In Conversation with a Wedding Photographer | Weddings
www.capturedlifephotography.co.uk
Wedding season may be coming to a close, but weddings continue all year. We spoke to wedding photographer Charlotte Heather-Cray about what inspired her to become a wedding photographer and what her favourite thing is about her job. It also gave us a chance to look at some of her beautiful images.
What is your favourite thing about being a photographer?
for me it’s all about capturing moments rather than things. I’ve never really been a materialistic person. I’ve always been about living in the moment and creating memories. Being a photographer I love the fact that I’m able to capture these little moments and memories not o
nly for myself to look back on later in life when I’m old and grey but also for all my lovely couples too.
How long have you been a photographer and what inspired you to become a photographer?
I picked up my very first camera when I was about 10 whilst on a family holiday. As kids do I was constantly annoying my parents about being bored so my mum gave me the family film camera with the words “go play with that for a bit” haha I’ll never forget how excited I was standing in line in Boots waiting for that roll of film to be developed. For a kid something so simple was so exciting. From then on it was always a bit of a hobby as I was growing up used as a way to express myself and capture the stories and feelings that went on in my head. It was only when I reached my late teenage years that I decided to push my hobby further and potentially turn it into a career, heading off to college and then to university to further my skills and gain experience with loads of local photographers. In my final years of Uni I was working in a local portrait studio and a lovely lady came in for a makeover shoot. At the time I just thought it was just another normal day at work but it really wasn’t. When the shoot was over and i sat down to show her the photos taken, she broke down in tears. She’d been diagnosed with cancer 12 months previously and had been fighting for her life through endless treatments which had resulted in her self confidence and spark completely disappearing. Her words of “Oh my god, is that really me? I’m alive, I look real, I don’t look ill . I’m smiling…how did you do that? I can’t remember the last time I truly laughed or smiled. That’s actually me…right there. No tubes, no wires, just me….Happy” spoken in that moment will always have a firm place in my heart and to this day will always be one of the main reasons why i decided to start my career. i knew straight away if I c
ould give just one person so much happiness within a simple photograph then there were so many others I could give that gift to too.
You get to be there for very personal moments of peoples lives, is this hard to fit into and is this something you enjoy?
I find it such an honour that people want me to be a part for their special day and witness all the special moments that happen. There’s been so many emotional moments and because you’re witnessing them up close and personal it does some times get to you. There have been no end of times that I’ve found myself crying because I’ve got so caught up in the moment and the emotion or I’ve found myself crying whilst editing because I’ve remembered a certain moment or certain words spoken at that specific wedding.
Do you have a favourite moment you can tell us about?
There’s been so many, it’s so hard to narrow it down. I think the most long standing will always be the lady who I mentioned above. More recently I think it would have to be some of the reactions of dads on their daughters wedding day. I’ve been told so many times by brides that their dads are the stereotypical manly man and they never cry but then the wedding day comes and so do the tears. It’s such a special human moment to witness and be a part of. A recent bride actually called me up crying after receiving her photos because she was so happy I’d managed to capture the moment her dad completely broke down in tears of happiness during his speech. The whole room including the staff were in tears and she was so glad that I’d captured the moment so she could remember it forever.
What is your favourite thing about your job?
Having the ability to capture such special fleeting moments for people so that they can look back when their old and grey and their memories are still there. I love sitting down with the family and going through all the old photo albums of family members who are sadly no longer with us, asking questions about their life, their history. I hope that one day the same will happen with my photos for other families, making sure their history and their story never gets forgotten.
What is your least favourite?
I don’t think there is anything. I know that sounds so cliché but I do genuinely love my job…even the boring admin business side of things haha No day is ever the same. Every wedding is different. Every couple has their own story to tell and I just love that.
You mainly shoot weddings, what else do you photograph and what do you photograph in your spare time?
Honestly?…anything and everything haha work wise it’s mainly weddings or commercial work like headshots, food photography/product photography.
Personal work wise I love po
rtraits. I’m fascinated by people and the stories they have to tell. I also love to travel and of course my camera comes with me on all of my adventures 🙂
To find out more about Charlotte and her work follow the links below.
Links
www.capturedlifephotography.co.uk
https://www.facebook.com/CapturedLifePhoto/
https://www.instagram.com/capturedlife_photo/
Instagram – @la.juniper Twitter – @homeofjuniper Pinterest – @lajuniper1 Facebook – @lajuniper
#fillyourhomewithfl
owers #homeofjuniper
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