In this section you will find answers to some questions which I am frequently asked regarding my wedding photography and indeed wedding photography in general. I hope that you find some of the information useful. However, if you have any particular interest please do not hesitate to contact me.

What can I expect to pay for a photographer for our wedding?

Well, if you have arrived at this point having already done some groundwork (and if you haven't, then I can save you a considerable amount of time surfing the internet and making phone calls to photographers), you will be aware that the cost of employing a wedding photographer falls somewhere between £450 including tax up to £5,000, £3,000 for general photography and an additional £2,000 for the album. That is without paying for a named internationally famous photographer.

Why is there such a variation?

Well like most things, it depends on the quantity and quality. At the bottom end of the scale, the photographer will probably do two or in some cases even three weddings a day. The film or digital recording media will then be sent to a laboratory and machine printed. You will then be presented with a set of some 20, 8x6in prints. If you chose a competent photographer then all being well you will end up with a competent set of prints. If you are happy to put these into a ubiquitous white imitation leather album from the local supermarket or chemist chain, then that is fine. However if you decide subsequently that you want an album of photographs, then this alone will add from £200 to the price even for a small album. Additionally, if you want a framed wall mounted photograph for yourself and/or parents, then you will probably find that each adds upwards of £80 for the photograph and £50 to £100 for a frame. Add in some extra photographs for members of the family and very soon the cheap entry price has crept up to the £1,000 mark. Other photographers choose to give an inclusive price from the start, while others give a more total coverage of your day.   And of course those photographers who have a quality and style which stands out from the crowd, and are therefore in demand, can afford to charge more.

Why employ a professional wedding photographer at all?

A professional photographer can in all round terms better capture your day. Important skills include:

• Posing the bride and groom
• Arranging groups quickly and effectively
• Controlling the available light
• Producing results in all weather conditions
• Ability to produce those artistic romantic shots.

The use of professional camera equipment ensures that the resulting photographs are clear and sharp and can therefore be enlarged very considerably before there is a noticeable loss in quality.

Furthermore, a really good photographer will capture the detail in the brides dress and give you flattering beautiful skin tones at the same time. Check out how many wedding albums you see where this is not the case!

As a final point, according to various research bodies, the average wedding in Britain now costs between £16,000 and £20,000 depending upon whose research you believe.   All that money goes in one day which passes seemingly in a moment.   A wedding album should be a beautiful recording of the day's events and is a memory forever - surely worth allocating 10% of the budget for.

Why should we consider using David Round Photography?

Well first of all, I do not mass produce wedding photography. This means that I always come to your wedding with a fresh and artistic approach. It also ensures that you will be treated individually and that as far as it is reasonable to, I shall try to meet your individual requirements. Also, very importantly, I will not monopolize your day. I am sure we have all been a guest at weddings which seem to be run more as a stage-set for the photographer rather than the photographer recording what is going on.   The journalistic or ‘reportage’ style of wedding photography which is both fun and less intrusive is quite in-vogue now. However, I have to admit to using this style since photographing my first wedding over 20 years ago.   Of course some traditional posed shots outside the church and/or at the reception are important but the balance between these two approaches I would discuss and agree with yourselves prior to the wedding.

Also, at the end you will not just get a pile of machine printed photographs of one size.  What you will get is an album of a variety of panoramas, small photographs inset into larger ones and, where they tell a story, a series of related photographs across a page.   Each photograph is individually considered and processed to make it an artistic and romantic reflection of your day. Also you will get a mixture of colour and black & white photographs as most appropriate to the scene.   All of which will hang together as a beautiful whole.

My aim is at the end of the day to provide you with an album which is a true and beautiful reflection of the day. One which your friends will go “wow!” or “who did that? I must have him for my wedding!”

So how would you approach our wedding?

If you are interested in my doing the photography for your wedding you should first contact me by telephone, e-mail or by using the enquiry form to be found on the 'Contact' page of this site. Details of how to reach me may be also be found on the 'Contact' page accessible from the Home page. The first hurdle of course is whether I shall be available for your particular date. Assuming that I am, I like to meet at the earliest possible convenient time to discuss in general terms the plans for the wedding, the style of wedding and location, and indeed whether you have any particular feelings with regard to the style of wedding photography you want. For my part, I can let you see first hand, examples of my work as well as provide you with more information on confirming the booking and payment arrangements etc. Also we would need to discuss options with regard to the level of photographic coverage of your wedding. Most importantly it is an opportunity to get to know each other at an early stage as I have found it helps enormously in ensuring that everyone is relaxed (at least as far as the photography is concerned!) come the big day.

If you decide to go ahead, you will need to return the booking form to me together with the deposit. I will then write to you confirming the booking.

Some two to three weeks before the wedding, normally I would ask that we meet again to finalize details such as who are the really important guests of whom you would want particular coverage.   This might be a favourite aunt for example. Also, who at the wedding will know who is who such that I can refer to them rather than bothering yourselves.

Normally, before this meeting I would have visited the church and reception venue to check the ‘lie of the land’ particularly with regard to ascertaining suitable photogenic opportunities. At this meeting, I would usually discuss how taking some photographs at these locations would fit into your timings for the wedding breakfast etc. Also we would need to finalize your views on the balance of formal portraits and reportage photography.

If you have requested it, then I would next meet you for a few photographs at any pre-wedding events.

Also if you have requested it then either I or an assistant would turn up to take photographs of the bride getting ready, perhaps of the wedding dress and other items of interest.

Either way, normally I would arrive at the church early to take some photographs of the church resplendent with all the flowers and air of expectancy! I would then take some photographs of the guests, groom and best man arriving and of course finally the bride.

With regard to the photographs in church, some churches prohibit this. Either way, I find it rather distasteful to have a photographer clambering about during the service and therefore any photographs taken inside the church will be done with the utmost discretion. If the service is at a venue I have not worked at before then I would make contact to ascertain their policy.

The extent and style of coverage of the rest of the day we will have agreed as described above.

You offer a free studio portrait session with your top-end wedding packages. Why do you do this?

For clients who wish to take advantage of this offer, this is an opportunity to have a few romantic photographs taken away from the pressures of the wedding day itself. It also affords an opportunity to get used to posing and being photographed and to develop a relationship between the photographer and the bride and groom. Being relaxed with the photographer and about being photographed will help the big day progress smoothly and be one less thing for the bride and groom to be worried about on the day!

What happens after the wedding?

Normally, about three weeks after the wedding, the photographs will be posted on the 'Client Photographs' section of this website. This can either be open or password protected.

At your convenience after your return from honeymoon, you will need to draw up a shortlist of your favourites; the ones you wish to appear as the major photographs in your album or 'storybook'. At this stage we would normally have a meeting to go through the photographs, discuss the layout and finalise your choice of album.

As mentioned above, the album would not just be a collection of fixed size photographs but an artistic arrangement of panoramas, inset photographs and related groupings. There would be some colour and some black and white where appropriate. The photographs will be your choice.   I shall provide guidance where required for artistic presentation but the final decision is yours.

Can family and friends see the photographs online?

If you had previously agreed it, photographs from the wedding would be posted on the private 'Client Photographs' section of this web site such that family, relatives and friends could see the photographs. This is a far more effective system for enabling everyone to see the photographs than passing round a set of 'proofs'. There is also an ordering system so that relatives and friends can pay for photographs online directly, thereby removing from yourselves, the hassle of a having to organize everybody's requests. The web site can be password protected and limited to guests and family who would able to pick up a memo-card with username and password at the reception. Or you can agree to leave the section open if you are happy for general visitors to this site to see your photographs.

When will the album and any framed prints be ready?

The album, framed photographs and any additional photographs ordered would be delivered around six weeks after your decision on the album make-up. This increases to around eight weeks for 'storybooks'.

What areas of the country do you cover?

I have photographed weddings in several countries and around the UK. If you like my work, then I am prepared to travel to any location given reasonable travel expenses.

I am normally based in Burton Joyce in Nottinghamshire, so I cover Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Derbyshire and South Yorkshire without any additional travel expenses. Also, I frequently travel to North Wales and Devon/Cornwall so I can also cover these locations without travel expenses, if they fit in with other business.

Do you use traditional film or digital cameras?

Although I have been using digital processing since 1994, until recently I had continued to use film cameras for capturing the image. Digital capture has for some time now been almost universally used by press photographers but this has been predominantly for speed. At the end of an event, the photographer can download the photographs to a laptop in the car or press box and immediately zap them down a line or through a mobile phone to the editor. No more rushing the film to a processor and then rushing the prints to the office. It is all instantaneous. But the quality demanded by newspaper printing or for a small photograph in a magazine is not great.

Wedding photography is more about quality than time: Or at least it should be! At the higher end of the market, which I cater for, film has prevailed and until very recently, I still used a Nikon 35mm film camera for general reportage shots, and a medium format Mamiya RZ67 (6cm x 7cm negative size) for the more formal shots likely to be used for large framed portraits.

However, that said, in 2004, I came to the conclusion that the technology had finally reached a point where it is not just more convenient but superior in quality. I took delivery of a Canon EOS 1Ds, 11.1m pixel full frame digital camera. This camera system is not cheap but the image quality is just amazing, surpassing my medium format camera. As a result I now use this for all my work and in 2005 added a latest version Canon EOS 1Ds MkII, 16.7m pixel full frame digital camera to my armoury.

This means that I now have an all digital 'work-flow' as all post capture processing is carried out digitally. This affords much better control over the final prints. Printing is done using top end professional equipment giving a quality and longevity of prints in excess of traditional consumer chemical printing and far in excess of consumer digital printers.

The only exceptions are my infra-red photography, for which I use film processed in my own darkroom and for specialist prints such as portrait prints using platinum chemistry.

What are the payment arrangements?

Normally a £100 deposit is required with your booking form. The balance of payment for your selected package is required 21 days before the wedding.

Orders and payment for additional photographs, a parents album or framed prints can be made after the wedding as required. Guests, friends and family may also order and pay for prints independently through this web site after the wedding.

How much do you charge for this service?

For prices please return to the Information Menu and click on wedding photography prices.