I make no secrets, I absolutely love what I do, and the wedding industry is nothing short of an amazing industry to work in.
Every person I work with is in a positive mood and there's literally no negativity to deal with whatsoever. Every single person you meet is always happy and smiley and it's incredibly fulfilling to be able to come home after a day shooting a wedding having thoroughly enjoyed the day's proceedings.
But it's taken a lot of work to get where I am now, and quite rightly so, a lot of you would have numerous questions about how I got into photography, learned so much about the industry and what inspired me to want to be a wedding photographer.
So, my story starts when I was younger, at about the age of 6/7, with a little 110 film camera (Similar to the one pictured) that I discovered after routing my dad's possessions in the garage. I can remember at the time having absolutely no clue what it was, but it had some sort of spring-loaded lens cover that popped up when you opened it, and to a 6-year-old, obsessed with gadgets, I must have thought it was some sort of remote for a missile set to launch 10 miles away.
This was well before digital cameras were even thought off, and I can remember going to the local boots, to pick up a film for the camera, and some tiny little batteries after my dad kindly explained and donated what I'd found.
At this point, it would be amazing to show you some of the photos and show that from a very young age showing I was some sort of camera wizard that captured incredible shots of landscapes and such, but the reality of the situation was, I'd probably wasted an entire reel of film just taking pictures of my feet or some of the lego id just constructed.
From there, there was a steady stream of cameras, that systematically were bought/given to me, that sadly were destined to fall out of trees whilst in my pocket, or dropped after chasing my sister around the house trying to provide some sort of photographic evidence to my mum, that my sister, had, in fact, smashed that vase, and how my jumping from sofa to sofa in the living room was in no way related whatsoever.
If nothing else though, It did spark a love of photography, and going back to boots to pick up a series of photos that had been developed, was always really exciting. Baring in mind, this was well before you could even dream of taking a photo and uploading it straight to your computer, or realising if your thumb was covering the lens, you couldn't actually retake it!
Photography then became a bit of a hobby from that point. I didn't actually stop breaking camera's unfortunately, but as technology progressed, one year when I was about 12 or so, I got my first little digital Nikon Coolpix camera, which boasted a mind-blowing 2 Megapixel sensor and a memory capacity of around 22 photos. I loved that little camera, and I held onto it for years taking it on various nights out to get drunken photos of my mates to upload to myspace or Bebo or something. It sadly met its demise after a trip to Magaluf, where it was subsequently exposed to a drunken vodka spillage leading to the end of what was essentially an awesome camera.
I'd take a camera everywhere. Phones were nowhere near as advanced as they are now, and it seems weird to think, the technology you have in your pocket today, is far better than even a stand-alone camera from years ago. But I'd take tons of photo's, clogging up the hard drive on the family computer.
But taking pictures professionally only really reared its head around 11 years or so ago now when myself and the family set up a portable photobooth to hire out at weddings and corporate events. I finally got my hands on a big boy DSLR camera, and when it wasn't being used in our photo booth, I was out snapping photos of cars, landscapes or anything else I could think of.
From that point onwards, I fell in love with shooting happy couples and continued to take photos and offer my services at weddings on a casual basis alongside my boring 9-5 job, where I'd constantly live for the weekend to go out and take pictures.
I'd always wanted to take the plunge into doing photography full time, but it wasn't until around 3 years ago now, I finally took the leap and set up Jonathan David Photography as you know it today.
Since then, the rest is history. We've had the pandemic, which was a huge pain and I really did think I'd have to give up my dream job, but I've plugged away and built up a business I'm ultimately very very proud of. I definitely couldn't have done it without the support of my mum, dad and Rachel, but thankfully, I truly think we're getting to a point where we're on the other side of the virus, and even more of you are reaching out to me to discuss your wedding plans, which is amazing to see!
I've had the opportunity to meet numerous amazing couples, made some incredible lifelong friends, and have learnt a hell of a lot about what makes an amazing wedding along the way.
Everything I know about photography is self-taught, right from setting up the camera, getting the most out of the couples I photograph, and even editing afterwards in photoshop, but I'm honestly of the belief that that's lead me to develop my own style, that without sounding big-headed, a lot of couples seem to love.
I love my job, and I only ever want things to get bigger and better. Be it expanding into other areas of photography, teaching myself new skills, or even writing blogs to share the experiences I've had.
Meeting new couples is one of the best bits. Even if you don't book with me, I'm always happy to offer up my experience. I love sharing the anticipation and excitement for the big day, which more often than not leads me to learn about the plans you've got before your guests, and who doesn't want to do hear about your first dance, the menu or the favours you've got ready?!
I think that's quite enough typing for a Sunday now, so I'm going to finish off here.
Myself and Rachel are off for a much-needed break next Saturday (After a wedding!) so there may or may not be a post next Sunday, but either way, I'm sure they'll be a influx of photos ready to share with you all!
Peace, Love and Photos.
Jono x
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