Our Creative Commune

What do you learn about your own job when you're the one getting married?

This week we catch up with Jonny MP, a documentary wedding photographer in Surrey (Mr Sunset to some), who spent eleven years in big brand marketing before going full time in 2015. He talks about the freedom of working for yourself, why most of his work comes from other suppliers recommending him, styled shoots versus real weddings on a cold, dark, rainy night, and why you should shoot the pictures that make you buzz, because they attract couples like you. Getting married himself taught him that the main photos matter most and you don't have to catch every guest, and seeing Laura on the morning was like having a friend there. Then AI editing and culling, Jonny's theory that one day cameras will film the whole day and AI will pick the moments, and why you should never promise a sunset.

His top tip: do one thing a day, for years. "We overestimate what we can do in a year and underestimate what we can do in five."

A heads up: Pete's recorder battery died partway through, so about ten minutes of Jonny's answers are missing. Pete explains at 31:47.

Before Jonny joins, we catch up on the first weddings of the year, and ask whether Instagram reach jumping from 14,000 to 94,000 in a month leads to a single extra booking.

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 Catch-up and the first weddings of the year

13:13 Instagram reach versus bookings

14:44 Blogging and ChatGPT

22:25 Jonny MP joins

29:09 From big brand marketing to photography

31:47 The missing ten minutes, and getting recommended

33:18 Styled shoots versus real weddings

35:21 Shooting for yourself, and how many weddings to take

38:25 Being a guest at his own wedding

44:06 A virtual team of photographer friends

52:44 Never promise a sunset

53:45 Ageing in the industry, editing and AI

1:02:02 Will AI pick the moments one day?

1:05:36 Top tip: one thing a day, for years

1:11:40 Highs and lows of the week

Jonny's website: https://jonnymp.com/

His latest workshop: https://jonnymp-develop.com/aspire-and-thrive/

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

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

Is the wedding industry still a boys' club?

When an anonymously judged photography award announced its winners and every one of them was a man, it started a lot of conversations, including this one. Why might fewer women enter awards in the first place: confidence, imposter syndrome, or years of male dominated trade shows? What's it like being a woman working at weddings and industry events, and having to plan how you get home safely? What can men do to help? Step in, call things out, back the lead photographer when she's a woman, and listen rather than assume. And is telling someone you're proud of them for walking into a room full of strangers supportive, or patronising? We don't land on a neat answer, but we agree it's a problem across the industry, and that listening is where it starts.

Before that, the lighter half. It's Liam's last day of being 43, so are we middle aged now? Liam and Bee plan their workshop (equipment, creative ideas and how to talk to people, for every part of the day), Bee's 40th birthday present turns out to be an 86 mile walk along Hadrian's Wall, and a student loan helpline asks Laura for her postcode from twenty years ago.

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 Running in the dark

01:34 Is this middle age?

02:39 Putting it out to the universe

05:45 Should Pete and Liam try yoga?

08:21 Planning Liam and Bee's workshop

11:11 Birthday plans and Hadrian's Wall

13:35 Tax returns and student loan security questions

23:18 The national awards night

28:58 An awards list with no women on it

31:03 Why do fewer women enter awards?

33:15 Feeling safe at events and weddings

34:17 What can men do?

38:00 All male line ups, and supportive or patronising?

43:42 Highs and lows of the week

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OurCreativeCommune

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

How do you run a busy wedding photography business without drowning in admin?

Our first guest is Emma Lawson (no relation), a Scottish wedding and elopement photographer who shot 59 weddings last year and also runs a planning business for couples coming from overseas. Her answer: hand over everything that isn't shooting and editing. Emma's virtual assistant team does her slideshows, blogs, album boxes and IT, and even turns couples' group shot lists into the quickest running order for the day. She also explains why she never chases enquiries, why she gives her photos away to other suppliers ("they become your mini marketing team"), how she makes reels in five minutes using trending audio, why she shoots in portrait (sorry, videographers), and why, if you're not local, you should leave Skye to the photographers who are. We came away with a to-do list.

Before Emma joins, Liam explains how to relax a self conscious groom (be a clown with a camera), we revisit the cheese etiquette row at Bee's mum's first Christmas, and Pete and Laura explain why they bought an R6 Mark II as a third camera.

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 Intro and a hungover Liam

05:40 Relaxing a self conscious groom

12:28 Don't cut the nose off the cheese

14:32 Why we bought an R6 Mark II

21:45 Emma Lawson joins from Scotland

24:49 59 weddings, and capping it at 40

26:21 Hiring a virtual assistant

28:26 What the assistant team does

38:25 Replying to enquiries, and why she never chases

47:07 Why she doesn't shoot on Skye

54:14 Instagram: tag suppliers and use trending audio

59:55 Why she shoots in portrait

1:02:02 What's next for Emma

1:06:08 Highs and lows of the week

Emma's website: emmalawsonphotography.com

The amazing CRM she uses: https://sproutsocial.com/features/social-media-crm/

The VA: https://wiva.uk/services/

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

Support us on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/OurCreativeCommune

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

How do you get going again in January, when there are no weddings until February and everyone online is apparently booked for years?

In our first episode of 2023, we talk about wintering: easing back in with small, gentle jobs, getting the tax return done, taking time off while you can, and not believing the online boasting. Then kit. Liam's R6 shutter dies in the middle of a London shoot (he very nearly only took one body), we weigh up the savings on a grey import against losing your Canon warranty, and we share our wish lists, from the RF 35mm f1.2 to the R6 Mark II.

Before that, the Christmas catch-up: a Christmas Eve walk with torches and music, Liam's Christmas dinner at six o'clock with ten pans on the go, and Pete's New Year's Eve wedding in the Lakes for a couple of actors who weren't remotely fazed by a camera. And Liam and Bee's family trip to South Africa: safaris, a monkey that chased Bee, and New Year's Eve in a hyena enclosure during a power cut.

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 Happy New Year

01:01 Christmas walks and a very late Christmas dinner

09:38 South Africa: arriving in Johannesburg

11:43 Safari, and a night in the hyena enclosure

14:19 A monkey takes on Bee

15:21 A family shoot in Johannesburg

18:31 Pete's New Year's Eve wedding in the Lakes

21:33 Wintering until February

27:38 How booking season is going

30:11 Don't believe the online hype

30:41 Camera wish lists

32:44 Liam's shutter dies: always carry two bodies

36:15 Grey imports versus your Canon warranty

43:25 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.

What did this year teach you? For Laura, it's that whether you enjoyed a wedding tells you nothing about whether the work is any good.

In our last episode of 2022, recorded while it snowed in Adlington and nowhere else, we're all buried in edits before Christmas. Bee got through 3,000 photos in a week, and Laura is holding to a twelve week turnaround that slipped to eighteen last year. Then we look back. Bee has learned she can hand the culling over to Liam, which has got him shooting fewer frames, and we wonder why we feel we need a photo of every single guest laughing. We also try AI culling on a big wedding, and ask ChatGPT and Jasper to write things for us (Jasper's story about Maud the dog going missing was worryingly good). And our New Year resolutions: we got thin, we didn't get fit.

Plus Liam's fell run up Rivington Pike in the snow, a delivery driver ringing Laura in the bath about a TV that wasn't hers, Pete's 5k route to the brewery with a pint at the halfway point, and an elf on a zip wire.

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 and nearly Christmas

03:40 Snow in Adlington

05:41 Editing hell before Christmas

09:21 Christmas mental load and a no presents rule

11:23 The wrong TV

12:53 What we're watching

14:53 Christmas Day plans and the brewery 5k

16:54 Liam's fell run up Rivington Pike

22:35 A dark winter wedding in London and 150 sparklers

27:16 New Year resolutions

30:20 Looking back on 2022

33:21 Enjoying a wedding doesn't mean it's good

35:22 Handing over the cull, and filler shots

38:26 AI culling, ChatGPT and Jasper

41:00 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.

What would you do differently next year, in work and out of it?

With Laura and Bee at yoga, it's just Pete and Liam. Before the big question, they cover difficult ceremony light (a film crew would just hang a bed sheet over the window, but you can't), the one time Liam stopped a ceremony to ask people to step back, and why Liam is going off his big 28-70 f2 zoom in favour of a 35mm that doesn't make him feel like a target in London. Then next year. Both want to run more, because being fitter makes them better at weddings, see more of their friends and family, and stop date nights turning into business meetings about SEO. On the business side, Pete wants to put some love back into Lawson Photography, and Liam wants more creative documentary work and the old funky group shots.

Plus a cosy winter wedding near Dumfries, twisted trees on the heather that are basically bonsai, a Christmas market engagement shoot in Manchester, and Pete still not feeling like he knows what he's doing after twenty years.

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 Just the two of us

04:34 A winter wedding near Dumfries

05:34 Dinner with the photographer the night before

12:11 A Christmas market engagement shoot in Manchester

14:44 Twenty years in and still learning

15:45 Bad ceremony light

17:50 Should you ever stop a ceremony?

23:28 Big zoom or 35mm?

25:31 Primes, orbs and sharpness

27:32 What do we want to do better next year?

30:34 Running, and why fitness helps at weddings

34:21 More time for family and friends

40:03 Business goals for next year

43:09 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.

It's December, next year's diary looks thin, and everyone online is either panicking or apparently booked solid. Sound familiar?

This week we talk about the end of year slump. Bee reads out the signs of burnout, and Pete reckons they describe every wedding photographer and videographer in December. Then the worry about next year. Does venting in industry groups help, or make it worse? Is the cost of living hitting demand, or do pricier couples just book later? Why do couples ghost, and does putting your prices on your website filter out the cold enquiries? (And what about the advert promising to take you from 500 dollars a wedding to 50,000?) Laura notices our own Instagram has stopped showing our faces. Our conclusions: feeling flat in December is normal, don't read too much into social media, mute rather than compare, message one or two people you trust, and get outside.

Plus the elf turns out to shop at the same cake shop as everyone else, Bee wants a bed sauna, Liam fancies becoming a driving instructor, and fake Christmas gets a hot tub.

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 Morning walk and tired legs

02:05 The elf's brownies

08:20 A bed sauna for Christmas

14:24 Liam the driving instructor?

16:59 Signs of burnout

18:33 Worrying about next year, and venting online

21:09 Do pricier couples book later?

22:47 Is the cost of living hitting bookings?

24:20 Why couples ghost

26:25 Should your prices be on your website?

30:04 Where have our faces gone?

35:07 Breaks, muting and comparison

38:43 Putting awards in perspective

43:17 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.

What did you do before weddings, and what did it teach you?

This week we go back through our old jobs. Pete worked at Starbucks as a shy teenager and came out of it able to talk to anyone (and with strong views on what a tall coffee is). Laura ran a salt dough ornament business at the age of twelve, and later taught dance. Bee worked in retail and at a TV production company. Liam's list is long: a paper round, farm work (including a wasp nest and a hedge cutter), factory temp jobs (he escaped one night shift through a toilet window), nightclub photo keyrings, school photos and a short spell as a paparazzo. What carries over to weddings? Customer facing jobs teach you patience with demanding people, bad jobs show you what you don't want, and if you smile at people, they smile back.

Before that, Laura edits three weddings in one week, we catch up with friends at an industry meetup in Manchester, Liam paints his nails, Betty nearly gives the turkey away at the French border, and we explain fake Christmas.

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 Fake Christmas tomorrow

01:31 Three weddings edited in one week

02:33 An industry meetup in Manchester

06:36 Smuggling a turkey into France

16:48 What did our old jobs teach us?

17:18 Bee's retail years

18:19 Pete's Starbucks years

24:23 Laura's salt dough business

27:24 Liam on the farm

29:25 Escaping a factory through the toilet window

31:57 Nightclub keyrings and dance teaching

35:05 Liam the paparazzo

40:10 What it all means for weddings

41:40 Highs and lows, and fake Christmas explained

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

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

Booking season starts the moment couples get engaged at Christmas. Is your website ready?

With around 40 percent of engagements said to happen over the festive period, we go through the jobs to do in the lull before the January rush. Liam leads on SEO: tidy your website, check your analytics, refresh weak pages and resubmit them in Search Console, and build clusters of linked articles around your key pages. Pete isn't a fan of SEO style blog posts (no heart, he says), but admits they matter if you rely on search. We also talk about keeping your blog current (it's the sixth most visited part of Liam and Bee's site), best of slideshows, Google reviews (Liam and Bee have four), selling more albums, and taking a proper rest.

Plus where the commune idea came from: a house and barn for sale near Bordeaux, and a plan we didn't have a spare million pounds for. Also fifty jars of mincemeat and a turkey heading to France, sneaking an engagement shoot past the Barbican wardens, and an Artex ceiling we never got round to painting.

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 Warming up at Pete and Laura's

01:30 The house in Bordeaux that started the commune

02:31 Fifty jars of mincemeat and an illegal turkey

06:38 Liam and Bee's February workshop

12:25 Protecting August in next year's diary

16:04 Are you booking season ready?

18:08 Cleaning up your website

20:09 Blogging old weddings

21:40 Best of slideshows

22:40 Helpful articles and topic clusters

26:20 Google reviews

29:25 Selling more albums

34:30 Rest and recharge

40:06 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.

How do you make friends in the wedding industry when everyone works on their own?

After a regional awards night where the videographers all stood together, the way photographers used to, we get nostalgic for the old Northwest photographer lunches and nights out (boiling eggs in a kettle at 3am in Blackpool, mostly). Since COVID and kids, real life meetups have mostly disappeared, and we miss them. So how has the industry changed in ten years? We learned from blogs and Flash websites, and now it's YouTube and courses. There are far more very good photographers, newer photographers are braver with their prices, and you have to decide whether to chase trends, stay in your lane or go niche (Liam and Bee don't quite agree on that one). And if you're shy, the answer is simple: message someone and ask them for a coffee.

Before that, we accidentally join the annual Santa walk up Rivington Pike, Pete films a tiny ceremony in Bath and splits a tripod, and Liam's engagement couple arrive in London jet lagged and an hour late, having got engaged over breakfast that morning. Plus news of Liam and Bee's first in person workshop in nearly four years.

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 Sunday lunch and the Santa walk

03:04 A small wedding in Bath

05:36 Filming a tiny ceremony

08:39 Should you ask a couple to move mid ceremony?

15:48 A tube strike engagement shoot in London

19:25 The awards night

26:04 The old Northwest photographer lunches

31:09 Missing real life people

35:22 How the industry has changed in ten years

39:29 Prices, trends and staying current

43:34 Stay in your lane or go niche?

46:37 Shy? Just ask someone for a coffee

48:40 Our workshop news

50:42 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.