26 11 April 2020 I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk I subscribe 0330 333 1113
PHOTOGRAPHY INDUSTRY
remotely from the room next
door. It’s not ideal but a
solution. I’ve advised the couple to
hold the kiss for a second longer, as
the remote app is a lot slower.’ Lee
photographed over 50 weddings in
2019, and 38 are booked for 2020
but is likely to reduce. He has taken
£20K worth of deposits. ‘In the
wedding industry we call them
booking fees – apparently, legally,
you don’t have to pay booking fees
back because you’ve done an
amount of work.’ He’s not money-
grabbing, just being sensible. Lee is
advising clients to call him for a
conversation, keep things verbal, on
a case by case basis, to see what can
be worked out amicably. He’s
stepped in and volunteered a few
hours of his time to photograph a
wedding at short notice. ‘In the
wedding world we’re up against it
anyway because everyone’s a
photographer. Do weddings need a
photographer, do they see the value
a photographer brings? The price of
quality cameras is coming down,
picture quality of mobile phones is
going up so the market has been
shrinking for a long, long time.’ Lee
is savvy and established, and
expects to be in business next year.
Weddings will still go ahead, just
not now. Other photographers may
not be so fortunate. ‘I know a
number of photographers that want
to work one day a week and left
good jobs to become a wedding
photographer, and now realise the
industry might disappear. They’ll be
in trouble.’Amateurs
It’s not just professional
photographers who are in turmoil;
amateur photographers and those
studying it across the UnitedCarolyn Mendelsohn’s book is
on hold thanks to the crisis© LEE GL ASGOW
© CAROLYN MENDELSOHN © TISH MURTHA