Hire a Photographer in East Midlands

Andy Lewis Photography is based in Leicestershire and provides professional photographic services for weddings, corporate occasions, press and PR, event photography and photo booth services. Read on for his dramatic story and tips for hiring a good photographer.

What do you need to know from an organiser in order to provide a comprehensive quote?

To provide an accurate and competitive price please supply me with as much information as possible. It's helpful if you have a specific date for your photography and approximate timings, we appreciate things can change but it's helpful if we have an overview of the task. A good briefing is alway helpful and what the imagery is going to be used for, if its for the web we can provide small files in the correct format and resolution and if its for an advertising campaign or billboard we can provide high-resolution files.

What advice would you give to a customer looking to hire a provider in your area of work?

Always use somebody with a qualification in the service you require, it should either be an academic degree or a qualification from a recognised trade body. Always ask to see your photographer's public liability cover, the usual minimum is £2m but some venues require 5-10 million pounds worth. Always make sure your photographer is clear about your requirements, don't let them run away with their own interpretation of the brief.

Please tell us a little bit about how and why you started the business.

For many years I was the man up in the sky photographing the aerial imagery for Google Earth, previous to that I had been an employed commercial photographer working for large photographic and advertising companies. In late 2006, whilst working on an aerial photography project for a large civil engineering company, the pilot of my plane lost consciousness and stalled the aircraft. It took a 19,000 feet fall for me to recover the situation and realise wedding and commercial photography are probably a safer option.

Please tell us about a booking you've had through Add to Event, how did it go? Would you recommend us to others?

I have just received my first booking for a photo booth at a surprise birthday party and it was such a simple process to win the work. This is the first time I have moved away from paying SEO companies a fortune to get my web page on the first page of Google. The great thing about this platform is having your services matched with the client's needs and you receive very detailed information about the job and its very easy to communicate with the customer. I'm absolutely sure this is the way forward and having focused leads delivered to you is much better than the pay per click lottery.