For a while now, I’ve been looking for a chance to get out from behind my camera and see a shoot from my clients’ point of view. To remember what it’s like to have the camera snapping at me, rather than being the one doing the snapping! After all, the world looks very different from the other side of the viewfinder! So when Photography Farm needed volunteer models for an upcoming couple-shoot workshop, I jumped at the chance (dragging my camera-shy husband along with me!)
Photography Farm is a photography workshop that offers education, shoot days and online training for wedding photographers, a wide support network and sharing-of-best-practice in the industry. It’s owned and operated by the supremely talented, utterly lovely and all-round photography goddess, Lisa Devlin . My first ever wedding-themed shoot was with Photography Farm a few years ago and I’ve been an active member and enthusiastic course attendee ever since!
Our shoot session was run by the amazing Jennifer Moher who flew in all the way from Canada. I’ve been following her work for a while and just love the romantic, cinematic way she captures couples and frames their relationships. While all the other workshops were being hosted in the main studio and outdoor surroundings, Jennifer wanted a more intimate setting for her shoot and asked us to meet her in the apartment where she was staying.
When Jonathan and I arrived, we were greeted by Jennifer…and 9 other eager photographers, all with their cameras at the ready! The shoot was surreal! Being intimate with my husband while 10 photographers excitedly snapped our every move was a unique experience! Only celebrities and supermodels will understand the supremely strange sensation of having even the smallest gesture given an instant little applause of camera snaps. If we kissed, caressed or held hands, we’d hear a little flurry of *snap* *snap* *snap* and we knew we did something right!
Behind the scenes photos by Faye Green
Looking at the photos, you’ll notice that even though they all had the same thing to shoot, they all shot different things. Each photographer made different choices, shot different images, told different stories.
When a group of friends has a favourite story they like to tell, they all add their own flavour and have a different way of telling it, a different point of view, focus on different details, give a different angle. Photography is just the same. The scope for creativity is endless, and the choices you make of what to shoot and how to shoot it determine what story you end up telling. That’s why when you’re choosing a photographer- whether it’s for a wedding, a couple shoot or, well, anything- it’s important to take a good look at their work and make the right choice for you. To make sure the story they’d tell is how you imagine it being told. Even though Jonathan and I had done a couple shoot before, we were still struck by how intimate this one was. For a little while you’re letting the photographer (or in our case, 10 photographers!) be part of your little world. They see you at your most vulnerable and witness your love at its purest. It’s intense! And it’s stripped back. There’s no occasion, no pressure, no big dress. No costumes or pageantry. Just you two, and your relationship.
If you are thinking about booking a pre-wedding or engagement shoot, it’s always a great idea to book it with the same photographer who’s shooting your wedding. The intimacy of it makes it a good opportunity to get more comfortable with your photographer before the big day. But of course pre-wedding shoots and engagement shoots are an amazing experience in their own right. For you as a couple, they’re a chance to be more intimate than you can be on a wedding day, because you’re not surrounded by people or on a deadline before the next ‘event’. They afford you the opportunity to be more creative, take more time and paint a picture of your relationship. To craft a love story specific to who you are as a couple.
I’d like to say a very special thank you to all the talented photographers who worked with us that day. You’ve all captured some very special memories for us which we’ll treasure forever. Thank you, they mean the world to us.
