I know that its something that I feel far happier doing. It was probably my mothers fault when she tried to get a false smile out of me as a kid – it was painful.

It’s fascinating, as you say, that ‘traditional’ wedding photography, as people perceive it, seems to be firmly rooted in a rather cringeworthy 1980′s style. There’s an independent photography studio in the next village to mine, whose window display I only recently stopped and looked at. It could genuinely be 1986. I guess that this might be a case of photographers who started their craft and cut their teeth back in the Eighties sticking with what they know. If that’s the case, I hope that photographers coming into fruition in 2011 aren’t still firmly sticking to their guns in 2025 with the same old styles, but are instead providing superb quality, individually crafted work.

Interestingly, on the subject of ‘traditional wedding photography’, I photographed a couple’s ruby wedding celebrations earlier this year. At the party, there was a display of their own wedding photographs. The images were very timeless and classic, and whilst the inevitable ‘line ups’ were there, the style of the actual photography didn’t date the images at all. It just goes to show that anything ‘gimmicky’ will date far more quickly than that wedding dress!

I smiled at Liz’s comment about ‘traditional’ wedding photography. I guess the trends back in the 1980s really made their mark too…!!! It only emphasises your point that overly styled and processed photography soon looks dated.

So yes, absolutely: go your own way. But always, always choose a wedding photographer for whom quality is the most important thing of all. The true magic is in the photographer’s skill.