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International Award-Winning Wedding Photojournalism
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Here's a list of FAQs.
If you don't find an answer here, please get in touch and I'll come back to you as soon as I can or request a consult and ask me live.
Distance is not an issue, and I provide wedding photography all over the UK. I love working at new venues and old favourites alike. Travel expenses are included for most UK weddings but occasionally I may have to quote extra depending on the distances involved and the logistics of the wedding.
Yes. I work with several other photographers who are totally in tune with my style and approach. This means you get a broader coverage without the photography becoming obtrusive. I wouldn’t compromise my distinctive style of photography by working with anyone else.
The main advantage of this approach is that you get key moments during the ceremony, reception, speeches, and the dancing recorded from two angles, giving a cinematic feel to the story.
Having another photographer there to photograph also means that both the bride and groom’s preparations can be documented and ensures that unposed shots are still being taken while the family group shots are being organised during the drinks reception.
If you’re both getting ready at the same venue or nearby, it’s not a problem hiring just me. I’ll sneak out of bridal prep for 30 minutes to document the boys’ getting ready and then head straight back to the girls’ for final preparations.
I can. However I’m a storyteller, so starting a wedding at the ceremony would be like writing a novel and starting at chapter three. Finishing my coverage as you sit down for the meal would be like walking out of a football match after 60 minutes!
If you’re looking for a bespoke package, let me know at the time of enquiring. I am happy to discuss your needs!
Pure documentary wedding photography is all about observation, anticipation, spontaneity and reacting quickly to real moments – not contriving them. This approach provides a faithful narration of the day.
Providing me a list of ‘must have’ images would be contrary to my work method. You will, however, find that most of the shots on the typical bride’s must-have list will be captured by me in my style. This is always something I’m happy to discuss at pre-wedding meetings.
If there are certain people you want me to concentrate on, please let me know on the day.
It goes without saying, though, that the bridal party and close family are easily recognisable on the day – they will be sitting on the front rows and wearing boutonnieres – and I’ll pay close attention to making sure they feature.
Yes of course.
I always recommend a maximum of 5-8 small, intimate groups of immediate family and bridal party, not Uncles & Aunts and distant Cousins or your old school friends. To ensure you have as much time as possible with your guests during the drinks reception, I recommend around 15-25 minutes of formal group shots.
To help you plan, allow 3 minutes per group.
To help you even further, here is a template of the groups I would recommend: (1) Bride’s Parents, (2) Groom’s Parents, (3) Bride’s Immediate Family, (4) Groom’s Immediate Family, (5) Grandparents (both sides), (6) Bridesmaids, (7) Groomsmen, and (8) all of the Bridal Party.
Absolutely. You want pictures for your walls, don’t you?
The exact time of day depends on logistics, weather, the time of year and your wedding day timetable.
I normally take my couples away from the wedding for 10-15 minutes alone for some lightly directed portraits. This normally happens when guests are taking their seats for the wedding breakfast, as that always takes 15 minutes as folks are finding out where they’re sat, buying drinks at the bar or going to the loo.
This part of the day is your time to be together for a while, as all of the shots taken during this session are very lightly directed.
Yes, but a warning. I don’t want to sound negative, but I do have a few horror stories about inconsiderate videographers who have severely compromised the quality and breadth of my coverage.
They can often severely reduce my choice of angles when shooting. There are more cameras in the room, vying for space and capturing those perfect moments.
On a more positive note, I can recommend videographers who are not in any way obtrusive, have excellent spatial awareness and are lovely folks to work alongside. Just mention this when you enquire, and I’ll gladly pass on their details
Absolutely not.
They have just as much right to be at your wedding with a camera as I do.
The only thing I ask is that I’m the only professional photographer on the day and that inconsiderate guests don’t shoot constantly over my shoulder or get in front of me at key moments.
This can be very off-putting to you and your guests. It also means that I could potentially miss recording a key part of your day.
However, if you want to have a ‘camera-free’ wedding so that all of your guests can be ‘present’ and immerse themselves in your day that would be great.
I’m a healthy guy, and I’ve only missed two weddings out of over 450 in 18 years because of muscle strains.
In the unusual event of me being unwell, I have a number of trusted professional wedding photographers who can be called upon for cover. Also, I am a founder member of a small private forum of professional documentary wedding photographers, and I am also a part of their emergency cover list.
There is no extra cost to you if I have to source emergency cover.
Yes, but I’ll take my meal in a separate room away from you and your guests. It’s my time to mentally recharge for the rest of the day.
Absolutely, yes. I have full professional indemnity and public liability insurance. Some venues require a certificate of insurance from photographers. If your venue insists, I’m happy to provide a copy.
Another form of ‘insurance’ I have is the cameras I use. They have dual card slots and I write the same image to both cards. If one of the cards corrupts, I’ll have the same images on the other card, so an instant in-camera backup. It’s never happened to me yet though!
I have a very considered approach to taking pictures and believe that the complete story of a typical full day’s worth of wedding coverage can be told in approximately 400 to 600 pictures that give a complete narrative of the day from start to finish, and this is the amount I normally deliver.
I will use a combination of colour and black and white images to document your day. The balance varies from wedding to wedding, but on average approximately 15-25% of the final images will be in black and white.
By removing colour, the viewer can concentrate on light, form, shape and composition, without having to contend with colours & tones that clash and distract the eye from what should be the centre of focus in an image.
Depending on the time of year and my workload, the final edited images will be ready to view within 2-10 weeks.
Each wedding is worth approximately 40 hours worth of work from consultation to completion, and bottlenecks do occur during the busier summer periods when I’ll often have back-to-back weddings, several weeks running.
You can keep a close check on the progress of your wedding images by visiting our workflow queue updates page.
Alongside your images, you’ll also receive a high resolution video slideshow of your images set to rights-released music.
I have a thorough backup system in place to take care of your photographs and back them up on multiple drives to protect against possible hardware failure.
Files are also uploaded to two separate locations in the cloud and I store archived files on drives on-site and off-site to protect against the risk of fire or theft.
Yes, a link to a digital download containing a set of high-resolution—rights-released images and a set of smaller images optimised for social media use is supplied. You get full personal usage rights which allow you to reproduce your photographs for personal use only.
Copyright law states that full copyright remains with the photographer.
Absolutely.
Low resolution web versions will be supplied alongside the high-resolution versions so that you can post them on social media sites or email them to friends and family.
All we ask is that your images are not altered in any way with the use of filters and that we’re credited on any social media posts. Just tag with my Instagram handle, @ianbursill
The price is £200 for a two-hour shoot. A framed print for your guests to sign at your reception is also available for £200 and makes a really amazing guestbook!
Once you’ve contacted me and I have confirmed that I am available for your date, I will arrange a consultation via Zoom so that I can find out more about you and your wedding, and to ensure we’re a good match for each other.
If you want me to save your date, I require the completed and digitally signed booking form from you along with a non-refundable booking fee of £500.00. Payment of the non-refundable booking fee is by bank transfer or debit/credit card.
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