RJ Macready
With the inexorable march of technological innovation and the ubiquity of cameraphones, we are all photographers now – sort of. However, take a moment to check the camera roll on your phone: if you have a couple of decent photographs on there, then you’re probably batting above average.
“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving,” said the late American photographer Aaron Siskind. “What you have caught on film is captured forever … it remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything.”
With this in mind, would you rather entrust the commemoration of the happiest day of your life to a professional photographer or your cousin who has just got a new smartphone?
There’s no contest really, but thankfully wedding photographers aren’t exactly thin on the ground. However, there’s still a lot of room for stylistic variance and creative flair in what you might think was a pretty traditional medium.
“Everyone has their own style,” says Falkirk-based wedding photographer Lee Fletcher. “I like to think that people who are attracted to my work are a little more artistic perhaps, a little more romantic. I really like capturing the connection between the couple. I like to try and capture their personality.”
Fletcher, pictured, has an unconventional background for a photographer. Originally a digital marketer, he has been
taking pictures for 20 years – originally for business portraits, then making short films. He has now been covering weddings for seven years and believes that it is his grounding in storytelling that informs his work in the nuptial field and helps make the results stand out from the competition.
“I like capturing people’s natural reaction to things,” he says. “I like off-the-cuff photos like the bride hugging their grandfather, rather than butting in and asking everyone to pose and smile.”
To achieve this, Fletcher familiarises himself with the couple beforehand so he’s a natural addition to the wedding: “So, on the day, I’m not turning up as a stranger – we do a pre-wedding photoshoot and I can also do engagement photographs.”
He continues: “I like to think that I have a cinematic style. The albums are the story of the day and I imagine the couple as the leads – stars of their own show. Every wedding has its own cast.
“You hear about difficult characters and ‘bridezillas’ but I’ve honestly never had a bad wedding and never encountered anyone that’s been difficult.”
While based in the Central Belt, Fletcher has travelled as far north as Aberdeen and as far south as Newcastle. “I could go further – I’ve got a passport,” he laughs. He has even shot a wedding in the Philippines, “although that was in an unofficial capacity for my fiancée’s brother,” he concedes.
While Fletcher enjoys the creative freedom that weddings afford him, he is yet to bite the bullet himself. “Actually, I’ve been engaged for 12 years,” he laughs. “I’m dreading the day I have to choose a wedding photographer. Many of my friends are wedding photographers and if they’re going to be at my wedding I’d rather they were enjoying themselves rather than working.”