Well now I’ve concluded we can.

So here is my attempt to do that…just one amazing wedding day, just one fabulous couple, just one 40th birthday celebration, just one giant cupcake and just one Mr & Mrs Jones!

Congratulations just once more Sarah & Dan!

We’ll post more photos after Sarah & Dan have viewed them upon return from their honeymoon.

Swinton Park Wedding - Sarah & Dan "Just One"

I wouldn’t normally talk about being “recommended” photographers – or not – of  a venue as to be honest most couples who contact us do so because they like what they see for themselves.   If a venue we are recommended by happens to mention it as well or we appear in their brochure, on a suppliers list or similar then this simply reinforces that perhaps we are photographers they should consider.

Not once but three times in the last few weeks the subject of being a “recommended” photographer has been raised for different reasons which I feel should be brought out into the open.

There are two main reasons why a wedding venue “recommends” a particular supplier. They can either have worked at the venue and made a good impression of themselves on the day, easy to work with and makes the staffs job easier. Then there are suppliers that the venue staff are obligated to recommend those suppliers who have paid sometimes thousands of pounds to appear in the venue wedding brochure. Both may well be great photographers, but you really should make up your own mind.

It has been said that the only way to have decent photos from one particular Yorkshire venue, for example, is by using a photographer who has not only already worked there but also is on the venue recommended photographers list. Apparently it’s impossible for any other photographer to use their eyes to find great locations, or a watch, to time moving from one location to another, or work quickly to ensure that the couple are not held up for the next part of the day. I wonder exactly how the two photographers who have said this coped with their very first weddings there? Also since the venue is open to the public with seasonal cards available isn’t this rather presumptuous of them to assume that photographing that venue less than half a dozen times in total qualifies them to be more familiar with it than someone who visits frequently?

That said, back to the point of this post. Our latest wedding at Swinton Park where we are not on the recommended suppliers list. Does it mean our clients don’t enjoy the very best wedding photography on offer at Swinton Park? No.  Does it mean that we don’t know the venue?  Of course not.  Does it mean we have nothing to show you from Swinton Park if you are considering holding your wedding there?  No.  Take a look for yourself and make your own judgement.   Below is a slideshow from a wedding we photographed at Swinton at 4.30pm in January with the ceremony being lit only by Candlelight.  Other photographers told our couple that they would have to bring the time forward and turn the lights on to have any useable photos from their ceremony as it would be too dark otherwise and this is one of the main reasons they chose to book us.  We’re delighted that they chose us – we love working at Swinton Park where the professionalism of the staff ensures that nothing is left to chance and the day runs like clockwork.  I think it’s fair to say that the couple too are pleased with their choice of photographer and the results.  So here’s a small selection from their wedding plus a couple of our favourites from another wedding right at the end.  This is what a  photographer who isn’t on the recommended list can offer you at Swinton Park – provided they are one of the top 5 UK wedding photographers that is!  I’m willing to bet you are glad you found this post now aren’t you?!

For more information about Swinton Park wedding photography please visit our Swinton Park wedding photography page.

One of the most frequent questions Andy and I are asked is “Oh you are engaged – where are you going to have your wedding?”  a good question!  As you might imagine we see lots of amazing venues some larger than others, some perfect for a smaller, more intimate wedding.  Since our daughter is also starting to look at wedding venues I thought as we go through this process I’d write a few blog posts on what we like or love about different venues.

So, lets kick off with Castle Howard.  Still family owned by the Howard family, Castle Howard is perhaps most noted for being the set of the film “Brideshead Revisited” and more recently the annual “proms”.  It’s been a firm favourite of ours to visit although we have not actually photographed a wedding there as yet – something that may be about to change later this year – we are intimately familiar with it as a venue.

It is a venue of unrivaled scenery and grandeur.  It has been recognized by Lonely Planet as one of the worlds top ten greatest mansions and grand houses.  Take a while to visit this magnificent venue you will easily see why.  Temples, lakes, statues, fountains and even an 18th century walled gardens – Castle Howard has all this to offer and more.  Step inside the house and discover one of the finest houses in England ever designed by Sir John Vanburgh.

From the moment you arrive at the steps by the north front you cannot help but to be impressed by Castle Howard.  Inside you will walk along the antique passage through to the Great Hall with it’s fantastic dome.  As you move from room to room there is something more spectacular and awe inspiring than the last.   There are numerous photo opportunities around every corner and for a photographer who knows their mustard when it comes to creative lighting and photography after dark, such as ourselves, it offers unlimited, fantastic possibilities for our renowned “Wedding Art” photo shoot.

Since the house is open to the general public most of the year round a wedding at Castle Howard usually means a truncated day it is for that reason that often couples choose to have their ceremony elsewhere and then move onto Castle Howard to celebrate the remainder of their wedding day.

Some people find us by searching for:

We’ve had a busy start to the year.  Yesterday we took our final wedding booking of 2011 and we are now looking forward to joining Sophie and Takanori with their respective families at Selby Abbey and Monk Fryston Hall later this year.  Today I have been putting the final touches to our new price list whilst Andy is putting the final touches to a couple of album designs he’s been working on.

For us it’s going to be another year full of variety.  Our first wedding of the year is in a few days time when we will be joining a very special couple for their candlelit ceremony at  Swinton Park – always a majestic venue to photograph.  All weddings present something different and special and this year’s bookings so far include a hotel set in simply stunning scenery in the Yorkshire Dales overlooking a beautiful Yorkshire fell, a village wedding which promises a fantastic ambiance and maybe a big hay bale or two, a wedding in our home town where we aim to show not all photographers are the same, the beautiful and quintessentially English Goldsborough Hall.  New venues for us this year include The Old Vicarage at Elkersley and Aspire in Leeds.  We will also be returning to The London Dorchester, Hazlewood Castle, Rudding Park, Middlethorpe Hall and Wood Hall Hotels.

We can talk about “special weddings” and “different weddings” but the real key to having the best wedding day is having a great mix of people to celebrate with you we find.  People make memories – we simply record them.  Without exception all our couples are important and special to us but we know as we hand over the wedding images – be it in the form of disc, photo-book, album or some other media that some couples will remain in contact with us whilst a few others may not.  We love to keep in contact.  It’s this contact which enables us to report back that we’re delighted to hear that not one but five of our wedding couples are expecting babies during 2012!  We’re on standby for most of them for some beautiful newborn photography when the time comes.  There must be something in the water in Germany however as two of the couples are stationed out there with the army!  We’re looking forward to hearing from other of our army couples that there might be a pitter patter of tiny feet on the way soon!  Without putting any pressure on anyone in particular we were fortunate to photograph several military weddings last year!

We would also like to say at this point, again without giving anyone special treatment but true, that we are aware of several of our army couples not only from last year but previous years who are posted overseas with again several in Afghanistan at the moment our thoughts and prayers are with you for a safe return home to your respective families.  For those families (more than one!) enjoying the sun in Cyprus just now let’s make no bones about it (there’s a pun in there somewhere for those in the know!) we’re jealous!

Lastly for now we’d like to take this opportunity to wish little Chloe Clifton a very happy birthday – she’s 5 today (January 1st).  It doesn’t seem like 5 minutes let alone 6 years since we photographed mum and dad John & Helen’s wedding.  As I said earlier: time flies.

So it’s a very Happy New Year to all of you from him and an equally Happy New Year to you all from me!

Sharon & Andy xx

For us we were honored and privileged to once again be a part of some really fantastic wedding celebrations.  We’ve laughed with our clients and we’ve cried with them too – especially since we’ve heard some very moving speeches and some of our clients have remembered relatives close to them who for a variety of reasons have not been able to be present on the day.  We’ve witnessed both brides and grooms become overwhelmed with emotion whilst taking their vows and we’ve joined them in the laughter and relief when sometimes the rings have been hard to put on.  We’ve helped to avert a few near disasters with the aid of things like safety pins and the sewing kit Sharon always carries in her camera bag.   We’ve done up wedding gowns when those with “Wedding nails” were unable to manage the fiddly little buttons (the key to this one is to buy a crochet hook ladies!), we’ve tied cravats, pinned on buttonholes even driven guests from the church to the venue when their transport failed and we’ve kept our brides “to time” wherever possible – although one particular bride did prove a bit of a challenge on this score (you know who you are LOL!).   In short we hope we’ve made a difference to each and every wedding we’ve photographed in a positive way.

It’s been a year of huge contrasts for us.  We’ve worked in some of the grandest venues around at “no expense spared” weddings and we’ve joined villagers in celebrating more than one typical English village wedding.  We’ve seen village halls across Yorkshire transformed into stunning wedding venues and marveled about the creativity and dedication of family and friends involved in making the day so special. “Vintage” has been the buzz word this year with gowns, themes and decorations all reflecting a bygone era.  We’ve seen birdcages, tiered china plates with dainty cakes and finger sandwiches, country style flowers and good old tea pots and bone china cups and sauces at more than one wedding.

We’ve photographed couples on the beach with colourful beach huts, in a good old fashioned red telephone box, in (believe it or not – but blame Sharon!) an ice cream sellers van, within the ruins of an old abbey and on one occasion in a hotel leisure center reflected in the swimming pool (the cameras DID NOT like the humidity at that time!).  We’ve “street walked” around London, Leeds, Harrogate, Kilham, Kettlewell, Pockley and York taking atmospheric photos.  We’ve have the children from the local village school sing during one service, which was very moving and hold another couple to ransome at the church lynch gate until a “fine” was paid and then they were allowed scissors to cut their way out of the gaily tied up gates.  We’ve seen for the first time ever PapaKata teepees – which we thought were fantastic as an alternative to a more traditional marquee.

The highlight of the year for us though has to be the lovely couples and families who we have had the absolute delight of working with.  We always say we are lucky that we get to work with the nicest people.  We often hear other photographers talking about their clients in an “us and them” way – as if their clients are constantly trying to “get one over on them”.  We have not experienced this.  Maybe we’re just lucky – maybe we are careful in who we choose to work with (it’s as much a choice for us as it is for you since we will be with you a long time and need to be able to find that motivation to produce the best wedding photography possible – we are honest and transparent with couples who we feel are not a great match for us), whatever the reason we are delighted to remain friends with all of our couples after the wedding and join with them in celebrating (& in some instances photographing) future family occasions such as the birth of a new child.  One other highlight of the year for Sharon though has to be the sight of the groom, his bestman, ushers and guard of honour changing from their “number one” uniforms in a field besides the wedding venue!  That was one shot she didn’t take which I later chastised her for.  You know who you were!

We’d like to take this opportunity of wishing all our clients, old and new and their families a very Happy Christmas and prosperous New Year and thank you all for welcoming us into your special day as if we were one of your own.

Andy & Sharon

Firstly couples we find are contacting far more wedding photographers for a quote than they ever have.  Not only are they contacting them but they are also going to meet with far more.  The choice today is massive – but how do you know if you have found a “good buy” or an “expensive mistake”?  Of course I am going to look at it with the photographers skilled eye of knowing what is a good picture and what is simply a collection of snapshots no better than any guest at your wedding could have taken – so for me it’s easy to tell.  For you however by the time you find out it could be too late and your wedding photos which are the ones classed as “an expensive mistake”.

Don’t be under any illusion though – there are far more inexperienced amateur photographers who have jumped on the “I can take a decent picture and have a good camera so I can photograph weddings” than you are ever likely to realise.  They are probably uninsured for either Public Liability or Professional Indemnity (because if they were they’d have to pass on some of this cost to you….) – so who pays out if something gets damaged at the hotel, one of your guests falls over their bags or they don’t make it to the wedding because their car won’t start or any other different eventualities that can and do happen every week across the UK?  Not them – that’s for sure.  They probably carry only one main camera and possibly a couple of lenses.  They may, if you are lucky, have a flash gun to hand.  You are luckier still if they actually know how to use it properly and effectively.  You may have to wait weeks for your photographic proofs after the wedding as they juggle their day job with their weekend moonlighting.  If the taxman catches up with them you may not get your photos at all as they struggle to pay a huge fine for unpaid taxes.  Oh and did I mention the British weather?  God help you if it’s either full sun or it rains – because they may not have a clue how to effectively deal with either – and either could ruin your photos.

Don’t get me wrong – there are some halfway decent photographers out there at around £1000 for a full day from getting ready through to first dance – but not that many.  We do recommend a couple of them if we are already booked or simply beyond your budget.  I’m not going to ramble on about everything you should or could do to ensure decent wedding photography as I’ve done it in previous posts but here’s a couple of things you should do as a minimum:

• DO NOT go and see a million and one photographers.  Shortlist 3 maximum to visit and make your choice.
• Ask a friend who they used, look at their album/photos and find out what they were happy with and what, if anything they were not so happy with then try to avoid the same pitfalls.
• ALWAYS make sure your photographer is fully insured for Professional Liability and Public Indemnity.
• ALWAYS ask about what back-up contingencies are in place – not just equipment but what if your chosen photographer is taken ill or similar – who will take his or her place?
• DO NOT simply purchase on price.  Your photography should have an emotional connection too.  Sometimes the difference may only be £200 – which is usually the cost of around 2 guests (who may drop out anyway) or what less than £20/month for a year – you can’t even go to the cinema for that!

DO NOT dismiss a photographer simply because they have not photographed your chosen venue before.  All this “We must go and have a look at it first to find the best spots to take photos…” and “It’s really important that your photographer has photographed the venue before…” is total rubbish.  I can show you lots of different galleries of amazing photos from venues we have never stepped foot in prior to the wedding day.  Any halfway decent photographer should be able to create good pictures with whatever they are faced with and if they go to the same venue and do the same things in the same spots then where is the creativity?  Add to this the fact that a venue is not the same each time and where does that leave you?  Take Hazlewood Castle for instance – a venue where we have photographed too many weddings to recount now.  The steps at the side where most couples like to have a large group photograph are at sometimes of the year in full sun – so if you pose everyone on them they will be squinting into the sunlight and the shadows on your pictures will be awful.  An experienced photographer will see this and move your group accordingly.  The novice however will pose people in the same place whatever – because that is the easiest option for him or her and all they know – they can fit a large group on those steps.

So there it is folks – in a nutshell “You pays your price you take your chance…” Just for the record – no – we can’t “fix” the photos after in photoshop either – you should have booked someone who could do it right in the first place!

We’re seeing an increasing number of photographers selling their work in beautiful albums at a knock down price.  If the images are as beautiful as the albums then of course this is great for the couple but what if the photos are not great with very little in the way of imagination or design skill in the album design?  Are you paying for the photography or the album?

Don’t get me wrong.  I love to see a beautiful and well made wedding album.  We have scoured the world to find the best in modern album presentation for our clients.  But if you are offered a beautiful and well made album at a budget price then my advice would be to look very closely at the photographs within that album.  If the album originates from GraphiStudio in Italy (who are now quite “mass market”) I would also ask the photographer you are considering if the photography within the album is their own or is it some of GraphiStudio’s stock photography – which at one time they used to offer photographers for sample albums.  Of course the majority of GraphiStudio albums will be the photographers own work but at least if you ask the question you can make an informed choice about if this photographer is the one for you.

I’ve recently read posts on Bridal forums advising couples to barter with their photographer and never accept the first price that is offered.  A few people tried that with us last year.  We didn’t drop our prices for any of them – when setting our price in the first place we charge and quote what we know to be a fair price for what is on offer whilst still leaving us an amount to live on.  Photography is our only business and it needs to provide an income for both of us full-time.  Probably about 50%  of the couples who tried to barter still booked us and every single one was delighted with the results, as the thank you letters and testimonials received from every couple, without exception confirm.  For the other 50% I’ve carefully followed through every single couple and seen their photographs on the photographers they did book blogs.  I believe only one couple will think they made the right decision – their photographs are beautiful.  The others saved themselves amounts ranging from £50 – £500 – less than £10 per week at its highest.  My heart goes out to them when I see what they ended up with – nothing even close to what they would have had from us.  It must be so disappointing.

Each year we receive between 400 – 450 enquiries for wedding photography.  We book just 30 weddings per year.  We totally understand that people have budgets to stick to.  So do we.

To put this all into perspective, if you received three enquiries saying: “We love your work but your prices are way too expensive – we have a budget of £xxx and for that we want x, y, z included, we really want to book you but photographer “x” has quoted £xxx and so we want you to quote the same….”

or “We simply love your work, our photography budget is £xxx – can you offer anything within this price?”

or “We simply love your photography. Photography is one of the most important parts of our day. Are you available on xxxxxx?  If so, what are your costs for xxxx?”

Which would you book?  I’ll give you a clue, the second two usually end up in bookings!  The first one very rarely does.

So what have we been up to?  Well lots of wedding enquiries to start with.  Each one very special in its own right.  For the first time in a long time we’ve also had lots of enquiries for photography in venues which are new to us.  Some couples worry a little about this and ask us if we will visit the venue prior to the wedding.  Due to the practicalities of working all over the UK and beyond often this isn’t possible.  But although some of the bridal magazines and lesser experienced photographers would suggest that it is imperative for your photographer to have visited your venue in order to select the best spots for photographs it’s really not.  An experienced photographer will use whatever is available on the day in order to create great images for you.

For an example of why you shouldn’t worry about this take a look at:  New Wedding Venue which is an album design for a wedding venue we had not visited before.

What we’ve noticed this year is that there are a lot of “late” wedding bookings compared to previous years. It seems many couples are waiting until closer to the date to establish what budget they have left over for photography.  Speaking of budgets we’ve also noticed that budgets are lower than in previous years this year.  This is very worrying as  we’ve also had towards the end of last year more couples asking us to look at their printable CD’s to see if we can “fix the photos and make an album”.  6 couples in total have asked us this – which is 5 more than the previous year.  One couple sadly couldn’t get their promised disc from their photographer who appears to have gone out of business without fulfilling their obligations.  Heartbreaking.  So, our advice to you is that if you budget falls below £1500 then please check everything very carefully from insurance (Professional Indemnity & Public Liability and your own wedding insurance as a minimum) through to when you can hope to receive your photographs after the wedding.  Look at complete weddings – both galleries and albums and ask yourselves are their pictures there that if it was your wedding you would be happy to have on your wall?  Are the expressions and poses pleasing to look at?  If the answer is “no” then keep searching.  Whilst photoshop can make a good picture great it can’t make a bad picture good so this really is a case of buyer beware!

We’ve also been working on our Facebook page.  If you haven’t already please “like” our page and take a good browse around it:  www.facebook.com/WeddingPhotographybyFNSWeddings   – you will find lots of pictures from lots of different weddings on there.

We’ve also been Twittering a little bit more too.  So if you’d like to follow us on Twitter just look out for Sharon Malone or fnsweddings.

We’re just in the final stages of putting together a little fun competition from our past weddings so keep watching this space for more news on that one.

On the portrait front we’ve recently photographed the babies of some of our previous wedding clients.  We love it when this happens – we usually build up such a lovely working relationship with our couples that from our point of view it can feel a little “flat” when we stop emailing each other after they’ve collected their albums and everything is done and dusted.  So it’s lovely when we get some nice news like a baby has been born or is expected.

That I think is about it for now!

Speak again soon!

Sharon & Andy

We have known the girls who form Disctracted – Danielle and Emily for years and think at only 10 and 12 years old respectively they are incredibly talented.  We’re very excited to be their “official” photographers and have recently completed the photography and artwork for their first CD – which combines some cover tracks with some of their original work – composed and written by Emily and Danielle.

At the final of the Open MicUK competition they sang  “Firework” by Katy Perry.  They were amazing.  They were only one point behind the runner-up of their category in the final outcome despite competing against 27 of the countries most talented under 18 acts.

Here’s a recording of their performance.  I’m not divulging which voice you can hear in the background shouting for them at the beginning and the end is mine!

Well done girls!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oLMlvwWzpzs&fs=1&hl=en_US]

If we take this much care over photographing your rings just think what we are going to do with the rest of your wedding photography!