After more than fifteen years in the business, UK photographer Simon Whitten of Firehorse Photography & Filming has covered more than 600 weddings on four continents. He's has been a friend of Queensberry for much of his career. Simon is strong-minded character who believes that the key to success is to find your own way and stand out from the crowd. "Don't follow the latest fads or fashions," he says, "or you will only ever be a follower, and always late to the party." We asked him a few questions about how that's reflected in his life and work… Simon's first To View More >>

"I'm going to interview Simon Whitten while I'm in the UK," I said to Heather, "Short story - what springs to mind?" "Stately homes ... panoramic images ... simple, classic album designs," she said. Simon has established a solid business at the very top of the UK wedding market, and what struck me about our conversation was his confidence and clarity in talking about it. To succeed in this business requires a lot more than photographic passion and skills. You need a clear understanding of your market position, your clientele and where they come from, your brand and how you project it. The low end To View More >>

Relationships with local wedding venues are a great way to build a strong wedding and portrait business, and a beautiful display album featuring the venue works well for both parties. Simon Whitten is a long-standing and valued Queensberry client from Yorkshire in England. His association with the luxury castle hotel Swinton Park is very important to him, and for years his Queensberry sample album has rested on the piano in the drawing room. When the time came to update it, the question was “with what?” These days most of his clients tend towards the 14x10 Duo that Simon prefers. But feeling To View More >>

Simon Whitten of SMW Photography has an interesting perspective on timelessness. He says the albums he's designing today should have looked current ten or twenty years ago, not just years into the future. That's the real test of timelessness, he says. That philosophy underlies his approach to album design - simple and uncluttered. We've featured Simon's work on Queensberry Connects before, but we grabbed this album for the beautifully simple design and the thought behind it ... He created a 14x10 Duo album for clients Charlotte and James and also made a stunning 18x10 Silk display sample for the To View More >>

The New Year is a great time to stop, take a look around, absorb what you've achieved, and focus on what the year ahead offers. I've just done the absorb bit. Gone back and had a look at what we've posted over the past year. I found some really great stuff I'd forgotten about! No doubt you've forgotten or missed some of these posts too so over the next few days we'll bring you our favourite posts of 2008.  There's not much of a criteria - just posts that really stood out to us. I hope they do to you too. We'll start by engaging your senses. Today we've picked a couple of really interesting interviews, To View More >>

UK photographer Simon Whitten of Firehorse Photography shot Emma and Ben's wedding in the heart of winter on 9 January, 2010. Simon says, "This was my fourth wedding in a row this winter with snow on the ground, but it didn't stop us spending 20 minutes shooting the couple in the ruins of the neighbouring Bolton Priory... complete with Emma's grandmother's fur coat." They married at the New Life Church in Bradford, Yorkshire followed by their reception at The Devonshire Arms in the Yorkshire Dales. To view more of Simon's work check out his blog. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>

(Photography by Simon Whitten) Truth is, sometimes I've felt a bit self-conscious writing about our wedding. Every day I see albums from top photographers around the world of the most elaborate, extravagant and expensive weddings you could imagine. Sometimes I've wondered if what I'm writing is even relevant ... because Kayla and I didn't get married in a castle! But my intention has been to share our experiences and insights, not to compare our wedding to another. And the truth is that the weddings we're lucky enough to share in at Queensberry take place everywhere, "from humble homes to palaces." To View More >>

Caroline and Jamie's beach wedding was shot by well known UK photographer Simon Whitten last summer. Location: Scarborough Beach, Perth, Australia. Check out several more of Simon's albums featured here and here. Cheers, Nigel To View More >>

The first thing you need in a wedding photographer is that they show up on the day. Simon Whitten gets from Venice to London under an ash cloud ... Thursday AM I am wrapped up in a honeymoon photo-shoot with clients in Venice when my phone rings: "Have you heard the news? - UK air space is being shutdown this evening from 7pm". Oh dear ... we are booked on a flight that afternoon to get back to the UK with a clear full day between our shoot in Venice and a wedding on the Saturday. The airline Jet2.com's website is useless, as are their emergency contact numbers. Not a single one of their phone To View More >>

Simon Whitten is a long-standing and valued Queensberry client from Yorkshire in England. His association with the luxury castle hotel Swinton Park is very important to him, and for years his Queensberry sample album has rested on the piano in the drawing room. When the time came to update it, the question was “with what?” Having covered many great weddings at Swinton Park, he decided on an 18x12 Duo “best of” album, featuring three couples/weddings that reflected both his own best work and Swinton Park at various times of the year. • Sarah and Paul had “a glorious summer wedding in To View More >>