Doranne and Graeme

Officially the last Wedding of this year, and what a laugh it was too. Doranne and Graeme live in Brighton but Doranne comes from Aberdeen and they had decided to Marry there, I seem to get a lot of Weddings where the couple live either abroad or in other parts of the UK. I’d never met Doranne or Graeme which is never an ideal situation but we had spoken on the phone and I had a feeling we’d get on well. I found Doranne in her dressing gown surrounded by hairdressers so a quick hello then of I went to look round the hotel. This was my first Wedding in Mary Culter House Hotel, it’s an old building with many new parts added on, quite honestly it’s not ideal for Photography, the grounds are lovely and in Summer it would be great, winter – well thats a different story! We were very lucky, the sky was clear and there was little danger of rain. The inside of the hotel seems a little cramped to me, not any spare space to take decent photographs except the residents lounge – but of course that is filled with residents, and it’s a really dark room with very high ceilings.

I was glad there was no rain but acutely aware that we were as close to mid winter as I’d like to be, the sun would soon disappear, leaving us little time for outdoor shots with no flash. I hate flash, I really do. It’s harsh and unflattering. Now, other Photographers will say they flash looks great and can be really nice, I agree, but a Wedding is not the place to be setting up studio flash heads, umbrellas, softboxes, power cables etc so you have to rely on “on camera” flash – and no one can argue that this causes problems.

I found Graeme in his room and introduced myself and we agreed to get some shots of him and his Best man first.



Just for a laugh I always try to find something amusing. Graeme was one of the funniest people I have met, he laughed at everything, even my jokes which was great.

  
Eventually Doranne was ready – just 15 mins late and we headed off to the service room.

The service was conducted by Esther from Banchory register office, she was relaxed about photographs which was good.


The Bridesmaids were all looking great, I’m after one as a model, guess which one!


This would have been better an hour earlier when the sun was just sitting on the river, cloud had come over and it had gone which was a great pity.

3 people came up to me and asked for my card, they all said they liked how relaxed I was and said that they had daughters or cousins or sisters that were getting Married. People often say that I’m very relaxed at a Wedding, I’m not really but I guess I keep it hidden, they are very stressful. It seems that this is  important to people that the photographer is relaxed, I had never really considered it but one person from last night said the last Wedding they were at was ruined by the Photographer shouting at people and going in the huff. I guess you have to remember that the purpose of the day is to 1) Get Married, 2) Have fun and 3) Meet friends. The Photographs are a side issue really and as a Photographer you can’t let it take over the day.

I stayed for Dinner and then photographed the speeches and cake cutting, it was a lovely evening but once I sat down and relaxed a little I felt really tired, I’d been working non stop four hours and on my feet the whole time. The meal was excellent and we all received lottery tickets as favours, when the numbers were read out no one won, I guess I’d keep quiet if I had won the million on someone else's ticket. I did say that if I won the jackpot I’d give them back their fee, that seemed only fair!

Doranne and Graeme are a lovely couple, full of fun and I can;t imagine any time spent with them being boring, they laughed all the time.

Christmas

Sorry I’ve been away from the blog for a while, it’s been a strange period, not busy enough to have anything exciting to blog about and too busy to do it! Christmas eve was a good day, I’d arranged to meet Katy and Gordy in Dundee at DCA they are getting Married next December 09 in Fife, they live in England although Gordy grew up In Dundee, we actually went to the same school but I was  a few years ahead of him and didn’t know him although I am sure if we had spent enough time talking we would have found someone we both knew! Anyway, back to the point, Katy was keen to book me but understandably she wanted to meet me first to make sure I wasn’t some sort of nutcase, I must have passed as they booked me up for their big day. I’d been holding the day for them for a while, I wont be doing that again as I almost get in a really sticky situation a few weeks back. As of now I don't hold dates, first person to send the booking form in is the person that gets the date. Just yesterday I had an email from someone that had enquired in early December asking to book me, in the 2 weeks between them asking if I was free and them deciding on me, someone else had booked me.

Dundee was very quiet, much more so than I had expected so I wandered round a little to pass some time as I was heading to Forfar to meet up with Karen from Aberdeen, she is getting Married in 2010 in Dunfermline and was keen to talk to me about their Photography. We had agreed to meet at McDonalds – I know how to show a girl a good time! It was packed with Kids having a party so I changed venue to the coffee shop at the country store, it was much more peaceful. We had a good chat, they are a lovely couple and they have just called to confirm that they want to book me as their Photographer which is great news.

2 new bookings with 2 great couples all in one day.

Christmas day was interesting – say no more.

Boxing day we sat glued to the telly for most of it, apart from walking the dogs, I ate a whole tub of smarties and most of a box of wine gums, I felt a little sick after that – wonder why.

Saturday I had agreed to meet Emma and Aaron at Discovery, they are getting Married there in October and we had never met as they live in Wales although Aaron comes from Dundee. Emma had won the free web site a few weeks ago and I also agreed to do a photo shoot with them so we had a chat about the day then walked round the ship (or is it a boat) taking pictures. They are a really nice couple and we all got on well – it’ll be a good Wedding.

Afterwards she sent me a really nice email

“

Firstly I would just like to say how pleased we were after Saturday.  We feel we have definitely made the right choice for our photographer, we all felt at ease with you and happy in front of the camera – especially as I am usually behind ours!!  The kids enjoyed themselves and we are really looking forward to the results and the website.”

It’s always good to get feedback, especially such positive feedback.

We had a walk with the dogs on Tentsmuir beach in the afternoon.

 

450D Troubles

I’m posting this separately as it’s probably only relevant to people that are interested in cameras . Remember my problems with the 450D, well it has gone back again, the pictures were still soft and I was not happy to use it, I’d never use a camera like that for a professional job (although some do) so it’s not a real issue but I want to use it for some Stock Photography. Warehouse Express who have received so much of my money over the last few years are not being overly helpful which is unusual for them. I called to say it was still not right and I asked for a refund, they refused saying that it was something to do with the distance selling regulations. Not sure of my facts I kept quiet then called trading standards.

Apparently it is nothing to do with this but in fact the “sale of goods act 1974 as amended”, don’t you just love these facts. Anyway, I’ve sent it back with a letter to the MD stating that I am entitled to a refund or replacement. I’ll let you know what happens.

Technorati Tags: Wedding Photography dundee,Wedding Photography Perth,Wedding Photography Tayside,Wedding Photography Blairgowrie,Wedding Photography scotland,Wedding Photography Fife. Warehouse express,Commercial Photography scotland,dundee,perthshire

New price structure and more family pics

You might remember from a previous post that I’d been to see a lovely young couple in Coupar Angus regarding their Wedding in February, well a few days back the booking form arrived by post so I’m delighted to be chosen as their Photographer, this year is going to be a busy one, I have over 20 Weddings booked so far and I’m getting enquiries every week. At the moment I’m getting a Wedding Booking every week which is so much better than I expected - thank you to all the couples who have booked me so far.

I have changed my price structure slightly by adding more services in and making a small increase to my fixed copyright free service. My new price structure can be found at http://www.amforbes.com/wedding/weddingphotography.php I have chosen to drop the package that included an album, only a very few people have booked this service and  the people that want an album are generally looking for a different type than the one that comes in with the package. I’ve concentrated more on a menu type system to allow couples to pick and choose the services they want so they can build their own package rather than be forced into the typical Bronze, Silver, Gold packages that most photographers offer. If you have booked the album package in the past, don’t worry, your price will hold, this is for new bookings after 1st Jan only.

I have started offering a Wedding Web Site, this is a small 4 page site that the Bride and Groom have control over, they add their own photographs and information in advance of the Wedding and their guests can then be kept informed about the times, location and other details. I launched this service by offering a free site and a free photo shoot, I emailed all my booked Weddings and almost everyone responded saying they want it. Unfortunately there can only be one winner and it went to Emma and Aaron who are getting married in Dundee next year. I haven’t met them yet but I am meeting them on the 27th and we’re going to do the photo shoot then, lets hope for good weather. I’ll post the link to Emma and Aarons site in a few weeks.

I have had loads of great comments from my family photo shoots, the orders are still coming in and people still want them for Christmas, sorry no chance now! I also got permission to use more of the photographs so they are below. I’m sorry this blog centers round family type stuff, my commercial work is generally confidential so I wont be putting any of these photographs here. I was at a function last night and 3 totally unconnected people came up to me and said “are you the guy that took photographs of xxxxx Kids or xxxx family, they are really lovely. It was great that total strangers took the trouble to seek me out and say that.

Are there less Weddings?

Chatting to someone today who said that there are less Weddings every year, well you’ll be surprised to learn (I was) that actually, Wedding numbers are increasing in Scotland, slowly but still increasing.

So, using the great Google Statistic site I searched for Weddings in Scotland

The graph below indicates volumes of search in Scotland on the word Wedding, not very scientific but interesting. You can see that there is a spike in the 3rd Quarter of most years on the search but a huge drop at the end of each year. Guess that makes sense but I always thought that people would be planning Weddings in January, maybe they think about getting married towards the end of the year then “pop the question” over Christmas.

More Bookings

It’s been a good week, last Saturday I had to go through to Kirriemuir to meet a couple about a Wedding, it was the first time I had met Karen and Jochen and we got on well. In an “it’s a small world” kind of way I had recently photographed Karens niece and her baby. Karen and Jochen are getting Married in South Africa as that is where they met but they are having a Wedding Celebration a few days later in Scotland and they wanted some good photographs of the day. By strange coincidence I also had another meeting in kirriemuir to discuss the possibility of photographing the Wedding of Stephan and Sheena, although they live in Edinburgh Sheenas parents live in Kirriemuir and in another “it’s a small world” kind of way, Sheenas Mother knows Andy and Jennifer (whos Wedding I Photographed a couple of weeks back). Sheena and Stephan are a lovely couple and I feel their Wedding will be a great day. So, lots of coincidences that weekend.

By the time I got home both couples had emailed me to say that they wanted to book me for their Weddings which was really good. Saturdays post also contained a booking form for another Wedding in July 2009 – taking my total number of weddings in July to 7, and I still have a Saturday free! Getting Married on weekdays is proving to be quite popular. I have not even met this couple yet, they live in Edinburgh so I’ll make a point of going through to see them before the big day.

Monday I was in Edinburgh doing a little selling on the Commercial front, I love doing Weddings but Commercial work is important too as, despite what I said above, most Weddings are on Saturdays and there are only so many of them. I have turned away 3 potential bookings since the 1st November so I need to get Commercial work to fill the gap. It’s also a completely different discipline, requiring different skills and on some occasions can be quite exciting. It was a successful day and I managed to catch up with some old customers.

Speaking of Commercial work, I have been asked by a Commercial Client why I never put examples or client details here. It’s purely that I don’t want my competitors to try and steal my work, I do work with some really interesting organisations and I want to keep them. If any Commercial Potential Clients want more information, just ask.

Tuesday I was in Glasgow shooting some Educational work for a client, it was a lovely bright day with clear blue skies. The difficulty at this time of year is the sun is so low in the sky, in some regard it is good as it gives really nice warm long shadows. On the other hand, when shooting amongst tall buildings as I was, it creates problems as the sun hits the top of the building and not the bottom, creating great contrasts between light and dark.

Thursday evening I was off again to see another couple that may want me as their Wedding Photographer, they are a really laid back couple and I think their Wedding will be a very relaxed affair.

The rest of the week has been admin, selling, accounts and trying to get my tax return sorted out. I’m doing a bit of research on my advertising, I pay a fair bit to Yellow Pages for an advert in the book and on line. I have asked every person that has approached me how they found me, none have said Yellow Pages so unless that changes I’ll be dropping my ad next year. I look at the Photographers in Yellow Pages and it’s easy to get caught up in “they are there so I must be”, if it is not generating any business then it is a waste of time.  

My 450D has returned and I have tested it many times, I am still not happy so it’s going back again. I am going to try and persuade them that the camera is not fir for purpose and get a refund, not sure of my rights here but I’ll keep you posted.

A difficult day

Thursday night was a difficult night. I had arranged to go and see a really nice couple about Photographing their Wedding next June. They had first contacted me a week or so back but we could not get together until Thursday due to work commitments. We had a good chat, they liked my work and I was fairly sure they would book me but I never like to take a booking at the first meeting, it seems like hard sell somehow. I think it’s better that the couple have the opportunity to chat about it after I have gone.

I set off home in the snow, when I arrived there was a letter through the door, it had not been delivered by the postie but it was stamped. I now know that it had gone to a neighbor by mistake and they had put it through the  door for me. In this envelope was a booking form and deposit cheque for  a Wedding, it was the same date as the couple I had been to see. Digging frantically through my emails I found an email enquiry going back 2 months from this lady. She had emailed asking if I was free and if I could send a price list, I get emails like this all the time and always say that at the time of writing I am free. However, this lady had just sent in a booking form. I wasn’t sure what to do and I wandered round the house for a while thinking about it. I finally came to the conclusion that I had to go with the people that had “officially” booked me first. So, I emailed the couple from Dundee and explained the situation, they emailed back saying how disappointed they were as they had already filled the booking form and were planning on posting it.

I feel really bad about this as the couple from Dundee were really lovely and for various reasons their Wedding was going to be different, very colourful and I was very much looking forward to photographing it. I struggled to get to sleep that night! I’ve decided that I must firm up on the booking process, I’m quite lax in the amount of time I give people to confirm their booking with me but from next year I’ll be a lot stricter, I never want this situation to develop again. So, if anyone reading this plans to book me, please do let me know as soon as possible and remember, the booking is not confirmed until I receive the form and deposit.

Family Photographs

Well, I promised you a few of the shots of the family sessions a few weeks ago and finally I have some permissions to publish these - thanks to the models, you know who you are!

 

 



The shoots actually turned out to be quite good, I have decided to run one every month starting early next year, watch for the new expanded family section of the web site being launched over Christmas. There are a few other people that I have asked permission from to publish their photographs here, more to follow hopefully.

Web Site Stats

It’s a full month since my new site went live and I got the first set of numbers through from Danny at Aerovision IT. It’s an interesting set of numbers. Firstly I see a map of the Uk with dots to represent where my visitors are coming from. 




You can see that quite a lot of my visitors are from the Central Belt of Scotland which is what I’d expect, also quite a few from London which you’d expect purely because of the population coverage there. There are a few odd numbers, like Huyton with Roby where I have had 10 visitors, it’s a small suburb of Liverpool and I can’t for the life of me figure out why I have had so many visitors from there. Only 10% of the visitors are new visitors and the visits are spread over a few days so it’s likely that it will be someone looking for a Photographer in this area and going back to the site over and over then emailing the link to their friends. They spend an average of 3.8 minutes on the site which is quite a bit of time for a small site.

Slough and Bristol have had 1 visitor each but they spend 14 minutes on the site which is a very long time for a site of only 8 pages, most time seems to be spent on the gallery pages which you would expect. In total I have had 427 unique visitors to the site, looking on average at 4.7 pages, spending 3.43 minutes doing so. The bounce rate is critical, this means people that find the site then immediately leave, it means that they are searching for something different but find my site – this would indicate an error in the search engine wording. My bounce rate is 20% which apparently is quite low, over 50% would be an issue.

 

I’ve had visitors from USA, Canada, Egypt, Africa, France, Spain and various other countries.

What really matters to me though, is customers and since my new site went live then I have had a real increase in clients. I set a target to do 40 Weddings each year, that roughly equates to 3 bookings per month. At the start of November I was averaging one booking per week, the last 4 days have resulted in 5 bookings so I am really pleased. I can’t say it is all down to the web site, about 50% of bookings during November are recommendations from other clients which is fantastic but you could argue that without a decent web site they might not have booked.

I’m working on phase 2 of the site which goes live in January, this will include testimonial pages from existing clients as well as links to other wedding suppliers.