Wedding Photography in Portsmouth

The summer wedding season is now here and on July 25th I photographed a fantastic wedding for Hayley and Jim at Portsmouth Registry office. The weather couldn't have been better and the Registry Office made a fantastic setting for the ceremony. After photographs in the gardens the wedding party headed down to The Gunwharf where we boarded The Princess Caroline and sailed the Solent in celebration!

In addition to the legal cermony and Portsmouth Registry Office Hayley and Jim had a Captain's blessing on board The Princess Caroline and literally 'tied the knot' in the old sea tradition.

I'm grateful to Hayley and Jim not just for choosing me as their wedding photographer but for being so co-operative on the day and allowing me to capture some fantastic shots.

For more information about my wedding photography services in Portsmouth please email me at jon.mainwaring@googlemail.com

Having a set of professionally taken photographs of your Wedding Day is a unique way of remembering the event long after the cake's been eaten and the confetti's blown away. It doesn't have to cost the earth either! Yes in Portsmouth, as in any UK city, there are wedding photographers who will charge you over a thousand pounds for a set of pictures but there are also experienced professionals like me who can offer you the same for less than two hundred. In my twenty years in the business I've often worked as a video cameraman at weddings and it makes me sad to turn up at a wedding and see that there's no professional wedding photographer and that 'Uncle Bob' or some other camera mad relative has been given the job for the day. 'Uncle Bob' may well have the latest state of the art digital camera and be winner of top prizes at his local camera club for his sunset pictures but capturing (and organising!) wedding photographs is a whole different ball game. A professional wedding photographer will capture images that tell the story of your wedding from beginning to end. He (or she - there are some great ladies in the business too!) will know the sequence of events on the day, what they are and aren't allowed to do in church and at the reception venue, what are the 'must have' images for the day and how to deal you and your family in a calm and professional manner on what can obviously be a stressful day. If they are familiar with the local area - as I am for Portsmouth - they will also have photographed weddings at your venue before and know all the best spots for pictures and the best angles to take them from. For example, at Portsmouth Registry Office there are very nice gardens at the rear and from certain angles these can be used for beautiful goup shots or shots of the Bride and Groom - you'd have no idea these were taken in Portsmouth's city centre!
So, Rule Number One - Hire a Professional Photographer! Yes our prices vary and there services to suit all budgets. Give 'Uncle Bob' the day off and let him snap away for those other pictures you'll treasure but don't give him the pressure of the formal shots.
The photograph to the right is of a couple being married at Portsmouth Registry Office - now one of my favourite venues.

I was lucky to have a late booking at the end of 2008 for another wedding at Portsmouth Registry Office - I just love a Christmas Wedding!
Feedback from my customers was great in 2008 - I'm always happy to advise people about their wedding photography and tailor my service to individual needs.
Time again couples are so pleased to find a professional service for a far lower price than expected. I specialise in smaller weddings, registry office and civil weddings and more intimate occasions.
Please pick up the phone and call me on 02392 651420 if you are planning a wedding in the Portsmouth or Hampshire area and would like a chat. Alternatively email me at jon.mainwaring@googlemail.com and mark your email 'WEDDING ENQUIRY'

I often get asked if I take digital wedding photographs in Portsmouth - a question which is usually followed by 'And how much extra does it cost?' This is a sad reflection on how certain photographers have profited from the digital revolution in the industry and try to make out it's some new fangled magic for which they have to charge more! The reality is digital usually costs less than traditional wedding photography using film.
When digital first came out the quality simply wasn't up to the standards of traditional film and was inadequate for wedding photography. I remember a conversation with a photographer who at the time I rated as the best in Portsmouth about this. We were all keen for technology to progress! The second issue was that of printing the photographs and the paper that was available for this. In a nutshell it wasn't able to hold an image for long period of time and youwould find that a year after having hung your precious picture on the wall it would have faded. Thankfully, that's all been resolved now and the quality you can produce with digital photographs is amazing.
As a wedding photographer there are many advantes to shooting with digital. Traditional film only gave you at most 36 shots on a roll of film, with certain professional cameras this could be as few as 12. With our digital cameras we can now shoot hundreds of pictures without having to stop and reload the film! This also means we can literally take hundreds of pictures for you to choose from - gone are the days of looking in you bag and thinking 'I've only got enough film left to shot 30 more..' The way digital pictures can be altered and improved after the event has brought a whole new dimension to wedding photogpraphy. I don't just mean 'cheesey' special effects here - images where there are shadows or highlights can be made much more balanced, colour shifts and exposures can be altered and any small technical errors can be corrected.
Photographs can also be altered to black and white or the old fashioned 'sepia' tone from the same original image - these can make stunning wedding pictures.
So, to sum up, yes the digital age is here. And it's a good thing for wedding photography! Most of the photographers I know in Portsmouth have made the switch. And no, there shouldn't be any additional charge!

Over the years I've worked alongside many different wedding photographers in Portsmouth. Inevitably I've seen many photo sessions which have gone on far longer than the Bride and Groom - or their poor guests! - have wanted. When you meet your photographer it's important to discuss this - how long will it take to complete the formal photographs? This will largely be decided by the number of guest you have and the number of group photographs you want but beware any photographer who appears to be taking over the day as his photo shoot rather than your wedding day!
It's quite common for the photographer to take the Bride and Groom to a different location for some shots together but thinkabout how this impacts on the day and your guests. In Portsmouth, locations such as The Rock Gardens, Southsea Seafront and Pier and Hilsea Lido are common choices. The photographer may suggest taking you there in the evening for some 'sunset shots' - these may well be lovely images but do you really want to leave your guests celebrating your wedding day while you disappear for an hour or two?!
If a couple really want this type of thing I will of course accommodate but I would make it clear the time this will take and the issues described here. Personally I would rather find a nice quiet corner for some shots of the couple and if you really want 'location' shots perhaps do this after the wedding day.
For guests (and most Grooms!) the photographs are the most 'painful' part of the day. My preference is to work quickly and balance the full ocverage of the day with the time it takes so that you remember it as a unique day you enjoyed with family and friends rather than a boring photographic shoot!

Of course every wedding is unique and every Bride and Groom will have specific ideas for photographs you'll need to capture the magic of your day. That's why I fond it essential to meet and discuss each wedding with the couple before the day and I certainly recommend you do this. Your wedding photographer won't know that two of your guests have flown over from Australia just to be there on the day unless you tell us! It's essential you think of any specific pictures like this that you would like and tell your photographer in advance.
Aside of those unique special requirements there are certain wedding photographs you mustn't go without. For ease here I'll assume the Bride's Father is alive and giving her away and that the families are 'traditional' with two parents on each side. This is another reason it's essential to meet your photographer before the wedding - I like to know the 'whos who' of the family - if parents are divorced do they have new partners, would the Bride want a picture of her with her 'birth parents' and with any new partners etc separately.
So here are my ideas -

The Groom and Best Man at the Church (or wedding venue). The poor old Groom is often left out as it's seen as the Bride's day! If there are Ushers it's nice to add these in for another shot.
The Bridesmaids arriving. If time allows it's nice to have a shot of each individually.
The Bride and Father arriving. A historic moment! Looks nice inside or beside the car. Also nice to have a shot of Bride and Father entering the Church.
Bride and Groom exchanging rings. This will depend on the individual church but most of those in and around Portsmouth where I usually work allow this.
Signing the Register. This is 'posed' after the actual legal signing.
Bride and Groom walking down the aisle.
Bride and Groom in church doorway. With a nice kiss!

Now we come onto the Group Shots. This is where individual needs come in again and the balance of the time it takes to organise large numbers of groups. My suggestions are -

Bride and Groom with each set of parents
Bridal Party - Bridesmaids and Best Man with the above
Siblings with Bride and Groom
Grandparents. I hate to sound morbid but this is a key picture. Your wedding photographs sentimental value grows with age and for elderly relatives who will sadly pass away you will regret not having pictures.
Aunts, Uncles and Cousins - for each side
Friends! Which really means 'anyone who hasn't been in a picture yet!' If there are lots you can of course split them Bride and Groom.

Now we move on to the Couple and of course nice shots of the Bride on her own - you won't be wearing that dress again so want some good shots to remember how fabulous you looked in it!

Confetti! If allowed, which again in Portsmouth it usually is.
Bride and Groom by the car and in the car - another kissing shot!
Cutting the cake.

That about covers what I would see as the 'core shots.' Personally I also like to take lots of 'candid shots' - those unique moments away from the formal proceedings which capture the day. Remember again it's YOUR day and whatever shots you want you must tell your photographer so we can produce them for you.

When I started in the wedding photography business in Portsmouth twenty years ago there was really only one style. Each individual photogrpher would have their own approach of course but the picures were basically what today we would see as formal or classic style.
Today has seen the emergence of a range of styles including 'reportage' and 'high art.' The reportage style is the 'candid' record of shots which look natural and un-posed - for example a shot of a little page boy sat on a wall looking down at his buttonhole. The advent of digital wedding photgraphy was a driver for this - basically the number of shots the photographer can take increased massively and the technology in the cameras made it possible to 'snap' without too much thought.
The high art style is that you would see in glossy brides magazines. It's slightly worrying that these images give Brides unrealistic expectations of pictures from a 'real' wedding! They are of course posed using models with studio lighting and hours of set up to take one shot - something which just isn't possible on an actual wedding day for the photogrpher. That said, amazing things can be done with software such as Photoshop and a fairly routine shot can be transformed into something really special.
You will find black and white photographs across the styles and for the right type of shot these make beatiful wedding pictures.
Personally I like to mix the styles of the classic formal record along with those candid shots and some of the more artistic ones if the couple like them.
My advice then - look at the work of some different photographers, think about whether you want a simple formal record or something more intimate and unique.

With competition from civil wedding ceremony locations so great, the Registry Offices have had to improve their venues to 'compete' for business. This is great news for anyone planning a wedding! Locations for weddings have really opened up since I started in the wedding photogrpahy business - hotels, stately homes and even the likes of Portsmouth Football Ground are now available for your service!
Portsmouth Registry Office now makes a fantastic location for a wedding and provides some great locations for photographs. The old Registry Office - which is now a pub of the same name! - was like a dentist's waiting room (!) and after the service you piled out onto the main road. Not a great photo opportunity - in fact I often used to find myself dodging traffic to get everyone in the photo!
The new location is tucked away with a nice quiet area at the front, parking and gardens and the rear and is one of my favourite locations for a wedding phot shoot. Locally, Fareham and Chichester also have nice Registry Offices if you are in these areas.
If you would like to discuss your photography needs for these or any other locations in and around Portsmouth please email me at jon.mainwaring@googlemail.com

I don't profess to be an expert public speaker or stand up comedian but having stood through a couple of hundred wedding speeches over the years in attendance as photographer I've seen what works ... and what doesn't!
My Top Tips for wedding speeches are -

Keep it Simple. There's a certain etiquette to follow in the speeches even if it's an informal wedding. For example, the Groom will thank the Bridesmaids for attending to the Bride and tell them how lovely they look - not forgetting the Bride too of course! Covering the 'thank yous' alone may not be the most hilarious or memorable wedding speech but it's better then trying to be something your not and dragging out anecdotes. Which brings me to ...

Keep it Relevant. Hilarious stories about the CLub 18-30 Holiday you went on in 1985 may be highly entertaining for the group of friends who were there with you but for your Aunts and Uncles they may not be so enthralling. Also, remember the sensitivities of stories involving ex-girlfriends and ex-boyfriends! They may be told in fun, but as part of a wedding speech they could upset someone!

It's the Bride's Day! This is a key point - the Groom's speech should certainly mention how wonderful the bride looks, some touching story of how they met or a special time togehter. It makes me cringe to hear the Groom repeat how much of a 'best mate' the Best Man is and what a great life they've had together - I sometimes think he's married the wrong person!

Acknowledge Help and Support. That's everything from the Parents who helped with the deposit for the house to Aunty Mables who made the place names for the tables. Thank Yous are key to a wedding speech.

Stay Sober! (ish!) Again there's nothing worse than a slurring or over emotional Groom delivering a wedding speech!

Let the Bride have her say! Not completely traditional, but it's common for the Bride to end the round of wedding speeches with a quick and final thank you and possibly to present flowers or gifts to guests.

There's my words of wisdom from sitting through countless (!) speeches in and around Portsmouth weddings. For more help I strongly recommend reading a couple of the books available on the subject. For a great starting point for info -

Click Here!

HMS Warrior has to be my favourite location in Portsmouth as a wedding photographer. Your choice of venue is of course a very personal thing and there are some lovely locations in and around Portsmouth. Saint Mary's Church is great for the classic 'church wedding' the lighting inside is nicely balanced, the acoustics are good so everyone can hear and right outside are some nice grounds for photographs. As I've said in previous articles, Portsmouth Registry Office is also a great location - besides my perspective as a professional photogrpaher the staff are always friendly and make sure everyone's relaxed. But for sheer photographic value it has to be The Warrior - the stunning views around it, the group shots on deck and even down below decks in The Captain's Cabin. The staff here are also great and can't do enough for you! The only thing to check is how suitable it may be for any elderly relatives as the steps inside are steep and could cause some difficulties. That aside it's a dream location - the sea air, the sunsets!...

http://www.hmswarrior.org/wed1.htm

It looks like waist-lines are back in this year for wedding dresses and I'm sure many will be glad to see a move away from the wedding dresses that give no real shape.

The trend in 2008 is for dresses with soft, full, graceful lines that flatter waist and bust lines.
Necklines are once again being lowered, to show off more of the neck and shoulder area.

"Bling" seemed to be the in-thing last year in jewellery and clothes. This is starting to appear in the fabrics used in wedding dresses as well. Your photographer will have a natural eye to spot these details but never feel affraid to ask for specific shots to capture the efforts you've gone to in selecting your accessories!

Silver and bright colored fabrics are also becoming popular as is gold - which I remember from the 80's!

The trend for wedding bouquets in 2008 is also bright colors and bling. Adding some crystals to your bouquet will give that added sparkle, shine and class. The crystals being used come in all shapes, sizes and colors and can represent whatever you choose.

Popular colors for wedding bouquets this year are purples, reds, yellows and oranges and these bright vibrant colors that will look fantastic and stand out.

Naturally all brides want to look their best on their wedding day. A professional photographer should know all the tricks of the trade to make you - and let's not forget your new husband! - look great in the wedding photos. Your wedding photogrpaher should make the most of your wedding dress by taking both full length shots close-ups to capture and decorative details such as pearls and lace details.

Lighting is of course key in the photographs and the time of day of your wedding will have a major influence here. Photos taken in bright noon sun can be harsh with un-flattering shadows. A bleached out wedding dress won't look its best so it's better to wait for an overcast moment or to use an area in shade.

You will of course need to smile for many hours and this can become very tiring! A little trick is to tilt your face at a slight angle making it appear slimmer in your wedding photographs - take a tip from the stars!

In deciding your wedding make-up it's a good idea to aim simply for a more polished version of your everyday look which will then look very natural. Choosing anything too radical may mean your pictures look dated in a few years time. It's certainly worth paying for a professional make-up artist and this of coruse is part of the pampering experience. A professional will be skilled and experienced at making the most of your features whilst maintaining a natural look. I'd recommend that you have a trial run before the day to balance that more glamorous version of your everyday look.

A few more top tips to ensure you look the very best in your wedding photogrpahs -

Wear waterproof mascara! Weddings can be very emotional and the last thing you want is to have to start reapplying your make up whenever you shed a tear or two!

Pinky-brown lipsticks will brighten teeth while orange and red tones will make them look discoloured against your dress.

Treat yourself to a professional manicure as your hands will be the focus of a some photographs such as signing the register, cutting the cake and close up pictures of your rings.

Finally and most importantly - relax and enjoy your day! If you're enjoying yourself this will really show in the photographs and those smiles will look all the more natural.

The cost of Weddings has spiralled over the years and it amazes me that couples are willing to go into debt for their Big Day! It really is possible to have a fantastic wedding day on a budget. Here are some ideas to think about -

* The price range for wedding photographers varies enormously. Yes of course 'you get what you pay for' but there are limits! I will photograph a registry office wedding with around 40 guests for under £200 complete. Don't leave it to Uncle Bob but there are alternatives to the £1000 plus services!
* If you're planning way in advance, think about an 'off peak' wedding. Venues, cars etc are all less expensive on Fridays, Sunday and in Winter months. Personally I love a nice December wedding!
* Set a budget and work to. The cost of a wedding can spiral with all the little 'details' like gifts for guests, table decorations etc. If you keep a control on these expenses you'll have more money for the 'bigger' items at your wedding
* Look at 'who pays for what.' This doesn't have to cause arguments! Even for second weddings and very small family weddings people are willing to chip in and help - you can turn this into something really special, for instance can one of your relatives make you the wedding cake? Might mum and dad want to pay for the wedding photos even if you're funding the wedding yourselves?
* Think about the honeymoon - a City break to Paris or Barcelona will be just as memorable as a cruise! One idea is to ask for holiday vouchers instead of wedding presents - when you add these up you could be well on your way to a dream honeymoon. Far better than 3 toasters and an ironing board!

I hope that's given you some food for thought - remember it's your day so celebrate it how you want to.

In addition to Weddings I of course photograph other occasions and celebrations. Working as a Christening Photogrpaher in Portsmouth and surrounding areas is another part of my business.
A Christening is another great family celebration and a perfect opportunity for group pictures and portraits - including of course the child being christened!
My complete Christening Photography Service starts from just £50 in Portsmouth and surrounding areas - please contact me at jon.mainwaring@googlemail.com for details.

2008 has been a great year for me so far as a photographer and I've been lucky to attend some great weddings in and around Portsmouth.
It's always a pleasure to offer my service at prices far below others that couples have been quoted and as well as the enjoyment of the day there's nothing like handing a Bride her preview pictures and hearing the delight!
I'm looking for bookings for December - I love a Christmas wedding! - and for next Spring so if you're planning a wedding in Portsmouth please contact me at jon.mainwaring@googlemail.com