Guy Collier is a super-talented photographer based in Basingstoke. We love his natural images, full of colour and personality!
Guy contacted Bridal Soup with his thoughts about engagement shoots. Not sure what we’re talking about? Over to you, Guy!
Pre-wedding shoot, e-shoot, e-session.
They’re the same thing – a chance for you to meet up with your photographer and get a feel for how he or she works, to see how they are behind the camera, how they achieve the style you’ve booked them to deliver. My couples usually tell me they’re nervous, don’t know how to act when they have a camera pointed at them, that they worry about how they’ll look. Almost without fail the worry is misplaced. It’s about trying to relax, to feel like the camera isn’t there. That’s our job. To talk to you, guide you, but all the time make sure we don’t lose the essence of you as a couple. It’s all about you and showing the love you have for each other. You’ll know how the photographer works before the wedding day itself and that will help take some of the pressure off.
But it’s more than that – it’s a chance for us photographers to see how you are under the spotlight. I don’t direct any part of a wedding shoot bar the small number of formal group shots, so in many ways the pre-wedding shoot is quite different. It does mean that I can get a good idea of how comfortable brides and grooms are before the day itself. It’s also a great chance to have a talk about the wedding day again, to calm any nerves, identify any specific requests that might not have been considered at the time of booking.
The ironic thing about the pre-wedding shoot is that you’re in a very different place to the wedding itself. There the bride and groom will be surrounded by friends and family and not so aware of the photographer. That’s obviously not the case when it’s just the three of you but it does really work wonders for the day itself. I love the idea of seeing a couple 4-6 weeks before a wedding. There’s such an air of anticipation and excitement as the months or years of planning near their end. The magic to come, the moments to capture. They’re what make this job so amazing. Every wedding is so different in so many way, and a pre-wedding shoot catches moments as the pace gathers towards those amazing days….
