SMP Weddings - Photography

Name: SMP Weddings - Photography
Address: SMP Weddings, The Barn, Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield, Haywards Heath, RH175LD, GB
Telephone: +447887884997
Price range: ££

Home
United Kingdom
Haywards Heath
SMP Weddings - Photography

Sussex/London based wedding and event PHOTOGRAPHER. Images which burst with atmosphere and soul in a

17/07/2025

24 years. 2,314 shoots. 1 goat that ate my lens cap.
Still here. Still clicking.
Still getting handed a hairnet once a month.
(Exhibit A: 👆)

This job has taken me everywhere.
Physically. Emotionally.
And occasionally up a ladder I definitely shouldn’t have been on.

For the creators. The grafters.
The “I’ll sleep when it’s backed up” crew.
Here’s what 25 years in professional photography really looks like:

🧠 43,792 hours in the edit
📸 279,048 faces captured
💥 10 TB of photo files
💻 3 hard drives named Gary
🤸 7.5 falls I pretended didn’t hurt
🔥 13 shoots derailed by fire alarms, alpacas or sideways rain
🎧 34 all-nighters powered by 90s house
🙃 1 mid-career rebuild that changed everything

And the dopamine?
Still hits. Every single time.

Wouldn’t trade it for anything
Except maybe better knees and an HDMI cable that actually works.

👇 What’s your version of this post?
Drop a stat. Tag a mate. Raise a glass to the graft.

—

📷 I’m Sophie
Photographer. Creative director. Director of non-models.
I help in-house marketing teams show off their real people with bold, culture-led brand photography that actually connects.

Follow for behind-the-scenes chaos, visual storytelling tips, and the truth about what really goes into a great shoot.

14/07/2025

This hack saved my business.
And no, it’s not a course.
Or a mindset trick.
Or a productivity app with a £299 annual subscription.
It’s a £10 kitchen timer.

⏱️ Procrastination kills momentum.
We all know that.
But how do you actually get over it?

Here’s what I do:
I turn the dial to 5 minutes.
I start.
No phone. No pressure. Just five minutes.

If I still hate it after that, I can stop.
…But 9 times out of 10?
I’m in the flow.
It’s happening.

Are you going to try it?
👉 I use the BlueSnail Kitchen Timer from Amazon.
Big dial. Big countdown. Big results.

It lives on my desk and bullies me into starting.
Try it. Tag me.
Or tell me your own procrastination buster below 👇
Let’s get sh*t done.

11/07/2025

Ever looked at your “Meet the Team” page… and cringed?

📸 Photos of Shutterstock Steve and his mate Addison Adobe…
Looking smug. Looking vanilla.
You don’t know them.
Your team doesn’t know them.
And your audience?
They know they don’t work there.

So why are they on your careers page?

Here’s the truth nobody says out loud:
📉 Stock photography can damage your credibility.

Especially when you’re trying to:

🧲 Attract talent
🧠 Show your values
📣 Build trust

You’re out here saying “our people are our biggest strength”…
but showing strangers in rented smiles?

👎 It doesn’t add up.

Look, I’m not anti-stock. It has its place.
But when it comes to your team, your culture, your real working world?

💡 Stock doesn’t cut it. Story does.

The energy.
The grit.
The quirks.
The joy.

That’s what people remember. That’s what makes you magnetic.

👇 Does this land for you?
Let’s stop borrowing faces, and start showing the real ones.

30/06/2025

🚩 Red Flags That Scream: This Shoot’s Going Sideways

This isn’t about blaming clients.
It’s about naming the stuff that derails shoots before it happens.

From no clear brief to 17 “quick ideas” at midnight… these 8 red flags kill trust, cohesion, and ROI.
📲 Swipe through for the big ones I see all the time.

And if you’ve been in the chaos as a marketer, content lead, or creative… drop a 🙋‍♀️ below.
Let’s normalise naming the chaos so we can actually fix it.

27/06/2025

Most people don’t realise this…
But a headshot isn’t a portrait.
Totally different jobs. Totally different impact.

📸 A headshot?
That’s for LinkedIn.
Crisp. Clean. Professional.
No context. Just a face.

📸 But a portrait?
That’s story.
That’s atmosphere.
That’s strategy.

It’s the difference between a passport photo and a movie still.
One proves you exist.
The other makes people feel something.

When I photograph people, I show them in context.
In their space. Doing their thing.
Sometimes posed. Sometimes not.
Always rooted in real life.

So if you’re investing in photography:

🎯 Show people where they actually are
🎯 Doing what they actually do
🎯 Let the environment speak too

What do you reckon?
Or am I just teaching grandma to suck eggs? 👇

31/01/2023

Hi All, This is my face and these are my first ever headshots!!! Please can you let me know which ones you like and if there are any you don’t like? They’re all numbered, 1-10, please comment below with the numbers of your favs. So hard to choose, I need your help!!

I’ve been a photographer for over 20 yrs and this is the first time I’ve ever had professional headshots done. Was a great insight into how my clients feel in front of the camera, so grateful for that, but it’s an awful lot of me!!!

Tech Spec - The shot is set up against my handprinted backdrop, lit with a Profoto B10 and a massive umbrella for a soft, natural looking light. On camera right there is a big black board as negative fill to soak up the light spill and give some definition to the side of the face. The images are shot on a 50mm prime lens at f2.2 for a creamy depth of field. Set up by me and shot by my husband Olly, who is not a photographer, he nailed it!!!

12/11/2021

To smile or not to smile? What works best for you, 1st or 2nd image? I’m a sucker for both a smile and an empowered stare… it’s all about the context in which the portrait is being used. Shot at sun set, underexposed sky, large octabox to the front left and the sun as the kicker, nice and atmospheric.

01/11/2021

Athlete portraits always deserve a little drama…
Lit with one Profoto B10plus in a large octabox, with the ambient under exposed by a couple of stops to give atmosphere. The back light is provided by the setting sun. 🤟🔥🤟

05/10/2021

No doubt that sports portraiture is a firm favourite of mine to shoot. I love the opportunity for drama and getting creative with the set up. I’m fortunate to work with UEL (University of East London), where their elite athlete programme is excellent and the students always bring massive positivity. This portrait session focuses on the top players from volleyball, basketball, tennis, football, athletics and a few other niche sports like mountain biking and extreme kayaking.

So this was one of the last set ups of the day, around 5pm, shooting into the setting sun, under exposing by a couple of stops, using the sun as a backlight, whilst lighting from the front with a Profoto B10 plus, inside a large octabox.

Featured here is 400m runner in her sprint start position. The location is at the visually awesome UEL Docklands campus. There are so many interesting spots for portraits at the Docklands campus, although the river is definitely my fav. We shot the tennis players by the river in the morning and the aesthetic is totally different, much brighter but equally as eye catching, more images to follow.

Huge thanks to UEL for such fabulous commissions.

Sxx.

Address

SMP Weddings, The Barn, Ockenden Lane, Cuckfield
Haywards Heath
RH175LD

Telephone

+447887884997

Website

http://www.smpweddings.co.uk/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when SMP Weddings - Photography posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to SMP Weddings - Photography:

Shortcuts

Want your business to be the top-listed Event Planning Service in Haywards Heath?