Under The Spotlight

Today I’d like to introduce you to the work of Mick Shah of Miki Photography. Not just becuase I think he’s a kick ass wedding photographer but becuase he’s offering all readers of Rock n Roll bride a whopping 35% off all his wedding packages! He says, “One of my aims for 2012 is to work with more ‘like minded’ clients, and in the past, in my view, that’s always been blog readers – and mainly Rock n Roll Bride blog readers! I know finances are an issue for some right now and I also know a lot of creative couples work within creative budgets so wanted to make my packages more accessible. I’d rather do more weddings at a lower price but that are a blast and creative than fewer at a higher price but are to put it politely ‘a bit too formal’ or I’ve been hired because ‘you have to have a photographer’.”

To qualify for this amazing offer, simply drop Mick and email quoting ‘Rock n Roll Bride’.

Now let’s learn a little more about the man himself…

Hey Mick, can you tell us who you are and a little bit about yourself?

I was a full-time musician for 5 years and loved it but felt that time in my life was coming to an end. Around the same time my wife got pregnant and just kept nagging me to get a camera for when the baby was born. I was so insistent it was a waste of money and I could do just the same on my iphone (ha!) In the end she literally dragged me to the camera shop and we bought a camera. I figured I wanted a hobby that I meant I didn’t need to travel (ha again!) so started practicing.

Naturally all my mates were musicians and they all needed ‘promo’ shots, live band shots etc so I started practicing on them and loved it.  But then my son was born and I started capturing him and my wife interacting with him, and it was amazing – there was something about the connection that was so powerful and gave much more meaning to the image.  Then the manager of a singer I had done some work for was getting married. Since I had never done a wedding before and he had a pro photographer booked already, I asked if, just for a laugh, I could tag along.  It was at that wedding where it kind of all came together and I had that ‘eureka’ moment!

It’s difficult to explain but there was all the ‘buzz’ of doing a live gig coupled with the emotional connection of the bride and groom and all their family similar to that connection of my wife and son.  Capturing all of that just made sense creatively.  When the photos came back the response I got was amazing and from that I got my first wedding ‘booking’ and then more referrals etc and the rest is history! I now shoot mainly weddings mainly anywhere in the UK.

What is the ethos and idea behind your business?

My three ‘keywords’ to describe my business or type of wedding photography are ‘love’ ‘fun’ and ‘style’.

‘Love’ because at the end of the day that’s what a wedding is about, two people who love each other enough to say that they want to spend the rest of the lives together.

‘Fun’ because whether you’re a traditional, quirky or Rock n Roll bride or groom, you should just be yourselves and just have fun doing it.  On the engagement shoot at the beginning it’s usually mostly the guys who are more wary and the immortal line, ‘…I don’t like having my picture taken…’ nearly always comes out, but I try and get them to have a laugh and by end of it they’re the ones suggesting the shots. That’s great cause on the wedding day I feel more like one of their friends at the wedding taking pictures rather than a complete stranger.

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