When talking to prospective wedding photographers it really helps to have an idea of what you actually want from your wedding photography. Do you want a majority of candid photographs that tell the story of the day with the odd formal group, or would you prefer a large number of formal groups or a mixture of candid, fun and formal photographs?

When setting your wedding budget, strike a balance between cost and quality and choose an affordable wedding photographer who has a proven track record of capturing the romance and emotion of wedding events.

Once you have an understanding of what you are looking for it will make choosing a wedding photographer much easier.

Talk to your prospective photographers; ask if you can view a gallery or two of complete weddings, not just their favourites.  Even though you are not looking at your wedding there should still be a connection.

Make sure you talk to your prospective wedding photographers and explain what you are looking for. Make sure that your styles match, it’s much better to do this early than receive your wedding photographs after your big day and realise that you don’t like what you’ve paid for.

Bear in mind that you will be spending a large portion of the day with your wedding photographer so make sure that you both get on as it will make all the difference!

Price is a consideration, but the least expensive photographer won’t be a bargain if your wedding photographs are a disappointment.

Jo and Laurence got married at St Michael’s Church and followed with their reception at the beautiful High Barn in Great Bardfield.

I started the day with Laurence so that I could get some time with the Groom in the morning before heading over to the their house to cover the Bridal Preps.

Laurence was getting ready and meeting up with the some of the guest at the Whitehall Hotel in Broxted.

Anya get’s her hair done!

The Dress

Bridal Portrait of Jo

Laurence waiting for Jo

Jo and Laurence at the altar, photographed through one of the pews.

The happy couple

A brief moment alone

Kate’s talents were on display again! Jo had themed the reception around the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.

A fitting table name for the Bride and Groom, I don’t think Jo stopped smiling for long all day.

Jo made her own wedding cake

Laurence’s Speech produced both laughter and a few tears

The evening entertainment was provided both by the band and Jo!

Jo sang a beautiful rendition of Chasing Cars

Their First Dance

Here are some favorites from the day.

I couldn’t resist the pattern on the bedstead

Emma

Anthony and his entourage.

Finishing touches.

The look on the groom’s face is always a picture!

Exchanging rings

Touching moments

The view I wanted to use was blocked by a parked van and an ugly lorry, fortunately the side of the van was a bit quirky!

A quiet moment together

The Cake

Anthony’s speech

The best man’s speech.

Toasting the Bride and Groom

First Dance

Here are some of my favorites from the day

Sharon interrupting Cameron’s DS time.

Playing with reflections

Sharon and Greg saw each other before the ceremony and walked down the aisle together.

Taking a moment for a quick drink!

Working with the beautiful Autumn colours

Table details

Gifts for the girls

The Cake(s)

One last reflection! Proof that there was blue sky on the day.

Thank you for inviting me to share your day, it was a pleasure to photograph it!

My Sister in Law is a bit of a party organiser, she manages to put some really nice touches to anything she looks after so I knew that whatever she had planned for Halloween this year would be a bit special, fortunately I wasn’t disappointed!

Here are some photos of her front garden. All taken at 6400 iso with a 24-70 at f2.8

I’m editing the video and will upload that shortly.

The Shoes.







A proud Dad!










Some of the Gents were having difficulty trying to open champagne bottles with their Swords


Others just seemed to be a natural!


The first dance

Zoë and Ben thanks for letting me share your special day.

These days, there are two main types of wedding photographs, there are those that we call ‘Formal’, these are stylised photographs where the people photographed are posed by the photographer.  Then there are those that we call ‘Informal’, these are ‘Photojournalistic’ shots, these are taken throughout the day without the photographer interfering, just snapping away, taking the type of natural shots you just can’t get from a posed photograph.

It seems that everyone has an opinion on which types of wedding photography they like, but we thought it would be good to give you some information on both types of photography and then let you make your own informed choice.

Formal Wedding Photography

This type of photography is popular with parents and is what people are used to seeing in albums up until the late 90s.   Whilst it is sometimes considered out of fashion these days, your family will expect this type of photo to place on their mantelpiece.   This type of photography really has stood the test of time and offers the more classical, permanent reminder of your big day.  Weddings can be formal events, so formal wedding photography suits this atmosphere.

The main benefit is that the photographs will be attractive and come out as predicted.  The downside is that photographer becomes a ‘director’ of photography and most guests don’t enjoy being in this type of picture.

Informal Wedding Photography

This style of photojournalistic wedding photography is very popular and if properly performed, will produce a beautiful visual record of your entire wedding day.  There may not be any posed photographs, but you do get to capture those special moments that a posed photograph can’t reveal.

The main benefit of this type of wedding picture is that you will be able to show the full narrative of your day.  The downside is that the results are somewhat unpredictable and you may regret not having posed for photos for your album.  On the whole, your Mum and your Grandma may not want to put this type of photograph on display in a frame in the living room.

Our best advice is that it is simply a matter of preference. But, if you really cannot choose between the two styles – why not mix some of those traditional posed shots that your family will be happy to frame, alongside some of the photojournalistic ones that capture moments of spontaneous magic?

Regardless of the style of photographs that you want, make sure that you choose a photographer who can give you precisely what you’re looking for.  At Paul Glavin Photography, we can mix traditional formal photography with contemporary photojournalist shots that will offer you the best of both worlds.  Contact Paul Glavin Photography | Berkshire Wedding Photographer today.

Here are some of my favorites from the day.

A month on and I’m still trying to take in all of the information, I find it amazing that the little things that Jerry said have me looking at things in such a different way. I’ve always been a people watcher, I could spend hours just watching the world go by but now I find myself looking at someone and thinking “if only they would tilt their head a bit to the left, raise their chin.” You spot ways of helping people to look their best, I do find I’m getting some weird looks now!

Films, TV shows, Adverts, Magazines all become a research tool, different poses, ideas, inspiration is all around and it’s amazing how those five days have changed my perception.

Any photographer considering to taking a Jerry Ghionis course really should stop considering it and book!

No blog post is really complete without images, here are a couple of my favorites that I took during my model session.