JP Brooks Photography

There are a lot of questions a photographer can/could ask a client, depending on the type of photo session. If I may, let me cover wedding and portrait photography.
Do you know what your clients want? I mean, what they really want? I’ve found that in most cases, I don’t, so I have to ask. There are lots of photographers out there that can meet your client’s needs, but only a handful that can identify and meet their wants. So to book the work and thrill your clients, you have to discover their needs and wants, then deliver the goods!
The client’s needs are usually what they ask for, a head shot, family photos, or wedding photography for example. But even this may not be totally clear. How do they expect to use the photos?
Wedding questions:
1.Photos aside, what do you want your wedding to be?
2.What’s most important to you about your wedding?
3.Have you ever been part of a wedding, seen a wedding photographer in action, etc.?
Portrait questions:
1.Tell me about your [family/job/client/etc.]
2.Have you ever hired a photographer before?
3.What’s most important about your photographs, is there something special you want to capture?
4.Who are we making these images for?
5.How are you planning to use the images?

As a wedding photographer I find myself shooting in a wide range of styles. There’s a lot time spent in the photojournalistic mind-set, then i switch to being a portrait photographer, directing and posing. I will shoot lots of details, putting on my still life/commercial cap. I may do some shots of the location or venues, drawing on landscape and architectural skills. Light-wise I’ll need to learn to shoot in sunlight, shade, rain, snow (if I'm lucky!!!), artificial light, and practically no light. I/we wind up becoming a very well-rounded shooter, able to adapt to ever-changing scenarios and lighting situations!
With a wedding you practically have a story built right in to your images. There are characters, scenes, action, emotion, and even themes if you look hard enough. Having a story in your images helps to tie them together, and create interest across the set. It also helps when you go to design albums!
Wedding photography is a people profession, and you get to meet some pretty incredible ones. There are, of course, your clients, who often can become more friends than clients (or clients, as I like to call them). Not only do you get to meet them, but you also get time to establish really solid relationships with them, which makes it way more enjoyable to do your job.
And then there are tons more people you’ll get to meet. There’s the bridal party, who you spend a fair amount of time with, and guests at the wedding. You will create relationships with other vendors you work with, like florists, planners, decorators, etc. And you’ll get to connect with other local wedding photographers when doing your networking. They can be an amazing source of support, advice, and friendship!

A need for change. At first, I wasn't too unhappy at work, in fact kept on working, as an engineer. The pay was okay and the team I worked with was fun, but something started to change in me. I have owned a camera for 40 years, and recently fell back in love and kind of obsessed with photography. I spent every available minute pouring over blogs with beautiful imagery. My passion started to grow, more and more, Big time. I had got myself a new Canon 5D Mk III, camera and was using anyone who would let me as a model.
After being asked to shoot a very low budget photo shoot for my parent’s friends, I realised that I loved the wedding world. I loved capturing life. When I was asked to document another wedding from that first wedding, things slowly started taking pace. Small bookings were coming in. Work seemed to become an inconvenience and I wanted to start owning my own time. I saw that others were actually doing this and creating a living from it – so why couldn’t I?
I own a wedding photography business. It caters to the individuals who have a love for pretty natural light images. I run the business from start to finish on my own, and love every aspect of it.
Without a doubt, referrals. 80% of my business is word of mouth. I leverage social media a lot, which allows old and new customers to see my work, and also allows people to easily refer me. From time to time, I also use Google ad-word campaigns at specific times of the year.
Owning my own time. I love that if the sun is out and I want to garden I can. Knowing that I can move my office hours around. I love the creativity of having to find solutions for everything about my business. But most of all, I love not being restricted as to how many holidays I can have! I am a big lover of travelling, so being able to take my office with me anywhere in the world is perfect!

If you are looking for a wedding photographer then you are in the right place! Primarily wedding photographers but I am equally at home shooting all kinds of events such as Graduation Ceremonies, School Proms, portraits and any event that would benefit from high quality photography. Are you looking for a photographic experience that will capture those precious moments you will treasure for the rest of your life, but not come with a hefty price tag? Well you're in the right place! I offer a large range of services, from weddings and family portraiture to portfolios and commercial work and all at very competitive prices. Customer service is extremely important to me and I will go that extra mile to make sure you get the photographs that you will love. I love working with people and am very honoured to be there at such special events. Please check out my social media reviews.