All your tog questions here...

I read your post a few times so don't need to read again. Most of the time is pretty strong. I would have probably said (if I'd ever seen it) very few magazines only feature weddings IF you advertise with them but as I have never witnessed that, this is why I disagree. Which magazines are you referring to Bill?

Again I disagree with your second point. Have you considered that some of my brides want their wedding submitted because it is the magazine they purchased during their planning?

I agree that the bride needs to see a full wedding, several weddings in fact but lets not tell people that Photographers have basically paid for their feature to be there because it's not true in most cases!

Stacey xox"

I agree with most of this list - most importantly, I agree with the qualifications part - if you are capable of getting qualified for your chosen career, why wouldn't you? There are no regulations at the moment, and it's hard to see a time when there will be but, if there was any regulation, the first part would be to ensure you are qualified to do what you do.

To that list, I would add insurance - again for similar reasons as above.

Oh, and another question for those who are "award winning!... who was the awarding body and what is their status in the chosen field.

Qualifications is an interesting one, I think it used to be a very important thing but nowadays it seems that anyone can get a qualification, I've seen some "qualified" "professional"photographers with some seriously questionable technical skills... I know there's some qualification bodies that are more reputable than others but not very knowledgable about what's out there. On the flipside, if you can self-teach (considering how many resources the Internet brings) then why would you pay someone to tell you what you already know?

What's really interesting though is how important qualifications are perceived by couples.

Anyone can get a qualification and so they should. Nobody argues if anyone can become a qualified plumber or electrician? It's not about getting technical skills or the ability to know when to 'click', it's the mentality of doing something right and in professional manner for your 'trade'.

I haven't got any questions to add but just wanted to say thanks - this is a great idea. Choosing a tog is next on our to do list so this will be a massive help when it comes to making any decisions.

The issue i have with an unqualified photographer is that anyone can point and click take a good photo and call themselfs a TOG.

I personally think qualifcation along with portfolio and reviews are a very important aspect to my choosing a tog for my wedding and my partner agreed with me. I wouldnt have someone who didnt have a good qualification by a respectable awarding body, the same as i wouldnt hire a tog without seeing their portfolio.


icapturephotography.co.uk is who i am using for our wedding and im more than impressed with him


Refering to what i was saying earlier here are some pictures i've taken over a period of time and editied they are of my nephews, sweets, wine various things really but it proves my point that anyone can point click and edit but it doesnt mean they should run the risk with a couples big day.

Wow Stacey, you're better than some togs I've seen, wanna become a wedding tog One thing I would say is that weddings are quite different from still life and posed portraits, when in the hands of anyone it can turn out like this: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/picturegalleries/howaboutthat/9216685/Are-these-the-worst-wedding-pictures-ever.html

I have seen this very official board where you need to do a lot of work to a certain quality to get a licentiate and that did have a high benchmark for quality. However some people will take a photography course for a short period of time and then claim to be qualified, so I think brides need to know the difference between being qualified for a respected association and having a certificate from your local college.

The Royal Photographic Society!! That's the one! Name finally came to me

Lol thanks, photography is my hobby nursing is my career

It annoys me when people take those short courses and then suddenly think they are gods gift. I did a lot of research into awarding bodies and qualification before i starting hunting for the perfect tog for me... i just happened to find him at a wedding fair where he had his certs on show and i noticed them and was rather impressed. He was the only one there that didnt back you into a corner trying to sell their service to you.

Two of the things my tog said to me in our consultation was if you know what your doing, passionate about it and good at it then you dont need to ram your service down peoples throats to sell your service as they will hunt you out and the 2nd was that he said 'I'm not a photographer i'm a storyteller, i wont photograph your wedding i will capture it and tell it's story'.

If I knew a mechanic who I knew could do a job job because I'd seen his past work, I would happily let him work on my car. I would be interested in hiring him for what results he could produce, but that can come from experience. Whilst it's true that he could go and get a qualification, it doesn't technically require it or make a difference to how good a job he can do, it's more reassurance for me as a customer, but if there's a lot of third party qualification bodies that aren't well regulated, then a qualification potentially becomes a false vote of confidence. I think what I will write in the guide is for brides to be aware of qualifications, but possible google what requirements that person had to go through to get that qualification, did they just pay some sort of fee, or did they have to present an extensive portfolio that was judged by a board of professionals?

1 How much experience do you have

Go by number of weddings rather than years.

2 What style of photography do you use

3 Do you shoot is colour and black and white

Further, are the images delivered in each, or a mixture of both.

4 Can we keep the digital negatives (we can they are included in our package and we get a private online gallery)

Most togs won't (unless your another tog) and you wouldn't want them anyway. I would only hand them out to, and have done to other togs.

5 Do you have insurance

Always ask this

6 Will it be you photographing our wedding

This too

7 How many cameras do you have

Should be at least 2, both of the same standard. A 5k one and a £500 one wouldn't seal a booking from me. I had someone say to me that if their camera goes wrong they'd use their second shooters. But then what will they use.

8 Do you have a CRB check (our photographer produced one with us even asking)

A CRB check is only valid when it's ordered by the couple in question. Meaning someone has to pay the fee and raise it. Using a CRB check from 2 years ago for example means they could of done all sorts in that time since so is mostly pointless. Further, if you need to ask for one then you're looking at the wrong type of togs.

If someone showed me one I would see it as a sale tactic only. Followed by that free A4print worth £30 (real cost 70p)

9 Will you be viewing the church and reception venue before the wedding

Some might be familiar with it and won't need to.

10 Can we make changes to the package (we taylored ours to suit us)

Most are flexible.

11 What qualifications do you have

Mostly pointless (these days)

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I'm answering these questions like this is to rule out disinformation. The CRB one came up once before years ago.

'Because CRB checking is a duty on employers there is no mechanism whereby self-employed indiividuals can obtain CRB checks for themselves. If it is really necessary your employer or client will have to carry out the check. It typically costs around £60 and takes 2-6 weeks.'

On the qualifications front I'm completely self taught and shot 54 weddings last year (all in manual mode i.e. no auto camera settings) and have 47 booked for this. I must be doing something right, right?

You can either do it or you can't. Once you understand the technical side of the camera (which can be taught) the rest comes from within. You can't teach that.

Yeah, the short courses that aren't well regulated (i.e. if you're paying the fees you can pass) are what I want to warn brides about, my stance will be don't just take a qualification for granted, make sure it's a legitimate one that's been based on merit.

I was under the impression CRBs were more for jobs where you're working with children, vulnerable adults, criminal justice system, etc. never occurred to me someone who ask me to produce mine rofl

If a client asked me for one I'd seriously consider becoming 'unavailable'.

Purely because I think it's a silly thing to ask for. It's been argued that children will be present at a wedding...but so will 100 other people. Are they CRB checked?

Will the catering staff with their iphones be?

Are you a member of any professional bodies ??

My TOG is a member of ISPWP and WPJA not that I knew what either those were before booking but looked them up and I think it demonstrates a commitment to the profession.

(I am also a member of 2 professional bodies for my line of work)

No I'm not yet Funky, I considered becoming a member of the SWPP, which basically is just £30 (I'm a student) but because it was so easy to join I didn't think it added much to my clients. I don't know if I've heard of those two I'll have a peek. In terms of having a network of photographers who can cover me when I'm ill (which I believe is one of the big perks of belonging to a society) I have that anyway in my peer network.

Edit: Yes I have actually looked at WPJA before but it didn't hold any benefits for me in ratio to the joining fee. I would probably look into this one for competitions in the future though.

Chris you are totally misrepresenting how much an A4 print will cost- if you use a proper professional dedicated printing lab that uses the very latest technology

im afraid that you are going to have to pay at LEAST £1

When the CRB thing came out we all thought that we needed them , turned out that we do not, but some just did it anyway as a sales ploy, and I think the term is frequent prolonged and one to one contact which a child - clearly not what a photographer will be doing on the wedding day