It's technically the winter season for us, time to catch up on editing, personal projects, albums and post-wedding bits........or so you would think! It's not the case this year as we have a few fantastic weddings lined up for November - notably Catherine & Dean on Saturday and Victoria & Peter at the end of the month. We're also quite busy through December, January and even February next year which is great! Traditionally we wouldn't be doing wedding photography at this time of year but it's brilliant to be out working in the crisp cool air, photographing some stunning couples in equally stunning venues - Helen & James' wedding a couple of weeks ago was testement to that - beautiful autumnal skies, golden leaves on the trees - stunning colours, textures and some great opportunities to capture a different side of the wedding business.

Sadly no bonfire night for me this year though because of work - but still, toffee apples get stuck in my teeth anyway

We started off at Helen's parents' house (and the Marriott for James) followed by a ceremony at Abbington church, then we went for a walk around some gorgeous tree-lined avenues followed by a marquee reception back at Helen's parents' house again - lovely grounds, lovely marquee - the sky filled with fireworks, fairy lights adorning the trees and a casino - fabulous day, fabulous night.

Right, off to upload today's work and prepare for tomorrow at Milton Keynes. If anyone's interested we'll be at the Milton Keynes Stadium for their wedding exhibition - it's the last show of the season for us until January, and we're looking forward to the break!

We had a good day on Sunday at the Three Swans Wedding Exhibition. Not too many people turned out (as the National Wedding Show at the NEC was on!) however we talked to plenty of people that had genuine interest in booking their wedding photography with us. Many thanks to those that have been in touch over the past week, particularly Larissa & Ben with whom we're looking forward to working next year - again, lovely people, always nice to work with

Some good interest at the show, however we're looking forward to Uttoxeter Racecourse this coming Sunday (18th) and then Milton Keynes Stadium the week after on the 25th. That's it then until the spring where we're looking forward to some new venues. We've been thinking recently about the National Wedding Show at the NEC in Birmingham - you never know, next autumn we may be putting in an appearance!

It starts at 11am, ends at 3pm. Held at the Best Western Three Swans, Market Harborough, LE16 7NJ. See you in 8 hours

If you have any thoughts on something like that I'd be eager to hear them

BBC's coverage, Express' coverage, Metro's coverage.

Now, this is quite shocking and atrocious not to mention detrimental to our jobs as photographers - I fear that it will show a great deal of us in a bad light to the public - I want to reassure you that this is not the case with every photographer! Generally I wouldn't be posting a blog about this but this guy charged £1450 - I'd expect that sort of service from someone around the £300/£400 mark - but not this.

I feel it's important for me to pick up on something else that has reared its ugly head in the past and in this story - photography associations. Now, I don't mean to preach - more educate when I say this, the vast majority of photography associations (MPA, SWPP, BIPP, WPPI, WPJA and so on) are essentially just photography clubs (the guy in question was a member of the SWPP) - I feel that this is important for brides and grooms to know before they do their research into their wedding photographer. None of them have particularly strict guidelines or quality standards and some even (in the SWPP's case of which the photographer in the story was a member) no quality standards at all. There is no governing body to which we have to adhere to in terms of quality - which is a shame. Essentially, once you've paid your membership you're allowed to put letters after your name - would you hire Joe Bloggs, a DJ with DJCF after his name (DJ's Chat Forum - not a real example!!)

I know it sounds harsh and I have no doubt many photographers will be after using part of my hide as a new belt - but the reality is that many 'associations' are mere clubs, enabling photographers to put letter after their names to bamboozle potential clients - it's like gloss paint, makes anything look shiny and attractive despite what's underneath.

I also feel it fair to point out that there are a great deal of photographers under the belts of the SWPP, MPA, BIPP etc. that *are* worth their weight in gold, many can produce consistent and good quality - but it only takes one bad egg.........I also agree with the fact that it can help aspiring photographers to gain a certain amount of credibility whilst starting out, but does that mean they can give you the goods? So please, when looking for your wedding photographer (even if it's not us) just think about the importance of those letters.

I have always maintained that the best way to chose your photographer is to:

1. Have a face to face meeting, ensure you both get along - I always personally visit every one of our clients at least once to make sure we all click and to ensure you feel comfortable;

2. Look through at least a couple of sample albums. Albums (like ours) should showcase images from ONE wedding each proving that the photographer can provide consistent results throughout the day aside from their award-winning selection of four from the shoot. Also look out for people not looking at the camera - something often missed - because if the bride and groom aren't looking, or if the people in the posed shots aren't looking then that photographer hasn't done a wedding of their own accord - they may have been a 'second shooter' as we call it, but make sure that if they show you a bunch of photos with people looking away that you ask the question about solo weddings, and make sure you think they're being honest;

3. Look through a good selection of images from several weddings too - one of the common pitfalls (aside from people not looking) that bad photographers fall into is 'blowing out the highlights' - have a good look at the bride's dress, can you see the detail? If not then it's more than likely to have been lost forever - is that how you want your dress to look? Occasionally it's done for artistic merit, always ask. Always check for posing, we don't spend an eternity getting it right as we'd rather be efficient in getting the job done, but does the posing look a mess? That can mean a lack of experience;

3. Seek references from past clients - we have a list as long as your arm of people from 2005 to last week that are happy to speak of how they felt about us on the day.

We're not members of associations or clubs, nor do we enter photographs into competitions - we're far too busy actually concentrating on delivering consistently good work - I also much prefer spending the money I'd save joining an association on new cameras!

I know we're not cheap, but I'd like to think that the quality, consistency and standard of the work we supply far surpasses that of anyone else in our price range. Plus we don't take photos like the guy in the article above

Sorry for the rant, any questions?!

So.......apologies if you've missed us - but we're back!

As usual, lots of editing tonight - Claire & Mark's wedding is undergoing our pre-selection, Keeley & Dave's is going through the final edit for their slideshow and royalty-free disc and finally Liz & Phil's is undergoing......actually, pretty much the same as Keeley & Dave's!

Busy busy busy! Just got time to post a couple of quick images of Claire & Mark's - I'm sure there will be more to come........

Oh, and who should pop in an appearance? Only Faces of Disco from Britain's Got Talent!

*no gremlins were harmed in the making of this post.