Hi, I’m Max and and I was named after a dog.
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I’m a London based UK and Destination Wedding Photographer and I feel very fortunate to get to photograph weddings for a living.
I didn’t always though. I did economics at university and used to work in events for charities. Mind, Teenage Cancer Trust and Tommy’s to name a few. They’re awesome, you should give them your money. In fact it was photographing their marathon runners for fun that led me to pick up my first camera. Eventually I realised an office job wasn’t for me anymore. I didn’t know exactly what I wanted to photograph, but just knew I wanted to photograph.
Since then, I’ve photographed conferences, office spaces, an FA Cup Final, fashion catwalks, Smart Meters, even nightclubs (never, ever again). But through that all, I found that I loved photographing people. I still photograph some of those things every now and then (seriously, not the nightclubs anymore). But doing a bit of everything before you find the one thing is what its all about isn’t it? It also means that I can navigate a tightly packed dancefloor full of people dancing, it means I can see where the good light is, it means I can capture people moving quickly and full of emotion, it means I can direct people if they need it.
Which is good, because weddings are fun, weddings are full of love and happiness and weddings are unpredictable. If you want a photographer who is unfazed by and honestly revels in it all - then let’s have a chat. I won’t take you away from your day for hours or create fake sunsets in photoshop and I certainly won’t get in the way of proceedings. It’s your day - I’m just there to capture it.
Oh, and just because I’m based in London doesn’t mean I won’t travel further afield. I’ve shot weddings all over the UK as well as Italy, Spain, Greece and I keep being asked to come back to Scotland again and again!
So that’s who I am, but how do I work?
Relaxed, candid, unobtrusive - lots of words to mean the same thing. I shoot a documentary style, which I take to mean that “If it happens, I’ll photograph it.” A fly on the wall, rather than a fly in your soup.
That doesn’t mean I’ll be hiding in the bushes with a long telephoto lens though - it’s my job to make you and your loved ones feel comfortable enough to just be yourselves, even with me wandering around with my cameras.
I care more about my couples than I do my portfolio. I focus on making sure I capture all the fun, happy and messy moments of your day beautifully, even if they don’t fit an Instagram crop or my website gallery dimensions.
Even when we shoot some beautiful portraits, I try to make the experience fun, rather than forced. A reflection of you, rather than some over the top “artistic vision.” Every other part of your wedding day is supposed to be fun, so why shouldn’t your photos?
That’s not to say of course if you’re looking for something a little more editorial, a background in fashion photography also means we can create just the thing you’re looking for - collaboration is key.
I think my real skill is being able to draw out of couples who they really are, even if its hiding under somebody saying “I hate having my photo taken.” All of the portraits you see here on my website or my Instagram are just couples being themselves. Plenty of them thought they never looked good in photos - and as you can see without exception, they were all wrong.
We’ll go for a walk, find some nice spots, chase the good light, you’ll have a laugh and before you know it, we’ll be done and you’ll be back to the bar. It doesn’t have to take hours to get beautiful, timeless portraits, even if you do need a bit of direction.
Ultimately, I want you to spend as much time enjoying yourselves with your friends and family as possible.
Oh and even for those more traditional group photos, don’t worry I can put on an excellent teacher voice so we can fly through those too.
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Who I really am
Apparently its a good marketing practice to tell you some things about me, maintaining an air of professionalism while self-deprecating so here we go.
I really am named after a dog. He was an English Setter, my great Aunt’s. A fish was then named after me. It died.
Soup is not food. It’s a conspiracy orchestrated by Big Bread™. Speaking of bread, I’m a coeliac which is unfortunate because I desperately miss a nice peshwari naan.
I am a huge Taylor Swift fan. I am not sorry. My favourite album (and song) is Red. (Taylor’s Version, naturally.) And yes, I did go to the Eras Tour. Twice.
My Mastermind specialist subject would be the Simpsons. I once watched an entire season of 24 in one go. My favourite Rom-Com is Serendipity. Or maybe its Say Anything. Vintage John Cusack either way.
I grew up in South East London, went to uni in Loughborough and now I live in East London. I do leave London occasionally, honest.
I love dogs. If ever a situation arises where you have the ability to show me a dog and you’re worried it would bother me, please understand how serious I am when I say such a circumstance could never arise.
I have a fluffy Corgi named Pesto. I wanted to name him Keith. You didn’t ask, but here are some photos.
(Scroll below the cute puppy and click the button to have a look at my photography packages and some kind words from some previous couples.)
