ABOUT US
A couple of creative sorts, we met photographing a wedding and eventually had one of our own.
We don't really like talking about ourselves so this might be a little boring/cringeworthy...
WILL
LEAD | BRITAIN
My first dabble with photography was as a child, clutching my prized 110 film camera. I’d believe I was the next David Bailey, confidently snapping away on school trips. Once back home I’d be super eager to have my 'art' developed, only to find I’d managed to capture a lot of pictures of blurry cows in fields (cows were not so commonplace in the suburbs of Manchester) through a speeding coach window.
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Years later, I was handed down my Dad’s trusty old 35mm Yashica film camera (he was a pro film photographer in the 80’s) with a bunch of lenses. This got me hooked but it's an expensive skill to develop shooting film. Thankfully, digital camera’s came along and bingo. They got me to where I am today, well, not sat at the computer typing this, but you get the gist.
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So that’s where the camera wielding began but aside from that...​
As a photographer/videographer and general creative, I wear multiple hats, which is good as I have very little hair. I capture images with a photojournalistic style and always try to tell a story and capture a personality with the pictures I take.
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I'm a self confessed geek with a taste for coffee, wine, pizza & olives, not necessarily in that order. I love the outdoors, especially when the weather is playing nice, although there's much to be said for wrapping up against the elements too. I like nothing more than getting a new piece of technology and tinkering until I figure it out; also, like most men I'm not a big fan of user manuals. Unlike most men, I’m not into football (sacrilege as someone who grew up in Manchester).
Will - The one in the middle...
SARAH
LEAD | IRELAND
I've been pointing lenses at stuff for my lunch money since the middle of the 00’s. I started out with medium format film cameras (the big ones on tripods) in the commercial world and had quite a few happy years in that arena, got to travel to some fabulous places and worked with some amazing people. Then, digital cameras got better and better, and I think I started using one as a bit of a toy. Being able to shoot without fear of the film running out allowed me to play and experiment heaps. I took more and more pictures of people's faces and life and loved it. Ultimately, I'm a complete people person so I tried a wedding and the rest is history.
I love texture and movement, big skies and finding a shot that no one else sees. Happy to lie on the floor or lurk in a hedge to catch it. I love spending the day with happy, smiley people and capturing that in it's raw form in an image. I love the unseen stuff too, these days we can be super creative in the digital darkroom as well as with a camera. We don’t blanket process, every image is developed individually, by hand to bring out it's best.
Outside of work, I'm a mum to Oisín and feeder/cleaner upper for our two hounds Ginger Rogers Biscuit and Freda Staire (don't judge us). I like most outdoorsy stuff (just never take me caving), I practice yoga, love cooking and eating, SUP board slowly and read (faster than I SUP board). I've got plans to grow stuff and sew stuff but I don't seem to be getting anywhere with those.
Chips over salad, red wine over white, mountain hike over lounging on the beach, camper van over hotel. I can be encouraged to do most things for a cherry bakewell.
Sarah - The one on the left...
Profile captures by Keri Tan on our wedding day, production by us.
Other images by us and the magic of a self timer, sense of humour and a tripod (below).
See, we do understand how awkward posing makes you feel (and look).
This was supposed to be funny. Not sure we quite pulled that off...
A fair few moons ago, we started working together more and more, then we got married and things got a smidge confusing, so here we are under one banner.
A little history lesson...Until a few years ago, we operated in our own rights as 'Sarah Ellen Bailey | Creative Wedding Photographer' (est 2008) and 'William Lonsdale Photography' (est 2011),so if you were looking for either of those, you’re in the right place.