Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer
Wedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographerWedding photograph by Martin Hemsley, wedding photographer

Photographs you will treasure, from a day like no other

Lonely Hearts

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Monday
,
30
September 2013
SWPP-1

This week on the blog I'll be aiming to give you a little more of an idea into the background of the life of a wedding photographer in the West Midlands area. I hope this doesn't come across as being about me, me, me, all the time; after all I don't want to sound like one of those 'Nobby No Mates' you might see in the 'Lonely Hearts' columns. So why would I sound like a Nobby No Mate?

Being a Wedding Photographer is actually quite a lonely job. Most people may not realise this because they only see us at work on the busy wedding day itself, surrounded by loads of people. However that's only a small part of the job. There is all the planning to be done before the wedding day. Then the huge workload after the wedding day; backing up, cataloguing, editing, album design, admin, advertising, social media, marketing and wedding fayre attendance. Most of these things happen in front of the computer, on your tod. Don't get me wrong I'm not moaning, but now perhaps you can understand that 95% of wedding photography is solitary work.

Having said that, the last two weeks I've been much more social than normal, and have met up for coffee with other photographers in the West Midlands and have also attended three different types of workshops. All of which will feature this week on the blog. A few weeks ago I had a conversation with my friend and fellow wedding photographer Cathy, and she asked me if I was going to attend the John Denton workshop in Nottingham. I'd somehow missed the advertising for this workshop, probably due to be being rather busy during the main summer season. So I promptly booked myself onto it. The course was titled 'Light, Pose, Shoot'.

Della with studio lighting

For a while now I've been a keen and active member of the SWPP. The SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers) is a fantastic organisation that aims to help professionals improve themselves. They encourage people to work together, improve the industry and provide excellent training. No bad thing in my book. Photography is such a science, and the level of technique that can be employed is quite staggering. Professional camera bodies are like super computers these days. 

Ring flash on Della

Attending the workshop in Nottingham was great fun. I learnt a few neat tricks, and also met some new people in this (lonely) industry. One thing that stood out and really struck me though, and was a real pleasure to witness, was the sheer amount of passion that John had for photography. It was infectious, and a great reminder as to why most photographers are photographers.

It was also great meeting and chatting with other photographers. So I learnt new things, took these images (of the model Della), and shared the passion of photography with other people. Not a bad day out of the office away from the computer. In the magazine titled 'Professional Photographer', Kate Hopewell-Smith is a regular contributor. I love reading her articles and greatly respect her work as a photographer. I was lucky to meet Kate earlier this summer at a trade show and had a lovely chat with her. In his month's publication she penned a quote once said by Natalie Portman that goes "I don't love studying. I hate studying. I like learning. Learning is beautiful".

Remote flash

Hopefully this article didn't sound too ranty, I thought it might be a nice change from the normal posts. If you enjoyed it, then you might like a more chilled post written last year during the Autumn, click here for the link. Please feel free to share away on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and Pinterest by using the social media icons below. Or even leave a comment. The next post puts me in even more of a danger of sounding like a Nobby No Mate. All will be revealed in a few days, see you then.

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