Our Creative Commune

How do you shoot a wedding in 40 degree heat and humidity? (That's 104 Degrees to our American Listeners)

For our 50th episode, almost exactly a year since we started, we're under a beach cabana in Jamaica in the dark, with one microphone, a hotel show blaring next door and a thunderstorm on the way. We've just shot a Canadian couple's wedding, so we talk about the heat: ground too hot to stand on, how the cameras coped (fine), drone batteries dying faster, drinking more water than you think, keeping fit so the adrenaline carries you, and linen versus shorts. We also wonder why North American guests make such good speeches and dance with no fear of embarrassment, and decide a destination wedding is just a normal wedding in different weather.

Plus adding sea to a beach portrait with generative fill, Pete trying to film underwater on an iPhone, a listener's tip about making the couple an Instagram collaborator (and the downside), and fifteen dollar crisps in the resort shop.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 A cabana in the dark

02:33 Fifty episodes

03:04 Not really a holiday: a wedding in Jamaica

04:07 Shooting in 40 degree heat

05:38 A long day with a gap in the middle

06:40 A sea shoot and generative fill

07:43 Filming underwater on a phone

09:45 Why North American guests party so well

13:26 Top tips for hot weather weddings

15:26 Shorts, trousers and linen

18:31 Destination weddings are normal weddings

20:02 Making couples Instagram collaborators

22:38 Highs and lows

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can you ask a stranger to move out of your couple's photo, and should you post about it if they won't?

Recording from Jamaica with margaritas in hand, we pick up three threads from Facebook and Instagram. A photographer asked a member of the public to move at a famous spot and posted the exchange online. Our view: you can ask nicely, but nobody owes you the view, and posting them is out of order. Have you ever refused to work with another supplier again? We remember a few clumsy ones, from a video shooter posing the bridesmaids to a team who planted tripods in front of the top table, and decide it's mostly obliviousness, not malice, so be kind and know where you'll stand. And what else could you do for money when work goes quiet, which turns into what we'd want to be at 40.

Plus Liam comes second in the hotel's Bob Marley quiz knowing nothing about Bob Marley, his Ibiza wedding that turned into a speedboat party to Formentera, why photographers always look miserable in the background of first dance photos, and Pete's plan if Beyonce ever sings at a first dance.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome from Jamaica

02:36 Resort life

04:38 The Bob Marley quiz

05:08 Liam's Ibiza party

07:12 A hot, joyful garden wedding

09:44 Delivering films and the joy of feedback

12:49 Asking the public to move out of your shot

17:53 A bridesmaid following you around

18:53 Would you refuse to work with someone again?

21:35 Tripods in front of the top table

23:06 Being aware of others on the day

27:18 Band or guests in the first dance shot?

31:30 Other ways to earn when it's quiet

35:37 Liam's motorbike instructor plan

41:19 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Should you send couples a sneak peek of their wedding, and what should the film include?

With Liam in Ibiza on a job that turned into a holiday, Pete, Laura and Bee answer a listener question about what the wedding film covers (Laura's rule: if she has to sit through the hymn, so do they), and Bee explains why she sends couples a 60 to 100 image preview within days: it keeps them happy for the eight to ten weeks the full gallery takes. We also talk about how long to stay on the dance floor, whether your presence is stopping the party getting going, and the engagement gap theory: fewer couples met and got engaged during lockdown, which might explain why enquiries are thin now.

Plus getting ready for Jamaica (Laura does Pete's packing), Bee's 40th birthday weekend and a new sleep tracker, Liam's unfortunate Instagram verification photo, and Pete's high of the week: a three course meal at a wedding.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Liam's in Ibiza

02:05 Getting ready for Jamaica

04:36 A wedding near London

07:42 How long should you stay on the dance floor?

11:14 Bee's 40th birthday weekend

12:17 A sleep tracker and a new routine

17:26 What does the wedding film cover?

22:03 Why Bee sends previews

25:38 Laura's quick video preview

32:12 The engagement gap theory

35:15 Why sound is half of video

37:16 The Instagram blue tick disaster

43:27 Highs and lows of the week

49:37 A three course meal at a wedding

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What do you do when a couple tells you they're disappointed with their photos?

It happens to everyone eventually, and this week we talk about how to handle it. Stay calm, say you're sorry they're disappointed, stand by your work, ask if there's anything else you can do, and don't get drawn into arguing with a list of excuses. We also ask how much to direct versus document, and what to do when a Pinterest board only half matches the wedding you were given. Then a rant about overbearing coordinators and venue staff: standing in your shot during speeches, hovering by your tripods, and insisting "we always do a photo on this staircase" (in one case, down a stairwell into something like a dungeon).

Before that, a perfect Scottish wedding where every box was ticked, Laura spraying factor fifty on Pete's head at a spa wedding full of guests in robes, the start of Bee's birthday week, and a hunt for a London workshop studio.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Tired after a trip south

05:07 A perfect wedding in Edinburgh

07:41 Sun cream at a spa wedding

10:18 The editing backlog

11:48 When a couple is disappointed

15:21 Documentary or direct?

21:02 Taking it on the chin

23:36 Don't argue with the excuse list

24:07 Losing sleep before workshops

25:07 Finding a London workshop studio

31:16 Overbearing wedding coordinators

33:21 We always take the photo here

37:27 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

If AI can cull and edit your weddings faster, should your packages get cheaper?

A Facebook post suggests AI tools could mean cheaper wedding packages. Bee's not having it: you don't make a product cheaper just because your workflow got quicker, and people skills, composition and storytelling aren't going anywhere. Liam tried AI culling on a 16,000 image wedding (it got it down to 9,000), and we look at Photoshop's new generative fill. Then: do you stay past your hours when the day runs late and there's a surprise laser show? How do you survive the morning after a wedding? And should you charge extra for travel and food? Our view: it's fine, just tell couples up front or build it into the price, because it's the surprise bill that's the problem.

Plus a zoo wedding with no animals in sight, a monkey in South Africa that wanted the whole fruit bowl, and Bronze Age burial sites on Winter Hill.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 A Jamaica episode on the way

02:07 The editing peak

04:46 A walk on Winter Hill

05:47 A wedding with a laser show

07:17 Do you stay when the day runs late?

09:54 Lasers, fireworks and dancing: video versus photos

11:27 A zoo wedding with no animals

16:33 AI culling a 16,000 image wedding

19:37 How to survive the wedding hangover

24:50 Bookings, and standing out or following the market

30:02 Will AI make wedding work cheaper?

36:11 Photoshop's generative fill

38:19 Hotels and three course meals for suppliers?

42:24 Should you charge for travel?

45:25 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A bride emails after the wedding, sad that there's no picture of her with her mum. Should you photograph things a couple hasn't asked for?

Laura sticks to the brief. Pete would offer extra combinations when there's time. Bee reckons we're shooting for the whole family, not just the couple, and that it means putting our egos aside. (Laura fixed this one in Photoshop, using the bride's arm from another frame.) Then a listener asks what photographers and filmmakers eat at weddings: Huel, jazzy salads and a fridge in the boot, the classic packet sandwich and cheesy pasta, and camper van dreams. And a bride worries her wedding is too normal for a photographer's Instagram, which leads us to: most weddings are normal, and the best ones are just people laughing.

Plus Liam turns up 47 minutes late after his first lesson on a big motorbike, we work out whether we'd shoot a wedding in space (no), and choose between a drinks reception at the Savoy and a Holiday Inn on the A55.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Liam's 47 minutes late

05:06 Back to photo weddings

08:12 Two weddings and a rainbow

10:13 The bride with no picture with her mum

14:47 Shooting for the couple and their families

17:24 Fixing it in Photoshop

18:24 What do photographers eat at weddings?

19:29 Huel, salads and a fridge in the boot

22:34 Being fed at weddings

27:08 Camper van dreams

28:42 Would you shoot a wedding in space?

32:20 Is my wedding too normal for you?

36:29 Share every wedding

38:29 The Savoy or a Holiday Inn on the A55?

40:00 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A couple sends you another photographer's pictures and asks for the same. What do you do?

We're all relaxed about a few reference images (usually a sunset, usually in California), but if the style is miles from yours, it's kinder to point them to someone who shoots that way. Laura admits she'd be a lot more dramatic about it if it were another videographer's film. Then the other side: how does it feel when people copy you? Liam minds an exact copy of a distinctive idea but likes being an influence, and the rest of us reckon nothing is truly original anyway. In the second half: the cost of advertising on wedding directories and why one of them seems to rank for everything, why photography prices have drifted down over ten years and whether AI could do the same to video, and how many bookings feels safe going into a new year.

Plus Liam's Apple Watch tells him the band is too loud, an Ibiza wedding that was cancelled without anyone telling the suppliers, why Pete went to Iceland, Pete finding out he's in a table tennis league by losing to an 82 year old, and Liam and Bee joining the village bowls club.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Earplugs for loud bands

03:35 A busy start to the season

05:08 The Ibiza wedding that was cancelled without telling anyone

07:43 The mental load of small requests

09:13 Feeling wanted at a wedding

17:58 A Northumberland wedding with a lovely video team

19:59 Why did Pete go to Iceland?

23:04 How workshop leaders pick their locations

24:05 When couples send other people's work

28:13 How it feels when people copy you

32:55 Liam's Peckham workshop

34:29 The cost of directory advertising

38:03 Why photography prices have fallen

42:08 How many bookings feels safe?

46:48 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When in the day should you do the group photos, and how do you get through them without losing an hour?

Liam's method: take the couple for portraits first, and have two ushers gather everyone while you're away. Then the things not to do: one at a time, generic lists, couples drifting off centre, and the horseshoe that never straightens. In the second half we talk about choosing which weddings to take. Should you post previews from weddings that don't fit your brand? (Laura and Bee say the people matter more than the venue, and posting every wedding makes you make something good.) When is it right to say no? Pete says anxiety about a job is a fair reason, and we remember the groom who stood by the door and announced there would be no pictures of him. And what does a reported six figure, two day booking in America say about UK photographers panicking over a fifty quid price rise?

Plus Liam mistakes a TV actress in a hotel bistro for the singer from a wedding band, Pete shoots his first photo only wedding in a while in a rain shower, and an introduction to who does what, for anyone new.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Welcome back after a brutal April

02:33 A five star London hotel, then a nap on a bench in Spain

05:35 Mistaking an actress for a wedding singer

08:07 Pete's first photo only wedding in a while

10:08 When should you do group photos?

12:13 Portraits first, and let the ushers gather everyone

14:48 What not to do with group shots

20:34 Eighteen people in a tiny palm court

21:36 Who we are and who does what

27:19 Should you preview weddings that don't fit your brand?

30:25 Does a posh venue mean a better client?

36:26 When should you say no to a wedding?

46:15 A six figure booking, and what it says about pricing

54:54 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Can one person shoot the photos and the film at the same wedding?

A listener asks, and our answer is: you can do hybrid, but both suffer. Pete and Laura stopped doing it as a pair because couples expected the work of four people, and Liam says they're now losing bookings to husband and wife photo and video teams as budgets tighten. If you offer it, be really clear with couples about what they're getting. Then, what do you do with a deposit when a couple cancels a year out? All four of us lean towards giving it back, especially if you can rebook the date, because being fair beats waving the contract. And styled shoots: not whether to do them, but passing them off as real weddings, taking credit for set-ups, and the expectations they create (see Liam's burger advert theory).

Before that, Liam's wedding at the National Gallery, wandering the empty rooms past the Monets and Van Gogh's Sunflowers during dinner, and talking his way onto the roof above Trafalgar Square. Plus the best and worst meals we've been given at weddings, a commercial shoot for a candle company in a tiny Shropshire cottage, and an SEO win for one of Liam's workshop attendees.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 Early morning chatter

03:36 Why two shooters is calmer

04:38 The best and worst wedding meals

08:14 Why supplier meals cause bad feeling

09:16 A night at the National Gallery

13:50 Onto the roof above Trafalgar Square

17:25 Can one person shoot photo and video?

20:34 Couples asking for both

23:43 Hybrid ideas, and our verdict

27:18 Should you return a deposit?

33:03 Passing styled shoots off as real weddings

37:05 Same faces and unrealistic expectations

39:40 A London workshop and a candle shoot

44:51 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A total beginner emails asking to second shoot for you. Do you ignore them, say yes, or something in between?

Liam's answer is to reply kindly, point them towards some training, and only offer second shooting to people he's already worked with on a workshop, because you can't hand a stranger your brand and your couples' trust over email. Then the filmmakers' dilemma: should wedding films go vertical for Instagram and TikTok? Pete worries about composing for two shapes at once and losing the feature film feel, then talks himself round to a short vertical edit as an add-on, since couples watch everything on their phones anyway. We also pick apart a wedding directory's published "average prices", which we don't think help anyone, and talk about handling a complaint well (pick up the phone and apologise).

Plus Liam's motorbike theory revision (a toucan crossing is one two can cross), a coffee stain on a wedding dress in hurricane force winds in Spain, a wedding at the National Gallery with a roof terrace over Trafalgar Square, and what to do if you find a sheep stuck on its back.

Our Creative Commune is four wedding photographers and filmmakers chatting about photography, videography and the wedding industry, just like we do over coffee most mornings.

Timestamps:

00:00 The last sunny day of the year

01:00 Liam's motorbike theory test

04:00 A postponed wedding in Spain

06:31 Hurricane winds and coffee on the dress

11:09 A wedding at the National Gallery

13:12 The mystery of the missing wetsuits

15:16 Handling a complaint

19:18 Why raw footage is risky to hand over

22:23 What to do about a sheep stuck on its back

23:24 Should beginners second shoot for you?

29:45 Those published average wedding prices

34:51 Should wedding films go vertical?

41:00 Instagram links, blue ticks and spam

42:00 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.