SUPPLIER SPOTLIGHT | GET TO KNOW STEPHEN WALKER PHOTOGRAPHY

Today we are chatting to Ste, from Stephen Walker Photography.

Having worked with Ste at one of our largest and most amazing weddings of 2022, we thought it would be great to find out more about him and his work to share with you. Alongside sharing a few of his wonderful images from the wedding we had so much fun working on together.

Ste, how was it you came to be a wedding photographer?

My background is quite the juxtaposition as I was in the Royal Air Force for 16 years before I became a wedding photographer. However, I’ve always loved taking photos and being creative. I love design, art and architecture. So back in 2009, I bought a fancy camera just as a treat. I fell in love with it and the process of taking and making photos.

As well as my love for creativity I’ve always had an entrepreneurial spirit too. So I decided to start advertising and doing mini-family photo sessions. This is when I fell in love with photographing people. I never liked to pose my family photo. I would just meet the families in the woods etc and document them having fun. I loved capturing the sprint and soul of a family as oppose to “all stand still or sit down” in a studio setting and hit the shutter.

Another great place to take photos of people is weddings. So when someone asked me to shoot a wedding for them I was so excited. I have been ever since and I get super excited about every wedding I shoot.

How would you describe your style?

As I mentioned before, I love to photograph people. People just being themselves and enjoying the company around them. So I want to say I’m a documentary wedding photographer. However! I think all wedding photographers are “documentary wedding photographers”. We’re all there to document a wedding.

So in addition to documenting weddings. I like to have a strong feel for fashion, aesthetic and design in my work. It has an editorial vibe to it but in the most natural and relaxed sense. I feel I shoot editorial-type images whilst maintaining a connection to who I’m photographing and integrating their personalities into the final images.

What are your plans for 2025 and beyond?

I’ve really lowered my numbers in terms of the amount of weddings I shoot each year now. I also travel a lot with my work. From Sri Lanka to Kenya and Albania to Mexico as a destination wedding photographer, it takes up plenty of time. Many destinations weddings are multi-day events and take up lots of time. I never want to rush my work so I want to keep my numbers low.

I’ve recently co-founded a new company; The Federation of Wedding Photographers & Filmmakers. It’s a networking and training company for wedding photographers and filmmakers. I learnt so so much over the early stages of my career and want to create something to give back to the industry and help out a new generation of creatives with cameras. So I’ll be working on that plenty.

A huge thank you to Ste for telling us a little bit more about his journey to becoming the photographer he is now, and for also taking these incredible photos at L & B, NYE 2022.