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The fine art wedding photography produced by Howell Jones Photography is absolutely to die for. You could step right into these gorgeous images and be back there, celebrating your big day. Stunning and divine. Seriously, I’m a bit gaga for these guys.
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This morning, I chat to Warren of Howell Jones Photography, the man who tells stories with photographs.
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How did you get into wedding photography?
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I got into wedding photography when I lived in Israel 15 years ago. I was living in a Kibbutz and travelling around the country with my pocket Fuji camera that my father bought me. Nobody got married in any other season than the summer and they were always big colourful events with lots to photograph. Seeing these weddings for the first time I had so many things I wanted to photograph and never enough rolls of film! I came back with well over 2000 photographs from my time in Israel which in todays digital age doesn’t sound a lot but with only 36 exposures on a roll of film and processing costs it was quite a lot. I realised while I was in Israel that this is what I wanted to do as a living but had no qualifications or training in professional photography. I returned home in 1998 and started a Diploma at college which then lead to a degree in photography which lasted 4 years. I finished in 2003 and set up my company in 2005. I have only ever photographed weddings and portraits.
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Why wedding photography specifically?
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Its the first job I ever did in photography and really enjoyed it. I used to ask friends and family if anyone needed a wedding doing and its surprising who will give you work when you have no experience. I found that not charging people would always take the pressure off a little, once you start charging people expect a certain amount or quality which adds pressure to situations that you are not experienced in. When I was doing it for free I would experiment a lot (as well as getting the shots they wanted) which also gave me more confidence and this is where my style started to show. I would always try to go into other areas of photography but would always have weddings to come back to. Weddings is what I was good at!
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What is your favourite thing about being a wedding photographer?
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Without a shadow of a doubt the fact you are dealing with something completely unique at every single wedding you do. Working with different people, travelling to different destinations and every time photographing something completely different to the last one. It wouldn’t matter if I worked in the same hotel all summer, every wedding would be different to the last, which means that every wedding is a blank canvas and you start all over again. Our style stays the same no matter what, but because each
couple bring a whole new set of friends and family to their wedding, there is just so much to observe and capture that the venue becomes irrelevant and the people become paramount. Some couples ask us to visit the venue beforehand and if they want us to, we do, but it doesn’t really matter because its the people we are photographing not the venue.
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How do you get couples to relax on the day?
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The style we shoot is completely documentary. If the couple want formals they can have them but we say our best work comes from shooting a documentary approach all day. This means no set ups here and there, or posed shots – just leave us to mingle in, everyone gets on with what they are doing, they hardly see us. Later on in the evening , when the light is how I want it , we do ask them for half an hour to do some posed shots but by this point, after most formalities have taken place and they have had a drink, all nerves have disappeared.
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Any advice to any brides who don’t like to have their picture taken?
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Yes choose us ! No seriously, the best advice I can give any bride who doesn’t like having their picture taken is the style of photography you choose is paramount. You must have a photographer that will do what you want to do and not what he wants for his portfolio. The best place to look is the Wedding Photo Journalist Association. All photographers must submit a portfolio of work before they can be considered, once they are judged to be good enough they are then listed onto the WPJA so you know all members here have passed a certain test of excellence. You will find some of the best wedding photographers in the world in this association. If you don’t like having your photograph taken then these are the people to shoot your wedding.
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What sort of makeup should a bride wear to look great in her pictures?
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Hardly any in my view. We shoot without flash which shows the skin tones off beautifully. Make Up Artists are fantastic at what they do, I want to say this because they play a very important role in the bride’s day, but less is more and some artists spend hours on the bride and when you look at her when they have finished
it looks like she hardly has any on – which is a good thing!
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Anything to avoid which might look bad in the wedding pictures?
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We take that many photographs on the day that even if the bride is very nervous and hardly smiling at all we will be able to get images that the bride will enjoy seeing when the day is over. You want a bride to be smiling and happy in every image but sometimes you cannot get this, nerves can play a big factor. I would just say to the bride and groom that the day goes so quickly, forget all the things you have been worrying about over the last six months and start the day with everything wiped out, remember everybody else has been given a task, you have nothing to do and nothing worry about. So just have a great day and don’t worry about anything and this will come out in the photographs
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Which celebrity wedding would you most like to photograph and why?
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Leigh Francis would definitely be one to remember, there would be all sorts going on, I am sure. Great speeches or speeches that are very funny can always be great to photograph, you have to switch between the speaker and the crowd which is very demanding but very rewarding when you capture the atmosphere of the event.
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Any memorable weddings that you have captured?
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I shot a wedding in Tunisia last month and that was probably the most stylish and the most moving wedding I have been involved in. Many different events, dresses, colours and traditions had to be photographed every evening over a 7 day period. Working in 40 degree heat was hard but it was amazing to photograph an Arabic wedding not far from the Sahara desert.
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Are you married? Tell us about your day.
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Yes, I am married to Caroline and we have an amazing 2 year old called Archie. We decided to get married on £2000 and we did it. It was hard work but it was very rewarding, and we could not have done it without all the support from friends and family.
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Any funny stories to share?
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Once I was trying to get a good position during the ceremony and lost my footing as my leg hit one of the chairs. I lost balance and my elbow hit the emergency fire alarm. The glass didn’t break and nothing happened but if it had the sprinklers would have gone off as well as the alarm. It would have meant the whole party getting drenched through and evacuating the building and then waiting for the emergency services to arrive. I suppose we could have done some nice portraits on the fire engine which would have been a bit different.
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What sets you apart from other wedding photographers?
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We have a very artistic approach to the day which means experimenting on the day and in the studio while editing. I always get the shots that are needed in the bag first, but we advertise as fine art weddings and portraits and so we always keep to this style and approach. I only use flash if I have no other option which makes the images look the same throughout the day. I also have a certain way of editing the images and this will be evident throughout the photographs that you see here, it has taken years to develop but it definitely shows clients that we have a very personal style which we would bring to your wedding.
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What can a couple who book you expect on the day?
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The kind of people who book us just want a simple day and a day that is very relaxed. This means hardly any work involving the photographer and it also means more time to do what they want, when they want to do it. It does not mean we can take a back seat and take our time taking photographs, on the contrary, it means we have a big job to do in photographing everything that is happening around you. To be honest formals are very easy to do. The big job is to capture the atmosphere and the best way to do this is to observe and get involved with the wedding. I mingle in with the crowd and chat to guests because once you are with people who feel a lot more relaxed with you, it becomes much easier to shoot from the hip and get the shots that show the day for what it is.
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What is included in your “package”?
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Unlimited hours photography, a 25 page fine art album, an online gallery and an online print gallery, a disc of everything and 25 fine art thank you cards to send to friends and family. We use Folio albums (www.folioalbums.com) or Jorgensen (www.jorgensenalbums.com) which are the two best wedding album companies to show our style and creativity. The folio album is designed by ourselves put printed and bound by the company. You have a choice of 8 different colours for your premium leather front and we also send the spreads over to you by email so you can OK the design before it goes to the publishers. The same with the Jorgensen, we design the images and we email you everything before the images go into the book.
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Both books are very different. The Folio album is very contemporary and they very stylish, printed on photo rag paper which gives it that artistic look. The Jorgensen is very traditional but still looks very modern compared to other traditional wedding albums. Here you get a choice of many different premium leather finishes and colours and also whether you want black pages and mounts or white pages and mounts. We have both albums in black and in white pages. You can make a decision well after the wedding date too,
you don’t have to decide what you want in our meeting with you.
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Can you give us an idea on price?
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£1750. If you wanted to book us we would require a deposit of £750 and once we have the deposit we take the date off the calendar. We will travel to the wedding a day before if you are outside the North West and leave the day after. All costs for hotels, transport and anything else is included in the price, £1750 is the fixed amount you pay unless you need extra albums.
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Can you do a discount for Brides Up North readers?
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Yes of course. We will accept deposits of £600 from any Brides Up North reader, and we will add a further £150 to make the deposit £750.
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How can Brides Up North get in touch with you/ see more examples of your work?
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We have a website and a blog. Our site is www.howelljonesphotography.com with all the information you need about us, how we work, packages and frequently asked questions. To see our regular work which gets added to the blog every week go to www.howelljonesphotography.co.uk. Here you can see everything we have done over the past few weeks and also you can get a good idea of the quality of our work. The best way to see the quality of our work though is to arrange a meeting so you can view the albums. This will really show you the quality of the print and the paper we use, after all the wedding album is the most important part of what we do. If you cut costs on the album what is the point in having great photography!
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Anything else we should know?
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If you are struggling with the amount of photographers there are to choose from then please get in touch. Even if you looked at our work and wanted somebody else to do it then send us an email. I am in touch with great photographers up and down the country who all have different styles and I will know someone who will fit the bill for what you are looking for. There are so many out there it can be quite daunting as most of you are new to all this and don’t have time to research every single photographer you come across. Being in the business for the last five years I have a good insight into who is very good for the price
they charge and who isn’t. I wouldn’t mind if you didn’t us to photograph your wedding, I know that our style doesn’t suit everyone but I also know that there are lots of couples out there who we are perfect for.
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Three little words Brides Up North. Get. Them. Booked.
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Click here to see a recent featured Real Wedding from Howell Jones Photography.
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Brides Up North UK Wedding Blog – Images © 2011 Howell Jones Photography
Howell Jones Photography is a Brides Up North Featured Supplier
Contact Brides Up North to submit your business as a Featured Supplier
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