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Guy Collier Photography bio picture

About Guy

I am a documentary wedding photographer based just outside of Basingstoke. I've covered weddings from the New Forest to London and up to Essex, and from Kent across to Bath. 

I provide relaxed, natural, undirected photography that puts couples at ease and allows you to get on with your day without worrying about spending hours waiting for photos. We've all been at those weddings, and they're no fun. For me it's about not getting in the way, letting your day unfold naturally and capturing the moments that will make you laugh, cry, and see moments caught in time. 

I'm married with one daughter and feel honoured every single time I'm chosen to photograph a wedding. There's nothing quite like being part of it...

For those interested in the kit side, I'm a Nikon man. D3 and D700 bodies. Nikkor lenses. It doesn't really matter, but I do get asked. It's superb kit and I'm a member of Nikon Professional Services. 

My mobile is 07939 070073 so please call if you'd like to talk about your wedding photography. 

 

the amazing feedback keeps coming in….

Wow. Just wow. This week I heard back from the very lovely Lisa and Graeme. They were married at Chewton Glen on 6th June and mailed me on their return from honeymoon in Cuba:

‘We’re sorry it has taken us so long to get back to you – we didn’t log on on honeymoon as they charged a fortune for only a few minutes of Internet access and we wanted to savour the photos and take our time looking at them! Thank you so much for getting them to us so quickly and for the DVD, which we looked at as soon as we arrived back!  And we are so glad we waited until we got home, because the surprise that we got when we looked at them really made the wait worthwhile (and I cried so that wouldn’t have been good in the hotel foyer!).

We honestly are so delighted with them, that we can’t even begin to say thank you enough.  They really capture the atmosphere of the day, and it’s so nice for us to see it from a different perspective, rather than just through our own eyes. They are even better than we could have ever imagined and we really will treasure them.  It’s impossible to pick a favourite photo, as they are all so fantastic, so it will take a while for us to decide which to print off to have up in the house (it may have to be all of them)!

On a personal note, we also really enjoyed your company, both when we met beforehand and also on the day – you made it so easy to relax and just act naturally, which really shows in the pictures.  You were such a calming influence, great fun and really just blended in like part of the family – a number of guests commented on how nice, friendly and yet unobtrusive you were.

We cannot have imagined enjoying the whole wedding photograph process so much, but you really have made it a joy from start to finish.  You have been the most professional, kind, fun and talented supplier we have worked with on the wedding. If you ever need any form of reference, or recommendation, please don’t hesitate to ask, although your work speaks for itself!  We will absolutely recommend you to everyone we ever meet who’s getting married!

Thanks again so much and we hope to keep in touch.

Lisa and Graeme’

I’ve said before, but I’ll say it again. THIS sort of response is the only thing that matters with what we wedding photographers do. Everthing else in a wedding is transient and fades in time. The photographs remain forever and to have this sort of impact on someone’s wedding day is just incredible. I’m honoured to be such an integral part of these days.

This weekend is another double header. First up Claire and Alex in Farnham on Friday, and then down to Wellington for Gary and Sarah. The weather is currently staggeringly hot so I’m hoping it cools a little, but regardless I’ve no doubt there are another 2 fabulous weddings coming my way in less than 48 hours……

father’s day quiz – answers by Jess

Jess, pondering just how tough life can be….

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I follow the excellent photographer Jason Lee, based over in California. I’ll admit that my primary interest in Jason’s work is the sublime shots he takes of his two daughters, Kayla and Kristin here. He combines a fantastic eye with a terrific sense of humour and some wonderful post-processing work. Jason posted an excellent idea where his girls answered a stack of questions about him last weekend for Father’s Day and I finally managed to get Jess to sit still long enough to actually answer them for me. So, thanks to a family in California here’s what a 6 year old girl in Hampshire, England, thinks about her Dad:

1. What is something dad always says to you?

‘Don’t do that’

2. What makes dad happy?

‘His little girl’

3. What makes dad sad?

‘When he’s not with his little girl’

4. How does your dad make you laugh?

‘He tickles me’

5. What was your dad like as a child?

‘A good runner’

(I wasn’t)

6. How old is your dad?

‘39′

7. How tall is your dad?

‘That’s a hard question’

8. What is his favorite thing to do?

‘Go running’

9. What does your dad do when you’re not around?

‘He does weddings’

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?

‘Being a photographer’

(Oh the faith she has in me! :D )

11. What is your dad really good at?

‘Running’

(I’m SO not)

12. What is your dad not very good at?

‘Cooking’

(She got me there)

13. What does your dad do for his job?

‘He photographs people’

14. What is your dad’s favorite food?

‘Sausages’

15. What makes you proud of your dad?

‘His photographs’

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?

‘Superman’

(How cool is that?)

17. What do you and your dad do together?

‘Watch TV and play’

18. How are you and your dad the same?

‘We both have pink skin’

19. How are you and your dad different?

‘He wears glasses’

20. How do you know your dad loves you?

‘He cuddles me’

21. Where is your dad’s favorite place to go?

‘Home’

——————————————————–

I’ll no doubt show her this in years to come…..

claire and alex e-shoot in london

I popped up to London last night to meet with Claire and Alex whose wedding I’m shooting at The Barn at Bury Court on the 3rd July. They’re a really warm couple and it was a pleasure to see them both again. Waterloo was a handy location to meet so we wandered over to Westminster for a few shots (and despite Claire’s claims that she hates having her photo taken how photogenic and wonderful does she look?). I always forget the sheer number of people in London (and yes that does sound dim I know) and it was fun to shoot amongst the crowds to try and get a sense of privacy and solitude for them. Hard to believe this is central London in rush-hour, although the black cab sneaking in made me chuckle…..

Roll on the 3rd July! For the photographers, all Nikon D3 and Nikkor 70-200/2.8VR here.

Claire and Alex eshoot (1 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (2 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (3 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (4 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (5 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (6 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (7 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (8 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (9 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (10 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (11 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (12 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (13 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (14 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (15 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (16 of 18)

Claire and Alex eshoot (18 of 18)

more great feedback

I blogged last month about how the wait between uploading a wedding and hearing back from the couple is always slightly nerve-wracking. Wedding photography is pretty unique in that you can’t reshoot. You get one day, one chance and one moment to capture. To steal a line from The Usual Suspects, ‘and like that, it’s gone’. OK, I changed it slightly but it makes my point.

I don’t stage key moments of the day. I try to be as discreet as I can and I try to anticipate and observe to get the key moments. This is a roundabout way of saying that it’s a huge responsibility to trust yourself to do that and succeed, and for a couple to book you on that basis. I wouldn’t want it any other way – call it reportage, photojournalist, documentary, it doesn’t really matter. What does matter is doing it, and doing it well, and then hearing that from the couple that booked you to say just that.

I was delighted to receive the following email from the wonderful Joy and Tom about their marvellous 2nd May wedding.

Guy, thank you so much for being the perfect photographer.

We said again and again, before, during and after the wedding that you were the supplier that we were most impressed with throughout the whole affair.  We were particularly pleased with your customer service, the fact that you took time out to come all the way to our house for the initial meeting, and picked a fantastic location for our pre wedding shoot – something that we were surprised and delighted was included.  We were also impressed with the speed of delivery of your work; for people to see the sneak peeks the day after the wedding, and to have access to all the photos and the CD by the time we returned from honeymoon was incredible.

Thank you also for being so discreet, a number of the shots we did not even realise that you were in the room, something we were very keen on after having been to other weddings where the photographer was forever rearranging us to capture moments that had already passed!  We have the satisfaction of knowing all our photos are very real, and captured in the heat of the moment.

The quality of your work is also fantastic; a number of people have commented that they are the best wedding photos that they have ever seen.  We just wish we could do it all over again! Thank you once again, we will certainly recommend you to anyone with a wedding coming up.

It means so much to see people this happy with the work you’ve done for them. It’s not really work though to be honest. It’s just great fun from start to to finish. Excuse the shocking wedding-based pun, but this is simply the icing on the cake. You can groan now…..