Don't be an imposter, be yourself

We're incredibly excited to announce our first ever Wedding Photography Is Art workshop. It's happening this October in Manchester. A full day, delving into the technical and creative process behind our photo art. Presented by the both of us: Hollie & Patrick Mateer. Let us help you level-up your documentary wedding photography.

Date: Sunday 6th October 2024, 11 am to 6 pm. Join us for food and drinks afterwards, too.

Location: Revolución de Cuba, South Central, 11 Peter Street, Manchester, M2 5QR. A short taxi ride or 20-min walk from Piccadilly train station.

Your investment: £400, limited places available. £100 deposit to secure your place taken now (details below). The remaining balance is then due two weeks before the workshop

Early bird price is just £350: book your ticket by the end of 31st August 2024 for just £350.

What's included: a full day of education on documentary wedding photography presented by both of us. Lunch, refreshments and snacks are also included.

Don't be an imposter, be yourself: this is the ethos behind wedding photography is art. We'll discuss how we don't compare ourselves to others and don't follow trends. We'll explain how the day we realised this was the only way forward for us was the day we started to create the kind of work we're known for today. We'll discuss how now, we create authentic work that stands out from the crowd - work that resonates with our ideal client. Work that speaks about us as artists and people.

Wedding Photography Is Art is for photographers of all abilities: experienced wedding photographers, aspiring photographers starting out at the beginning of their journey and everyone in between. Whatever your level of experience, Wedding Photography Is Art is for you.

In the workshop we will cover all this and more: documentary wedding photography is our passion and imparting all our knowledge about this subject will underpin the following subjects.

• Our approach - how we photograph a full wedding day using our own, relaxed documentary approach. We'll cover each part of the day, stage by stage.
• Our artistic style - how we create images that stand out from the crowd. Both in camera - and through editing. We'll discuss why we believe what we do - and all wedding photography - is art.
• Simplifying our approach - how we maximise our creativity by keeping our approach simple.
• Composition is key - why we believe that composition is the key element to every image we take.
• Framing and cropping - how we use subtle (and sometimes) dynamic crops to enhance our raw images.
• Building moments from the first shutter click to the last - how we develop a meaningful narrative throughout every wedding we shoot. How we think ahead and anticipate moments before they happen - and how we're in the right place at the right time to capture the unexpected.
• There's always something to capture - how we stay creative during the quieter moments.
• Awards - tips on how to win awards to help with your marketing and branding. Tips on winning This Is Reportage awards, Masters awards, Fearless awards, PKIR awards. Also, we'll cover how winning awards has challenged us to develop ourselves creatively.
• Which awards to enter - as you'll see below, we're lucky enough to have been successful in many awards. We're also experienced photography award judges. We'll talk through how we believe there is an award for everyone to enter - how different photography styles are better suited for certain awards.
• Branding - awards aren't for everyone and branding is much more than winning an award. We'll explain how we've developed our own unique brand of documentary wedding photography.
• Working as a duo and shooting solo - we'll discuss how we work together and sometimes, shoot weddings on our own.
• Finding our ideal client - how we find our ideal clients.
• Our equipment - the cameras, the lenses, the flash equipment - everything we use on a wedding day.
• Layering our story - storytelling is key for us and layering is not just image specific. We layer our stories, image by image, to keep the viewer of our blogs, social media posts and This Is Reportage stories engaged.
• Technical and creative breakdowns - of how we created some of our best known images.
• Inspire, don't influence - in the age of the influencer and the algorithm we'll explain why for us it's so important important to be inspired by others, but not influenced.
• Community is vital - how being part of our wider photography community has helped us develop as people and as artists.

A little about us:

We live in Yorkshire with our beautiful family and we photograph weddings all over the UK and abroad. " we'll be presenting at the Fearless and Masters Conference in Belgium, in 2025.

Hollie is the youngest ever winner of the TWIA National Photographer Of The Year award and the only solo female winner of the This Is Reportage Photographer Of The Year award. Also a Rangefinder Magazine Rising Star, Hollie is presenting at the 2024 NineDots Gathering.

Patrick, along with Hollie, won the prestigious TWIA National Photographer Of The Year award and has twice appeared in the This Is Reportage Top 10 Photographers In The World list. He has also twice been named as the WPJAs Top UK Wedding Photojournalist. Patrick presented at the 2022 NineDots Gathering.

Together, we won the Photographers Keeping It Real Photographer Of The Year award, we were named as one of the best photographers in the UK by Professional Photo Magazine, we have both made the Fearless Top Photographers In The World list multiple times and both made the Masters Of Wedding Photography Top Photographers In The UK list.

Securing your place: want to book on the workshop? We'd love to see you there! Pay your £100 booking fee and we'll look forward to seeing you in Manchester, this October. Please use the paypal button below to secure your place.

Kind words: we're experienced mentors and educators. We love working with photographers to help them develop their work, refine their approach and above all, help empower them on their way to reaching their full potential. Here are some kind words from photographers we've mentored in the past:

"The best investment I made last year". Robin Goodlad

Paul Williams (Gingerbeard Weddings)

"Both Hollie and Patrick are great photographers - and lovely people. Through their feedback and guidance I managed to win my first ever This Is Reportage and Fearless awards. I have since gone to carry on winning awards, which I know is down to their guidance - and I use the advice they've given me at every wedding I photograph". Barnaby Staniland (BGS Weddings).

"Thank you once again for your wisdom, advice and guidance with the mentoring sessions we've had. I'm already feeling the difference at weddings, but also during editing, too". Lewis Fackrell

"Being mentored by Patrick and Hollie was a no brainer. The amount of detail in their critiques was amazing. They were honest, straightforward and full of fantastic suggestions and ideas. After reworking some images their advice, I even went on to pick up several new awards. If you're thinking of investing in phoography education or training, you really cannot go wrong with Hollie and Patrick". Alex Benyon