Moving into a new house

Well finally Shana and I are happily ensconsed in our new house.

We have rented a three bedroom townhouse type place in Elmswell, Suffolk. Elmswell was recently voted Suffolk Village of the Year and seems like a very nice place to live.

So, coupled with the new move and our stuff finally arriving from South Africa I've also had the pleasure of dealing with BT, E-on et al in getting our services sorted out. I know a lot of people complain here in the UK about the service levels of the above, but compared to South Africa they are models of efficency!

The new wedding photography website is starting to pick up speed and I'm getting some interest out of it. It's always a problem when you move areas with photography as a lot of ones work is based on word of mouth. It took me around a year or so in Bloemfontein to start getting the phone ringing on a regualr basis, so I think progress so far has been fairly good all things considered.

I'm now ranking #9 for Suffolk Wedding, #5 for family photographer Suffolk, and my main key phrase suffolk wedding photographers is climbing pretty well. Hopefully I'll be well placed when the cycle starts again after the winter wind down. September is tradionally the busiest month of the year for new bookings and I may just be a little late in catching this wave, but I'm getting a fairly steady stream of bookings so far.

Now as soon as my ADSL is installed I can work in my new shiny office. :D

New website launched

Apologies for not having been around much the last week or so...

Still, it was for a good cause - the relaunch of my new dedicated wedding photography site for Suffolk wedding photographers

As a newbie to Suffolk I've been going all out to get my name out there and hopefully start getting some enquires coming in.

One of the worst things about moving countries is that all that hard work you put in developing contacts and relationships in the wedding photography world now has to start all over again...

As I've said before, the most important thing in being a wedding photographer is developing a rapport with not only your clients, but also with other buisnesses who work in your area. After all most brides only get married once, so they look for reccomendations from all sorts of places.

I often have couples ask me if I can recommend a florist, or a car hire service, so it pays to develop relationships with those businesses who can benefit my clients.

A wedding photographers networking is never done. You just never know when you meet someone if they may know someone who needs a wedding photographer. So for the next few weeks I am going to be starting that all important task of getting to know the wedding suppliers in my area of Suffolk and letting them know that I am out there.

In the mean time, why not drop by my new suffolk wedding site

You's pays your money and you's takes your chances

Evening.

I've just spent over 4 hours on eBay looking for camera gear.

I have to admit that I do love to spend hours there looking through all the goodies on offer. Not so much gear for me to use in my professional life, but old cameras simply to collect.

However from time to time I will go looking eBay for new gear for my work.

Of course, one has to be very careful when choosing equipment to buy on eBay, especially when we are talking of items that regularly cost over £500. There are so many things that can go wrong, and ultimately, you are placing your trust (and your money) in the hands of a complete stranger. If you don't do your homework properly, at the end of the day you may be left with an empty box that cost you £500!

So, a little like choosing a wedding photographer then!

Until you get those images back from your photographer, all you will have to go on is trust.

Possibly the most important box to check when choosing a wedding photographer is the one that is marked 'am I comfortable with this photographer?'

Our instincts are very rarely wrong.

Ultimately the success or failure of your wedding photographs lies in the bond between you and the photographer. If you don't feel comfortable with the photographer then your pictures will never look as good as they should.

For me, this bond is the most important thing when shooting a bride and groom. The weather can be foul, a dog can run off with the wedding cake, the reception can be plunged into darkness with a power failure, but so long as the bride and groom feel comfortable with me I will always get the best shots possible!

Hopefully none of these disasters will befall your wedding! :D

If you are in the Suffolk, Norfolk or East Anglian region and getting married, either next week or next year - drop me a line and I'll be more than happy to talk with you about how to make this bond between photographer and bride work for you...

See my wedding site for more tips...

Till tomorrow then

Alex

Days in the sun.

Phew, what a scorcher!

You'd think that coming from South Africa I'd be used to the heat, but thats a dry heat, and I'm afraid I don't care very much for the humid weather here! Still, at least we have some nice weather and even if it does feel like your underpants are melting, so we should make the most of it.

As most people get married in the summer I suppose I should talk about wedding photos in the sun!

Something you should consider when discussing your wedding photography plans with your photographer is the time of day when you are going to do, what are loosely termed, 'formals' with him (or her).

This is when your wedding photographer will take you and your partner to one side and shoot pictures of the two of you together, without all the family crowding around.



I like to just let the couple spend some time together enjoying the moment, indeed this may be the first moment alone together they have as a married couple! So rather than have them pose in a series of images, I stand back and capture them as the poses reveal themselves.

This is far more relaxed and gives much better results.

The time of day of these images is pretty important. If you are having a morning wedding, then by the time you and your wedding photographer get started with these images, the sun will be directly overhead and make everything extremly contrasty. Not a good thing when trying to capture a white dress and a black tux!





So, when you discuss your plans with your photographer, try and arrange it so that you can have these images done when the light is better. Avoid as a rough guess any time between 11:30am and 2:30pm. After this time, the light will be slightly softer and more flattering for you, so you will look a million times better!

Obviously for winter you need to take into consideration that it may actually be dark by the time the ceremony has finished!

If you are interested in learing more about how to look your best in your wedding photography, drop by my website. I'll be more than happy to have a chat with you about anything you'd like to know on how to ensure your wedding photography is the very best.

Till tomorrow then!

Alex

Alex Kilbee Photographic gets up and running

Well, finally I've got round to setting up my blog and typing something in!

I'm very pleased to say that Alex Kilbee Photographic - Suffolk Wedding Photographers is now off and running.

I'm Alex and, as you may have guessed, I run Alex Kilbee Photographic, and specialise in wedding, portrait and commercial photography. Based near Bury St Edmunds in Suffolk, I cover the whole East Anglia region and beyond.

One of the biggest problems I come across in my day to day business is that people, on the whole, don't like having their pictures taken. Especially their wedding pictures!

This is understandable, after all, there are very few people in the world who are used to having a camera pointed at them all the time. For the rest of us, it's a pretty unusal event when someone is taking pictures of us specifically.

In my 10 years of taking pictures of people I've learnt that if someone is not relaxed and comfortable, then the pictures are going to look terrible. It's far better if you (as the wedding photographer) can create a connection with the bride (grooms tend not to worry so much!), and help her relax. After all this is her big day and she wants to look her best!





The most important thing in helping the bride relax is to spend time with her and her husband to be before the wedding.

I like to meet the couple a few times before the wedding so they get a chance to know me and I get a chance to see what inspires them.

Initally this meeting is to discuss what the couple would like, what sort of budget they have and how I can best accomodate their wedding photography plans. A lot of photographers will tell the couple how they are going to shoot their day - simply saying that currently, say, reportage is fashionable, so you'll get reportage pictures. I perfer to ask the couple what they want, after all it's their day!

I know of one wedding photographer who refuses to shoot any bride who wear glasses or 'won't win him any awards' (his words!)

Now what does that tell you about his relationship with his subjects?

By taking time to talk to the couple and find out what style images they like, I start to develop an understanding with them and already have put them at ease.

Closer to the wedding date I will shoot an engagement session with them. Not only does this give them some more 'normal' type portraits to keep, but it gives them a taste for the wedding photographs and allows them to relax without the added pressues that come from a wedding day. Usually by the time this session is finished the bride to be can't wait to start posing for her wedding pictures!





Of course then comes the big day!

It's natural for the bride to be nervous, after all, how much planning has gone into this day?

By using a professional wedding photographer such as myself, she can worry about one less thing. After all, she knows that a professional is capturing her wedding and that nothing will be overlooked. She by now feels relaxed infront of a camera and is simply beaming!

Rather than worry about her pictures, she now has more time to spend gazing into her new husbands eyes than trying to make a forced smile because she's nervous with a camera pointing at her. By now she isn't even noticing the photographer, but only her husband - and isn't that what the day is supposed to be all about after all?

Visit my website to see some examples of my work, or contact me so I can call you back and chat with you about how I can help you overcome those nerves and make sure you look your very best in your wedding photographs