How to win at your photography business

 
So... we're going to talk about word of mouth.

Is it just me who dislikes the subject of word of mouth?? I feel like I needed to rip of the plaster (or band-aid whatevs :) ) for this post. 

Beautiful Autumn-y Colours

How much I love this time of year is crazy. I don't love it now because it's freezing and wet and windy, but a month ago? It was beautiful. Orange and red and yellow everywhere.

We knew it was getting prettier and prettier so we set out to do a week of mini sessions where met families in a park local to our house. Mini sessions aren't something we do often, but coming up to Christmas they are a great way to appeal to people who know of us but have never used our services personally as well as get to have some fun with a whole bunch of people :)

One of my favourite sessions of the week - though it was hard to choose - was this gorgeous family who we had to reschedule due to dark, wintery weather. And what a good job it was that we did - the next day was perfect. Despite it being a half an hour session we took so many photos it was almost impossible to choose - so here's 5 out of about 40!!

Love, Georgee

Less is More...

So I thought I would update you guys with a super secret tip to boosting your Facebook page profile. Something we learnt early on in the game which helped our marketing and saved us time.

We're very downhearted about Facebook nowadays (our fans see maybe 20% of our posts compared to when we first started thanks to FB's money-grabbing and my stubbornest to not pay them to boost every single thing) but there's still something very effective in posting recent shoots and seeing the reaction of their family and friends. 

How to Be an Exceptional Wedding Photographer

There's the obvious - take great photos. But that's not what I wanted to talk about today. You can take gorgeous wedding photographs - the best - and still be a sub-par photographer. 

I once spoke to a bride who told me about her sisters wedding where the photographer actually stopped the ceremony (THE CEREMONY!!) in order to get them to pose. It was pretty simple - no matter how gorgeous the photos were, they were not going to hire him again.

It's customer service that you need to pride yourself on, as well as the photos. If you want the bride's sister's wedding, her friends and family, then you need to be remembered as the wedding photographer. That person who made the wedding just a little bit better and took the best photos ever. My Dad was always naturally good at it, I think. He never advertised - it was all word of mouth because he's a brilliant at photographer and such a wonderful guy to have at your wedding.

So here's a few tips to making sure you are remembered for all the right reasons;

Regularly Scheduled Programme

So I've been a little bit slow to post the last two weeks, I've not disappeared or anything, just very overworked!!

Rob showed me this yesterday... (except the 'no we don't have time' we always make time) it's spot on!! 

10 Warning Signs to Watch Out For When Picking Your Wedding Photographer

 Picking a Wedding Photographer is like picking a bridesmaid. 

 I know that seems a bit of a stretch but it really, really isn't. You are trusting this person to capture all the memories of your entire day, they have once chance to get it right. It's a big deal.

So I've written a few warning signs that I've learnt over the past few years.

Bella Italia Part 2...

 Rob and I are getting married in a beautiful town called Petritoli and have been fortunate enough to visit in order to plan/sneak away for a holiday.

My Dad and Rob were camera hogging throughout our stay - mostly because I was busy instagramming everything in sight :)
Post-production Rob's taken with a new panoramic ratio - it tends to look really striking with landscapes - maybe not so much with portraits - but I'm not 100%. What do you think?

7 Tips to Make the Most of Your iPhone Camera

I'm still in Italy at the moment and it's super beautiful today. 

We all took carry-ons only, so we figured we'd only bring one camera between us this trip. It's a good plan as I don't take a lot of photos on my holidays because I tend to miss the moment when I'm trying to capture it on an SLR. 

So it's shared between my Dad and Rob while I snap away on my semi-new iPhone.

It's a different kind of challenge because there is very little control compared to a 'real' camera but I have a few tips for those of you trying to take holiday snaps with a small (but powerful!) camera phone.

Photo Present Surprise

 

Rob and I had the absolute pleasure of re-visiting this beautiful family this month for an outdoor session. It's such a joy to see them all again, especially their little lady who is no longer the tiny little baby girl we wrapped up in a blanket for photos.

These photos were taken in a park in Maidstone, Kent for a secret anniversary present for their parents. It was a lot of fun, they're all so pretty it's hard to get a bad photo! 

5 Details That Improved Our Engagement Photographs

Engagement shoots, or pre-wedding shoots as some people call them, are important for a bride and groom. Maybe more than they realise. It's a time to get to know each other and let them get a better idea of what to expect on their big day.

So here's a few things that changed our pre-wedding shoots...

5 Instant Ways to Improve Taking Family Photos

I'm a big advocate of 'manual mode'. Depth of field is my life. Composition, framing and lead in lines are something I'll go over at a later date, but these things take time to learn and most people don't get the DSLR out every trip out. That's what an iPhone is for, after all. 

So I've got 5 very easy, instant ways to improve photos of your family and friends. (Even on an iPhone!)

Visiting the City

I have to admit, I'm not a city kind of girl. I love green fields and windy country roads, big grey buildings don't fasiniate me a whole bunch.

But London is very pretty, isn't it?

New Gadgets!! Inexpensive Remote Trigger :)

I love gadgets. Especially fun, inexpensive gadgets. This one is super cool and new and £5 from eBay so I'm sure we'll have to buy a few backups because how can anything work for £5?? 

We took this pic in front of the camera!!

Brotherly Love...

I thought I would share some of my favourite photos of Rob's little nephews before we sneak in another photoshoot of them... with the newest member of the family. She's almost 6 months now so we're late to the photoshoot party, but she's at a great stage where she laughs and smiles and looks at us with big, beautiful eyes.

Those photos are to come in the next few weeks, but at the mo here's the big brothers before little sister arrived :)

Lightning Photos

The weather in England went from summer to winter this week. Actual summer with flip flops and shorts and sunglasses to these sad, miserable days. The jackets are back. My feet are constantly freezing. I've got those cute fluffy microwave slippers but I'm too stubborn to use them in the middle of August.

I thought I heard thunder which - sadly - was wishful thinking, but it reminded me of some of Rob's photos sitting on the hard drive with no where to go.

Mr and Mrs Potter

 These two beautiful people were an absolute joy to photograph, despite Damon's camera-shyness.

The wedding had such a romantic setting at the beautiful Chilston Park Hotel, in Lenham, Kent. It's a gorgeous place, especially outside where there are actually garden games like a proper English Countryside Hotel. We even got a few sneaky pics of the bride and groom attempting chess!

The ceremony took place in a beautiful room, full of light, and the registrars were lovely. All in all, it was a fab day - for the bride and groom, guests and us :)