Zero

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Rock n Roll Bride, a little haven of kick ass weddingness in a cookie-cutter, pastel and often puke-worthy wedding world. You’ve likely all seen this mantra, it sits proudly on the front page of this website and quickly sums up what this place is about, with articles ranging from rainbow petticoats to New York steampunk.

Being anti-cookie-cutter has proven to be a very successful strategy for Kat and this little blog but you might not realise how picking up some of these ideologies can help keep your business fresh and competitive ahead of the competition.

Here’s the lesson, the moral if you will. In fact, you don’t need to read the rest of this article if you properly comprehend this sentence: Don’t just think differently about weddings, think differently about everything.

Still here? Great! Strap in tight, we’re off to ancient Rome. The Romans were an interesting bunch of people. Famous for their military, politics, legal system, language, technology and of course those natty robes. Their legacy reaches all the way to modern Hollywood thanks to Roman numerals which are still in use to indicate copyright dates. It is these peculiar letter-numbers which I want to draw your attention to. Have you ever noticed anything unusual about them? I mean, aside from the fact that they’re using letters to represent numbers. I think the most striking thing about Roman numerals is that there is no way to write zero. They just never thought of it. Naturally, they had words for ‘nothing’ and ‘empty’ and such like but in mathematical terms zero had simply not been invented. Invention of the number zero is generally credited to India sometime in the 9th century and it revolutionised the field of mathematics.

The point to this outlandish detour is to demonstrate that anybody, even those mighty ancient Romans, can be so indoctrinated into a school of thought that they overlook opportunities for innovation. And when you turn the microscope on the tiny world of weddings it can be positively difficult to find people thinking differently.

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Shooting Your Passion: A Guest Post by Steve Gerrard

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In a previous life I stumbled into a career as a club DJ that took me around the world, saw me open for Oasis at Wembley Stadium and release my own mix CD (if you’re interested it’s called Thinking Out Loud and you can probably get it in your local charity shop for about 50p!) I loved every minute of it but none of it was really planned. It developed naturally from my love of music. And from me wanting to share music with anybody who’d listen. My passion became my career. And quite a successful one at that.

My DJ career meant I was visiting countries I’d probably never get to visit otherwise… China, Argentina, Taiwan, Brazil… and I wanted to save those memories. So I bought a camera.

I’ve always loved photography. I was the kid in school with the £1.99 camera, taking pictures of my mates mucking about on geography field trips and, a few days later, turning up to school with an envelope of glossy 6×4 prints. I’ve also collected photography books by my favourite photographers for a long time. Photography has always been there, but it wasn’t until 2005 that I even thought about it as a career.

With my real passions being music and photography, it was a natural progression to start shooting bands. I started small, blagging my way into the occasional gig before somebody at the NME decided I was worth giving a break and asked me to shoot some upcoming indie band for the magazine. That was all it took for me to think “OK, maybe I’m not too bad at this photography lark” and to start taking things a little more seriously. But photographing weddings? That wasn’t even an option at the time. Wedding photography was boring. Uncreative. Formal. Staged. Old fashioned. Not for me thanks.

As the music side of my photography took off, I began getting the occasional person asking if I ever shot weddings. I’d say no.

Slowly but surely however, I began to realise that wedding photography in the 21st century wasn’t quite what I thought it was. In magazines and online I started seeing wedding images which were more creative. Images which looked like they could be from a magazine rather than a dusty frame on my Nan’s telly. I started hearing this word “reportage” everywhere and more importantly, I began seeing wedding photos that I thought were amazing.

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The Inspirations: David McNeil

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Wedding photographer David McNeil and I have been friends for a long time, waaaay before I started my blog or he started shooting weddings. We worked together at the shopping channel and having someone, basically alongside me for the whole time I’ve run my business, has been pretty amazing. We’ve advised each other (David is notoriously brilliant at advice!) and seen each other grow into our businesses and make a success of our passions. It’s been pretty magical really.

We’ve shot together, we’ve traveled to Vegas together and we’ve learnt a serious amount of stuff about this crazy little industry of ours together. So, who better to interview this week than the man that I’ve seen start from diddly squat and grow into his business like a complete and utter pro?

Photography Credit: Devlin Photos

So David, can you tell us who you are and what you do? How did you get started as a wedding photographer and what stage of your business are you at now?

Hello Green Room readers!  First of all I’m so honoured you asked me to be part of The Inspirations series.  You’ve featured so many amazing people that it’s extremely exciting to be included amongst them.  First and foremost I’m a wedding photographer shooting weddings all over the UK (and some further afield!) but during the week, when I’m not editing or designing albums, I teach photography workshops with The Trained Eye.

At high school I loved art, and wanted to be an artist.  There was one problem though, I could not draw or paint to save myself.  My art teacher didn’t see that as too big a problem and encouraged me to pick up a camera, get in the dark room and see if photography was the outlet for me.  I spent many Friday afternoons processing my film and there my love of photography was born.  I studied photography at college for a year before embarking on a university degree in Film, TV, and Theatre Studies.  Slowly my camera began gathering dust…

Then, after my move to London to take up a job at shopping channel bid tv (I believe you are aware of that particular channel Kat!?) I stupidly left the front door of my house open and was burgled.  Amongst other things, my Pentax SLR was stolen so I replaced it with a dSLR, embraced digital, found flickr, learned Photoshop and eventually started taking portraits of colleagues who worked at bid tv.

Around the time I started wanting to take things further and start shooting weddings, a brown haired girl I worked with called Kat Williams was planning her wedding, and had one of those wedding blog thingys some brides document their progress with.  She became the perfect muse for me to start taking wedding orientated images and as she morphed into Rock n Roll Bride, so too my business started to take off at the same time.   Eventually I left my job and so, here we are today!

What inspires you as a photographer, a businessman and a person?

Gosh – where to begin..!  One of the reasons I chose wedding photography as my business is that I grew so bored of shooting inanimate objects.  I wanted to shoot people and I guess what inspires me is finding out about people and understanding them, and their relationship through the camera.  Shooting models is easy, but finding the true beauty inside someone who doesn’t have their image taken every day is really what motivates me.  The feeling I have when I find that perfect spot of light, and I am able to find real happiness in someone’s eyes is one of the most satisfying parts of our job.

Photography is about freezing time and I feel so privileged I turn up at a wedding with my camera and record one of the most significant days in someones life for them.  Knowing that my images will be looked at for years, and become a part of the family history is awe-inspiring when you think about it.

As a business, my main inspiration is to keep on being able to do a job that lets me keep control of my life.  I’m not here to make a fast-buck or churn out weddings like a conveyor belt.  I’m lucky that, after 4 years of working hard, I can start to see the real lifestyle benefits of being a self-employed wedding photographer.  I’m always looking at ways to use my time efficiently so I never let my business get me down or overwhelm me.

Equal in weight to being the best wedding photographer I can possibly be, is being in a position to travel and see all the world has to offer.  I’m now able to take months off in the winter and pursue that dream.   It’s something that wouldn’t have been possible in my old job, and something I am so grateful for and never take for granted.

Your images are very distinctive – fun, fresh and vibrant! I could imagine this isn’t something that ‘just happens’ when you meet a couple and put them in front of your camera…

Thank you!  I love working with couples who are all of those things which naturally helps my images to reflect that a lot.  One of the most difficult aspects when training new photographers is helping them understand that yes, it’s so important to have great technical knowledge of your camera but that often it’s that little spark that your personality brings to the image that turns it into something really special.

I think the most important way of bringing out the fun side of people is simply to be fun yourself.  I never try and hide behind the camera, and am constantly engaging with my couples.  I’m genuinely interested in them, and really, really want to capture how special their relationship is in the photographs.  If you’re not naturally interested in people I imagine it must be a horrendously difficult job to do.  Turning up at a shoot or a wedding, and being able to connect so quickly with people you have barely met requires confidence and empathy in equal measures.

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Measuring Success & Being Grateful

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Last week I was invited back to my University to give a talk on blogging and social media, which I wrote about here. Quite apart from the usual nerves and the unusual emotions of being back there, it started me thinking about success or more-so how one might quantify it. On the way I texted my best friend, who I’d met at Uni, to tell her where I was. “Ahhh how exciting,” she replied “How long since we left, 6 years? How the hell did we both end up all successful and stuff?” and so I started writing this article in my head…

How do you quantify success? Is it money in the bank? Is it making a difference? Is it being perceived to be a someone by others? I personally feel that it’s not one thing that makes any of us feel successful, it’s a combination of many elements. As always I’d love to read your opinions and ideas in the comments please.

Being excited about work

And I’m not just talking generally here. Everyday I wake up dying to get up, log on to my computer and get to work. Even on the tough days I still love what I do. Running your own business is hard but oh boy is it worth it. How do you feel every morning? Are you looking forward to what your day might hold or are you dreading it? If the latter, what small changes could you make to your day to day tasks in order to feel better about it?

Feeling like you’re helping others

It’s not all roses and sunshine in my line of work, but it’s amazing that I do get almost daily reminders about how my blog helps brides struggling with their wedding planning. Making enough money to support my family, whilst also doing something I love is one thing, but doing a job where I’m able to help others outweighs that entirely.

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Get Yourself Noticed: A Guest Post by Photo Professional Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Terry Hope

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In today’s competitive market you need to be noticed and these days there are lots of cost effective ways you can exploit that in order to help put your name, and your business, out there.

There have probably never, ever been more people out there offering photographic services, and while it’s great that what was once such a closed profession is now so wide open to everyone, it also means that the competition has never been stiffer, and you’re going to have to do something pretty special if you want to stand out from the crowd.

The good news is that for the self-motivated and marketing-savvy individual there are plenty of opportunities out there to spread the word about what you’re doing and to provide much more of a profile about who you are, what makes you special and why someone looking for a photographer might consider booking your services.

All of these things are important now because the ground rules for the photography business have changed, and clients are increasingly becoming more discerning. Some will be booking on nothing more than price, but many others are looking not just at the quality of the pictures you can produce but also at you as an individual to see if you sound like the kind of person they might want to spend time with. Increasingly the rapport you can create between you and the client is important and if you can put some of your character into your sales material then it will all help to establish who you are.

Take care with your website

The first thing you need to think about is a strong website, and here again the key is to try to come up with something that will stick in the mind of those who visit it. All the usual rules apply: it has to be welcoming, easy to navigate and it’s crucial that it loads quickly, otherwise your visitor will simply head off to the next site. More than all this, however, it needs to have something distinctive about it that will make it memorable.

There are websites out there that stand out because they are brilliantly designed, or maybe they’re just so quirky that you can’t get them out of your mind. If you’re focusing on a niche – say you’re looking to concentrate on themed or vintage weddings – then maybe this needs to be emphasised from the moment that someone lands on your home page. You’ll lose bookings from those who aren’t into your specialist area but you’ll attract more of the people you’re interested in and so the trade off can work well.

These days, and I know that Kat and I are singing off the same hymn sheet on this one, the importance of the website has slightly diminished on the back of the emergence of the blog, and this really is a way that you can shout about who you are and send a message out to your prospective clients that you are not only a great photographer but also someone who is innovative, exciting and fun to work with. Get your blog right and it can become a magnet that attracts regular followers who enjoy hearing about what you’ve been up to and what your latest assignments have been. You need to work at it to keep it continually up to date and it’s important to adopt the right tone and to make it lively and interesting to read, but it could be one of the best ways there is to build your profile.

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The Inspirations: Choccywoccydoodah’s Christine Taylor

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Do you dream in chocolate? Then, surely you must be aware of the unequaled talented that is Choccywoccydoodah. Famous world-over for their creations in confection I am a huge fan, and even more-so now I’ve got to know the team behind the yummy personally.

I was seriously excited to speak to Creative Director Christine Taylor as part of this series, and when you read through our chat below I just know you’re going to fall in love with her too.

Hi Christine, So who are you and what do you do? Can you introduce yourself and your fabulous company?

My name is Christine Taylor (that’s me in the top middle of the photo above), I am the Creative Director of Choccywoccydoodah.

The company started 17 years ago in Brighton, born of a drunken night out, based on the desire to eat copious quantities of chocolate after consuming a bottle of gin with my co-director Christine Garratt. The reason we got drunk was we had found ourselves in possession of a shop we didn’t want. A very long story, to be shared when we are all drunk. It only makes sense then.

The name Choccywoccydoodah was also found at the bottom of the same bottle of gin. We also decided if chocolate didn’t work, we would sell diet stuff and call ourselves Chubbywubbydoodah. We still might. Reap what you sow!

There was no business plan then, there is no business plan now. The gurus of business we are not. What we are, however, is ambitious, hard working and obsessive. I believe proper earned success can only come about with complete 24 hour a day, 7 days a week obsession. And that is not for everyone.

Your cakes are out-of-this-world unique. What inspires you and where do the ideas come from?

The inspiration for what we do comes from everyday life, interspersed with extraordinary moments. My head is so full of projects yet to do, designs yet to make I feel I should have a head like Tim Burton’s Red Queen.

I employ artists and designers, the studio is full of creativity. Creative people just are, it’s a curse as well as a gift. If we didn’t work in chocolate we would still be doing this, maybe using dustbin lids instead.

You have a TV show on the Good Food Channel. Can you tell us about it?

Currently we are enjoying being on the telly, an approach out of the blue two years ago which has resulted in cameras tagging along in our lives on an almost daily basis recording what we do and who we are.

Sometimes it’s irritating, sometimes much worse than that, but mostly, we love it. Natural show offs with a TV camera – who’d have thought it?

Series 3 comes out on the Good Food channel on July 2nd.

What are you most proud of to date?

What I am most proud of is our team. Carefully chosen, all a little off-centre, some so far off-centre we have to tie them to the edge. There are about 40 of us now, all working together, enjoying what we do, making chocolate, creating cakes, selling chocolate, selling cakes and of course, we all eat chocolate and cake.

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