Rosie Hardy – Link

I love Rosie’s style, and she has very successfully cornered a particular section of the market, therefore I felt I could learn a lot from her.

Below is information about the workshop she held: -

Why the workshop was valuable to me: -

The schedule of the day was not possible, as there was heavy rain for almost the entire day. There was approximately 50 minutes of light showers mid-morning where we managed to go outside and take photographs of a fake wedding set up, this was really useful for a number of reasons. We learned how to be creative with the weather, we learned how to pose our couple, how to encourage our couple to carry on regardless of the weather and how to make it fun, and how to create some stunning images. Rosie shared information about how she handles her clients, the type of clients she has, and how she ensures they are the right client for her, and she explained that this is important to her because she has taken bookings in the past where the client didn’t love her work, or her style, and those couples were not bothered about the images on the day, they just had a photographer because that is what people do at weddings. Rosie explained that this isn’t just a job for her, it’s a passion, and she doesn’t enjoy those types of weddings, also, it is more difficult to produce amazing images when couples are not on board and wanting to spend a chunk of their day having photos taken. She needs the images to sell herself and her business, so it is important she gets the right clients who want they images she takes, as they will then give the time needed to take them. One of the main things I took away from the day was how to pose couples, and how to make them feel at ease, when they might feel quite awkward and how to get couples to look natural, and not stiff and awkward.

The rain then became a downpour and the remainder of the day was inside, in dull lighting. This at the time felt a shame, however in retrospect, it was a really good thing, because this reflects real life, and I have since had two weddings where it has rained all day long, and the couple have felt unable to have images outside. But

because I had learned skills about finding the right light inside, and making the wedding work for me regardless, I felt far more confident and calm in that situation, and was able to create some lovely indoor images, that I may not have otherwise felt able to create.

I did have to pay to attend this workshop, but I felt that this was justifiable, as I now have the images for self-promotion that I wouldn’t otherwise have, I gained a lot of useful advice that I have used in real weddings, along with additional lighting advice, for bad weather or dull lighting. Rosie explained that in bad lighting situations, she used a video light, which is actually very lightweight and cheap to purchase, she showed us this in action, and it was fantastic. I purchased one and have used it quite successfully on my own weddings. I can also claim this back against tax for my business, so it felt like a good use of my student loan, as I feel the course will pay for itself in the future with assisting me to gain clients.

A selection of my images taken on the workshop: -

To create these images, I used a lightroom pre-set, that I purchased some time ago, but have adapted a lot over time, to create a colour pallet that keeps my images consistent. It is impossible to have one pre-set for all images, as one pre-set would not suit all lighting conditions, so I have multiple versions of the same tones and colours depending on the lighting and weather conditions.

Having a consistent look and colour pallet is not only important so that I am consistent with the work I provide to my customers, it is also important so that my Instagram, and Facebook page, and website, all flow together cohesively and do not look miss matched. This creates a professional look, which in turn encourages potential customers to believe in me, and my style.