Why did we start a photography studio? well I suppose the short answer is because we love photography so why wouldn't we!
The long answer is ... well a bit longer. From my perspective, I started a bit later in life on my journey in the art of photography it started as a hobby when I inherited a Sony point and click camera and used it as a distraction from a job I didn't particularly like, I took the advice of "you work to much and you need a hobby" and I started to get into it, to level that it bored my wife (who ironically would then also fall in love with the art form). I then decided to get some formal education so enrolled to get my advanced diploma in photography. After becoming a "qualified photographer" I started to really play around with my skill set and then started to shop around for some fairly expensive gear ...
-side note a well know affliction a lot of photographers suffer from is GAS "gear acquisition syndrome" I suffer from this and depending on last time I searched amazon and other photography stores I'm either a recovering addict or a relapsed addict-
... to feed my habit I found myself photographing a couple of weddings the first one for free then a couple at very little cost to the clients. Turns out I was good at it and thoroughly enjoyed it ... and I mean really enjoyed it, I love every wedding I've done. The wedding bookings grew and before long I found myself struggling to hold down 2 jobs so eventually had to make the choice do I stick with the job I now hated or go full time doing weddings which I loved ... well the choice really made its self. Fast forwarded 5 years from doing my training and Courtney my eldest daughter fresh out of college (art and photography) expressed an interest in joining me.
After now working with Courtney for a year I find myself immensely proud of the work she does and if i'm honest even professional a little jealous sometimes lol. Weddings fill up a lot of our time during the summer months a typical wedding takes a day to shoot and 3-5 days to edit depending on the size of the wedding. However editing is a 1 person job so the other person has a bit of free time and with weddings tailing off during the winter this free time is further exaggerated.
So with the expansion of the team from 1 to 2 and with my wife Tracey dipping in and out of the business to help part time we have enough resource to expand and diversify and opening a studio is just a dream come true.
I can't stress enough how much I love weddings however every shoot is done with a time constraint in mind, i'm always very aware and always tell my clients that its their wedding day and not a photo shoot, my job is to deliver amazing images without dominating their time and allow them to enjoy there day. Studio work is the polar opposite I can control every aspect of the time booked in, it is a photo shoot so I get to play and try new ideas and build my art form. Studio work is immensely satisfying and I feel weddings make me a better studio photographer and the work I do in the studio makes me a better wedding photographer.
so that's the long story ... but yeah its really just because I love it.
Richard
For more info about wedding photography visit us at www.luxweddingphotography.co.uk and for more information about our studio work visit us at www.luxphotostudio.co.uk