Joss Denham

Hey, my name is Joss Denham.

I’ve been a wedding photographer since 2018, starting my business at just twenty-three. Building things up over this time has been so much fun and it’s given me huge confidence that I didn’t have before.

However it has definitely been a rollercoaster ride figuring out how to run a business, create your own style and figure out who your ideal clients would be.

I can honestly say that I wouldn’t change it for the world!

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I work in a very natural, relaxed style, trying to blend in the best I can at weddings. I want my couples and guests to feel comfortable around me, so I’m always smiling and up for a chat with anyone.

I started with DSLRs using Canon 6D’s and zoom lenses 24-70mm or 70-200mm. This set-up was fine but it felt very clunky and burdensome, especially when shooting documentary moments and trying to blend in.

So I moved with the times and went mirrorless and what a game-changer!

I started out on a Sony A7 III when they were released with prime lenses. It was amazing with brilliant autofocus, incredible speed and such lightweight.

Using the 35mm and 85mm prime combo took my photography skills to a new level and taught me to really understand what a focal length does to an image. It also made me think about which lens to use for a particular moment.

In my opinion an unbeatable combination!

I tend to carry a large camera bag with me to weddings, but I’m not constantly changing lenses or pulling flashes out. Spare batteries go in my pocket and I only change lenses and add flash for the dancefloor.

I currently use two Sony A7 IVS which I absolutely love. They provide incredibly fast auto/eye focus which means I never miss a moment unlike with the DSLRS.

They are also brilliant in low light, I shoot with aperture priority so never really feel I need to think about what the camera is doing, just focus on the moment in front of me

My lens set-up is simple, I shoot Sony 35mm f/1.4 G Master on one camera and Sony 85mm f/1.4 G Master on the other. I went for G masters for the sturdiness, reliability and the 1.4 aperture. I know that these will last a long time and hold their value as well.

The 35mm allows me to feel in the moment and capture unbelievably sharp images but it’s not wide enough for how I like to shoot the dance floor.

I swap to my Sony 16-35mm f/2.8 G Master for the dancefloor as it allows me to get super close and get so much into the frame, I absolutely love it!

It’s also a great backup if my 35mm fails or breaks.

I keep two Godox V860 III units in my bag. They are incredible flash guns, with an awesome lithium battery which lasts for two to three wedding shoots.

No more spending money on AA batteries plus they are very quick, reliable, with powerful flash, long-lasting charge and fast recycle time. They are pretty compact and don’t tend to overheat.

I only really bring them out at night for the dancefloor and very occasionally for speeches if the room is really dark.

For the dance floor I’ll normally point them to the ceiling and use them on camera, I love the dreamy, flattering look it creates.

I used to use off-camera flash with light stands, but I now like to stick to simple setups. I do keep a Godox Xpro S in my bag in case I ever change my mind or for night time portraits.

I also have a Godox Mini LED Video Light in my bag to light up any activity with guests happening outside in the evening.

I recently purchased a DJI Mini 3 Pro, purely for a bit of fun at weddings and to spice things up a bit. It’s fun to play around during the reception and to get a different perspective on venue shots.

I always keep my Sony compact Bluetooth speaker in my bag in case I get to prep and there is no music playing, I’m happy to bring the party to them!

The Lowepro Pro Trekker BP 450 AW II Backpack fits everything that I need and more with so many compartments to organise all your gear.

It is very sturdy, as it often gets clashed about when moving around all day or travelling abroad for a destination wedding. I have even packed clothes in this bag along with all my gear.

I use a No Brand tan leather dual camera strap that was made for me by a photographer friend. It is one of the best items in my bag providing both working comfort and style.

The strap often gets compliments from guests and I couldn’t be without it. Just love it!

I use Sandisk 512 GB SD cards for their reliability and speed. They are quite large in terms of capacity but the Sony A7 IV’s files were double the size of my Sony A7 III, so I felt I needed the larger size.

For me, a wedding could easily be three hundred gigabytes!

I use Adobe Lightroom Classic to edit my images, with a handful of presets for different parts of the day; main colour base, indoor, black and white, golden hour and dancefloor.

Batch editing using presets speeds up my workflow massively and I prefer to edit the images myself rather than using AI software.

For culling, I use Photo Mechanic Pro, which is a huge game changer for your post workflow. I can cull a wedding in one to two hours, which might be five to ten thousand images.

I love that I have the ability to put my culled raws in a separate folder, which is a much smaller size and stick them on my SSD. I can then have multiple weddings on my SSD using very little space.

I use a Macbook Pro 13″, 16 GB Ram as my main computer. I couldn’t be without this as I prefer editing/working on a portable device. I find it much more enjoyable to put a film on the TV, sit on the couch and get my work done.

I do have a Mac Mini M1 with a 27-inch Samsung 4k monitor, which I use as my backup computer. This is mostly used for backing up SD cards after a wedding and also for culling my images.

I also have a Sandisk Extreme Pro 1 TB SSD, which I love for its speed, size and reliability.

My post-edit workflow consists of using JPEGmini to shrink my exported Jpegs, which saves me around two GB per wedding and Rawsie for shrinking my raw files down, which saves me so much room on my hard drives.

I then upload my edited Jpegs onto google drive for cloud storage, which I use to store all my work and any other files and documents.

I’m always calm in the knowledge that if my Macbook breaks I haven’t lost anything.

Notes run my life, my brain is always ticking with ideas on how to improve my business or what I need to work on, so I’m always jotting down notes in Evernote.

It really helps organise my business and keeps my brain clear to focus on any job at hand. I also use it for keeping my wedding schedules on and whatever is happening for the day.

I recently moved from Pixieset to Pic-Time for my client galleries, which is probably the best thing I’ve done this year as it gives me the ability to make stylish blogs very easily.

I can now also make client slideshows in minutes, which would have been a separate subscription previously.  It provides everything under one roof, which has really improved my workflow and my ability to work on the SEO of my website with ease.

Wedding photography has really changed my life. I have been one for most of my twenties and look forward to what the future holds.

I have met some amazing people along the way that I now consider friends including my now fiance at a wedding.

It’s brought me so much more than just a fun career and I’ll always be incredibly thankful.

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