Craige Barker Photography Wins Prestigious Wedding Award

25 Jan 2022

It would be an understatement to say that 2020 was a pretty challenging year for the wedding industry. But for Craige, from Craige Barker Photography, it saw him scoop a highly prestigious award at the International Wedding Awards.

With exceptional talent (check out these reviews) and a passion for wedding photography, it’s no wonder the judges crowned him the winner of the North West local rounds.

Wedding Craige Barker Photography

So who is Craige?

Craige has been a professional photographer for 15 years. His versatility and talent have sent him on commercial shoots and published in the music press. But his first love is wedding photography.

Talking to Craige, his love of weddings is clear to see. He describes it as ‘moving from party to party’, and for someone who loves people, weddings must be the perfect place to spend the day working.

It’s not just being surrounded by joyful people every week that gives Craige job satisfaction. He also strives to provide his clients with a top-class service.

‘I’m with them all day’, he says, ‘and weddings are stressful, so nothing is too much trouble. I have quite a calming effect.’

In fact, Craige can do more than take fabulous photographs. He’s become a dab hand at buttonholes and how to cut the cake. With Craige at your wedding, you’re definitely in safe hands.

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Make your wedding feel award-winning

When you book Craige for your wedding, he will go out of his way to make you feel comfortable. This starts with a pre-shoot where he can get to know you better, and you can both feel more comfortable in front of the lens.

On the big day itself, he’ll be there capturing those special moments. Sometimes you won’t even know he’s there as he stealthily shoots you and the guests. At other times, you’ll definitely know he’s using his skills to get the best shots. He describes directing group shots as ‘a bit like herding cats.’ But that’s what he’s excellent at – getting people to pose together so no one is missed.

Knowing that these photos will remain special to you means he will capture all your happy memories.

It’s not as simple as turning up and taking a few snaps with a camera. Craige has mastered the art of photography, knowing where the good light is, understanding the best poses and having an eye for detail. As well as the pre-shoot and a full day of photography, it can take Craige three days to edit the shots, so they are perfect for the bride and groom. A lot of hard work goes on behind the scenes to get each picture just right.

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Behind-the-scenes action

When you’ve worked in the wedding industry for as long as Craige has, there must be some stories to tell. Indeed, Craige has so many he wants to make a TV show. Obviously, we couldn’t resist asking him to tell us a couple.

He tells us, ‘At one wedding, the Best Man had left to go to the pub and missed all the group photographs. He was quite rightly horrified when he realised, and I had to then photoshop him into all the shots during the editing process.’

‘At another wedding, I had spent 5 hours shooting. It had been a busy day. We’d done group shots and action shots. As I was leaving, a couple came over and asked to be removed from all the photographs. It turned out they were having an affair and weren’t supposed to be there together. I’m still not quite sure why they posed for the shots in the first place!’

Stronger than ever

Like every business we talk to, we can’t avoid mentioning the pandemic. The Wedding Industry was impacted catastrophically, and Craige found that all his clients had to postpone. Luckily, he didn’t lose any clients and dates were just moved forward. Re-organising his diary has been no mean feat, and since March, Craige has been working non-stop, sometimes shooting 4 weddings in one week. Thankfully he has help now and has another trusted photographer who helps him manage the demand.

Craige Barker Photography

Craige is happy to travel and shoots weddings all over the North West. One of his favourite wedding locations was at Portmeirion in North Wales. He will also travel nationally and internationally and has shot weddings in Champagne and Madrid, so you need to talk to Craige if you’re planning a destination wedding.

Craige Barker Photography is another Cheadle Hulme business doing great things, and we’re so happy that he’s now part of I Love Cheadle Hulme. If you’re looking for an experienced, award-winning wedding photographer who will take the time to get to know you and knows how to make the big day extra special, Craige is your man. And, his busy diary shows how in-demand he is. To avoid disappointment, get in touch with Craige Barker Photography as soon as possible.

Craige Barker Photo