Advice on finding your Cornwall Wedding Photographer
So, you’re getting married in beautiful Cornwall? What a great location to have your wedding surrounded by some of the best beaches in the world and the most dramatic coastline. Cornwall is rich in history, scattered with old cliff castles, ancient sites, tin mines and breathtaking vistas so it is easy to see why it is a popular choice with couples looking for something unique, without having to travel abroad. Cornwall Wedding Photographer – How to choose your Photographer, Wedding Photographer Cornwall
Once you have decided on your location, how do you find the perfect wedding photographer in Cornwall to capture your wedding day? Cornwall is certainly not short of wedding photographers, it‘s a local joke that 90% of people in Cornwall are Photographers. There must be at least 2000+ photographers in Cornwall and many more from all over the UK, desperate to shoot here. We are here to help you narrow down your choice when deciding. Luckily there is a budget and a style for absolutely everyone. In this blog post we can give you some help and advice on how to pick your Cornwall wedding photographer. choosing
First ask yourself…
How much do I value my Wedding Photography?
Depending on how important the pictures from your wedding day are, then it is worth investing in hiring a good photographer. This is the only thing that is left after the dress has been worn, the cake has been eaten and the honeymoon is over. These images will be passed on for generations to come and for you to look back on time and time again. Having an amateur, a friend or a family member saves you money but they could miss key moments, struggle with tricky lighting, maybe not have backups in place and accidentally delete your images, not to mention, just not photographing you in the best or most flattering way.
Taking couple pictures is an art that involves capturing fleeting moments, against the best backdrops, with the best composition, with the best lighting and then editing all the images in a timeless and creative way, to create memories you will be proud to hang on your wall.
What style resonates with you?
There are many styles of wedding photography from traditional, reportage/documentary, alternative, contemporary, film/ analogue, fine-art etc and everything else in between. There are also various editing styles from colourful and natural, moody to super bright! Looking through Pinterest or Instagram can help you find imagery that you love and connect with. However, it is worth noting that if you are looking at images from beach weddings in California or Tuscany, in reality, the light and location may look very different in January in Cornwall when a huge storm is blowing through.
Try not get too caught up with trying to recreate other peoples wedding pictures and find something that is personal to you both and the images from your wedding day will be true to you.
Be careful of photographers that have no consistent editing style and try everything. This can be confusing as you will not be sure of exactly what type of images you might get from your wedding day. Ask your wedding photographer to send over a full gallery of at least 5 weddings, you can then see how they handle different weddings and what editing style is used throughout the wedding day. Wedding days are fast moving and light can be tricky, how has the photographer coped with low lit ceremonies, or harsh outdoor lighting, is the editing style consistent throughout?
Set a Budget.
So you have found a style you like! Now to set yourself a rough budget. Photographers range in prices and will charge accordingly to how long they have been doing it, how good they are and how in demand they are. If you find a photographer you really love and connect with, but have a smaller budget, see if the photographer can do less coverage to suit your budget. Lots of wedding photographers offer smaller elopement packages for weekday weddings. Be prepared to stretch your budget slightly if you find someone you love, or cut out something you really don’t need to accommodate for the extra photography cost. Find out your top priorities and what you value the most!
Don’t go for quantity over quality.
We are both wedding photographers and we have said that when we elope we would be more than happy with 50 beautiful images that we can make into an album rather than 500 awful ones. Be careful of photographers that promise you everything and deliver nothing worthwhile.
Is it the photographers full-time job?
If it is their full time job they will charge more if it is their main source of income, opposed to someone that does it as a hobby, shooting a few weddings a year for some extra cash. Full time wedding photographers will have costs such public liability and indemnity insurance, making sure their camera equipment is regularly maintained and serviced, have back up cameras, lenses, memory cards and batteries for your wedding day. They will also have multiple back-ups of backups to make sure your wedding pictures are safety stored until delivery and for many years after delivery. There is also other costs such as workshops, training, website maintenance, advertising, and marketing.
We like to keep everything running smoothly and effortlessly to give couples a seamless and perfect wedding experience.
How much experience have they got?
Weddings can be very changeable and having a wedding photographer with experience can be highly valuable if you want quality images afterwards. They will have witnessed hundreds of weddings and are able to handle every situation quickly and professionally.
We have had brides rip dresses on the morning, have hairdressers burn the brides hair, have rings left behind, seen family arguments, grooms with food poisoning, severe weather warnings, cakes collapse, brides get drunk before the ceremony…you name it we have seen it.
Being able to consistently take quality images under pressure takes experience.
Also not every couple loves having their picture taken!
When looking at the photographers portfolio, do the couples all look like they have walked straight off a Catwalk and just love having their picture taken? Styled shoots have become increasingly popular with photographers branching into wedding photography. These are not real weddings and the couple in the pictures are often models. Be very careful when booking these types of photographers. Shooting a real wedding is very different to working with a model couple. Photographers and models have hours of time to get the shot perfect and work under a very controlled environment. Ask to see an entire REAL wedding. Real wedding days are fast moving and are filled with many emotions. You do not want to be stood around posing all day for the photographer and start to feel like you are actually on some sort of a styled shoot and not your actual wedding day. Working with photographers that can capture the best moments quickly are the best.
Working with camera shy and awkward couples is what we do best. We love the extra tight squeeze as you look to your partner for reassurance, the little nervous laughs and the tight hand holding during your wedding day.
Personality! What are your wedding photographers like as people?
They may have a wonderful portfolio but have a terrible personality. You will be spending one of your most favourite days of your life with strangers. You want these strangers to feel like old friends. They need to guide you and make you feel comfortable and relaxed. You don’t want someone shouting directions at you and getting stressed when they cant get the perfect shot. Working with couples is a very personal and intimate job and takes reading subtle signs and body language to get the best images.
We like making couples feel relaxed enough to open up and be vulnerable and intimate in front of us, showing us their true emotions to be able to capture moments that are a true reflection of who they both are as a couple.
Read their Google and social media reviews.
Reading reviews can be helpful in getting a greater understanding of what other couples have to say about their wedding photographer after the wedding. Were they happy with the service, were they professional, did they love their images and have the best day ever? Cornwall wedding photographerElopement Wedding, Elopement Wedding
Support local businesses
This is highly recommended. The wedding industry has taken a huge financial hit during the recent, ongoing pandemic with hundreds of small businesses going under. Booking a local wedding photographer Cornwall rather than hiring one from another county such as Manchester or London supports the local community. Cornwall is a popular choice and lots of wedding photographers from outside of Cornwall are prepared to travel down and shoot weddings here for their portfolio and for very little money to have those images in their portfolio.
Be careful that they are not shooting more for themselves, rather than having your own best interests at heart .
Do they have the correct equipment?
Using up to date equipment is quite important as well as having back up equipment. You want to know that if your photographer turns up to your wedding, that they will have a spare camera in the bag to be able to still carry on shooting, if one camera suddenly fails so they will not miss any important moments.
We shoot with 2 cameras each which are 100% silent. We love shooting silently as it is discreet and isn’t intrusive during quiet, small intimate wedding ceremonies. The last thing you want to hear when saying your vows is ‘click click click’. Shooting quietly enables us to capture moments without the couples knowing we are even taking the picture.
Make Sure To….
Book early to avoid disappointment.
Once you have found the photographer of your dreams make sure you contact them early. Well known and popular photographers can book up quickly, most 1-2 years in advance.
Lots of couples booking smaller weddings and elopements, tend to email us first to check our availability first and we all work together to find a date that is best. We love these type of couples!
Sign a contract & pay a booking fee.
Make sure you sign a contract and pay a booking fee to secure your wedding date. This is put in place to keep both parties protected. Booking fees are to keep the date yours and turn away other couples. Booking fees are non-fundable which is standard but most photographers are happy to reschedule dates if need be.
FaceTime your photographer/s
Chatting over FaceTime/ Zoom is a great way to connect with your photographer/s. This is a perfect time to get to know each other better and ask any questions you may have. Wedding Photographer Cornwall
We hope this post has helped answer some of the questions you may have had and you will now be able to confidently find your perfect wedding photographer Cornwall. Cornwall Wedding Photographer, Cornwall Wedding Photographer
Wedding Photographer Cornwall, Wedding Photographer Cornwall, Wedding Photographer Cornwall
