To Watermark or Not to Watermark, That is the Question…

Kat

March 2, 2012

Whether or not to watermark or add a credit line to images published online is always a touchy subject because everyone seems to have a very strong opinion on the matter (as I’ve learnt when researching this article!) It is an issue I have wanted to address for some time and finally feel that, after various discussions with bloggers and photographers alike, I am finally in a position where I am comfortable to open up this debate. To lay my own opinion out from the beginning - as a blogger, I prefer to see and feature non-watermarked images. However tastefully integrated the watermark or logo may be, my opinion boils down to the fact that the image was not originally conceived with it included, and that therefore the whole concept is compromised by the addition. My job as a wedding blogger is to share inspirational weddings with future brides and to help the photographers I feature get bookings from these brides. In order for me to do both these jobs, I want the images I share to look their best.

Roll Up! Roll Up! For The Alternative Wedding Circus

Kat

March 2, 2012

Mwah haaa haaa....are you ready for The Wedding Circus? A creepy fright-fest where the alternative wedding elite came together to create something truly magical? Well that's exactly what happened on a freezing February morn in a Birmingham Warehouse.

Thursday Treats – 1st March 2012: Sneaky the Sneakiest Sneak of all the Peeks

Kat

March 1, 2012

Well you know me, I couldn't resist just one more sneak peek from my Vegas shoot with Gala & Nubby, this time from our second photographer Lisa Devlin. Jeez I literally can't wait to share the rest! We will be doing so from next Monday so be sure to pop by to all our blogs because we'll all have different shots to share! I ain't gonna lie - coming back from a trip to a Google Reader with over 1000 unread blog posts (and it actually only says 1000 because that's the highest number the counter goes to... Christ knows how many were actually in there!) was a daunting prospect and a bit of a moutain to climb. BUT I promised you a damn good selection of Treats upon my return from Vegas didn't I, so I hope these were worth the wait! How the devil have you been by the way? Did you miss me? What you been up to? I demand that you tell me all!

A Spectacular South African Wedding: Frances & Will

Kat

March 1, 2012

Frances & Will were married in December at the Mofam River Lodge in the Elgin Valley just outside Cape Town, South Africa. The venue was very important to the couple and really set the whole theme for the day. Both the ceremony and reception were held under the trees alongside the river.

Young Love, Carefree Days & True Romance: Taylor & George

Kat

March 1, 2012

This beautiful shoot entitled 'True Romance' was set up by Christine of Angelberry Organics in order to showcase some of her latest trends and inspiration to support her organic make up company. "At Angelberry Organics we love to celebrate effortless beauty," she explains. "I wanted to capure the feeling of a romantic getaway, young love, and sharing laughs with your best friend. Those carefree days when you just have a chance to enjoy the simple pleasures of the beach, good music, sharing laughs, and the romantic moments in life. This shoot is inspired by all-American Rock n Roll and wrapped in soft colors with beautiful, scenic backdrops."

The Inspirations: Lara Jade

Kat

February 29, 2012

I've admired Lara and her work for a few years now. I'm not only incredibly enthralled by her fashion photography and attitude to business (and a tough business at that!) but the fact that she found 'fame' so young (she started sharing her self portraits online when she was just 14!) and has achieved so much all before her 23rd birthday. 'Woah' indeed..

An Indie Rock, Winter Wedding: Vicky & Martin

Kat

February 29, 2012

On December 10th, Vicky & Martin were married in a gallery space, which they made their own, in Hull. They didn't have the easiest wedding planning journey, with not one but two venue's cancelling their bookings, but at the end of the day the wedding was perfect. "We were not the luckiest of couples when it came to our wedding planning as we had two different venues cancel our booking!" Vicky told me. "We booked a local hotel's wedding package a year in advance and believed that everything from the food to the centerpieces was taken care of. With six months to go they called and cancelled our booking, leaving us panicked and miserable. After considerable research we booked our local youth hostel for a weekend festival in their beautiful medieval building - they cancelled our booking with less than four months to go!

Under the Spotlight: Gracie May Photography

Kat

February 28, 2012

With a business named after her own daughter, I'm delighted to introduce you to the work of Gracie May Photography today. Elizabeth is an American living in Hampshire who describes her work as a 'fusion'- fly on the wall journalistic style mixed with a bit of glamour. "I do things differently from the traditional wedding photographer," she told me. "I'm American and have lived here in the UK for 5 years. I have a fusion style. I cover the day like a fly on the wall in a journalistic/storytelling style, and then also throw in a splash of glamor with the private portraits. I am in love with the Beloved concept and like bring the idea into the mix on my shoots so we're not just taking pictures, but we're also making memories and capturing real, true and spontaneous emotions."

There’s a Big Wide World Out There

Kat

February 28, 2012

I'm going to get a little philosophical today as I'm still inhabiting my post-Vegas glow. It's a world where everything is neon, over-sized and delivered with a smile and it's one that, honestly, taught me a lot. I didn't expect that crazy city to have such a profound affect on me, nor for it to make me reevaluate how I run my business (hell, I just went to have a good time!) but it really truly did. Now forgive me if this offends anyone (!) but when landing back at Heathrow on Sunday I was immediately reminded as to just how small this little island of ours is - and I'm not just talking geographically.

An Eco & Animal Friendly Wedding: Danny & Sandy

Kat

February 28, 2012

Being animal lovers, and with the bride's Mother running an animal rescue sanctuary (where the couple actually met!) an eco and aminal friendly wedding was perfect for Danny & Sandy. The bride explained, "We wanted everything to be eco-friendly and cozy! We stuck to bamboo plates and wooden utensils, and decorated with hay bales with burlap on top for seats, a bonfire, and mason jars with teelight candles hung in trees and lights draped throughout my backyard."

A Vintage Chic Jersey Wedding: Dawn & Terry

Kat

February 27, 2012

This sweet and elegant vintage-inspired wedding caught my eye when it landed in my inbox...or more specifically the gorgeous bride did. How beautiful?! Her dress is just perfection and her hair makes me want dreadlocks! Dawn & Terry's wedding was held in Jersey, a small island between the UK and France, where Dawn was born. 70 of the couple's friends and family made the trip their to celebrate their big day.

A Grocery Store Engagement Shoot: Colleen & Mike

Kat

February 27, 2012

This grocery shopping engagement shoot made me giggle. It's not often I see a supermarket looking so chic and cool. In fact I love it so much that I'm even considering not doing my usual 'let's put off the food shopping until all we have left in our cupboards is mayonnaise and gin...' dance and popping down to my local store right now to see what inspiration is lurking among the tins of beans and frozen peas...

A Dia De Los Muertos Wedding Shoot

Kat

February 27, 2012

This scary Day of the Dead/Dia de la Boda de Los Muertos themed shoot won't be for everyone but I think it's pretty rad...For alternative make up inspo alone I think it's worth a feature! "This is a concept I’ve been pulling together for about six months," photographer Gina told me. "Originally I had planned this shoot for October, but because I had no location to shoot it, I put it the back burner. Emily (the Bride in this shoot) was planning her wedding and showed me where she was planning to have her reception. The Harmony Club of Selma is an old Jewish Gentleman’s Club, and I fell in love with its decayed and macabre elements immediately. I rebuilt my concept around this venue and found friends, vendors, and models to come be a part of my dark make-believe wedding."

DIY Tutorial: 1920s Style Cap Veil

Kat

February 25, 2012

After the popularity of the rainbow petticoat tutorial that Alexandra King created for Rock n Roll Bride, I was keen to get her to design us something else just as special. We came up with the idea of making your own 1920s cap style veil. Wedding veils can be sooo expensive so we thought having a DIY option would be a great idea! I really hope you like it. I LOVE it. Over to you Alex...

The Art of Selling: A Guest Post by James Derbyshire of Julia Boggio Studios

Kat

February 24, 2012

Nearly 9 months ago Julia Boggio and I had a gorgeous little daughter. I thought that it might slow Julia down a little, but no. She still runs our business at 200 miles an hour. As you may know, Julia and I own one of the fastest growing baby and bridal vintage boudoir photography studios in the UK, Julia looking after the creative side of the business and me looking after the sales. I adore running the sales side of what we do, but admit it: sales is often seen as the scary or evil part of the business or, more often than not, something to avoid because “my clients won’t like being sold to”. Now, the reality of the world is if no one sold anything to anyone, most business wouldn’t exist for very long at all. I had a bit of a head start in sales. As a child I didn’t have pocket money; I had a commission plan. It was stuck to the fridge and re-negotiated on my birthday every year. It helped me understand quite early on that you get out of life what you put in. If I needed that extra boost of pocket money that month, then I had to contribute something quite significant to the household that would entitle me to some extra dosh. So now that I have my own daughter, is this something that I will do with her? Well, I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised, but the combination of mine and Julia’s genes has created a very feisty little girl indeed. I suspect that if I attempted to negotiate anything with her she’ll look at me like I’m a punter on Dragon’s Den and tell me “You don’t have what it takes, I’m out.” She has me running around in circles already so I thought I’d give you a few lessons in sales according to my 9-month-old daughter.

Las Vegas Lovers & A Photo Shoot Teaser

Kat

February 24, 2012

‘Love on the Rocks’ – A Rock Music Themed Winter Wedding: Beatrice & Johann

Kat

February 23, 2012

Beatrice & Johann are true rockers, so what better theme for their winter wedding that the ultimate rock music party!? "Laughter, Party, Music...and a lot of Love" was how the newlyweds described their wedding theme. With music being such a huge part of their lives and love story, it was an obvious choice. They chose a hotel on the Bavarian Alps as the venue for their wedding and so their 'Love on the Rocks' wedding slogan we created.

The Inspirations: Kirsty Mitchell

Kat

February 22, 2012

I came across the work of Kirsty Mitchell via flickr a few years ago. It was her 'Lavender Princess' image (above) that I first saw and I was immediately hooked. I'd never seen anything like it and I was smitten...head over heels in love in fact! It's actually hard for me to articulate how Kirsty's work makes me feel but needless to say she transports me to a magical world with every image that I'm lucky enough to see. If possible, Kirsty's story is even more moving than her incredible images. Get ready to be inspired... Hi Kirsty, can you tell us your story - how you started in photography and a little bit about your journey from then till now? I studied analog photography many years ago when I was 18 at art school, but this was before digital became mainstream. It was my first contact with the medium, and sadly I felt defeated and frustrated by my tutor's focus on the technical processes rather than creative expression. I saw photography as an art form not a science, and so in the end I followed a career into fashion design instead. It was another 13 years until I picked up a camera again in the summer of 2007. I was in the process of recovering from 4 months of chronic insomnia brought on by posttraumatic stress. The drugs I had been prescribed, had numbed my senses to the point where I had pretty much lost all awareness of touch, temperature and interest in the lives of the people around me, I was a zombie. I was undergoing hypnotherapy and slowly things began to return, but my sensitivity came back at an almost heightened state. It’s hard to describe without it sounding like a cliché, but it was like I was seeing the world for the first time, and I had an overwhelming urge to record everything around me.

A DIY Country Wedding: Jacob & Sarah

Kat

February 22, 2012

Jacob & Sarah had a DIY country wedding at Harmony Museum, PA. "Together with our community of friends, we pretty much made everything on our own because we wanted our wedding day to represent who we are," Sarah told me. "Having the wedding ceremony and reception take place in a non traditional atmosphere also helped to sort of describe where we were coming from, a subculture scene of punk music and tattoos. One of the most important things that we wanted to come from our wedding day was to have a celebration with the people who we love the most. We have a very close group of friends that we respect and hold close and we wanted them to feel like it wasn't just 'Jake and Sarah's Day' but rather a party for all of us. Immediately after the ceremony, which was fairly short, there was just a big party."

WIN The Soundtrack to your Wedding with Wedbeat

Kat

February 21, 2012

Wanna party like Monique & Lee (pictured above) at your own wedding? Well I've got someone that might just be able to help you on your way. Wedbeat is a unique online service that allows you to compile your own personalised wedding playlist and then have it presented and ready to play on a 24ct gold CD. No more cheesy wedding DJs and no more having to faff with an mp3 playlist, when, let's be honest, all you wanna do is crank up the music and party! They say, "With our flagship service - The Soundtrack to Your Wedding - couples can order 3, 4 or 5 hours of music on a professionally produced, ready to play 24ct gold CD. The music on each and every CD is highly personalised by a couples' choice of their favourite genres and eras and 'must have' songs."