Welcome to the first ‘meet our gang’ post! These posts will be introducing you all to our lovely recommended suppliers so you can hopefully get to know them and love them as much as we do! Kicking us off nicely is Hannah. She’s an awesome photographer and a whole bubble of fun. When someone states “I’m an awful dancer but I will dance at your wedding and take photographs at the same time. This is included in the cost and is mandatory I’m afraid,” you know you’re onto a winner! Please check out her fab Q&A and photos below.
Tell us about yourself
I’m Hannah, a thirty-something mum of girls, mother of house plants, lover of mustard yellow with a secret obsession for true crime and an inability to finish a book. I’ve been photographing people kiss a lot since 2014.
Why did you want to become a photographer? How did you get started?
I had a baby! Well, I had a baby and got jealous that my friends with DSLRs could take photos of their babies with nice blurry backgrounds (which is pretty cringey on reflection!) so I bought myself one and taught myself how to use it with the help of Pinterest and a LOT of trial and error. I initially thought I wanted to photograph families so I tested the waters a little and didn’t really enjoy it but the first paying family I photographed became my first wedding couple, a little by accident… It’s a happy one though, and I’m actually photographing that groom’s sister’s wedding next year so I must have done an alright job!!
What is your style?
I’m not sure I have a style… it’s just what I see with my eyes! Documentary, relaxed, honest and emotion driven photography, I guess, with people and personalities at the heart of it.
What advice would you give couples when choosing their photographer?
Make sure you love your photographer as much as you love their work. It doesn’t matter how much you like their photos, they wont get the best out of you on the day if you don’t gel from the off.
Consider your budget for photography really carefully; when all the festivities are over, your photographs are all you have left to remember the day… Prioritise your money for photos and really invest in as much photography as you can. Remember too that the money you pay them isn’t just going in their holiday fund; it’s covering their insurance, training, kit maintenance, post production time as well as reflecting their experience too, to name but a few things! Suddenly people promising full days and albums for a fraction of the cost really do start looking too good to be true.
Tear up every magazine that gives you a time line of when you should book stuff…. If you find a photographer, book them immediately. We don’t hold dates and we get booked up, sometimes two years in advance, and we hate letting people down!
What makes you happy?
The kids (when not arguing), long walks, being by the sea, and my house plants. They make me really happy and don’t answer back.
If you could be someone else for a day, who would you be and why?
My kids! I’d love to know what it’s like being in their heads, seeing what they chat about with their friends on the playground and working out why they won’t eat sausages when they specifically asked for sausages for dinner….
What do you love most about your job?
People are happy at weddings, they’re having the time of their lives and I get to be part of that… What’s more, no two weddings (even two days in a row at the same venue!) are the same so you never get bored!
What trends are you loving at the moment?
I’m loving the wild flowers, the greenery and the move away from formal floral arrangements. I’m also delighted that more and more couples are moving away from formality and doing what they want rather than ticking things off lists because that’s what you “should” do at weddings.
Why should our couples choose you?
Couples should choose me because they love the honesty in the fun in my work and because they love me too… Feedback from couples is always that they felt like it was their friend shooting their wedding, not someone they employed, which is so lovely… I’m still in touch with the overwhelming majority of my couples too! They have to be ok with my terrible dancing, though….
What’s your drink of choice?
Gin for me, please.
Who is your dream celebrity wedding couple?
Sadly I’ve missed the boat already but I’d have sold a kidney to shoot Kit Harrington and Rose Leslie’s wedding! I’m a huge Game of Thrones fan and they’re such a sweet pair… I bet they deffo had dragons there too, even if no one’s talked about it yet and why WOULDN’T you want to shoot wedding with dragons….?!
Photos by Hannah Hall
See more of Hannah and her awesome work here:
Facebook @HannahHallPhotography
Instagram @hannahhallphotography
Pinterest @hannahhallsnaps
Twitter @hannahhallsnaps
Thanks for having me, Team Huntsmill!