This month’s Featured Member is Emily from SpinKreative Photography. Emily is a Mum of two based in Hertfordshire but has shot weddings in Cambridge, Essex, Bedford, London, Norfolk, Ireland and even Ibiza.
Photography has fascinated Emily since childhood when she was given a pinhole camera at 8 years old. It was a hobby for a long time but Emily took the leap to being a professional photographer in 2013 and has never looked back.
Emily shot her first wedding in 2014 and was instantly hooked on the energy and joy of being involved in such unique life moment events. Her favourite part is capturing the love and laughter of a wedding – it’s what it’s all about!
How to choose a Wedding Photographer
The style of Emily’s wedding photography is a mix of relaxed, candid and reportage. Her aim is to add to the fun and laughter on your wedding day and provide photos which allow you to relive the precious moments over and over again. Emily has written a great blog on tips to help choose a wedding photographer some of which are detailed below.
- 1 STYLE – do you like their photography style? Do you want your wedding photos to look similar? If no, move on.
- 2 LIKEABLE – you are going to spend a lot of time with your wedding photographer so do you like them? Don’t pay suppliers who are going to dampen the mood.
- 3 BUDGET – does their prices and packaging fit within your budget? Always take into consideration the additional time they will spend on your photos outside of your wedding day when looking at the price.
- 4 PROFESSIONALISM – check if they have insurance, is the contract they have professional? If they aren’t transparent ask about the boring bits.
Sustainability
Emily is passionate about protecting our planet and is committed to producing her photography with the reduction of environmental impact in mind. Recently, Emily read this quote and loved the inspiration and drive it evokes as an SME with a sustainable ethos so we thought we should share it here.
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” Margaret Mead, anthropologist, Planetary
A couple of weeks ago, Emily was very proud to achieve her Accreditation with the Sustainable Wedding Alliance, which just proves that although SpinKreative is only a small business operating within a very large industry, you can still aspire to do your part and be climate positive.
As part of the SME Climate Commitment SpinKreative also aims to halve its Greenhouse Gas Emissions before 2030 working towards achieving net zero emissions before 2050. As part of that Emily contributes to Ecologi – Client Action Workforce as a carbon offsetting scheme, which helps to fund climate projects with the purpose of being ‘climate positive’ by 2030.
These are some of the ways Emily is working towards reducing her Greenhouse Gas Emissions.
TRAVEL
- Reducing the amount of miles she drives in the car and utilising public transport.
- Investing in an electric vehicle at the earliest affordable opportunity.
- Encouraging virtual meetings with clients/interested parties whenever possible.
ENERGY & EQUIPMENT
- Reduce electricity usage by switching to LED and installing a smart meter.
- Use rechargeable batteries and dispose of ‘dead’ batteries in the correct way for them to be recycled.
- Utilising good quality second-hand kit and selling/gifting unwanted kit for reuse by other photographers.
SUPPLY CHAIN
- Regularly assess and review her supply chain and opting for the most sustainable choices where possible.
- Promoting sustainable suppliers to her clients and help them to make more sustainable choices.
COMMUNITY
- Emily is committed to supporting and volunteering with local charities and initiatives around sustainability and environmental concerns.
- Currently she pro-actively provides event photography for Hertford and Our Changing Climate and also for Garden House Hospice.
To read more about Emily’s sustainability journey and hear about all the other things Emily gets up to you can visit her website or follow her on social media.
