Yvette Craig Photography is based in Kent and covers weddings throughout Kent, London, Essex, Surrey, Sussex, Hampshire as well as National and International. To find out more about her work and her love for photography I’ve asked her a couple of questions.

Read the answers and don’t forget to check her website.

1. When did you decided to become a photographer and why did you find this domain interesting?

I had a box brownie given to me when I was 6 years old and developed a love affair with images, it was however a move to the USA and then Canada that I really cemented my passion for photography and I enrolled on to a photography course and I was completely hooked. In 2002 we moved back to the UK and I initially took up a job in business development which was what I had done prior to the move to Canada, I hated every minute of it even though I was incredibly successful.

I then enrolled on a B&W photography course at my local college, I then was offered a job at Business Link Kent and as part of the training I had to go on various courses one of which was a start-up program and was told that in order to get the best from the course I had to pretend to be an entrepreneur and come up with a business idea!!

So I did and I formed Yvette Craig Photography in 2005 and for the first time ever realised that I really could develop a business that I was also passionate about. In 2007 I left employment to pursue my own business full-time and I have never looked back.

I have decided to move away from the more conventional forms of marketing in favour of online blogs as today’s modern bride is now more Internet savvy and as such they are now using blogs to find suppliers.

2. Talk us trough the first years of you work. Maybe you could tell us what did change in time?

Are your projects different from the very beginning? In the beginning my style was completely reportage with very few posed or group photographs, however as my clients changed so did my work. Today my style is more timeless and classical or fine art, I want people to have wedding photographs that they aren’t embarassed by in 10 or 15 years time.

I love B&W or even a vintage sepia tone and will often change the images in post production to be in these tones, I especially like to see the ‘guys’ photographs changed to these tones. There have been quite a few highlights in the last five years of business, I have been lucky enough to photograph some fabulous weddings and meet some really lovely people, I have been featured in National magazines and have been booked by couples in LA for a wedding in the UK and booked by couples who liked my work enough to want to fly me to their weddings overseas and my most recent achievement was winning the award for excellence in Press, PR & Events for the MPA SE region.

One of the biggest highlights was being asked to photograph a private party which the Stereophonic’s were playing at and then getting an email a few weeks later from his girlfriend to say how much she loved the photographs and could she order some for Kelly for Valentines Day!! A few weeks later I got an email to sya Kelly loved the photographs. I am looking forward to the next five years and hope that my business will continue to florish.

3. Why should a bride-to-be choose your services?

If a bride and groom are looking for a photographer who offers fantastic customer service and committed to quality and excellence and wants a beautiful album that they will still love and cherish in 10-15-25 years time then they should choose Yvette Craig Photography. We offer fantastic customer service, value for money and have a team of five professional female photographers.

4. Do tell us a bit more about what a bride should do or say to help you – let’s say maybe give you some more details about the lighting on the venue or about the style she will choose for her wedding attire.

We always ask a bride & groom to tell us as much as possible about their day and what it means to them, we also encourage them to tell us anything that is happening on the day. If a couple have anywhere in particular that they would like to be photographed or if they have any special requests we also would ask that they tell us this so that we do not miss it on the day.

5. Have you got any wedding you’ve photographed and that has a very special meaning for you? Can you describe it or can show us a picture?

Every wedding that I photograph has a special meaning, however I think if I had to choose one or two that have stood out then they would be Leia and Nick wedding from 25 July this year and my Canadian wedding from 2008.

Leia and Nick I met earlier this year at a wedding fair and I instantly knew that I wanted to photograph their wedding they were so obviously in love and getting married meant everything to them, they were absolutely fantastic to me and my other photographer on the day and they gave us plenty of time to get those all important photographs of the two of them.

My Canadian wedding in 2008 was in Stratford Ontario where we used to live, it was such a huge honor to be asked to go out to Canada to photograph a wedding especially when they could have picked any number of good photographers locally!! I have photographed overseas before and totally love it and will be photographing a couple in Brisbane Australia in 2011.

6. From your point of view, how should a perfect wedding be like?

I think that every wedding is perfect because it is what the couple want as their day, however if you would like how from a photography point of view I feel it should be then I would say that when a couple books the photographer that they really do give as much information as possible, and allow enough time for their photographs of just the two of them, and think also about their finished album because it will be the only lasting memory that they will have of their special day.

7. And tell us what would you offer a future bride and, maybe, other photo teams can’t.

I believe that we offer the best customer service and attention to detail, also because I am not a one man band like many other photographers I can offer a total back up should I or any of my photographers be taken ill.

8. Last but not least, do you have any advice for FashionBride readers?

I would advise that couples do not base their wedding photographer on price alone, there are many non professionals and part time photographers who will offer cheaper packages, but they should remember that you get what you pay for and this is certainly true with photography.