Liverpool Wedding Photography Prices in 2011

We all know there is a VAT rise in January and there's a lot of fuss about it in the media and how prices are going to rise everywhere you turn.  But that's not the case here at Zoe Photography - let's face it, we are only talking 2.5% and with wedding photography not everything has VAT applied to it, so at Zoe Photography prices will remain the same throughout 2011, with the relatively small VAT rise being included in the price.  Any 2012 wedding booked by 1st September 2011 will also be at the 2011 price, guaranteed.

So, the only reason to hurry when it comes to booking your wedding photography with Liverpool based Zoe Photography is because dates are booking up fast.  We are already at a bumper level of bookings for 2011 and 2012 is starting to book up too, so there's no time to waste if you know that you want that unique blend of storytelling with fashion styled photographs mixed in with classical wedding photography at an affordable price.

Call Zoe Photography now on 0151 708 5838 now to discuss your wedding photography with one of Liverpool's best wedding photographers.

Charley and Robin's Wedding in Heswall and Knowsley Hall

It says something for a venue when the sales and marketing manager decides to hold their wedding reception at the place where they work!  But that is just what Charley did when she married Robin a couple of weeks ago.  The beautiful service was held in Heswall, on a day when we thought the weather was quite magical - before we had all the snow we've got now!  And then on to Knowsley Hall, one of the most beautiful places you could choose in the UK for your wedding.

Charley brought a fabulous team together, with Sian Louise Auld doing the makeup, Becci from Shush Hair Company doing hair, the video by Dominic of Impressions of Formby, and the flowers from Earth flowers, with the grandest of reception venues too.

Here is a small selection of the photographs we took on the day - I know Charley can't wait to see all of her wedding photographs, but this snow has put paid to that, so a sneak peak before Christmas will just have to suffice!

One Winter

Love these shots from today

Christmas Charity Contrbution

Every year I make a contribution to charity instead of buying christmas cards - but you have to help me out here!  This year I am aiming to give £50 to NWCRF - the North West Cancer Research Fund  - and I'm asking for your help.

All you have to do is make a comment on this post or any other post from 2010 on this blog - for everyone who comments I will put 50p into the pot and if you get me to 25 unique comments - that's unique as in 25 different people - then I will double the pot up to £50.  Get me 50 unique comments and I'll give £100 to NWCRF.

So come on, get those comments flowing - tell me what you think of my photography, identify your favourite photograph and tell me why you like it so much.

I look forward to hearing what you think, and I look forward to you helping me get to a great total for the NWCRF - you can follow them on twitter @NWCRF and for that matter, you can follow me too!  @zoephotography

Have a happy christmas everyone, and may 2011 be all you wish it to be and more!

Special Offer - Third off City Girl Makeover Photoshoots in Liverpool

Visit our City Girl Makeover Photoshoot site to see our very special offer with no hard sell, no pressure sales techniques, all ethical makeover sessions in Liverpool - click here to see the offer.

I hate being photographed ... no, seriously, I hate being photographed!

You've said it a million times, you hate being photographed, and then along comes one of those situations in life where you HAVE to be photographed whether you like it or not, and everyone tells you that you'll be fine, you'll look great - but don't they hear you?  You HATE being photographed!

And you know, you're not alone.  We hear it all the time, beit when we are photographing portrait and makeover sessions in Liverpool, weddings in Southport, newborn babies with their mum and dad in Chester.  So many people say the same thing, and yet when you look at photographs other people have had taken they look great, so you kinda think they must surely be lieing - afterall, don't people hear you?  You HATE, HATE, HATE being photographed!

The obvious thing to do is to try and hide from the camera, but you can't always do this, and nor should you.  By not being photographed you are stopping your family from collecting memories of you - and what about the generations after you who want to remember you as you are.  They're not interested in your double chin, your squinty eye, you chubby belly, your turkey wing arms.  All they're interested in is having memories of you, the person they love.

The other obvious thing to do is to just ask your friends to take the photographs at the wedding - after all, you won't have to pose then, will you?  Or get your friends to take a picture of you and the family because it will be over quickly and relatively painlessly.  And then afterwards you look at the photographs, and see, you were so right to hate having your photograph taken, look at how dreadful you look in these pictures your friend has taken!

But this is where you made the mistake - an established and experienced professional photographer knows how to work with you to get the best of you.  Your friend may well know how to use a camera, but that doesn't turn them into a professional photographer.  There is so much more to using a camera and taking pictures of people than the camera itself.  It's about understanding how to pose people to look good, it's about psychology and connection to bring the best out in someone, it's about helping someone dress properly for looking great in photographs.

So this Christmas, treat yourself.  Give yourself a boost, get over your hatred of having your photograph taken, book a makeover photoshoot party with your friends or a City Girl Makeover Photoshoot, and discover how amazing you look in photographs.

By the way, Petra in the photograph above was very camera shy - she doesn't look it does she?

Newsletter Download Available

Our new newsletter is now available to download - click here for our November issue.

Our Ethical Pledge

That's it!  We're taking the pledge - after hearing and reading about pressure sales techniques designed to encourage very high sales we've decided to create The Photographer's Ethical Pledge.  If you're a photographer who works ethically, then get in touch and join the campaign to bring ethical business practices into our industry - if you're someone who purchases photography, get in touch and let us know what you think.  We'd love to hear from you.

Here’s the pledge:

1. We pledge never to use pressure sales techniques - when we quote you a price that is all you need to spend. We will tell you what else you can buy from us if you want to buy more, but you will not be pressure sold anything.
2. We will not encourage you in with competition wins, introductory offers or conning approaches geared to make you spend more.  At Zoë Photography we offer one product one price – for example, a makeover, photoshoot and a disk of around 40 images for just £300.  
3. Any discounts offered, any promotions we do are all genuine offers, genuine promotions.  We do not expect you to buy more, we simply ask you to tell others about your experience of working with a photographer who has signed the ethical pledge.
4. We will not ply you with alcohol to help you lower your guard.
5. We supply usable images on disk with printing rights for you to enjoy - we do not overcharge for providing digital images and the only copyright marks are on web images for use on social networking sites.
6. We want you to have a thoroughly enjoyable experience with Zoë Photography and City Girl Makeover Photoshoots, which means we will work hard to make sure that we deliver good customer service.
7. If we get it wrong, please tell us, because let's face it, we are human, and we may get things wrong at times.  We will apologise to you without making excuses and we will work with you to put our mistakes right.
8. We do not have a credit card machine and do not use credit agreements, because we only expect you to spend what you can afford to spend.
9. We will openly help you and guide you - for example, if you are interested in becoming a model then we will provide you with realistic advice.  We will not tell you that you could make it as a model if it's unlikely.
10. We aim to renew, reuse and recycle wherever we can, and will work to reduce our carbon footprint.
11. We respect copyright and intellectual property of other businesses and artists.
12. We follow distance selling regulations.

If you want to take The Photographer's Ethical Pledge then email zoe@zoephotography.co.uk

Wayne and Andy's Portrait Session

Wayne had a birthday celebration recently, and as well as photographs with everyone at the party, I had the pleasure to photograph at home with Andy and adorable Penny the dog.  Here is a small selection of their photographs, and I can't wait to share the rest with Wayne! Oh, and I adore that wallpaper!  Next, here I come!

Do You Have a Story to Tell? Competition Entries Invited

At City Girl Makeover Photo Shoots we have a competition running to win a makeover and photo shoot, and all you have to do is tell us your story.  Maybe you have been unwell, maybe you have been working hard, or maybe you know someone who has been through a lot, perhaps they do so much for others they never have time for themselves ... if that's the case then we need to hear from you, either for yourself or for someone you know and love who deserves a treat!

For more information visit our City Girl site here

Closing date 12/11/10

Calling All Liverpool Wedding Suppliers and Wedding Businesses

Are you a wedding supplier in Liverpool?  Do you run a wedding related business in or close to Liverpool?  Then you might be interested in my little opening cum tweetup cum wedding network in November.  It's by invitation only, and we already have a lot of businesses on the list (you may even already be there).  But we want to make sure we don't miss anyone.  So if you are a wedding supplier or wedding related business in or near to Liverpool then get in touch and come along and enjoy the party, network with other wedding businesses and come and have some fun.

Please note, this is not an excuse to get drunk at my expense, so if that's all you're after, sorry, I'm not the right networking event for you as there won't be any alcohol!  This is about networking with fellow wedding suppliers, not a drink-fest!

Please contact Zoe on 07792 650742 or email zoe@zoephotography.co.uk for more information.

Makeover Photography in Liverpool - City Girl

Zoe Photography and Sian Louise Auld Makeup are teaming up to create City Girl Makeover Photo Shoots in Liverpool - and we need testers.  Visit our sister site here for more details.  We guarantee no pushing you into making purchases, but if you want to you can as long as you promise to take us up on our discount as a thank you!

Top 100 Wedding Tweet Suppliers - And Zoe Photography Are On It!

In the Wedding Industry there is something called the Top 100 List which is the Top 100 UK wedding suppliers, professionals and individuals who tweet on Twitter, the social networking site.  And this week Zoe Photography appeared on the list for the first time in position number 93, the week's only new entry!  The list is pulled together by Easy Wedding Search, a UK wedding directory service by website for brides and grooms planning their wedding.

Christian, who puts the list together after considerable research, says that the list is about "wedding suppliers (who) are ranked by influence, not just follower numbers. A whole host of other criteria are used to get an idea of the popularity and 'quality' of these social media super stars."  A big thank you goes out to Christian for all his hard work in putting the list together recognising wedding suppliers.

Here at Zoe Photography we feel very privileged to be part of such an exclusive list.

A Day in The Lakes with Nix and Caz

I rarely take days off - no, don't feel sorry for me, it's my choice!  But today I took a well earned rest and travelled up to Ambleside to meet Nix (NX Photos based near Eastbourne) and Caz (not a photographer so no point mentioning what she does!).  We walked, scrambled and climbed our way up Wansfell, and slipped, slid and scrambled back down again!  It was an amazing day, with the most perfect weather possible and beautiful autumnal colours.  Just a couple of pictures from the iPhone show exactly how beautiful it was.

These photographs were taken on the iPhone using the Hipstamatic App

Gavin and Laura Wedding Celebrations at 60 Hope Street, Liverpool

I wasn't supposed to be photographing a wedding today, but yesterday that all changed.  And Gavin and Laura invited me to photograph their celebrations at 60 Hope Street.  I was only there for about 2 hours, but it was amongst the best fun I've had at a wedding.  All of their family on both sides welcomed me and teased me (ok, ok, I admit, I teased them too!  Now Sheila, you know what I'm going to say!)

We managed to get a few minutes outside 60 Hope Street in Liverpool where the two were celebrating their day, starting outside The Quarter, and then on the steps of 60 Hope Street before capturing some family shots, which were full of laughter.  And never before have I been given a round of applause when it was time for me to leave! (Actually, thinking about it now, maybe the round of applause was because I was going ... hmmmm ;-) )

So here is a little selection of their photographs, a beautiful couple in a fabulous setting on a great day in October in Liverpool!

The Price of Wedding Photography in Liverpool or anywhere in the UK!

I'm so glad to see someone tackle this touchy subject of how much a wedding photographer costs.  It never ceases to amaze me the couples who will hire a chocolate fountain, buy an expensive cake that will be eaten up and gone, spend money on balloons that burst, have more flowers than you'd find in most florist shops and then complain that the photography is way too expensive because it's over £500 for a photographer to stay all day, supply images on disk, and put 100 photographs in a top quality album.  

So coming acorss Rock 'n Roll Bride's blog and the article she commissioned from the fabulous Julia Boggio about the price of wedding photography I thought it was worth sharing with you here

Thanks to Rock 'n Roll Bride for making this happen, and to Julia for writing the piece.

City Girl Makeover Photo Shoots and Model Portfolios in Liverpool

To celebrate moving into our wonderful boutique studio in The Hahnemann in The Georgian Quarter on Hope Street in Liverpool we are going crazy with Makeover Photo Shoots and modeling portfolios.  We are offering our makeovers in clear to understand options, with affordable prices and no hard sell - in fact we can guarantee no hard sell so much that we've made sure there are no options to up-sell on!  What you see is what you get.  Now, if you want to buy more you can, we will work with you, but we are not going to sell it to you, so you're going to need to work hard on us to make us sell it to you!

What have we done!  Well, we've set up City Girl Makeover Photo Shoots in Liverpool - at Zoe Photography we already have extensive experience of test shoots and makeovers working with our fabulous makeup artist, Sian Louise Auld who is going to be sharing our wonderful new boutique studio on Hope Street in Liverpool with us.  With City Girl everything is upfront and affordable - no hard sell, no hidden costs, all-in fees.

Everyone who books in with us before the end of October will get a very special 20% discount (hurry, there's not many days left!) - and the discount will also apply for our City Girl Gift Bag and for purchases made at our City Girls Limited Edition Parties.  We have a very special set of 4 City Girls LE Party up for grabs in November and December which you can combine with a night out or just enjoy as something different from the usual Christmas party with the office.  Enjoy a few nibbles, a makeup lesson with Sian Louise, and a photograph of the City Girl Host, and solve some of your Christmas present buying at the same time.

If you want to know more please visit our new City Girl Makeover Photo Shoot site here.

Fancy being a City Girl?  Want to be part of the City Girl Revolution?  Come and join us as a City Girl VIP, a City Girl Party Girl, or simply enjoy your makeover as a special treat!

Oh, and we're still building the new site, so please be kind to us!  But we're just so excited that we just had to let you know what's going on with City Girl!

Ethical Wedding Supplier Pledge

Zoe Photography is proud to have signed up to the Ethical Wedding Supplier Pledge.  If you are a wedding supplier, you might want to take a look here and sign up yourself if you are happy to be part of a growing trend.

And if you're a bride, here is what the pledge is all about ...

This is taken from the English Wedding site which is worth a look.

It is our aim to work in the way described in the pledge - if you ever have reason to believe we are not sticking to our pledge, please let us know so that we can put things right.

Chester Confetti Wedding Show and Zoe Photography on Wedding Photography

This weekend was the 2010 Chester Confetti Wedding Show, and I gave a presentation about how to look your best in photographs.  I talked about such things as posing, looking gorgeous in your photographs, and trusting your photographer when it comes to your wedding photography.  Dianne caught a quick picture on the iPhone (I know, two photographers and we didn't have a camera amongst us!) when I was in the middle of one of the talks at the Confetti Wedding Show.

A Liverpool Lifestyle Portrait Shoot

Dianne and I had great fun on Saturday with Amanda - she wanted a lifestyle portrait shoot, using Liverpool's iconic backdrop.  We brought Sian-Louise Auld in to do makeup and hair, and off we went around Liverpool, starting at the Metropolitan Cathedral steps, along to Hope Street, then down to St George's Hall and finishing off at one of my favourite locations (you've seen it before in my wedding photographs!), The Liver Building, as you can see in this gorgeous shot.  Amanda, you were a star!  We all had fun working with you and hope you love these photographs!