Why style wedding photography have you pictured for your wedding day? This is something you should think about before you choose your photographer. When I first saw some of Líosa’s images I felt almost lost inside the moment. If you want your wedding photographs to be a vision of romance caught in the moment you need to get to know Líosa herself…
Hi Líosa, tell us how long have you been a wedding photographer?
Not long at all, I was focused on photography as an art since I studied it in college. I really enjoyed being Amateur, and then I did a few events and friends weddings, and word got around and I was asked to do my first professional wedding in 2010. Since then I haven’t looked back. My style lends well to the romance of a wedding, I’ve even been accused of taking ‘movie stills’ not photographs and I can see why that is… I like to make evocative photographs, full of emotion and romance. I also love catching someone mid expression, in a laugh or in thought, I watch everyone at a wedding, I’m really quick and so make sure there are great fly-on-the-wall photos of everyone. I also always bring a second shooter, so you get a fantastic range of images from two different perspectives.
When did your interest in photography become apparent, was it something you always wanted to do?
It seems to have been part of my life forever, and I remember how happy I was when my parents bought me my first camera when I was eleven. I went into a photography and art program in the local college when I left school but I am mostly self taught. Digital photography changed my life, and my hobby became my career which makes me feel really lucky. It’s hard work sometimes but I think I’m a natural born photographer. I see the world in photographs and always have a camera in my bag. It is an amazing thing to me, to freeze that moment forever. I really could not live without it.
What one thing should a bride remember on the morning of her wedding day?
Try to enjoy this time with your mum and best friends, it is a wonderful opportunity to just relax and be spoiled. I love when I arrive to a bride having her breakfast in her pyjamas, there are great photographs in those few hours. I always insist on a portrait with the girls, and all my brides are glad I do.
What is your favourite moment to capture through your lens during a wedding?
The first dance is always so lovely for me as a photographer, I love the contrast of the lights on the dancefloor and the reflecting lights on the couple. I’m also a huge fan of the father daughter shot, it’s such a special time.
Wedding couples seem to be taking a more relaxed a fun approach to their wedding photography, would you agree?
Definitely. There is a movement towards relaxed and informal gatherings of friends and families to celebrate long standing partnerships; couples are looking for a photographer who gets that and I think that is why they choose me. My style lends really well to the informal wedding, I capture their memories of such a special day.
What is your pet hate?
I don’t like to see couples being taken away from their guests for hours on end, and I won’t do it. I once talked to a new mum (I do a lot of newborn shoots) who was taken away not only from her guests but from her new husband for an hour and 45 minutes to a field of yellow flowers to get some romantic photographs that the photographer wanted. I am there to photograph a wedding, and I will find the beauty within what is really happening, I call it finding the moment in the moment, I won’t set up complicated pictorial shots for my own artistic reasons.
Where in the world would you most like to photograph a wedding?
New York City Hall. I think it is so romantic…
If not a photographer, you would have become..?
As a child I wanted to be a zoologist and work with Elephants, my dear mother still hopes that might still be on the cards so she could retire to Africa… I hate to disappoint her but photography is my first love. It allows me to people watch, and at some weddings towards the end of the evening that can be like zoology!! It’s a dream job and sometimes I still cannot believe I am lucky enough to be paid to do what I love.
Every bride should..?
Book a good photographer. Research their style. Ask questions. Meet with them and see if you get on – its so important, if the photographer doesn’t get you then the photographs will show that. And the photographs are the lasting memory of the day… When I hear people saying they are going to ask a friend with a good camera to do their wedding photography I often lose sleep, just because as a professional I know how hard I have to work sometimes to deal with light and there is nothing worse than the stark flash, a good camera is well capable of taking a terrible photograph depending on who is using it. Getting a friend to make your wedding cake or to hand deliver your invitations might be a better budget saver than cutting out the photographer.
Anchorbird Photography is based in County Wicklow. Líosa has been taking pictures as an outlet for her creativity since leaving school, and although she is mostly self-taught she has attended many courses to fine tune her skills including an Advanced Certificate in Digital Photography. Líosa often works with other photographic artists, and it is rare she is shooting alone, having a second photographer with her at an event or wedding always ensures they get ‘that shot’.
