

I see a move from Vintage to boho/shabby chic weddings with lots of hand made details by the bride and friends. I love this as it allows people to get creative, pool talents and resources and create their own style. Fun to organise and fabulous to photograph!
-Jaz, Jaz Ampaw-Farr Photography
www.jazampawfarr.com

I think lace is going to stay popular in 2012 and lots of plummy and purple shades for the bridesmaids.

- Wendy, Flossy and Dossy

http://www.flossyanddossy.co.uk

2012 will see the tradition of having lace in the Wedding Dress continue as many Brides took inspiration from Kate Middleton in 2011. This will develop from lace in the dress to softer, more romantic accessories with flowers in the hair, more muted colours in the Wedding decor and softer edges to Wedding Cake design.
- M.T., Edinburgh Brides Wedding Guide
www.edinburghbridesweddingguide.com

Feel free to add any predictions you think we'll see in weddings in 2012 - would love to hear from you! 

Linlithgow Photoshoot

Back in the summertime, when it was still warm (remember that?) I did a little photo shoot with a newly established dress maker called Zoe Anderson. Zoe studied Fashion Design for Industry at Heriot Watt School of Textiles and Design, and this was a wedding dress she'd designed for a pregnant bride. The idea behind the dress was a medieval theme, so we decided to go to Linlithgow Palace to do the shoot.

Zoe says: 

This was my first ever wedding dress and the fact that it was my best friend made it very special. Heather was going to be 5 months pregnant when she married so it was difficult to predict how big she would be by then.

I designed a small range of dresses for her to choose from that were based on a medieval silhouette that would flatter Heathers baby bump, with ornate celtic detailing that I knew Heather would love.

The day of the shoot, I didn't tell her that I'd arranged a professional photographer so this was a lovely surprise and she now has some beautiful pictures to cherish such a special memory.

You can find more about Zoe's work, here on her Zoe Anderson Fashion and Bridal Wear Facebook page.

Great Expectations

I thought today I'd write about managing photographic expectations.

In this digital age, there is a lot that is possible with the use of photo editing software. So much so, that the product Photoshop has entered the cultural lexicon and become a noun, a verb, an adjective... it's used to explain or rationalise images, or on occasion it's a put-down and dismissal of the appearance of images (or the subject).

As a result, people do have expectations of what a photographer can do with this magic wand. (Dare I mention that it actually has a magic wand tool?).

But, there are limitations. Nothing is perfect. I've achieved some amazing results through Photoshop, including removing fences and fence posts, telegraph poles, as well as the usual enhancement of an image to make it pop. However, there are things I simply can't do, and I usually try and explain this to people.

A while ago, I took some photos for a make up artist's portfolio. She'd asked her male model to shave, but he turned up with a couple of days of facial hair growth. At the end of the shoot, as I was packing up, she asked me if I could "photoshop" out the facial hair. To be honest, it would have been quicker (and easier) if he'd shaved there and then, and we'd re-shot the entire thing. Editing an image would mean retouching every individual hair, and even then it would have resulted in looking plastic and unreal. As photographers, we need a starting point. To remove a fencepost can be easy, provided there's "information" around it to give an indication of what it looks like behind. To remove a picture on a blank wall can also be fairly straightforward. However the human face is a complex thing, with contours, shade, skin tone change even in a small space of skin, it can change completely. Think about the difference, for example, between the crease of your nose next to your nostril, up to your cheek, and under your eye. The texture, colour, pore-size, angle all changes completely within that small area.

I have edited model's faces, for photo shoots. However, the occasional blemish is easy, versus removing half a face of hair.

I was also asked about removing a radiator from some photographs. The position of the radiator was at the time, impossible to escape from. It was the only location suitable for the photographs, and suggested by the client. Where possible, I tried to crop it out, but we were shooting in a small space, and occasionally the client had several people in the shot, meaning that even with a very wide angled lens, I was limited to how much of the image I could cut out without cutting out people in the process. Five people take up more width than two, and I had to shoot accordingly. Nor was there anything around that I could use to "fill" the information behind the radiator. It covered the skirting board, and there was no alternative stretch of wall I could clone into place, without it looking like the walls were melting as if it was in a David Lynch film.


A lot of it comes down to what information is around and nearby. If there's nothing to indicate what ought to be in its place, then it's almost impossible to remove an item from an image. If the surrounding information is a tiny piece, then it does depend on the size and scale of what you want to remove. If the thing you wish removed is tiny, and there's lots of information (say, a picture frame on a large blank wall), then it becomes fairly straight forward.

Imagine it a bit like reading a sentence. If the sentence was something like:


The man went for a walk to the shops to buy food

and all you had was the first and last word, then you're really going to struggle to "guess" the rest of the sentence. If there are three words missing (for example "The", "went" "walk") you're going to have an easier time to guess and fill those words in. Photo editing software, even at its most sophisticated, is guessing the rest of the information.

It sounds easy, but you'd be surprised how time consuming this sort of thing can be. A single photograph that needs a complicated edit (which people assume is easy) could take around 30 minutes to edit. If I have to do that to 10 photos... that's pretty much most of a day sat at a computer editing ten images, which if it were for a wedding, then I'm looking at a minimum of 200 more photos to edit.

A lot of the time, as every good photographer will tell you, it's simply about getting it right in camera. That's not necessarily just about the settings on the camera, but often about picking the background. I usually scout around looking for a suitable background, even swivelling round 180 degrees can give a completely different vantage point. I also think about the lighting - for example, where the sun is in relation to my subject, or if there's any harsh lighting to avoid. That stuff is pretty straight forward. Getting it right then, is ideal - it takes seconds at the time when it could take hours later on.

Sometimes, there are things which are unavoidable. Sometimes you have to settle for a scene that's 90% perfect, because that's the best situation available. For example, I edited some photographs with some lines on the ground. The lines were pretty unavoidable and bright, and it was the best spot for the photographs to be taken at the time. So I edited them out carefully. Unless you had an identical photo of the "before" scene, you wouldn't realise it had been there, but taking them out made a massive positive improvement to the image. I've also edited out those green exit signs in the background of photos. The telegraph poles in one photo sat right in the middle of a beautiful view of the hills, so I edited it out. All of these things took a while, but afterwards you wouldn't have realised those things were there. You may well have forgotten that they were there.

So what can I do with Photoshop? Well, as mentioned previously, unsightly fence posts (as opposed to thick heavy fences), or telegraph poles are straightforward. I've removed the odd stray beer bottle that guests have taken with them into large group photographs and left standing by their feet (and when you've got 100 people in a photo, it's sometimes hard to realise at the time what every single one of them is up to at the time!). I do general enhancement, to make colours pop a little more, or remove the occasional stray hair that wisps across a bride's face in a small breeze, I remove blemishes that might have occurred overnight - we all get them from time to time, and to be honest, it's usually something you want to forget was there, and until you see a photograph with that blemish in it, you'll probably forget it was there in the first place. I've smoothed crumpled dresses, or creases that occur naturally after a bride has been sitting in a wedding car. I try to keep my photography as true to the reality of the situation as possible though, I'm very uncomfortable with digital "plastic surgery" as I call it (slimming down, pushing up etc), nor will I remove scarring, birth marks, or other permanent features. That's not to say I can't do those things, but I feel that its important to be true about who is in the photograph, rather than an unrealistic "photoshopped" version of the person.

The real trick is to managing expectations of what photo editing software and the age of digital photography can achieve. It's also about making sure you discuss in advance with your photographer what they can or cannot do. If you've got something you're not sure about, and you'd like it to be altered, have a chat with them. It's much better to discuss these things in advance than assume after the occasion that a rogue radiator can be removed where it can't, or making a man clean shaven, when often there's nothing better than doing it before the shutter clicks.

Happy New Year!

...and it's back to work again!

I hope all my readers have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year period, and you're feeling refreshed and raring to go with 2012. 

My own festive period was quite busy. Just before Christmas, I had the pleasure of photographing a civil partnership in Glasgow, with two wonderful gents. Their ceremony was held at Park Circus, which was my first time shooting there. I'd seen lots of photos from other wedding photographers, which was great for a bit of research and idea generating for photographs.

Afterwards, they had their reception at the Premier Inn, on Ballater Street. While the couple had booked me back in the spring of 2011, I was keen to wait until closer to the date before doing a recce. The reason being I knew with it being close to Christmas, I wouldn't really get a feel for the decorations or the light availability until around the time of their big day. Visiting in the summer would have been misleading for my photographs.

Despite some rather worrying weather forecasts, we were lucky - the worst of the weather didn't appear, and we managed to get a crisp sunny winters day, with a few showers later on. That meant we were able to have quite a few group shots outside, which I prefer for the quality of light.

I was also thrilled to receive my latest copy of the Scottish Wedding Directory. I've decided to sign up to be listed as an Edinburgh and Lothians wedding photographer, and they've also started producing the magazine on a quarterly basis. And, to make it even sweeter, they've included four of my photographs, with credits of course.  It was a really lovely thing to find at the cusp of the New Year, and a great feeling to celebrate for 2012.

The coming year is looking particularly busy, and I'm really looking forward to all 2012 has to offer. But, even with business, I think there's room for some resolutions to be made.


So, some of my good intentions (we shall see which ones last!), both personal and professional:

Professional Goals:
1. To provide my new 2012 bookings with a useful information pack. I've been working on this over the autumn and winter, and it includes all sorts of useful things for any couple getting married and thinking about their wedding photos. For example, information about what to expect and anticipate with the engagement shoot; a schedule to help plan for group shots and allocate sufficient time for photographs.
2. To participate in the 2012 Murrayfield Thee Wedding Show this spring.
3. To hopefully produce more sample products for my wedding show, and showcase some of the gorgeous images that have made me proud of what I do from 2011.
4. To do more photoshoots. I've got a couple of ideas running round in my head at the moment, and of course a couple of collaborators who are as excited as I am at the prospect of working together. Photo shoots are a bit like training, it's an opportunity for me to get creative, but also try out new techniques, and when they work I can then transfer those new ideas into my work easily.
5. Redevelop and assess my website and blog.

Personal Goals:
1. To shape up, so that I can complete a 10k run in the summer. Last summer, I managed my first 5k, so it's time to up the ante, and lose the Christmas pudding shaped tummy!
2. To read more books. Pretty much a straightforward one, but it's something I neglected a bit, and it's something I think that's a good release, escapism, but also reinvigorates my creativity from a slightly different angle. Also, I'm a compulsive book buyer - I love browsing bookshops, I love the promise of a new book, but right now, I actually have around 40 which I still haven't read. I can't justify buying any more new books until I've chewed through that list. Figuratively speaking.
3. Sleep more! Or rather, get a better sleep pattern developed. Most photographers I know share a night owl lifestyle. While it's great to be able to get on with processing images when its dark and quiet, I also dislike missing the morning hours and the productivity that I can achieve (and the satisfaction of feeling that I've had more productivity as a result of waking up early!). I'm hoping that 1 and 2 together will help that a lot.

If three personal goals seems... scant, well, trust me, I will think up more. However, my aim is to keep things interesting and achievable. A few years ago, I decided to only have one resolution, but I added a new one each month. That meant I wasn't trying to do everything at once (and feeling like my life had somehow become boring as a result). It also gave me time to get better at doing each one, become more disciplined. Some were intended only to last a month, others were intended to last longer. Anyway, a big long list of self-inflicted commandments just feels very daunting.

So here's to 2012, hoping yours will be prosperous and fun filled!

Latest news...

Although things have calmed down on the wedding photography front (all images have now been edited, and sorted for their respective newly weds), I've been fairly busy with other pieces of work. So here's what I've been up to:

• Engagement shoot... Had an engagement shoot with a lovely lady who's getting married in Glasgow next year (with her reception being held at the gorgeous Carnbooth House Hotel  - I think I'll get some stunning wedding photography there!). We did her photo shoot at the fabulous House for an Art Lover. 
• I recently registered with Edinburgh Brides Wedding Guide directory,  which I'm quite pleased with. It's one I've been contemplating for a while, especially as they show some of my wedding photos alongside my listing. The photos featured are from two of my recent weddings - a Swansea wedding I photographed, and some Edinburgh wedding photographs. 
• I've also decided to list with the Scottish Wedding Directory. They've gone from two to four issues a year, and an annual listing in the magazines and on the website felt like a particularly good deal. Listing as an Edinburgh and Lothians wedding photographer with the SWD makes sense to me, as they are easily the biggest Scottish wedding publication around. 
• Sorting out my SEO! I don't do this as often as I ought to. I do find it oddly interesting and fascinating, although a bit frustrating to wait so long for results. Anyway, sitting with a book, reading through the right things to do (and the naughty things not to do).
• Organising a photo shoot with three fellow Scottish wedding photographers, a stationer, a florist, a jewellery and accessory designer, and a dress maker. Lots of hard work, lots of phone calls, and lots of perfecting of my telephone voice and choice of wording. 
• Building a new shop site, exclusively for my wedding photography couples. The online shop enables the guests of couples to purchase prints. The prints come from professional photo labs, and it now means that guests don't have to ask the couple for copies and they can choose the print size and number they're after. It also means they get a high quality print, rather than a high street quality print. 

 I've also been doing a bit of relaxing too - I went to Blair Atholl and the Enchanted Forest last weekend, and the good weather and gorgeous Highland autumnal colours meant that my camera was in fairly constant use. Looking forward to processing those photos this weekend, and hopefully give you a wee look at them!

If you want to see some photos of the weddings mentioned (and some sneak peeks of weddings to be featured on the blog in coming weeks) head over to my wedding photography Facebook page http://www.facebook.com/Struvephotography

Collaboration

So sitting watching Grand Designs this evening, I was watching how a stone mason builder renovated a 19th century Cornish industrial building into a home. One of the things that struck me, was how much he used favours and bartering to get assistance from other tradesmen to build his dream home.

The reason I bring this up, is I've been thinking about how the wedding industry as a whole, is almost like a village of artisan craftspeople. We've got all sorts of different people, all with their own speciality. One of the big things about being self-employed, is the draw towards doing the sort of work you love. In that regard, there's a lot to be gained from outsourcing things that aren't your speciality. So, for example, I found an expert graphic designer Tom Holmes to create my beautiful logo for me. Rather than spend a fortune on a printer, inks, specialist paper, and a long time calibrating said printer to get expert tonal ranges, I outsource my printing to a professional printing lab. It might cost me money, but effectively it frees up my time, and allows me to get on with doing what I do best. It means that I'm able to spend more time earning, than spending time doing work which doesn't pay. You don't imagine the captain of a ship in the engine room; or multi-millionaire CEOs out washing the windows on their skyscraper offices. Those jobs are delegated and outsourced, it allows the CEO and the captain of the ship to continue to do what they do best.

This gets me on to my point. As a photographer, I don't just buy photography equipment. There's lots of things I have to buy, including stationery and sundries. I use a template to design a gorgeous DVD case for my clients and have it printed, but I know there are other photographers who don't opt for a printed DVD case. Depending on their personal brand style, I know some photographers who opt for natural fibre based DVD sleeves for their clients. No plastic jewel casing, just simple card and paper casing.

A photographer I know has been asking where, for example, she can buy DVD sleeves like this:

Source: shadrachlindo.com via Claudia on Pinterest

It's rather pretty, actually. As photographers, we don't always buy things in "bulk". We may want a small number of units, but we are perhaps more likely to be regular customers and clients. We talk a lot too. Seriously! Photographers are a chatty bunch when we get the chance. We ask each other constantly "where do you get this?" "where do you get that?" "how do you do this?". There's pockets of us, all asking similar questions constantly. Photography magazines and press don't have a section recommending where we can source different types of stationery. We trawl the internet, we search and look. When someone tells us about a new product and a good service, we jump on it. We are an unbelievably contagious group for viral marketing and word-of-mouth campaigns, and, if I may be so bold, we are vastly untapped. There are lots of photographers. I know this, all photographers know this. What we want, is products that help set us apart, that make us look special, that appeal to our clients. And if you're a wedding stationer, then chances are, you know those clients as well as we do. At the moment, the best places to go for DVD and CD boxes is U.S. suppliers. Companies like http://www.loktah.com/ make gorgeous DVD slip cases from natural products. I love what they do, but it perhaps highlights where international companies have found a gap in the U.K. market that U.K. suppliers haven't spotted.

There's other things we like too. Photographers need ways of presenting their physical prints. I give my couples their prints in a gift box, with a ribbon and a personalised gift tag. My 2012 package will also include my couples receiving an introduction folder. Sourcing these folders was surprisingly tricky. I knew exactly what I wanted, I just didn't want to order 1000 folders. As photographers, it's not simply about handing over a DVD; for a lot of us, we have to consider the presentation to our couples.

It struck me that this was perhaps an area that wedding stationers may be able to assist. Could you design a range aimed at wedding photographers to pass on to their couples, or a bespoke product for a wedding photographer to use as part of their signature brand material? I'm not suggesting this is a freebie, a barter or a "favour for a favour", unless there was a service you wanted in return. We could be actual paying customers to you; we could be a regular paying customer. Potentially if we build up a good solid working relationship with you, we could end up recommending you to our couples, or on our blogs or websites.

This could potentially go further than just photographers and stationers doing business to business work for one another. Could wedding planners, with their expertise in organisation, help put together photoshoots, bringing in all their contacts to collaborate on one day? Could people who make favours employ a photographer to photograph their products for their website? Could stationers and photographers work together to create a collaborative, bespoke range for couples of save-the-date and thank you stationery, featuring images from engagement and wedding photographs? Could jewellers and dress makers work together, to make brooches that match dresses or elegant pins to hold together  pashminas? Could someone who makes bespoke favours develop a corporate "gift" for other wedding suppliers to buy as gifts for clients?

My point is, I think it's important for wedding professionals within the industry to look next door, to our neighbouring wedding professionals. Find out what we can do to help each other. Can we help one another? Can we outsource to one another in the areas where we lack expertise, where we lack knowledge, where we lack a certain amount of coordination, which in turn frees up our time to work on the thing we wanted to do in the first place. We all have a similar client base. We therefore have an understanding, a joint understanding, of the aesthetics, of the styles, of the trends and fashions. Lots of people can produce office-friendly products, but it takes someone who knows the wedding market and reads the magazines, the blogs, and sees whats happening, to produce wedding-friendly products.

I'd love to hear from anyone already in the wedding industry who thinks they could, in some way, work with us wedding photographers. I'd love to know what you think you could do for us, what service you could deliver, what product you think you could offer. Have you got an idea? Something special?Are you a wedding photographer? do you see a gap in the market?

Trust me, if it's good, wedding photographers will find out.

Birds of a feather

There's been an interesting blog story circulating recently, written from the perspective of a wedding photographer. The blog entry discusses the issue of wedding blogs (and yes, I'm aware of how terribly navel gazing this is!). It's actually quite an interesting piece.

Today, I've been reading that, plus other blogs, tweets, and Facebook comments of people responding. It's had quite a mixed reaction, but almost everyone has had a reaction.

http://hindsightbride.com/2011/10/10/open-letter-wedding-bloggers/#axzz1aYNhxLX1

The blog entry addresses some issues which have, to be fair, been addressed by wedding bloggers previously. The main issue, is that wedding blogs, in their quest for quirky, unusual weddings, have effectively become a caricature but also perhaps exclusive from the majority of weddings, brides and grooms. While they go out hunting the peculiar and amazing and off-the-beaten-track, they leave behind them in their wake a tide of brides who either don't have the time, or inclination towards those styles. The focus becomes heavier on the detail, and less about the actual people involved, and if you don't "fit" into that style, then it can feel like a rejection. All of a sudden, you're not going to be part of the new Cool Bride Gang. You're simply too ordinary.

From the photographers perspective, this can be frustrating. The wedding you photograph might not be a bloggers paradise, but as long as it's special to the couple, then that's important. I think we can all agree that blogs aren't as important as the special commitment two people make, in front of all their loved ones. For photographers, blogs are important to us though too - they're fast taking over from wedding magazines as a means of reaching out to potential new couples and a great way of showcasing our work. What's interesting to me, is the reactions. There's been quite a bit of discussion about "who" the target market is, and that it's not actually photographers. There's a truth there, but we want to work with bloggers, wherever possible, sponsor posts, run competitions, you name it, we're in there. We use blogs too, for our inspiration with our work. We recommend your blogs on our Facebooks and websites and our blogs to our couples.

But here's the thing. Who writes blogs? Brides to be, married women, wedding planners, photographers, stationers... we've all got blogs. Most of the blogs though, in fairness, are about looking at "look at this thing I found" "this is a new thing". It's very... magaziney, with lots of people becoming what I'd call experts in the field of weddings, or at least enthusiasts with a lot of useful wedding knowledge and fingers on the pulse. The people who allegedly dictate - the readers, the brides to be - the majority of them don't have blogs. Most brides-to-be have enough other things on their plate, with work, personal life, and wedding planning, to sit down and write an online blog about their experience. There are some, as I've said, but there aren't that many. At a guess, I'd put the number of brides-to-be-bloggers in the tens, rather than the thousands of actual brides-to-be out there. Blogs aren't as ubiquitous as Facebook accounts. So how do they get through to the wedding bloggers what they want? Do they have to sit there, write a response to each post? Should they vote with their mouses and switch off? How do they convey that information? Should they email wedding bloggers and say "look, I'd really like to see more imaginative ways of turning a hotel function suite into a gorgeous dinner reception than look at a cornfield with wrought iron tables and deckchairs and paper lanterns, please"?

The thing that was interesting about that particular blog article, was that as it's written by a photographer, perhaps we're the ones who are actually more in touch with couples on a day-to-day level. We speak to them, they hire us, we are their photographers, we build up a special bond with them, and when you read photographers saying that couples lament that their wedding isn't "blog-worthy enough", maybe we're the ones out there hearing it. They might not be tweeting or writing their own blogs about it, but it doesn't mean they aren't feeling and reacting and saying these things. People say things out loud that they might not feel they can commit to writing. And how do bloggers respond to those brides and grooms if they say "could you write more about X, please?". What are your responses? Sorry, no, it's not my style? Do you turn them away? do you point them in the direction of the "blog description" and suggest they find something more appropriate to their style? Do you take what they say on board? Would you? I understand that each blog has it's own style, and style and taste are a very individual thing. You're bloggers, after all. You're not being run by a publishing company with directors and shareholders. You don't have a sales team pushing to get X thousand sales each month. You weather the dips, and ride the peaks of your readership statistics. It comes completely from within, I understand that. You're creatives, effectively; social media written creatives, self-employed, and you need to stay true to who you are. There are countless bridal magazines out there, with very polished, traditional and contemporary styles of wedding photography, venues, cars, details. You're doing something different because there isn't a "Quirky Bride Magazine" published and sold every quarter from WHSmith, but there is enough for you to have a regular readership every day/week/month. But if you're a blogger claiming that the true compass is the reader, I'm curious to how you're engaging with them, how you're monitoring that, and how much they can and do and are able to choose the direction.

I have to admit, I have read blogs who have addressed this previously. It's not new. This isn't some under-current that's just popped up. Of course it's about the bride and groom's big day. It's not a competition for who can have the most peacock-swan-feathered, birdcage, teacups and posies, chantilly lace tableclothed, blackboard, fake mustached, gingham, candelabra, save-the-date-gold-leaf-toilet-paper, cupcaked wedding in the land. I know bloggers know that, and I know there are those that have addressed this issue, and they're lovely about it, and supportive of brides regardless of their personal wedding. But that blog entry on Hindsight Bride did point out a few things that are true. It's stirred debate; it's resulted in some quite polarised reactions, and I think it's one of the few times that's actually happened, to that scale, from my perspective. That's why I'm writing about it.

But personally, I'd be really curious to see a blog post about how to customise a hotel function suite and make it amazing. I'd love to see what a blogger could do with that subject matter. I feel, if I had to, I could turn even a small garden into an incredibly exclusive quirky reception venue pretty easily. I feel rather confident in that, and I've never been married or been involved in planning a wedding. That I could do.

The real challenge would lie in making something that's used every day as a wedding venue unique to the couple. Honestly, if there's a wedding blogger reading this who fancies it I'd love to see what you can produce. Now that, I think, would be a truly unique creative challenge.

The Braehead Photography Story

I thought today I'd write a blog post about something quite topical, and that can affect both professional photographers and non-professional photographers alike: anti terrorism laws.

On Saturday, I became aware of a small story on Facebook, about a man who had been stopped by Braehead Shopping Centre security staff, and Strathclyde police, over him photographing his daughter in the shopping centre. He started a group, called Boycott Braehead, that has attracted a lot of social media and press attention in the last few days.

The initial reaction from people on the group was absolute horror and disgust. User comments asked why he was being stopped in a public place, why he wasn't allowed, and why anti-terror laws were being used in this way.

The situation is that this isn't as uncommon as you might think. Professional photographers have, in recent years, faced increasing situations of being stopped by security and police in different parts across the country, with regards to photographing in a public area, including public landmarks and buildings.

One of the most amusing aspects of this, is that almost every public building, and landmark, can currently be found on Google Maps Streetview anyway.

There's been so much growing tension between pro photographers and the police, that a group, I'm a Photographer, Not a Terrorist has been established online, which helps photographers to understand their rights.

A quick search on The Independent and Guardian websites will throw up countless stories of police harrassing photographers. Here's a film on the Guardian website of a man being stopped under the anti-terror legislation for filming. http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2009/dec/11/photographs-police-anti-terrorism-laws
Oh, and here's another example... this time involving an amateur photographer
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2010/feb/21/police-arrest-photographer

I don't know about you, but watching those videos, if that was me, in that situation? I'd be feeling a bit nervous. Imagine then how it must have felt to Chris White when he was being questioned while with his little girl. Imagine how it must have felt for him, as a parent, to witness his young daughter getting increasingly distressed, and the police telling him off for trying to comfort her. Also imagine how it must have felt with other shoppers passing by, wondering why he was being questioned.

So what is the law exactly?
First of all, there was "section 44". However, this was suspended by the European Courts of Human Rights. This was a section of the anti-terror law, which was being abused, misused, and mostly misunderstood and misquoted. However, since then a new amendment, 47a has been introduced.

What should be noted though is a few facts:
1. the law states that police must be aware and understand the code of practice in relation to using section 47a.
2. The code of practice states:
"members of the public and media do not need a permit to film or photograph in public places;
(b)it is not an offence for a member of the public or journalist to take photographs/film of a public building;
(c) the police have no power to stop the filming or photographing of incidents or police personnel"

Furthermore the code of practice states: it is important that police officers do not automatically consider photography/filming as suspicious behaviour."
and
"officers do not have a legal power to delete images or destroy film."

In addition:
"Officers must also be able to explain their actions to the member of the public searched. The misuse of these powers can lead to disciplinary action." 

So why should you be concerned? Well, because as this incident in Braehead shows, it's not just professional photographers with huge DSLRs and lenses who are falling under suspicion by the police and security staff.

I understand the need to remain vigilant for potential terror threats. However, last winter, I was approached while photographing buildings in London, by a uniformed community officer. So what happened? He was lovely, that's what happened. He approached me with a smile, he was chatty, polite, and I was more than happy to stop and talk to him. I explained I was working with permission from the building owners, and he was content with that. I explained what I was doing. We chatted about stuff, and then I went back to work. All he did was ask, and sound genuinely pleasant and naturally curious. End of story. He used his common sense, he approached me in a friendly manner, and nothing bad happened. By being friendly and approachable, he used positive communication and interpersonal skills to find out everything he wanted to know about what I was doing and why. He didn't take notes, he just asked, listened, and then we carried on with our work. That's how it ought to be, and that shouldn't be such an isolated incident of security friendliness. 

I also understand and appreciate that Braehead is not a public place. It's owned by a private company, in the same way airports, railway stations, and many other areas are private property. A couple of years ago, as a student, I was taking photographs in Central Station because I liked the interior architecture. I was asked to stop, and I complied as the security guard was reasonable and just explained it was private property. No mention of anti-terror laws, no instance on deleting images, no police were called in, and no problems arose from it.

If photography is a problem, then I think there ought to be a no photography sign, in the same way there's a no smoking, or no dogs sign on the doors. You already find them in airports. If it's a genuine policy, then ensure that people are aware. What Braehead Shopping Centre forget, is that while professionals might be aware of the rules and law because we deal with it so often, it's not the sort of thing that the average member of the public thinks about when they're out for a trip with their kids.

Furthermore, the statement from Braehead Shopping Centre left this remark:

"However, it is not our intention to - and we do not - stop innocent family members taking pictures. Discretion is used at all times."

In this instance, the question is: What does Braehead Shopping Centre believe Mr White was guilty of?

Until recently, a lot of these stories involving over-zealous police and security guards have been mostly in the South of England, and in London in particular, where the Metropolitan Police perhaps have a slightly different reputation than Scottish police forces. This was the scene last year in Trafalgar Square, of photographers protesting against the police use of anti-terror laws. Obviously, I'm sure most of us would prefer that things didn't reach this state in Scotland.

The key here, would be to ensure that police and security are trained to have positive interpersonal and communication skills when dealing with the public as well as understanding exactly what the law entails and respecting and understanding the rights that individuals have under the law. Examples such as these ought to instantly flag up a need for assessment of the police to ensure that they have those skills and understandings, and whether there is a need for further job-related development, or, if it is a case of abuse of power, then it ought to be dealt with as a disciplinary action.


My advice to everyone, is be aware of your rights. If you have a complaint, follow it up with the management of the property, the police station (if they were involved) but I'd also recommend flagging it up with your local MP or (in Scotland) MSP. How can the police uphold the law if they have officers who don't understand it?

Chris Hanley Cherish the Dress Workshop

A couple of weeks ago, the amazing Jaz Ampaw-Farr who runs a Facebook group for photographers, had a competition. The competition was open to all members of the group, and the prize was a place on a workshop run by the amazing Chris Hanley who as well as being one of the top wedding photographers in the country, also brought to these shores a product known as Cherish the Dress. And guess what? I, along with ten other people, won a place on this course! Hurrah! It was a week later, in a lovely village on the outskirts of Manchester. I was pleased that my good friend, and fellow photographer Hannah Webster of Lifeline Photography in Nottingham had also won a place on this amazing course, as I hadn't seen her since 2007 which is frankly, a stupidly long time ago.

So off I went, south of the border for the second time in less than a month, to Chris' Cherish the Dress Workshop.

A few years ago, the trend for "trash the dress" came to the UK from America. The idea was it would feature the bride after her wedding, and it had a much more high fashion, editorial feel. Some photographers were doing amazing things with Trash the Dress - I remember seeing one photo of a bride appearing to be on fire, on a beach. (I should point out that she wasn't actually on fire - Photoshop has its uses and no actual brides were burned in the making of that shoot). The problem however, as Chris discovered, was that British women don't do trashing. You've spent a lot of money on a gorgeous dress, do you really want to destroy it? Many women recoiled in horror at the idea. So instead, Chris decided that this all had to go in a slightly different direction, and introduced Cherish the Dress.

The idea of Cherish the Dress, is that it's indoors (so no horrible, windy, rainy elements to contend with), and it's all about being gorgeous, elegant, and beautiful. It's about getting that editorial, high-fashion feel for the dress in a shoot that you might not have time to do on your actual wedding day. Wedding days can be fairly stressful, and are always busy and action packed, so this idea allows the bride to take some time out afterwards and indulge in a fantastic photoshoot.

Chris spent the morning talking us through the business aspect of Cherish the Dress, and how it came about. He talked about it's growing popularity and also what makes a good Cherish the Dress shoot work - not just in terms of the technical aspects but also importantly, how well he treats his brides during their Cherish shoots. He also talked to us about two other products of Cherish, a Vintage Cherish (which is set in a vintage era location), and Fantasy Cherish, where the imagination and amazing stories come to life.

In addition to Chris and his amazing wife, we also got advice from Claire from English Weddings Blog. Claire talked to us about how we as photographers can make the most of social networking, blogging, but also of course, talked about submitting photographs to wedding blogs. She also mentioned my friend Alison Tinlin, from Plans and Presents, and recommended photographers approach her with potential shoots. I wondered at the time if Alison's ears were twitching at the time.

In the afternoon, we went out with one of Chris' previous brides, Jayne, who kindly agreed to model for us while ten photographers swarmed round her photographing away. We headed to a disused mill, and Chris kindly set up the shots for us, explaining what angles would work, what settings would achieve what looks.

Some of the techniques were unbelievably simple, but like all good techniques, sometimes it's the simplest ones which end up being the most effective and most dramatic. And like all good techniques, it can be a case of "why didn't I think of that before?" (followed by a bit of a forehead slap). Plus the added advantage of simple techniques, was it doesn't end up being a time-consuming shoot involving more time spent playing with camera and lighting settings, than actual shooting.

So. Would I recommend a Chris Hanley workshop to other photographers wanting to further their skills? Absolutely. In his role on the day as a photography mentor and tutor, he's very down to earth, he knows what works, and he knows how to make it work and he shares that with others during the day. He's very good at explaining too, which is a rare talent that not all photographers possess and without that ability not all photographers are actually suited for running a course. It's not always enough to be a good photographer Chris however, is one of those exceptions who can teach, who can explain, and who can take stunning photographs.

Finally, I'd just like to say thanks to Chris and his wife for their hospitality and advice; to Jayne our amazing model for the day for being so patient and kindly letting us photograph her; and Claire from English-weddings.com for her words of wisdom. I'd also like to say a big thanks to Jaz, for selflessly putting the Shutterrock photographers group together, and making it the sort of place where big fish and little fish can swim around happily. It's the sort of photographer safe environment where amazing people like Chris can and do share their knowledge, and people like me can benefit and learn. Thanks folks!  

Stand and deliver

I've been thinking a lot recently about what it is I'm trying to deliver for my couples, and how I can improve their experience of hiring me as their wedding photographer.

 I think it would be reasonable to say I come from a family where people are important. My grandparents, and great grandparents were very much people-orientated. They helped others, regardless of their own situation. While there wasn't much money on my mother's side of the family while she was growing up, the kitchen was the hub and from the stories I've heard there were always plenty of visitors. Their wealth could be measured by the closeness of friendships they formed and the bonds of strong relationships within the family.

My own parents are people-orientated too. My dad was always more people than money orientated through his work, and actually, he's had a very successful career as a result. He can still remember the names of people he studied with at college, or worked with throughout his career and he's always got a story to tell. It's been interesting growing up with those influences in my life, because it's been made so clear to me how important it is to build good relationships, and that a few good relationships outweigh hundreds of ones where you're just an acquaintance.

I also think about my experiences as a consumer. I think about how I feel when I go into shops what the relationship is like there. About nine years ago, I changed hair salon. I had been going to one hair salon for years, and one day my regular stylist had left, so I had a different stylist. I really didn't like his attitude. He gave me a very distainful look when I arrived; he made comments about my hair which came across as insulting more because of the tone he used; and afterwards I hated his "funky" haircut, which was not what I had asked for. (I should point out, whenever people use the word "funky" to describe my hair, it means its a really bad haircut). So what did we have? Negative facial and body language, curt words combined with a less than friendly tone, and someone who simply didn't listen. I didn't go back. I changed salon immediately, and since then, I go somewhere I genuinely have a good customer experience.  Now, if we were to work that out in monetary terms, if over the space of 9 years (since I changed salons), I actually went every 8 weeks as "recommended", and spent an average of £30, then that works out at £180 a year, or £1620 over the 9 years. That's a lot of money, and all lost by the first salon in the space of a 45 minute negative experience, and gained by my current salon because they know how to make me happy.

My mum bought a new car last weekend, trading in a faithful 16 year old estate for something newer. Actually, the dealership was over an hour's drive north, but some friends had recently been there and bought a car, and came back with such positive stories, that it actually inspired my parents to go there looking for a new car, even though there was a showroom closer to home. Now, it wasn't just a case of handing over the keys, smiling a lot, being a bit friendly. The salesman gave my mum a bouquet of flowers, and a fantastic break-down kit for the car, as well as the shampoo and cleaning set. he was fun, he was pleasant, and where my parents needed a few things done specifically, he was more than happy to help without so much as a deep sigh. It wasn't so much about getting "something", and throwing in lots of extras, but it was all about how special the experience made her feel.

So bringing it back to business. I'm constantly trying to work out, how I can make my couples feel like that.

Even when I started out on my portfolio, I used to send out one print (albeit of my choice) to my couples, as a small wedding gift. I did this because I understand that not all couples actually get round to printing their photos, and I wanted them to have one photo that they could have as a wedding photograph, and have it framed.

I did a survey last year, finding out more about how married couples viewed their wedding photography experiences. I posed the question, that if couples received a disc with the images from their wedding on it, had they printed the pictures afterwards? 9% had printed most or all of the images, 36% of respondees had printed less than half the images from their wedding,  and 9% hadn't printed any of the images at all. I should add for clarity, that 46% of respondees hadn't received a disk at all. This may be because digital photography and burning images to discs is a fairly recent phenomenon. I'd go as far as to suggest digital wedding photography is probably still in it's infancy in terms of what we are probably going to discover over the next few decades.

Getting back to where this began, which is the thinking process. Thinking about how and what makes a good customer experience. And that's why I've been thinking about my 2012 wedding photography package. My aim is to give my couples a really special package, not just full of lovely photos, but also full of good feeling and make it about them. It's that combination of making people feel good, and enjoying their wedding photography and being happy, and focusing (if you'll forgive the pun) on them as people, not just on "wedding photographs". It's what you deliver and how you deliver it that counts. Nothing quite takes the shine off a new purchase like an unpleasant customer experience.

So 2012, I'll be carrying on a few things that my 2011 couples have been happy with.  I've had really positive responses to my DVDs and their presentation boxes, and if you're doing something right, people let you know. However, I'm also planning on bringing in an introductory pack, which will cover all the main things my couples need to consider, for example advice on engagement shoot preparation, photographer's schedules (what, where, when for the wedding day), but also a few extra things, just to make it that little more easier and clearer.

But the question is, what would be the "ideal" package for a couple getting married? if you could add anything to the mix, what would it be? If there were no limitations on getting the experience right, what would make it perfect? What would be the dream scenario? feel free to leave a comment, or to email me directly with any ideas or thoughts.

Reflections

I thought today, I'd write a bit more of a personal blog entry. This is more about life as a photographer, businesswoman.

I formally started my business just over a year ago. Prior to that, I was out getting experience as an assistant, building up my portfolio as well as studying.

Being in Year One has been a huge learning curve. I had a lot of support from Business Gateway, and attended a lot of their seminars and workshops which are designed to help new businesses with aspects such as marketing, book keeping, and search engine optimisation. The thing about being a photographer, is how much time I'm actually "photographing". I do a lot of photography, but with that comes the editing, preparing images for client viewing, archiving, storage, and so on. I also have to think about contracts, legal aspects, book keeping, receipts and invoices, sending out letters, and maintaining my website.

It's all been a learning curve, particularly when a lot of things all happen at once. I consider myself to be fairly organised and good at administrative tasks, which helps. However, there are times when I identify a change required to make things more efficient, and that can be fairly time consuming. All new businesses and projects take a little bit of time - I think you need to go through it once to see what the process is actually about. Even with all the advice I've received, the curve comes from working out how that all impacts upon my business and my clients.

It's also been a good year for identifying things where additional training has been useful. It's been a year of learning how to research effectively too - finding out what products suit my business.

I'm fairly happy with the way things have been over the last twelve months. I've learned a lot about myself, as a person, as a business woman and as a photographer. I've pushed myself, and risen to the challenges set.

I've also been fortunate enough to build up a wonderful client base, who frankly, without them, I'd just be a girl with a business model. The thing that's been reassuring, is how some of my couples have gone from being "client", a person with a need where I fulfill that need (as their wedding photographer), to being people I've become friends with. For me, that's been one of the landmarks to let me know I'm doing the right thing. I think I've been able to attract the right couples by being myself. And actually, since that's how friendships form naturally, I've come away feeling a lot closer to my couples as a result. The thing that has been interesting though, is seeing the amount of similarities between my couples, in terms of traits or personality. It's interesting because it makes me wonder if that's a reflection of me - if I too have those similarities, and I suspect I do.

 This comes a lot into my branding - my branding is all about being me. Sometimes I think we all have an ideal as to how we want our branding to be perceived, but maybe it's not true to who we are as people.  Sometimes there's no better way of identifying your own brand than having your clients and friends as a mirror to your personality.

I also don't get too upset at "not" getting every booking. Not all people are well-suited together. I know those brides and grooms will find someone better for them, more suited to them. My personality and their personality may not be compatible, and that's not something anyone wants to discover on their wedding day.

On a slightly soppy note, I do love seeing my couples getting married. I love being there. It's an amazing thing to see two people make a life-long commitment, in front of a room of people at a formal ceremony. The idea that one of those two people decided one day that being in that relationship was what they wanted. They decided one day, that this was the person they couldn't live without, that they wanted to spend the rest of their life with. This was their life partner. And so they asked the other person to marry them, and the other person felt exactly the same way - this was who they wanted to be with, this was the right person for them, they felt so happy, so loved, so in love, and so secure that they wanted to continue with that for the rest of their life. Being asked to photograph and document that for them to have for the next fifty years of their joint lives together, that's special. We always think about royal weddings as being historic moments, but actually, every wedding is an historic moment in the timeline of a family. And photographs are the keepsakes, the treasures, for generations of family to look back and see. By the time I get to the wedding, I've gotten to know the couple enough, and I genuinely want them to be happy. It's also lovely to meet their friends and family. Every one of my couples has got an amazing friend and family base around them, people who approach me at the wedding and tell me how special the couple are. Things that actually, I can't capture on a camera. The compliments your guests say when you're not even in earshot, to the photographer... that's pretty fantastic to witness too. It's wonderful to go to a wedding and see couples who love each other, but who are so loved from their guests. When you've got that sort of love and support around you, you really can conquer the world.

Being busy

So August and September have been particularly busy months for me recently. A quick review of what I've been up to the last few weeks:

• Had three engagement shoots, with three amazing couples; 
• Photographed the Leukaemia and Lymphoma Research annual Glasgow Bikeathon; (my "good cause" work)
• Photographed three beautiful weddings, in Wales, Edinburgh and Glasgow; 
• Had a stall at the Fabulous Wedding Show in Dunblane; 
• Been the official photographer for the Plans and Presents Big Fat Scottish Tweet Up for Scottish wedding suppliers;
• Attended the Chris Hanley Cherish the Dress Workshop near Manchester;

And of course all that photography means lots of photo editing afterwards!

I do enjoy being busy though. It's been an interesting year, and with autumn coming up and the wedding season slowing somewhat, its been a good time to also think about doing some more portfolio shoots. In particular, I've got an especially large portfolio shoot lined up, which should be a good opportunity to exercise my creative muscles a little more.

The other part of my work of course, is the administrative work, which will be getting a strong review in October.

I'm also looking forward to revealing some more exciting things for my 2012 wedding photography packages with the introduction of some new and exciting products, as well as a few little extras specifically for my couples!

Still to blog about over the next few weeks:

• Photographs from the wedding in Wales;
• A photoshoot with Zoe Anderson, wedding dress designer, at Linlithgow Palace;
• Photographs from a contemporary Edinburgh wedding; 
• Pictures from the Chris Hanley workshop;
• and a gorgeous, relaxed Glaswegian wedding. 

Engagement shoot: Steven and Paul

Today I'm pleased to present the photographs from an engagement shoot I did in August, with Steven and Paul.

Steven and Paul met me in March, at the Fabulous Wedding Show, and after chatting to me, decided to hire me as their professional photographer for their civil ceremony this December. We agreed that we'd head to Largs for this engagement shoot.

We were quite lucky when we were in Largs, as it was a gorgeous warm, sunny day, despite having had a week of rain and poor weather. It was a really good opportunity for me to get to know Steven and Paul a bit better, and develop a photographic relationship with them and my camera. 

With this shoot, I really wanted to make sure I captured a strong image of each of them. My couples receive five prints after the engagement shoot, and by focussing on both of them separately, I like to think they can then each have a gorgeous photograph of the other, either for their wallet, or desk at work, or even for their phone. 

I also really wanted to give Steven and Paul a strong contemporary feel to these engagement photographs. Having visited their home, I was aware that they are a very contemporary and stylish couple, and that a strong, dynamic feel to the images would work beautifully on their walls and fit perfectly in their home. 

It's been fantastic working with Steven and Paul, and I'm really looking forward to their civil ceremony later this year.

Engagement Shoot: Tom and Steph

I've been looking forward to blogging this engagement shoot for a while now, and am pleased to finally share it with you!

Tom and Steph aren't just one of my couples - they've also been friends of mine for several years. Tom is actually the chap who has designed my logo for both my Struve Photography and Kristin Mitchell Photography brands. I was so happy for them both when they got engaged, and thrilled when they asked me to be their official photographer.

The theme for the engagement shoot was to show Tom and Steph doing what they enjoy most - exploring woodlands and nature. We agreed on a trip to Loch Lomond for the shoot.

 We took a passenger ferry from Balmaha, on the shores of Loch Lomond, to the island of Inchcailloch. It didn't take us long to get there. The island is covered in footpaths - take a decent pair of trainers and you're fine. It actually has a campsite, if you fancy spending the night there.

Tom and Steph wanted to make the most of the shades of green that August offers. Tom wore a checked shirt with green lines in it; Steph had a green top; even I wore a green t-shirt (although I must admit I wasn't really thinking about it when I dressed in the morning!).

Tom and Steph had also brought along their Japanese teaset, complete with turquoise and green tea cups. The two rings shown here are both Steph's engagement rings. The first is a more fun one with a nautical anchor; the lower one is the official engagement ring. 

And what would be the most appropriate thing to drink on an engagement shoot such as this? Green tea, of course!

 Eventually, it was time for us to head back to the jetty, to catch our ferry back to the mainland.