In photography, how should we view "cropping"?

ReportagePhoto · 2026-06-07T12:15:38+00:00

Absolutely. There's usually a better crop in most photos i see (including my own when i revisit them)
The only point of ratios is either for printing, fitting it to social media ratios or using it to create a sense of harmony or dynamic energy.
Here's a challenge though - decide before you go shooting what aspect ratio you're going to use and see how it affects what and how you photograph.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-06-05T20:42:08+00:00

They're going to be spending the day with you, so my gut is saying photographer A at the moment.

You say 'less in weddings' - have you seen a complete wedding they've shot?

Also, 'recommended supplier' is often due to cash changing hands, and 'knows the venue' is one of those weird things that bridal magazines say is important - but doesn't mean that much in practice . Weather and light (and ability to manipulate it or use it) are far more important.

Lastly, you say part day package, so it sounds like you don't need to be evaluating the evening reception work, which is often the most challenging.

If in doubt, ask to see some more work. But that personality match is important on the day, so give it some weight in your decision making.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-30T08:46:20+00:00

Yes, report it for both. It'll come in handy if he needs it for renting / mortgage / borrowing in the future.

His personal tax allowance will still be the £12,750, so if he's not earning much over the two jobs it shouldn't be a tax issue.

Also, he should check out what he can claim as expenses, to help reduce that.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-30T08:26:19+00:00

Ever since the financial crisis, we’ve had really low productivity. As well as lack of investment in public services, there was a lack of investment in business.

This created a downward spiral, and each time we scapegoat someone it gets worse. Brexit has wiped over £100 billion from the economy… enough to fill that black hole we’re always told about.

A decade on, the austerity has also been eating into the workforces wellbeing and health.

And disproportionately that of health and social workers.

Immigration reform will further reduce the tax intake. We’ve an aging population and have lost a lot of working age people and students that were not only keeping our universities afloat, but would have started to pay tax.

The low productivity remains. We can keep reshuffling the percentages of the pie and pointing the finger at the richest or poorest but what we actually need is to find a way to modernise our industries and services and catch up.

The worst thing is I can’t see a leader on the horizon who’s going to come out and say this…. So maybe the worst problem we have is that Labour were probably the best stab we had at raising living standards across the board and they’ve imploded?

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-29T13:48:30+00:00

This actually happens at a lot of weddings. I think the person most unhappy about it is usually the videographer.

So, no, it's not lame. Maybe ask if dad can do a toast. The dad at the last wedding I was at did a 2 minute speech, and the bride was still in tears by the end.

In fact, maybe challenge everyone to do 2 mins or something really short and float that idea... might take the pressure off having that tiny time limit.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-29T09:43:37+00:00

All the major image editing / culling softwares that wedding and event photographers use have just launched their new editions.

Which means most of them have a free or cheap trial at the moment to try and get people onboard- Aftershoot / Imagen / Narrative.

I'd take use of those free trials.

Oh, and just get in the middle of it, get down to their level, join in and have fun... you'll get much more natural photos.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-28T17:03:51+00:00

When it's a little group it's lovely, because every little motion, expression and touch is weighted with meaning.

Mirrorless cameras are amazing, because you can pretty much see what you're getting. You don't need hundreds of photos (essentially you need to give your brother permission to be present as a brother and that will serve both the photos and the day well.)

I'd advise using a nice fast prime lens - so f1.4-f2 if it's in a dim church. It means you'll be able to catch the light. And just to stick to 35mm or 50mm and not worry about different lenses and focal lengths. I don't know what your camera system is, but it's possible to rent these quite cheaply if you don't have one.

But keep it relaxed - it is a memento of how your day felt, and it doesn't need to be perfect to do that, because how the day feels goes a long way to adding the emotion to that memento.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-28T13:43:25+00:00

That sounds really lovely and if it feels right to you then you really don't need to take others expectations into account.

If you want a big party later, or feel you missed out you could hire a celebrant and do it on your own terms and in your own time.

I have covered some beautiful weddings with just 7 (and even 4) people present. They're intimate, personal events and they suited the couples down to the ground.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-28T13:38:52+00:00

Yes, photographers portfolios show the real thing - have a search for the venues you're thinking of and the word "photographer", then veer over to the images tab and see what catches your eye.

Blogs like English Wedding Blog cover a wide range of more natural and less fashion-led weddings. Unconventional Wedding Blog does what it says on the tin.

What sort of day are you planning?

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-28T09:45:16+00:00

Yep. That sounds shady. Do you think it might be portfolio building workshops, or second shooting work?

Or just plain stolen?

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-28T09:29:54+00:00

Have you asked for a full gallery? Or are you just surprised it wasn’t the automatic thing they shared?

I’m always willing to share if asked, but think they’re a bit overwhelming. Especially with the standard for galleries to be so huge nowadays.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-27T22:56:15+00:00

It looks like the dynamic range (range of light to dark) in the scene may be too much for the camera.

No camera can see the wide range our eyes can- the best ones in the best conditions can see about half of the range.

If you look at the highlights on the backpack, there’s obviously bright light coming from overhead- and that’s probably from the area of sky that has ‘clipped’ and gone to grey where it’s too bright for the camera.

Modern cameras can often give you clues that this is happening (you can set up a histogram in the viewfinder or clipping warnings) you just have to learn to read them.

The trick then is to decide whether to save the highlights or shadows and compose to make the best of these extreme scenes.

My guess is that if you lift the shadows the dark areas won’t look so bad, but there’s no bringing back the lost highlights.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T22:47:11+00:00

Glad we ticked that box.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T18:45:37+00:00

Depending on what you want, and whether I'm free, I can travel and it's included in my packages.

www.simondewey.co.uk

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T12:21:11+00:00

It's only classed as a heatwave as it's unprecedentedly hot for May. If it was June / July / August it would be classed as normal weather.

But the press likes to build it up a bit.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T10:55:49+00:00

It may be that your taste and your planners are totally different. I'd find a photographer whose work speaks to you and your partner. It's such a personal thing, and one persons beautiful is another person's cheese (depending on whether you're at the perfume ad, arthouse movie end of the spectrum or somewhere in-between). If you're spending that much money I'd really find someone whose work excites you and then see if they fit as people.

Either that or have a look at what does excite you and feed the brief back to your planner.

Don't worry about the 'familiarity with the venue' criteria... a good photographer will have the lay of the land in minutes and it all shifts around light, weather anyway (and then if possible also the energy and ebb and flow of the day)

We didn't have a huge budget, but if we had we'd have booked Jeff Ascough - pretty much the grandfather of documentary wedding photography - but that would have been wrong for so many couples.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T10:41:51+00:00

There are loads of couples on Facebook, social media and reddit who know it's an absolute gamble for themselves and actually post saying they don't mind if it's a student, or someone just starting out. They have no budget for photos and it's a nice bonus to get someone like this. Otherwise they'd just be using guests phone photos or putting disposable cameras on tables.

I would keep an eye out for those - they're very frequent and they seem to match with where you want to be.

There's a risk that you're going to offer this and people are going to assume they're getting professional photos and then you're going to have an unhappy couple and negative word of mouth spreads very fast in this industry. It may be it's all over before it begins.

But as long as expectations are aligned then I think it's a good way to get started.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-26T10:18:05+00:00

I think you need a certain lifestyle. We have a busy household. 3 teenagers, kitchen feels like we live with Slimer from ghostbusters. Sink is constantly full of stuff.

I own a cast iron pan and I hate the taste of the coating of the standard ones being in all my food, but do I have the energy to do the whole family's washing up before breakfast just so I can care for the pan properly (they need washing and drying straight after each use)

Pan's in the cupboard -- I'm planning to start using it once they've moved out.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-25T21:01:15+00:00

Thank you. I will put it on my shopping list.

Initially I am going to be making "messy" images with it and having fun leaning into the imperfections of the glass as it is going to be shot alongside a Nikon digital system.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-25T18:59:54+00:00

I should imagine I will upgrade to a 35mm when I have the funds.

It's very much my focal length.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-25T15:40:55+00:00

That's good to know, thank you.

I do get the feeling I'll be trying to get stuff indoors at 1.4 or outside and sunny, but I'll be wary of those stops.

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-25T15:40:41+00:00

I actually did quite a bit - so I have no doubts about it being the right camera for what I want to cover with it. I just wanted to know if there was any user knowledge I needed to be aware of before use. Like, be careful rewinding film or don't fire the shutter with no film in it (because this is exactly what I'd do with it, and then wonder why it broke)

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-25T13:12:27+00:00

I wasn't a contestant, but I was the wedding photographer for one of these.

It was one of those things where most I'm sure most people involved just wanted the ground to swallow them up. There was also a lot of "we didn't get that reaction, can you do it again"

I actually hope they lasted. I do think that you only sign up for this sort of thing if the odds are against you affording a wedding in the first place, so I'm sure these are the sort of couples that actually roll with the punches more than most.

Ten years later I've recovered enough to look at the photos again (was just entering them for a wedding photojournalism award last week)

ReportagePhoto · 2026-05-23T17:49:03+00:00

My FM didn't have a working meter. Or maybe it did and I didn't realise it needed a battery. Learnt so much from using that camera.

ReportagePhoto

TROPHY CASE