Matt.E.Photography
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Gallery
  • Bumps Babies and Beyond
  • Contact for Bumps, Babies and Beyond
  • Wedding Fair 31 March and 1 April 2018

Engagement Photo Shoot - Ollie and Sam #awesome #engagement #shoot #mattephotography #sunburn

28/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Picture
Katie and I had a wicked day out with our new client family members Ollie and Sam. We've known these guys a wee while now and it was super thrill to finally do their pre-wedding shoot down in Leith. Ollie and Sam met whilst backpacking a few years back and true love blossomed. It's always incredibly enjoyable to work with a couple who aren't afraid afraid to jump in front of the camera and have some laughs. We met for a cheeky coffee over at the Granary ,one of our favourite watering holes , with the happy couple and after a good caffeinating we ventured out along the Shore in Leith. The weather was absolutely lovely as you can see. I totally forgot suncream though :-( big mistake. I looked like a human lightbulb for a few days. But as you can see from the pics below - totally worth it :-) We're incredibly excited about their upcoming Edinburgh wedding in July. Since Katie and I are both shredding for the wedding we're super looking forward to the food as its going to be a uber-healthy Vegan Buffet!
0 Comments

Engagement Photo Shoot - Jenni and Gary....and Brandon #engagementphotoshoot #mattephotography #edinburghweddingphotographer #wedding #family 

28/6/2015

0 Comments

 
We found ourselves down at The Shore again with the lovely Jenni and Gary. We're shooting their DIY extravaganza wedding in September. Jenni and Gary were telling us all about their upcoming nuptials and they sound pretty exciting. Look out for Origami center pieces when we blog their wedding later this year. Very very excited. Jenni and Gary have two gorgeous boys Brandon and Seth. Seth was sadly unavailable due to a scheduling conflict but Brandon came to help Mummy and Daddy get their pose on. Really nice to finally meet new members of the MATT.E.PHOTOGRAPHY family after so much time. This is a great little family unit and we're so lucky to be shooting their big day :-)
0 Comments

Engagement Photo Shoot - Royal Edinburgh Botanic Gardens Edinburgh #mattephotography #edinburgh #edinburghweddingphotographer #engagement #preweddingshoot

28/6/2015

0 Comments

 
We've been all over Edinburgh at the moment with our lovely engagement shoots. Our newest MATT.E.PHOTOGRAPHY family members Kayleigh and Alan joined us for a wee pre-wedding shoot at the Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh. This is fast becoming one of our most asked after venues for engagement shoots amongst new client couples. We had a lovely extra added bonus on the day as wee baby Frazer joined us for the shoot as well and he was fantastic. Check out his awesome hungry Caterpillar hat :-) I've never met such a lovely mellow chappy. We were extremely lucky as the weather was meant to be awful and it held just perfectly until 5 minutes after we finished. The weather Gods were on our side again this fair day. We managed to take in more than a few of our favourite spots and even some lovely new ones with the happy couple. Kayleigh and Alan are getting married this coming July in our favourite Edinburgh venues - The Rowantree Rooms! We're super excited to be back at one of our most iconic venues for our July 2015 wedding schedule. Not only that but there's going to be an Alice in Wonderland Theme to the big day as well. Looks like July is going to be a crazy fun month.

If you're looking for a photographer for you special occasion MATT.E.PHOTOGRAPHY is always excited to hear from new friends and you can contact us directly any time here.
0 Comments

Wedding Photography Trends - Pre-wedding Shoot or Engagement Shoot - Are They A Good Idea??? #mattephotography #edinburghweddingphotographer #weddingphotography #weddingphotographerleith

14/6/2015

0 Comments

 
Like a lot of wedding trends that have come over from the States these days Engagement Shoots or Pre-wedding shoots have taken on an increasing popularity. In the noisy sea of social media, in which we live, photographers can always use more quality content to advertise themselves and promote their businesses. That said, is the whole process just a fad? Or is it tactually a good thing for the couple as well as their photographer?

Well having spoken to my Mum and Dad recently about it they laughed and said it highlighted all the changes in wedding photography since they were married which I can kind of understand seeing as they're a bit shy and don't love getting their picture taken in the first place. They're wedding photography lasted all of an hour and half. We have virtually no family photos from my sister and me growing up because we were all so busy taking pictures of other people or landscapes and nature. But being a wedding photographer I have come to understand the process of these pre-wedding shoots and the benefits DO in reality outweigh anything else.

For example - 



  • Meeting your photographer and actually taking a few shots whilst having a bit of banter can completely remove any self-consciousness for some couples and that as you can imagine leads to much more natural relaxed pictures.
  • You'll actually get to know your wedding photographer at a personal level even if you're only with them for an hour. I, personally, can talk for hours but I love finding out about my clients and what we have in common. So it's just as important for your chosen photographer as it is for you.
  • You'll definitely be more excited going forward about your actual wedding day which is a massive bonus I'm sure I don't need to tell you.  The awesome thing is, an hour or so kissing, cuddling and laughing with your partner will help you shrug off any surplus stress you may be feeling.
  • You'll have some gorgeous piccies from your engagement shoot that you can look back on fondly for years to come. The whole engagement/wedding period can come and go so fast.  These memories however you'll get to cherish for a long, long time afterwards.
  • Another big bonus is it checks certain things off that 'wedding-to-do-list'. For instance you can use the pics to make awesome bespoke save-the-date cards. If you're feeling really creative you can work with your photographer to put together a guestbook with some of the beautiful pre-shoot photos. Then after the wedding you can usually use some of your favourite pictures as Thank You cards for your wedding guests. If you want to go all out you can use them in your table seating charts, wedding programs or even just a simple coffee table album for posterity.
  • It's also a chance for you to really cut-loose and get creative. You can do whatever you want . These days couples do Christmas themed shoots, shoots with pets, romantic walks in Chinese gardens, shoots whilst getting tattoos- it's all great because it's about sharing the best parts of you relationship with the world.


Food for thought :-)



0 Comments

Wedding Photography - Community Vs. Competition - Should Photographers Collaborate or Simply Compete?

14/6/2015

0 Comments

 

2015 has been labelled "The Year Of Community Over Competition". So we're asking should photographers compete or simply create and keep to themselves to themselves. Well it really depends on what kind of photographer you want to be. And that in turn does depend on what your experience has been. We've only recently started networking again with other photographers. Sure we've followed Facebook pages and blogs etc. but we've never really held anything so much as a coffee morning with other local creatives. This wasn't a decision we took lightly considering that your work is your work and once it's out in the ether of the internet and social media people can and do deface your lovely work via the medium of Instagram filters, Facebook cropping, compression and more. But like writers we have to man up and stop being so precious about it if we want our businesses and brands to grow. 

The risk we all run when we start out is rejection. Just about every photographer who starts out, whether as a self-taught go getter or a well-versed college graduate will look for mentorship. They reach out to experienced and recently established photographers alike. The experienced for their secret to longevity in what is a competitive market-place and the up-and-coming photographers to glean what hacks they're using to get ahead in a rising sea of contemporaries. Now having spoken to a few photographers recently ranging in experience from 1-5 years and more recently a veteran of 30 plus years on the subject of business, survival and keys to success we've uncovered some pretty consistent experiences. We've all had a lot of rejection at the beginning of our careers. And I mean a lot. Some of it will be sharp and painful and some of it will be meandering excuse filled stuff because some people just don't like to say no. I did once have a very well established and lauded photographer literally tell me where to stick my polite request for some simple advice - I appreciated that directness more in the long run than broken promises however. As a small business owner and entrepreneur you sometimes want to be all things to all people, to do it all on your own and blaze a trail all of your own. Fair do's to you but most of us are not Elon Musk or Richard Branson for that matter. Even they had to work with and for people and more than likely still do. It's about picking the right people to learn from and model. You'll potentially have to meet a lot so each rejection realistically and tangibly brings you closer to a more positive, open and progressive mentor.

So we got to the end of our first year in business and we had barely spoken to any professionals at all. There was a lot of the blind leading the blind. Every new article we read we changed tack and adapted our approach to the business and the creative. We've only recently just really found our visual and sales style. And it really has to come from you and your strengths. The tough stuff or experiences that no one told us about that we had to learn through trial and error with clients,co-workers and suppliers was all worthwhile in the long run.

We've been looking at the #communitynotcompetition movement that's been talked about in the U.S. for a wee while now. A lot of top photographers have been talking about it and touting the merits of a workers of the world unite mentality and professional practice. I look at these very successful photographers and I wonder about the reality of their claims to be thriving as a direct result of community based business referrals.  The legendary Geoff Ascough (personal hero) says he looks primarily to fashion, fine-art and documentary photo-journalists when he's drawing inspiration for his work. He doesn't seem to look to his own contemporaries for inspiration let alone community based referrals or guidance. We recently attended what turned out to be a formal networking group. It's part of a larger network that descends from one of these American motherships. I really liked everyone I met, loved the banter and saw that they were indeed passing a lot of business between one another. That said, there was very little in the way of creative work to be had or even commercial work. The groups founder was in fact a professional photographer, however he retired from photography to run this networking group. I'm not surprised as the membership fees run at around £1000 a year, not including your slightly expensive breakfast. Now if I had money to burn I'd be all over that because it was a fun way to spend a Friday morning. That said at this point in my career each financial decision has to be made with some consideration as I am responsible not just to myself and my clients but also my business partner and future wife Katie. Without her this business would be an expensive hobby. So the only thing we could do to get away from our own cynicism and misgivings about collaboration was to set up our own Referral Super Group. Now this one we set up is just for photographers. The reason being we're all looking to get more bookings; specifically weddings. The collective experience of the group is also being used to educate us all and help our less established members grow professionally and creatively. We'll be setting up shooting dates where we hit the bricks for a day of street photography. We've even started the tricky business of recommending other vendors within the group. We do this by using a group Google Calendar  by which we can each others busy dates and work out who out of the group is most suited to the client. That in and of itself doesn't guarantee a job, but it does re-route the other potential customers whom once we may have just re-directed back to the magazine or planner website they found us through which seems at a glance to be paying some small dividends from the very first meeting.

School is never out and if you're a photographer you have essentially committed yourself to being a life-long student.  I volunteered as a kid and I still volunteer now.  We do better in community than we do alone. There's more opportunity to grow and help others grow. So as hard as it is to put down my cynical tin-foil hat - I have to say that community breeds at the very least a more sustainable series of opportunities for success. I'm hoping from now on every year will be the year community bests competition.

0 Comments

Wedding Photography - Sneak Peek - Louise and Craig

2/6/2015

1 Comment

 

A fantastic family orientated wedding with the lovely Louise and Craig at the Capital Hotel in Edinburgh last month. Louise and Craig celebrated their beautiful union with lots of family and friends as well as their new-arrival baby daughter Mila-Rose who was a super cutie and didn't make a fuss all day. Big thanks to Louise and Craig for making us part of their big day and also big thanks to the staff of the Capital Hotel who did an amazing job start to finish. Full blog post and gallery to follow shortly.

1 Comment

    Archives

    March 2018
    February 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    October 2016
    September 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014

    Categories

    All
    1812
    Amazing Edinburgh
    Amazing Photography
    Animals
    Beautiful Edinburgh
    Beethoven
    Buzzfeed
    Calton Hill
    Camera
    Camera Obscura
    Candid
    Cat
    Cityscape
    Commercial Landscape Photography
    Documentary
    Doggy
    EDCH
    Edinburgh
    Edinburgh Capitol Of The World
    Edinburgh Castle
    Edinburgh City
    Edinburgh City Skyline
    Edinburgh Dog And Cat Home
    Edinburgh Evening News
    Edinburgh Festival
    Edinburgh Festival Fireworks
    Edinburgh Fringe
    Edinburgh Photographer
    Edinburgh Skyline
    Edinburgh Spotlight
    Edinburgh Wedding Photographer
    Engagement
    Family
    Fine Art
    Fine Art Photography
    Fireworks
    Gay Wedding
    Gay Wedding Scotland
    Historical Edinburgh
    Hotel Edinburgh
    Jack Russell
    Landscape Photography
    Lesbian Wedding
    Magical Edinburgh
    Mature Dog
    Monteiths
    Newborn
    Pet Photography
    Pet Shoot
    Photographers
    Photography
    Photogs
    Portrait
    PR Campaign
    Predator
    Project 365
    Reportage
    Rescue Cats
    Rescue Dog
    Scotland
    Scottish Animal Charities
    Scottish Animal Charity
    Scottish Landscape Photographer
    Scottish Landscape Photography
    Shakespeare
    Skyline
    Soulful
    Street Photography
    Stunning Photography
    The Balmoral Hotel
    The Caves
    The Edinburgh Cat Cafe
    The Rowantree Rooms
    The Royal Mile
    Tourists
    Visit Edinburgh
    Visit Scotland
    Wedding
    Wedding Photography
    World Photography Day

    RSS Feed

© Matt.E.Photography
Tel:  07462 546 019   Email:  matt@mattephotography.co.uk   
  • Home
  • Pricing
  • About
  • Contact
  • Blog
  • FAQ
  • Gallery
  • Bumps Babies and Beyond
  • Contact for Bumps, Babies and Beyond
  • Wedding Fair 31 March and 1 April 2018