Our Creative Commune

It's our 100th episode! And what happens if album companies start selling direct to couples?

We celebrate a hundred episodes with fizz, cake and, for the first time, cameras for YouTube. In the middle there's real news: an album company announcing it will sell albums directly to couples. The first reaction online was "they're taking our clients", but once we'd worked out how a referral option could work for busy photographers, we were broadly positive. We also talk about how to do a venue open day or wedding fair when you're not a natural salesperson (Liam's tip: talk about their first dance, not your packages), the January lull, Pete and Laura moving Lawson Film School online, and what a TikTok ban in America says about relying on one marketing channel.

Plus memories of our very awkward first episode, past couples wandering into an open day at exactly the right moment, Liam's teenage job driving a digger on a landfill site, the service station game, and Liam climbing Scafell Pike in deep snow with crampons.

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 hundred!

01:03 Our first episode, fizz and cake

07:09 What time would you get up if you retired?

10:44 Work catch-up

12:44 Tax return week

17:22 Lawson Film School goes online

20:30 Bookings after Christmas

22:02 A venue open day in Devon

26:12 Wedding fairs when you're not a salesperson

28:20 A wedding show next to a steel band

31:53 An album company selling direct to couples

35:29 Why couples shouldn't design their own albums

40:04 A TikTok ban and relying on one channel

44:08 Liam's teenage jobs

47:12 Highs and lows of the week

This week we decided to film the episode, so be sure to check that out over on Youtube if you'd like to see our faces: https://youtu.be/v7R2g0HEaj8

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 shoot a winter wedding when it's dark by four and everyone wants portraits outside?

In our first episode of 2025, we talk winter weddings: short days, draughty rooms, poor lighting, and hands too cold to work the camera. The answer is setting expectations early (a few quick smash and grab portraits, not a photo shoot section), and Liam says video lights save winter weddings, especially at a pitch black cave venue. Bee introduces wintering (no resolutions until the spring solstice), which somehow turns into a business plan for a cheese B&B, then an Adlington deli, café, studio and table tennis club.

Plus 2025 as a year of nine, Liam versus his car tyres, a dog trainer's water bomb technique (it didn't work), a scam offer of 24,000 in cryptocurrency per underwater photo, Pete finishing Tomb Raider eleven years after starting it, and Bee's day out in Edinburgh.

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 2025, the year of nine

02:32 Liam versus his car

06:04 A dog, turkey and a water bomb

08:36 A quiet Christmas

09:36 Panto and a party

15:10 Winter weddings are hard work

17:15 Cold hands and a snowy hill

18:16 Setting expectations for winter portraits

20:20 Video lights and a pitch black cave

21:23 Wintering until the spring solstice

24:26 A cheese B&B and an Adlington deli

29:33 Highs and lows of the week

38:38 A summer heavy calendar and Lawson Film School online

41:45 Bee's day in Edinburgh

Say hi on Instagram @ourcreativecommune

liamandbee.com

lawsonfilms.co.uk

lawsonphotography.co.uk

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

SEO used to bring in hundreds of enquiries a year. Where do wedding bookings come from now?

In our last episode of 2024, we look back at the year: a relentless first half, lots of travel, fewer weddings but no less effort, and a long quiet stretch before things picked up. Google is basically dead for Liam and Bee, Instagram (with a little paid help) is working for now, and Pete and Laura rely on referrals from planners, venues and past couples. We talk about not putting all your eggs in one basket, not wanting to be an anxious business owner every winter, and our hopes for 2025: slower living, more time outdoors, Lawson Film School online, and Camp Commune.

Plus nearly a hundred hours of podcast, remembering couples by their faces, a bride's dad handing Liam two beers as he came out of Lake Como with an underwater camera, a Rio wedding with a strict all white dress code, Bee's plan for a bread cupboard with an honesty box, and a brass band carol concert.

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

01:01 Nearly 100 episodes

04:33 Bee's 43 weddings are done

08:08 Last weddings of the year

10:41 Remembering couples by their faces

12:16 Still fumbling through after a thousand weddings

13:53 Looking back on 2024

19:02 Next year's diary

20:35 Pete and Laura's year

24:13 Destination work, Como and Garda

29:56 Nine weddings in fifteen days, and Rio

32:36 SEO is dead: where bookings come from now

43:16 Resolutions for 2025

53:04 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.

After months of almost no enquiries, can a little paid Instagram promotion turn things around?

For Liam and Bee it did. After a long quiet spell that had them doubting their style, a modest paid boost on Instagram and a price rise brought daily enquiries back, with a big lean towards destination weddings next year. (Bee wonders whether the algorithm had been showing their work to other photographers instead of couples.) Liam also apologises for last week's rant about the moody editorial style: plenty of photographers we respect do it brilliantly, and we should never knock anyone's style. Then Liam's invitation to speak at a small workshop in Poland, with talks in an old wooden church near the Belarusian border, and the idea of a Camp Commune of our own.

Plus fake Christmas, now about sixteen years running, a farm wedding where Liam was served a sharing platter for one, filming a bride's mum who kept stepping out of shot, an elopement booked in an underground WWII oil tank, and Bee's forearm stand after eight years of yoga.

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 New Year's Eve plans

02:00 Fake Christmas

05:07 No presents this year

08:41 A farm wedding and a sharing platter for one

11:18 A Scottish castle wedding

13:19 Telling people they don't need to move

16:57 Half of next year's weddings are overseas

21:31 An elopement in a WWII oil tank

23:02 Liam's apology

25:05 How paid Instagram turned things around

30:10 A videographer summit in Glasgow

32:43 Speaking at a workshop in Poland

36:20 Camp Commune?

38:53 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.

Are weddings still about telling a story, or is it all about capturing the vibe now?

A reel doing the rounds argues that storytelling is out and vibe is in. Pete expected to hate it, then decided it's just a new way of describing what we already do. Laura and Bee doubt Gen Z is as uniform as the reel claims, and Liam says stick in your own lane and shoot what you love. That sets being in it for the art against running a business: can you complain about bookings if you won't change how you talk about your work? Then direct flash. Pete used to hate it and now sees a place for it, Liam thinks it looks flat and amateur, and Bee is with Pete. Earlier, we talk about a win your wedding photography giveaway that brought two bookings from 125 entrants, and what high end weddings are like to shoot.

Plus portraits paid for in cake, a band video shoot at Victoria Baths in Manchester, and Nine Dots turning ten.

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 tired welcome

01:04 Dropping the lows

01:35 Paid in cake

06:11 A band video at Victoria Baths

14:23 A win your wedding giveaway

17:29 Mid-price weddings and the high end world

20:01 What high end weddings are like

21:33 Feeling like you're going backwards

26:42 Nine Dots turns ten

29:15 Story or vibe?

33:57 Stick to your lane, or change how you market it?

37:05 In it for the art or running a business?

40:09 Direct flash

44:43 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.

With generative fill in everyone's pocket, will couples start removing people from their own photos?

We start with Coda, a one day videography conference in a Birmingham cinema, where Pete and Laura gave the opening talk and a film breakdown on the big screen. Next year's tickets sold out in 43 minutes, which tells you how much people want community. Then a practical block. Bee has switched AI editing tools and says the new one reproduces her style (but she still doesn't trust AI culling, which might mark a deliberately off centre crop as a mistake). We also cover Lightroom's generative fill limits and what couples might start to expect, Instagram's new fee for boosting posts from your phone, a reel with 126,000 views that brought no enquiries, dropping the paid verification tick, and Bee rebuilding their website in six days.

Plus Pete trying to get home from a wedding in Ireland during a storm (a ten pound lounge upgrade saved him), Liam's second shoot with three ten foot trains and fake sparklers that set the flowers alight, and a stranded night with a damaged wheel on a Scottish road.

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

00:30 A wedding in Ireland and a storm

03:02 A rocky ferry home

09:12 Coda, in a cinema

12:46 Sold out in 43 minutes

15:21 Ten foot trains and a fire on the balcony

19:53 A Scottish castle wedding and a damaged wheel

24:04 Switching AI editing tools

26:04 Why AI culling still isn't there

34:00 Will couples edit out people themselves?

38:06 The fix it later habit

39:07 Instagram ads, carousels and reels

45:17 Dropping the paid tick

47:23 Rebuilding the website in six days

54:06 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.

What should you wear to shoot a wedding?

A private members' club with a no sportswear rule and a black tie wedding in Scotland get us talking about what we wear ourselves: the switch from smart shoes to cloud-like trainers after COVID, photographer's toe, spare shirts and socks, Liam's untucked shirts and stretchy jeans (he promises to tuck in once), Laura's normal-looking stretch trousers, and Pete's chinos and tweed. Then two industry questions: venues that download your photos without a word of thanks (in an age where even a thumbs up feels passive aggressive), and how much say couples should have over what you post, from a reel removed after a break-up to couples asking for different music. Keeping the client happy comes first, but a no sharing request needs to come before the wedding.

Plus a Lego Christmas display in a grand London hotel, Liam second shooting for a friend for only the third time, a drone that spent days stuck in a tree, and a spider on Bee's face.

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

04:34 A members' club wedding with a dress code

07:04 Are trainers smart enough?

08:37 Black tie in Scotland

09:39 Photographer's toe and the trainer revolution

11:10 Smelly trainers and spare socks

13:45 What we each wear

17:49 Layers, hand warmers and second shooting

22:28 A multi-day Scottish wedding and a drone in a tree

28:07 Venues that never say thank you

31:14 Ghosting culture and the thumbs up

35:19 How much say should couples have over your posts?

39:57 What if couples banned all sharing?

47:41 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 do you do when your editing queue is overdue?

Bee is changing her advertised turnaround from eight to ten weeks to up to twelve, messaging couples so they know where they are, and using an AI base edit that saves four or five hours a wedding. She's also letting go of chasing perfection, because everyone views their photos on a different screen anyway. Then: is a video team handing a couple photos from a compact camera the next day stepping on the photographer's toes? And a long chat about comparison: the pressure to go viral on Instagram and TikTok, why scrolling other photographers drains your creativity, missing the old wedding blogs, and why couples' happiness matters more than likes.

Plus a north Devon cove wedding with the kindest staff ever, a French chateau whose owner claims some very famous guests, live streaming a wedding for a grandmother (three views, all Pete), trimming the website down to pages people visit, and a bin man and some chocolate fingers.

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 Sitting outside with non-alcoholic beer

04:11 The kindest wedding staff ever

06:43 A French chateau and its famous guests

08:14 Generous American couples

11:18 Live streaming for a grandmother

14:52 Overdue edits and a longer turnaround

16:58 AI base edits and letting go of perfection

20:04 Showing couples where they are in the queue

21:36 Cutting the website back

26:47 Next day photos from the video team?

32:55 What works on TikTok and Instagram

36:00 Comparison and chasing trends

42:26 Do we still look at other photographers' work?

47:03 Posting for likes or making couples happy

51:46 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.

Is editorial wedding photography on its way out?

Back after the summer, Laura's view is simple: kill editorial. Pete is more careful and thinks documentary will come back as couples tire of being posed, while Liam and Bee say trends never fully disappear and you should stay in your lane (and maybe stop everyone shooting the same half eaten cake with direct flash). Then how photographers and videographers work together on the day: talk before the ceremony, tell each other where it's fine to walk, and admit that both sides get in the way sometimes. We also talk about swapping flash for small panel lights on lively dance floors, and why a summer of camping beat an all inclusive holiday for a proper rest.

Plus Liam's summer of destination weddings, a live stream for a grandmother who couldn't travel, Liam swapping his big zoom for old primes, and a reminder that none of us are budget people.

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 Back after the summer

03:10 Camping beat the all inclusive holiday

05:12 Liam's summer of destination weddings

07:46 The rising cost of destination work

11:21 Celebrating every booking

14:25 Holiday reading and TV

16:27 Far flung weddings and long drives

18:00 A live stream for a grandmother

19:33 Back to old prime lenses

21:06 Panel lights instead of flash

23:09 Documentary versus editorial

28:51 Everyone shooting the same trending shots

32:26 Photographers and videographers as a team

38:41 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 happens to the wedding industry when competition turns nasty? A Photographer has been boasting about how they took down competitors listings.

This week there's a row in the photographer groups. Someone advised that you could win local search by reporting competitors' Google Maps listings, which led to listings being disabled, then a pile-on, fake reviews and mock listings. We disagree a little on how far the anger should go (Bee thinks the pile-on went too far, Pete and Liam think losing your reputation is punishment enough, and Laura says take the high ground), and it widens into desperation in a crowded industry, trust, and community over competition. Then music: a videographer facing a copyright claim over trending audio, and Instagram taking down a properly licensed wedding reel within seconds (Laura's fix: use the same track on everything, to a creepy degree).

Plus Pete's Italian wedding at one 150 guest table, where his lens grip melted in the heat, a second videographer at Liam's Cotswolds wedding who worked on Horrid Henry, camping in the rain at Silverstone, and the start of our own camping plans.

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 Italy in the heat

03:06 One long table and a melted lens

05:08 New camera bodies

07:10 Two weddings and a Horrid Henry claim to fame

10:45 Camping at Silverstone

15:57 Bee's priority edit

19:06 The Google Maps row

22:15 Disabled listings and a pile-on

26:22 Where's the line?

30:58 Our own listing duplicated

33:02 Trust and community over competition

37:12 Kindness, and will anyone apologise?

40:49 A copyright claim over trending audio

43:00 Instagram takes down a licensed reel

47:07 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.