Wedding Photographers in Birmingham & The West Midlands
There are so many Birmingham wedding photographers (go on, Google it!) that it must be daunting for couples who are planning their wedding and have no idea where to start when it comes to finding their photographer. I often mention to couples that they spend thousands of pounds on the day itself but it’s only the photographs (and occasionally a video) that will stay with them until they’re old and grey.
Obviously, given my choice of career, I place enormous value on photography and the clients we tend to meet generally feel the same way and invest their money accordingly. Some couples spend more on their cake than they do on their wedding photography. As amazing as some wedding cakes are (see Ben the Cakeman for example), in twenty or thirty years time, having a beautiful wedding album which brings back all the memories of your wedding is priceless.
With so many wedding photographers in the West Midlands many people imagine us to be in fierce competition with each other but, in reality, many of us are friends who are more than willing to help each other out. Photographers like Emily Quinton and Claire Evans are good friends of ours and we often recommend each other to clients when they enquire about a date where we’re already booked.
A lot of people also seem to think that they have to choose a wedding photographer from their local area. I was recently asked if I would travel as far as Lichfield for a wedding. Lichfield is less than 30 minutes from our studio! After doing weddings in Devon, Cornwall, Brighton, Newark, London (see image above) and more recently New York, Lichfield seems almost walking distance! But maybe not with all that equipment! This weekend I’m shooting Kate & Dan’s wedding in Somerset 
So, how do you choose a wedding photographer?
For me, the first thing to decide is if you like their style. Every wedding photographer is different and each has their own unique view of the world. Some are very formal and traditional, others specialize in reportage photography where they document the wedding without interacting with the couple or their guests. Some photographers are influenced by fashion magazines, others by movies. For me, our style incorporates many different influences to produce a style which is unique to us.
Once you’ve found a photographer whose style you like, the next thing is to get to know them. It’s important to gel with the person who will be so involved in your wedding day and to understand how they like to work on the day itself. We hear so many stories of nightmare wedding photographers who throw strops, boss people around, take hours to do the formal photographs or don’t even turn up to the wedding! None of the photographers we know would act like that, but there are still plenty of wedding photographers around who give the rest a bad name.
Obviously meeting photographers in person is a great way to get to know them but these days you can also get a sense of a person’s style and personality through their blog. Not all photographers have blogs but, for those that do, it’s a great way to see their recent work as well as getting a sense of who they are as a person. It’s the reason I post about days out with my wife, Evelyne and my son, Elliott, as well as weddings, portraits and my band photography. You could even keep up with what I’m up to on Twitter.
There are plenty of other questions to ask when choosing your wedding photographer but, for us, most clients book us because they appreciate good photography and we get on well when we first meet. They may also love our Queensberry albums or the fact that we stay for the whole day but if they don’t like the images we capture they obviously won’t book us.
Many couples remain friends with Evelyne and I long after the wedding day has passed. Some book us to photograph their newborn babies. Some arrange to meet us when they go to a concert. And it’s great that many will recommend us to friends when they decide to get married.
Whoever you choose for your wedding photography, we hope you have an amazing day that you’ll remember for the rest of your lives…. with a wedding album worthy of the occasion
Emma & Pete
More and more we’re booking weddings further afield than the Midlands, which is great. As much as we love living in Birmingham, it’s always good to have an excuse to escape. This year we’ve had weddings in London, Devon and in December we have a wedding in New York. Emma and Pete got in touch with us after quite a thorough search for a photographer and, as they live a couple of hours away in Newark, it was another excuse to escape and visit an area I’ve not visited much before.
They’re happy to spend time to make sure we get great photos for them and their pre-wed shoot was one of the most fun pre-wed shoots I’ve done. We started off exploring the streets of Newark while trying to dodge the rain…
We were on our way back to their house when I spotted this field with that great sky. Favourite!
Their wedding also took place in Newark and this time the sun was shining. Emma looked amazing. I mean, just look at that dress!! Pete scrubbed up pretty well too 
On to the church…
Then we headed off on our own to get some portraits of the new Mr & Mrs Dowse..
Unfortunately this gorgeous building is also the cheesiest nightclub in Newark according to Pete. What a waste!
Check out the table plan - hand-made by our blushing bride…
And what an amazing venue for the reception…
Later in the day we decided to grab a few more photos of the couple…
Great couple, great venue, great weather…. Thanks for a GREAT day guys. The album will be stunning.
Wendy Dawn Thompson and Paul & Becky’s pre-wed
It’s a long way from shooting rock bands when photographing somebody like Wendy Dawn Thompson. Wendy is a mezzo soprano opera singer from New Zealand and was looking for some new press shots, so we headed out on a sunny Tuesday afternoon and came back with some great, relaxed portraits. We got on really well and I even learned a little more about the world of opera!
Here are a few of my favourites…
This weekend is the wedding of Paul and Becky at The Belfry and I’m really looking forward to covering their day for them. They’re such a cool couple and Becky is sure to make a gorgeous bride. Here are some photos from their pre-wed shoot…
See you tomorrow guys….
Laura & Anthony’s Pre-wed shoot.
Laura & Anthony get married next month and for their pre-wed shoot they asked if they could bring their two kids down with them. Of course I agreed. I’m glad I did too. Together they make a great family and we went out and had a bit of fun with them and got some cool photos in the process.
Laura’s going to make a great bride and it sounds like it’s going to be a fun wedding. Hope you enjoyed your picnic guys!
Weddings Rock!
Tuesday evenings aren’t meant to be this manic! In the past 6 hours I have met Steve & Debbie at Weston Park (home of the V Festival and the site of their upcoming wedding), photographed a fancy French restaurant for Live 24-Seven magazine, shot 3 bands including the Futureheads at the Barfly and finally DJ’d a set of 90s alternative music. Talk about multi-tasking! Add to that working as roadie for the bands (well I lifted an amp to their car) and I’d say it’s been a pretty full evening. Most of it was fun…
The gig tonight was pretty good actually. Futureheads don’t normally play such intimate venues and, with their new material sounding better than anything they’ve done before, I’m looking forward to the new album. They were supported by a band who make a photographer’s work somewhat more enjoyable thanks to half the band being extremely easy on the eye. Gundogs also have some great songs to back it up and I wouldn’t be surprised if they went to the next level fairly soon. There’s a review of the gig on Birmingham Live! where you can also find some photos of the Envy & Other Sins gig I shot on Friday night.
Saturday was Charlotte & Steve’s wedding at Homme House in Herefordshire and it was a fantastic day and definitely the most rock & roll wedding I’ve covered yet. The groom played a 40 minute set with his band The Batemans which featured songs by Motorhead, Foo Fighters and even System Of A Down. The bride looked stunning in a gorgeous dress and I came home with loads of great pictures for the couple. Charlotte even brought a present for Elliott. She runs a company called Traces Of Rock which sells cool kids’ clothes with a rock edge. Have a look at the website. Here’s Elliott in one of her baby-grows…
After getting back from the wedding at 1am you’d think maybe I’d get a lie in on Sunday morning but oh no! Instead I was over the other side of Birmingham to photograph an event for Aston Martin with probably my favourite cars on the planet. The same model currently driven by a certain Mr James Bond was just one of the cars I got to admire through the lens of my camera. Probably the closest I’ll ever get to one too! The lovely Daniela from Aston Martin looked after us and it wasn’t a bad way to spend a Sunday morning after all.
From there I went to meet Lyndsey and Simon whose wedding we’re covering next month. We did their pre-wed shoot over near Brindley Place in Birmingham which was great fun despite the lack of really great locations. They’re a very laid back, lovely couple and I’m looking forward to the big day in a few weeks time.
When I got home Elliott was wide awake and practicing his newly acquired kissing technique. He’s also started pushing himself up on his arms. I had my camera out anyway so…
It’s always nice when we meet a couple who are looking for a wedding photographer and there’s an instant rapport. It was like that with Alex and Richard on Monday evening and I really hope they book us for their wedding next June. We got on so well I was with them for almost 2 hours chatting about everything from weddings to Peter Kay to Steven Gerrard (the footballer)’s wedding photos. Richard will even be at the Velvet Revolver gig I’m shooting in a couple of weeks.
Evelyne has been busy this week too. She’s been redesigning our company branding, using new colours and trying to improve the look of our stationery. I have to admit she’s done a great job and the new look will help re-launch the business when we finally move into the new studio.
Album of the week for me is the new one from Kathleen Edwards, Asking For Flowers. I’ve been listening to it repeatedly. I’ve yet to see her play live so I’m keeping my ear to the ground for UK dates.
Jimmy Eat World
It’s great being out every night photographing bands but I do miss having a night in front of the telly occasionally. This week I only have Thursday night free and Terrorizer wanted me to go down to London to shoot Mayhem despite the fact they’re playing Birmingham next week! I declined and will be photographing them in Birmingham instead!
Last night I went to the Academy where Jimmy Eat World were playing a sold out show before 3000 people. Surprisingly I was the only photographer there. Also surprisingly I enjoyed the gig far more than I expected to after listening to their new album. I’ve reviewed it for Birmingham Live! HERE
I’ve done a few pre-wed shoots recently and it’s good fun getting pictures of couples as they normally are before photographing them all dressed up on their wedding day. Many couples have never had a professional photograph taken and it’s a great way to show them that it’s not the awkward, scary thing they may have imagined. All couples enjoy the shoot and we get some great images from it. Here are a few of my recent favourites..
Also this week I made the effort to meet up with a group of fellow bloggers from the Midlands. I know how nerdy that sounds and that’s exactly why I nearly never went. I’m happy to report however that it wasn’t nerdy or geeky at all and I got to meet some genuinely nice and interesting people who are all out there making things happen rather than hiding in their bedrooms behind their monitors. A few people were genuinely interested in the Birmingham Live! idea which was great and others had their own forward-thinking projects in the pipeline. Watch this… and their… space!