Three autumn weddings and an award! November photography round up
In a jam-packed November we photographed three fabulous autumnal weddings went to a wedding photography conference and picked up an award for our work too. Not bad, eh?
Shiny new website for 2017!
After months of tinkering and tweaking our new website is live!
We still have all the useful information you’ll need to decide if we are the lifestyle or wedding photographer for you but all wrapped up in a sumptuous wrapper of colour and adventure. If you can’t find a previous page or spot any gremlins, do let us know!
You’ll also find clearer information and pricing if you are considering us as your destination wedding photographer – so what are you waiting for, get in touch!
Let’s adventure together!
What a year – 2016! Best Wedding Photography by Lina and Tom
Happy New Year to all our clients, past present and future, as well as all you lovely supporters and friends. 2016 was an incredible year for us and as we get excited about 2017 here’s a look at some of our best wedding photography from last year – we’re so lucky to be part of these amazing days – enjoy! 
<3
Lina and Tom – Best Wedding Photography – 2016 from LinaandTom.com on Vimeo.
We recommend you go big and go HD! And do share!
Another Fearless Award at Lina and Tom HQ!
One of the great things about being a wedding photographer today is the community we get to be part of, we encounter very little competitiveness these days but rather a desire to share, inspire and enjoy each other’s work. We particularly get this from being part of the Fearless Photographers‘ community and we had a fantastic time at their conference in March in beautiful Porto ( a blog post will come soon!) One of the elements of the Fearless Photographers directory, “a showcase of the best wedding photographers in the world,” is regular award submissions where our work is critiqued by highly regarded judges.
Tom was the first one to get us off the starting block with his awesome confetti shot, awarded in late 2014. This shot is just pure joy, you’re experiencing the moment with them thanks to Tom getting in close.
Then a year later, Lina got her first Fearless Award for this hilarious moment where Emma tumbled over with a gaggle of kids. The judges now give comment, and they said “How did they all end up in a pile? Who knows. The smiles say it all in the quick-acting photographer’s fun image of a relaxed bride and the kids at the wedding. It’s one of those, “You won’t believe what happened at OUR wedding” shots that the couple will be showing off for years to come.” This shot is up there as one of Lina’s favourite wedding moments ever – with particular love for the little boy lost in the veil at the back!
And now we’re delighted to announce Lina has received another award in the latest collection, this vibrant confetti moment. The judges said; “Amidst the swirling confetti, this bride and groom look as happy as can be. That alone would be a nice shot, but the photographer also saw what was happening around the couple and pulled back a little to let us see the great reactions. From sheer jubilation to mild trepidation and maybe even a few happy tears, it’s not just the couple wearing their emotions on their sleeves.”
This is exactly one of the things we love about it, all the happy faces around the couple are just as special!
So next time you are at a wedding and in a group shot, don’t just assume the photographer is only looking at the couple!
We’ll keep trying to be as ‘fearless’ as possible with our photography, but we also need you to be fearless too! Over here in the UK we can sometimes be a bit reserved compared to our friends on the continent or over the pond, so allow yourself to kick back and have fun on your wedding day, you won’t regret a thing!
Lina and Tom Fearless Photographers East of England
Offley Place Wedding Fair Sunday 19th April
We’re back at the beautiful Offley Place tomorrow for their spring wedding fair in association with Bride Magazine.
Gain inspiration, tips and advice to plan your dream day with a fantastic selection of the area’s finest wedding suppliers on hand with expert advice on all aspects of your wedding day. We’re delighted to be there another year as a recommended wedding photographer at Offley Place, but even if this is not your wedding venue come and see why we are the wedding photographer for you! We will also have a special offer for couples that book us from this fayre so whether newly engaged or deep into planning, take a trip into the beautiful Bedfordshire countryside for a great day out.
Free admission and car parking. Register for your free goody bag and copy of Herts and Cambs Bride Magazine (worth £4.50) (limited to the first 50 brides to register)
Date: Sunday, 19th April 2015
Time: 11:00am – 3:30pm
Exhibitors: 25 – 50 exhibitors
Admission:Free Entry
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Going unplugged for your wedding ceremony – why you should consider it
We live in an increasingly documentative society. Most of us have smart phones, and the cameras on our electronic devices are better than ever. It’s quite usual for us now to take a snap and post what we’ve been up to on social media, sharing all our experiences. But do we ever really consider the thoughts of others when posting, particularly at weddings?
I feel I’ve been talking a lot recently about this subject, having been asked to discuss it on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, when a bride recently told me at her wedding reception that there was ‘already’ a shot of her on Facebook ‘pulling a bad face.’ It was only just after dinner too. Who are you people who do this? I’d never post an image of someone looking bad online anyway but I have had people put awful ones of me up. You know the people, the ones that have to share everything they took, even the blurry ones. Can we not stop our desire to share, even when it comes to someone’s wedding day? This is why I felt it was time to write this post!
Kate Bush made the headlines recently by not allowing pictures to be taken during her gigs and we totally see her point. I’m sure we’ve all attempted to take pictures with our phones at a gig and let’s be honest, they look like utter garbage, so why bother missing the moment to look through a screen? It’s this same thought process which we need to consider for weddings too before we reach for the Instagram, and I’m sure as a guest it’s something you’ve never considered. Picture the scene, our happy couple say their beautiful vows and exchange rings. Those magic words are spoken, ‘I now pronounce you…’ and they kiss. Beaming at each other, they turn happily to their guests… and are faced with a sea of phones pointing at them. Not quite how they imagined it would be I’m sure.
Now I’m not just being trite here, we have seen this happen! To be honest, this isn’t so great for the couple. Their guests are physically in the room with them, but not actually ‘with them’ at one of the most important moments of their lives.
So how does an unplugged wedding work? Don’t worry, you don’t have to go all Kimye and seize phones at the door, just ask whoever is officiating your ceremony to make an announcement that you only want the official photographer to take photos until the signing. Most registrars we’ve seen actually do this anyway as they don’t want the disruption. The harsh reality is that many guests aren’t as considerate as a professional wedding photographer, they usually use flash, some have focus beeps enabled on their cameras, they step into the aisle, and even worse, use the red focus light which we can tell you does not work well with a white dress! Want some examples? A frustrated US photographer recently posted a blog showing some of her failed shots, as a direct consequence of guests going for theirs. It makes for an interesting read, and provoked some discussion on our Facebook page when we posted it, asking how people felt about cameras and phones at their wedding. Recent bride Katy said, “We are SO glad that we opted for an “unplugged” ceremony. We asked the registrar to request that everyone turned off their phones and cameras, and we put up signs welcoming guests to our unplugged ceremony. It meant everyone was WITH us for those 20 minutes of solemnly declaring… and it was AWESOME.” We can concur it was indeed, awesome.
So it’s not us photographers being high and mighty here, guests can, and have, disrupted our work. Saying that, we are much more casual about guest photography than many photographers we have been told about! During the rest of the day, shoot away folks, we really don’t mind. But there is definitely an argument for having your photographer be the only one shooting your ceremony. After all, you paid us your hard earned cash to capture it for you, so surely uncle Bob shouldn’t get the best shots over us?
At the time of the Kate Bush gigs, I was interviewed on BBC Radio Cambridgeshire about it, which you can listen back to here and do let us know your thoughts on this one!
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Lastly, we were going to put a couple of our own fails in here, but we have decided not to. The point of this post is not to embarrass anyone but merely provoke discussion and possibly educate – so we shall leave it to your imagination, and if you look at the American website you’ll get the picture!
Lina x
Why should you book a professional wedding photographer?
If you read the wedding blog Rock n Roll Bride, you’ll know that Kat Williams tries to tackle key issues that come up in our industry, and the controversial subject of pricing when it comes to photography is no new subject for her. However, we feel a response of our own was necessary to this week’s post “Should I Book a Professional Wedding Photographer or Get a Friend to do it for Free: A Cautionary tale, which you can read here
The post is from a woman who asked her friend, a car photographer, to do her wedding photography with disastrous consequences. The wedding photos are some of the worst we have ever seen. It’s a very honest account, with her admitting she should have offered more support, such as visiting the venue and checking he had the right equipment for the job.
We receive many enquiries from Brides who tell us they love our work, but have to ‘warn’ us that their partners don’t feel they should have a professional photographer, usually as they know someone who has a good camera and takes great pictures. I should point out we started by taking wedding photos for two sets of friends, as we knew we wanted to be wedding photographers, but our only experience was a couple of family weddings. The difference here though is that we knew we wanted to specialise in weddings, so we made a point of visiting the venue beforehand to check lighting and space, and obtain any equipment we didn’t already have, as well as find out the couple’s expectations and group photo requirements. From those images and some great testimonials we acquired our first clients which was over three years ago and we haven’t looked back – we absolutely love photographing weddings!
But what is the difference between us, back then, and you asking your friend to photograph your wedding? Here are a few things we advise you to bear in mind when making the decision:
● Shooting a wedding is a pressured environment, things are moving constantly. How would you feel if your friend missed a key moment?
● Do you have any concerns about your friend enjoying themselves? If they are nervous they may not be able to fully relax and enjoy your wedding day.
● Your friend may take lovely pictures when you are on a night out or be able to take nice headshots in the day, but how would they cope with lighting changes such as if it rains and goes gloomy, or you step out of your ceremony in to really bright sunshine? What if your ceremony is performed with the two of you standing in front of a window? This is a tricky exposure that requires a certain level of technical ability.
● We were told a story once about a bride’s friend who was taking the photos during the day but still enjoyed themselves to the point of getting very drunk, so they don’t have any wedding photos post-meal. Would you be able to set the right expectations with your friend or family member?
● As experienced wedding photographers we are ready for most occurrences and can work quickly to change plans if things go a bit awry. This is because we are no longer fazed by weddings, we thrive on the pressure and thrill of getting those moments you will treasure forever.
● Possibly the biggest thing to consider, how will you feel if your friend does not manage to provide you with beautiful wedding photography, if it’s not quite right? This could tear a friendship apart as it unfortunately did for the writer of the Rock n Roll Bride blog post.
If budget is tight try and think about the priorities throughout your wedding and beyond. Your wedding photography is one of the only tangible things that lasts from your wedding so we would recommend it has the next biggest part of the budget after the reception venue and food. The wedding day itself will pass in a whirlwind and even on return of your honeymoon you will find the details are hazy and your beautifully vibrant wedding photography will ensure the memories come flooding back forever.
From experience we know all the wonderful things that can happen on a wedding day. We can truly capture the emotion of the ceremony when mum begins to wipe the tears from her eye and working in tandem we can capture the moments you won’t even know are happening, a lovely surprise for you when you look back at your wedding photography. Another key aspect of the way we work is that we also know how to blend in and not get in the way, in fact, many of our clients have commented it was like having friends photographing the wedding, so we can be your happy medium! Poor photography really can mean that the lasting memories of your special day are of disappointment not joy, so think clearly about the decisions you make, whether it be for a friend or professional.
