Do you love your photographer?

So Im holed up in the Den, coffee on the brew and doing the post production of Annabel and Tom's wedding I shot last week - think strawberry blonde, gorgeous heart shaped dress, laid back atmosphere, reception in the pub and the nicest couple ever!...ooh cant cant wait to share it with you all...next week.

In the meantime, I thought I would share with you some thoughts I had on being a photographer. Yep, its the most amazingly fantastic job - I love it. And I think thats the secret, I really do love what I am doing. I'll spend hours thinking about your wedding, what we can do for some slightly posed shots - pushing the boundaries and thinking what would suit you as a couple. I agonise over what lenses and angles I want to shoot in. I write up a schedule of what you are doing on the day, and meet up with you before hand - usually over a glass of wine to chat about the wedding but also for you to get to know me and for me to get a glimpse of who you are.

Yes finding a photographer that shoots in your style is SOO important, but equally important is to feel comfortable in front of them. In terms of me, I think you have to be relaxed in front of the camera and to do that the photography has to be something that is fun, enjoyable and laid back. I will have a laugh with you and your family and friends, the group shots will be painless (promise - no bossing around or waiting around), and we'll have some fun with the posed shots. And, if your happy and relaxed it absolutely radiates from the photograph, and my job becomes easy in capturing amazingly beautiful photographs of you and those candid moments that happen. So, make sure you love your photographer!

I cant leave without some photographs - here are some I took on midsummers last year - if your relaxed in front of the camera, it suddenly becomes to fun to have photographs taken!

Buying a camera

I often get asked about buying cameras so I thought I would share some of my views and hopefully tips to make it less of a mine-field!

Tips for SLR's (thats single lens reflex cameras - the ones where you can alter the settings manually and change the lens)

1. Canon and Nikon are the leading makes (ie they have invested heavily into the digital market and have the cutting edge technology).

2. There's no real difference between the two really - just depends which you like in your hands most - so go to a shop and ask to handle both makes (it doesnt matter which model as they standardise how the camera body works through the ranges).

3. Bear in mind once you've made a decision you will probably stick with the same make forever!

4. Im a Canon girl and they bring out a new model in the entry level SLR's pretty much every year. The new models are always expensive and although they may have more pixels in my view they're not all that much "improved" from the older models..So buy second hand! check out mifsuds.

5. With your second hand body you have more money to spend on the lens. Yay. This is crucial and where you should spend your money. A good lens is going to give you way better pictures than the latest body in the range you want is. Good glass creates good pics. When I started in wedding photography I had a Canon 400D but it was the lenses I invested it.

6. Which means dont buy the kit lens.

7. So you need a lens think what you want to photograph - if its portraits maybe a zoom lens would be good. If its close up details buy a macro lens and if its landscapes a wide angle lens may be what you need. If your unsure I would get a 50mm lens (which is the lens that pretty much shoots what you see in terms of distance).

And just in case you were wondering this is what I use:

Canon 5D Mk II

Canon 40D

Canon 400D (back-up)

Canon 50mm L f1.2 mm lens

Canon 24-70 L f2.8 mm lens

Canon 70-200 L f4 mm lens

Canon 85mm L 1.2 mm lens

Canon Speedlite EX580 II

I like to shoot quickly without a flash so, I just have two cameras on me, and mainly use a combination of 3 lenses - all of which are really fast (the smaller the f number the faster they are).

Here are a couple of pictures of me and Emmanuel on a walk a couple of weeks ago (before it turned to winter again!).

Wedding Album

Whilst Im preping my equipment for Friday's wedding (cant wait - will blog about it next week but its going to be fab) I thought I would talk some about the albums I design and print for you guys....Yep, I am fanatical about quality which I reckon should run from the photographs that I take to the post production and the album that will house the photographs for your lifetime. It took me a while to find the perfect album - trawling photography conventions, chatting to people, reading forums and blogs, checking out the market before finally settling on Graphistudio Albums.

The quality of the pages are superb - thick (like card), and beautifully finished (no gold guilt edges - sorry its not me), but straight edges immaculately cut. The photographs themselves are printed directly onto the pages on indelible ink - this means the colours wont fade and stay as bright and as fresh as when it comes from their press (which is over in Venice). It is also the only company that have the copyright and technology to print over the binding of the album - this is fantastic when you have a really wide-angle photograph that can be printed over two pages with no split in the picture.

Here are a few pictures of an album I recently finished - Sue, the mother whose birthday I photographed had this to say

"Hi Natasha, just to re-affirm in writing how thrilled I am with the album - it is really lovely and a fantastic reminder of a truly wonderful day. The black cover, inscription and the pictures are so eye-catching yet so simple. Thank you so much for all your hard work".

India Wedding

Yes I will travel anywhere around the world if you would like me to be your wedding photographer, but for this wedding I was a bridesmaid...although I couldnt help but shove a camera in my handbag...

Day one started in the Leela Hotel in Kovalem with an evening beach party. The hotel was a bit basic but we got by!!!

Day two of the wedding. The ceremony was fantastic, a mixture of Christian and Hindu traditions - so you had a raised platform with an open fire, fruit, incense, strings of flowers draped as an awning, and the best, craziness Hindu priest ever!!

Day three was a celebration on the top of a hotel roof with a million of Chitra's relatives...It was lit beautifully, and such fun with a DJ, mountains of food and plenty of beer and rum and a drum welcome!!

India

Its bank holiday monday here in the UK so I have a little bit of time to share with you my trip to India before the craziness of the next few months of weddings every couple of weeks - yay!

So, I was on my way to India to see two of my very best friends get married. I had a couple of days before the celebrations started so here are a few pictures of what I got up to...I didnt think I would like India if Im honest - Im not good at seeing poverty, its too emotional, but India is a wonder. It is such a positive happy and beautiful country and people. Yes there is rubbish everywhere, but that coupled with the smell of jasmine and incense in the air, the laughing and inquisitive nature of the people, the bright colours, intense flavours of foods and unbelievable hotness makes it intoxicating.