The Federation of Wedding Photographers and Videographers Proudly introduces
Meet Ben
Hey, I'm Ben! The dreadlocked, bearded, overly excitable wedding photographer, and husband to Hannah, the real brains behind our business!
Having spent the first part of my career touring the world as a musician, I found photography by accident. Now, Having shot over 850 weddings in the last 15 years, I feel like I've seen it all, but every wedding is still different. I still get total buzz at the thought of creating new images and awesome memories for couples.
For every wedding I shoot, I know how important every frame is. I want my couples to look at their images and instantly feel something. But more importantly, I want them to look at the images in 30 years time and truly feel something. Something deeper.
For every atmospheric portrait, there's a forgotten tender moment captured. For every epic widescreen moment, a subtle detail shot. It’s not just another wedding for me.
What makes you tick?
Honestly, it's not weddings or photography. I learnt photography as a career skill, not through a growing passion. Of course, now, yes, it's a passion. I look at everything through a viewfinder in my mind's eye and I can't unsee lines, compositions, or light and shade. But I love my downtime away from weddings and photography so that I'm 100% fired up and fresh on a wedding day, ready to create. I love to make things, build things, and be outdoors. I love to hate exercise...Some of my best thinking is done when I'm out on a run, on my bike or swimming in a lake. To me, everything around me is an inspiration, but most of all, I love to sit and have a leisurely breakfast and coffee with Hannah and chat about everything and nothing.
What do you love about weddings?
Holy cow, there’s so much to love about weddings! When I first started in the industry 15+ years ago, there was a slight stigmatism about being “a wedding photographer”. It was almost looked down on as an industry that photographers fell into if they couldn’t make it as a “real” photographer. I’ve always ben proud of being a wedding photographer. Having been a “real” photographer, shooting commercial projects, I’d honestly say that being a wedding photographer is one of the most rewarding jobs there is.
Here’s why….
Every time I show up at a wedding, I never know what’s going to happen. It can be a real technical head-scratcher and you have to think on your feet to problem-solve to create something great every time. It's not easy. Yeah, I could coast through my career and just turn up and shoot a wedding day and make it look ok doing the bare minimum, but I want better for my couples, so always put myself under pressure to create. Delivering something out of potentially nothing gives me a real buzz.
EVERY SINGLE wedding is different too, and that’s what I love. It can be at the same venue 10 times in a row, but still feel different. That's because of the people and the characters that our couples have chosen to surround themselves with. As a wedding photographer, I feel that it’s my job to tell their story from the wedding. To tell the big story of the day - "Yeah, a happy couple got married", but it’s the little micro stories in-between the big stories that I love. The interaction between various family members. The groom and his mates. A long lost connection between two primary school friends, or the budding new relationship that has been bubbling up all day as the wine flows….will they/won't they make-out on the dance floor when they think no one is watching?!! 😆
But most of all, it’s rewarding because I’m creating long-lasting and meaningful memories for my couples. Happy memories of an awesome day. Sad, but beautiful memories of a recently lost loved one. Memories that one day will become a prized possession to look back on and THAT’S what I love about weddings. No formula or AI bot can reproduce these emotions and feelings and that's why I know wedding photographers will be around for good, in one form or another as long as we keep pushing to be the best we can be at every single wedding.
So anyone that thinks wedding photography is an inferior role as a photographer can kiss my ass. It’s the BEST job in the world!
What is your favourite part of a wedding to shoot?
For me, it's the couple's portrait session. I know a lot of photographers shy away from this with worries about how to pose couples, or how to get the most out of them, but I flippin' love it. I love being invited into the inner sanctum of their lives - getting to hang out for a few minutes on a 1-2-1 basis during portraits really lets me get closer to them. I love to be creative and be put under pressure to make images that are not only awesome to look at, but mean something to the couple, or at least make them feel great when they look at themselves. Yes, my photography often looks unposed, but the dirty little secret is that it IS posed. It can't not be. Every single thing you do as a photographer has an influence on how a photo looks, so I happily embrace that. I help my couples see their very best selves through a flattering pose, or starting off in great light, then I leave them to their own devices and see what happens from there as they relax and dare I say, even enjoy being photographed. Very few people know how to look and feel great on camera and often panic at the thought of being photographed, so with a little direction and encouragement I try to bring out the very best in them and let their personalities shine through. I think that's why I love the couple's session so much - I like to take people out of their comfort zone a little bit and see how they react, and 99% of the time something beautiful comes out of it. Whether it's a renewed connection between two people who, in the hustle and bustle of busy lives have forgotten how to be intimate and close to each other, or a giggly memory that comes to light out of pure nervousness, I'll happily be a part of it and capture those memories.
What about the dance floor Ben - Don't you love that too?
What about the dance floor Ben - Don't you love that too?
Oh hell yes I do! For me, it's not a wedding party unless I come home covered in champagne, smelling like an alcoholic tramp, I've had tequila shots spilt on me and my cameras through being waaaaay too close on the dance floor! I love this part of the day. Everyone's inhibitions have gone out of the window, all the formalities are over and you start to see the REAL people in front of the camera.
How would you describe your style?
Oh heck... this is my least favourite question to ever answer because I don't feel like I want to be pigeonholed into one particular style. I love dramatic light, but I also love soft beautiful natural light. I love those unposed moments where the shit's hit the fan but equally love posed images and time to create something where I've controlled the light. I absolutely love observing interactions between people.
I wouldn't think of myself as a "portrait" photographer...Although by definition we're all portrait photographers. I'd never call myself a "documentary photographer" - I absolutely hate that term and the fact that so many photographers define themselves as pure documentary photographers. At a wedding, we're not. Yeah, I'll document the day and everything that happens, but the sheer fact that we're there with a camera changes how people act around you.
So my style, I guess you can say it's "the posed, unposed." It's beautifully dramatic, it's light, it's dark, emotive, documentary or storytelling...call it whatever the hell you like. I just love to shoot what I see in front of me in the best possible way I can, and be a photographer of human emotions.
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