Tag Archives: photography

Planning Your Wedding Photography

Wedding photo taken on lake windermere in the Lake District

Pre-planning your wedding photography benefits both the Bridal Couple and the photographer

The importance of planning your wedding photography should not be overlooked, perfect planning will help ensure the perfect photos. As a wedding photographer it is really important for me to meet the bride and groom before the wedding. I like to meet at the venue(s) in advance so we can discuss the finer details so I can find out a bit more about the couple as well as getting a feeling for the venue. This also helps settle the nerves of both the bride/groom and the photographer alike.

Planning The Day

Plan your day to make the most of your photographer but don’t forget that your main priority is to enjoy your day! As a photographer I prefer documentary style wedding photography. This style allows the full day to be captured from the Bride and Groom getting ready (drinks, makeup, bridesmaids, bestman, pre-nerves!), the ceremony (walking down the isle, marrage vows, signing the register, sneaky shots of a tearful mum) A few formal photos (make sure you have a couple with your most loved) Romantic Spot (A few pics of Bride and Groom on their own – keep this time as brief as possible) then back to the party with speeches and the fun of the day (these are often the best pics of the day as people are relaxed and I can take photos without being too obvious, these are less forced and you get the natural smiles and laughter shots). This informal documentary style wedding photography will give you the most photos whilst also taking the least time distracting you from enjoying your day.

Bride getting ready

Photographing the Bride and Groom

The style of photography will be different dependant on whether the couple are outgoing or a little shyer and meeting the couple beforehand helps to build up a relationship. Extravert couples will usually feel much happier being photographed than shyer introverts that may prefer more subtle wedding photography. As a photographer I am full of energy (without being too over the top) and will adapt the style to make the couple most comfortable.

Newly weds hand in hand walking through cherry trees

The perfect wedding photo is often pre-planned.

The Wedding Venue

Its a good idea to run through the photos the bride and groom definitely want. It maybe the couple would like photos taken in the church or chapel. To plan in advance it is a good idea to identify a suitable spot that you will get the desired spot. Check for things like seating plans, angles (can you see the couple for the photo. Is it okay to take photos in the church, perhaps the person doing the blessing will not want the sound of a camera shutter.

Meet at the Wedding Venue to get a feel of what will work for your wedding photography

Rain on a Wedding Day

We all hate to think of the dreaded scenario of torrential rain on your wedding day! Pre-planning for the ‘just in case’ is well worth the effort. Identify a nice indoor area preferably well lit with greenery. Often hotels will have a little spot perhaps in a conservatory or orangery that will help rescue the day. Get a a few nice brollies that can be used for outside shots, investigate any local spots (quirky buildings, follies, homes) that can used as a fall back. My experience says the rain will soon pass so with a little flexibility you will get both stunning indoor and outdoor photos no matter what the weather.

Blog by Mick Kenyon Wedding Photographer, wedding photography in The Yorkshire Dales and the Lake District.

Photography Studio Ingleton

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Studio photography in the Yorkshire Dales

Photography Studio Ingleton Now Open For Business

I am really pleased to announce that I have now added Studio Photography to the list of services I provide. This not only compliments the photography service that I already offer but also goes hand in hand with the website design by being able to provide both portrait and product photography for website design. Obviously the studio will also be available for photographic and product photo shoots regardless of wether a website has been commissioned.

The Studio

You will find the the studio relaxed and friendly with photos tailored to your needs, whether it is professional business photos or just for fun, no problem. The photography studio is located in Ingleton in the ‘i centre’, the ‘i centre’ is a not for profit scheme that supports start up and local business. The scheme has allowed me to keep overhead costs to a minimum allowing me to provide a very competitively priced photographic studio service.

The studio is well equipped with both 500w and 400w strobe flash units with modelling lights, soft boxes, umbrellas (both reflective and shoot through) and a large 3m backdrop with white, black and a warm mid-tone colour. I also can offer flexibility in the room used as a studio, with main room being 8 x 7 meters but other larger rooms are also available. A cookery room (fully equipped kitchen) is also available for food photography. The i centre is well equipped with the use of showers, a gym and a bakery/cafe all on-site.

I am also working with an experienced stylist, so catalogue shoots and model work are no problem.

Girl jumping in the air in the photographic studio

Fun photography or business

Photo Studio Services

Catalogue
Product
Portraits
Headshots
Family Portraits
Pet Portraits
School Photos
College Photos
On Location
Food Photography
Model portfolio

The Photo studio equipment is also mobile, so on location shoots can also be done, ideal for workplace, schools and college.

Ingleton is just 30 mins drive from the M6 motorway (Lancaster turn off) and is a pretty Yorkshire Dales Village, although Ingleton is in North Yorkshire it also borders Cumbria and Lancashire. The studio is less than hours drive from Kendal, Lancaster and Skipton areas. There is lots of guest houses and hotels in Ingleton should the work require an overnight stop.

Photos for Your Website

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Choosing the right Photos for your website will increase customer confidence and reflect a professional business.

Choosing the right photo’s for your website is important and even possibly the most important part of designing a good website and it’s not just about the website looking good, photo’s can really help your SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). Here is why.

A good image keeps the audience engaged, a photograph with a caption is read more than the body of the text.
An eye catching headline photo is likely to invite your audience to investigate your website further, possibly by up to 300%.
A portrait photo of you and your team builds trust. Displaying either a generic, or staff photo on your site will inspire more trust from 79% of consumers. Source on how a photograph builds trust by Bright Local).
A good photograph builds trust in the product
A picture paints a thousand words and they can be read in a matter of seconds!
Adding images with good Alt descriptions will increase your SEO.

add a portrait photo to give customer confidence

Include a photo of yourself to add customer confidence.

Getting ideas of photos for your website?

Well you could search Google images for a source of inspiration, but I would not recommend that you use these on your website, many images are copyrighted and popular photos are used on many other websites (and probably the same line of business as you), neither reflect well on your brand.
Stock photography is also an option, but stock photography is often dull and the better ones over used. Stock photography does not showcase your brand
Another research option to get inspiration is to use the Google keyword search, you can find out what people are searching for when finding business like yours, and tailor the photograph to reflect that. A unique good quality original photo tailored to show your business works well when used with ‘alt tag’ including the keyword to describe the photograph.

Bright marketing photo with shallow depth of field

Add bright in focus photographs with shallow depth of field

So What makes a good photo for your website?

Unique photograph
Focused on a point in the photo, shallow depth of field photos are popular (those that have
sharp focus but blurry back grounds).
Photos that are bright.
Relevant photos that get the message across.
Include a caption below the image.
At all costs avoid poor quality, they might be okay on Facebook and Twitter but on your website it de-values your brand and can harm your professionalism.

I put the question out to a Google+ forum (Local SEO Pros), here are the top 9 tips they came back with for making photography work for you.
1. Don’t use stock photos
2. We are attracted to individuals not groups, so bring in personality into your photo’s
3. Show photo’s of someone using your product/service
4. Have the person looking towards your call-to-action button
5. Show emotions in photo’s, but keep them natural looking.
6. Show a photo of how their life is after using your product/service
7. We are attracted to people like us – make sure your photos are of people who look like your ideal customer.
8. Showcase the bigger brands you work with, testimonials and awards.
9. Social proof – we are influenced by what others are doing. Highlight your most popular product (“this is a community favorite”). Use user photos & videos along with reviews and ratings “225,000 of your peers have this, would you like it as well…”

Mickkenyon.com professional website design and photography based in Ingleton, North Yorkshire, webdesign and photography for the North of England.