What is your most memorable wedding?
A festival wedding at The Dreys in Kent. A fantastic day of love, laughter, juggling, and music. We had it all, a fantastically fun couple, great weather, great entertainment and I was still shooting at 1.00am on Sunday morning.
Describe your style in 5 adjectives.
discreet, romantic, caring, professional, relaxed
What about your business are you most proud of?
I am very much couple focused and will work carefully with my couples to ensure we deliver what we say we will do. Its is paramount to me that my couples are pleased enough with my work that they will come back to me in the future for other portrait work.
What is your No. 1 wedding planning tip for couples?
Leave yourself time to breathe. Your day will go so fast and if you don't give yourself a couple of chances to catch up it will be one very fast paced day and will be gone in a blur.
What is your favourite personal touch you have seen at a wedding?
One of my brides, Karla, had her mothers engagement ring turned into a beautiful necklace. We had discussed this before her wedding day and this meant I was able to take some photos of her necklace and her bouquet which also had special importance to Karla.
Describe your typical process with a couple.
We will always meet up with our couples before the day. SHOT by JFK Photography will offer a pre-wedding timeline consultation. This gives us all a chance to chat about how the day will go and will enable us to factor a couple of small time periods where we can get some time away from all of the guests for some creative portraits, if the couple want them, some couples love some creative portraits, others don't. I will always work with what my couples want. The pre-wedding meet also gives me a chance to find out if there are any super special details that I need to know of - a grandmothers piece of jewellery, or perhaps a pet dog that will be at the ceremony, or a Vincent motorbike that will be used by the groom (or bride) to get to the wedding. It is all about the details and we like to work through these with our couples. Then, after the wedding, we will meet up again to discuss the wedding albums before I send them off for printing. Finally I will deliver the albums to my couples and hopefully see their faces light up when they look through their stunning album for the first time.
What is the No. 1 photo that you think every couple should take?
Everyones wedding is as different in personality as all couples are, I don't believe there is a single must get shot, but as I get little older I appreciate more the photos from my own wedding with older relatives and friends in them, some of whom are no longer with us.
What is the most original photo you’ve been asked to take at a wedding?
Possibly the one that sticks in my mind most was a shot of the Groom, the Best Man, and the Brides father all together outside the church, all on their motorbikes in full wedding suits. They rode to the church like that, suits and motorbikes. That was pretty memorable and I still remember it after 18 years.
What do you recommend for a rainy day wedding?
An umbrella, and a smile. Seriously, I know it really is a shame when it rains on your wedding day, but try not to let it upset you. Let's get on with the day and have a fantastic wedding in spite of the rain. It might even open up some possibilities of some amazing photos. Get your wedding wellies on and a white umbrella and let's go and embrace the rain. Not that it will rain on your day of course. It'll be sunny, don't worry. Did I mention that one of my brides, Laura had the most amazing pair of winged shoes, but she also had white wedding wellies in case it rained. Now that was thinking ahead, but she didn't need them.
Describe how you got into photography.
I was playing with cameras as a small boy. I have always had one in my hands. In June 1999 I was asked by some friends to photograph their wedding on a beach in Florida. I really enjoyed it but it filled me with terror, lol. It is such a huge responsibility, and honour, to be trusted by a couple on their special day. More recently I started to get more involved in the wedding scene and started shooting weddings as a second photographer. This has led me to where I am today, a wedding photographer, and I am completely loving everything that comes with it (even the grey hairs).