About David J Prior
If you’ve reached this web-page I imagine you’ll be wanting to know who is behind the lens.
I’m David, a Surrey wedding photographer based in Weybridge.
I’ve recently got married to my wife Steph and so I know what you are going through with all the wedding choices out there!
Steph prepared some interview questions so you can get an insight into my life.
Click through the boxes below to find out what I’m really like!
Describe yourself in three words?
Sarcastic, organised, polite!
Where's your favourite place on Earth?
Good question – I would have to say Mauritius, where we went on our honeymoon! So much to see and do – some of my favourite things were watching the sunset on Le Morne beach and diving and swimming with wild dolphins.
Have you photographed anyone famous?
I have… the most famous person I’ve photographed is Sir David Attenborough… but that wasn’t for his wedding! It was for a private event in London. As you can imagine, he was super nice and lovely to photograph.
What would you say to those who really dislike posing in photographs?
You’ve come to the right place :)
I know the feeling, I don’t like photographs where I have to look down the camera lens and feel awkward!
Plenty of brides and grooms feel the same, and I always get bookings from couples who say their partner doesn’t like posing!
On the wedding day itself… my wife says I’m “pretty funny” so I’ll aim to make you both laugh with my sarcastic sense of humour!
I know you've got some guilty pleasures... what might they be!?
Ha – quite a few!
Listening to anything on Magic Radio.
Taking Steph to see Wet Wet Wet in concert for one of our first dates (a massive gamble!)
Fancy dress – I’ve won three fancy dress competitions (one as the Ghostbusters, Michael Jackson in Thriller and David Hasselhoff)! For my 30th birthday, I had a joint party with school friends where all the guests had to dress up as 90s celebrities!
Haagen-Dazs salted caramel ice-cream.
This list could go on!
Favourite TV show?
Tricky one… probably a tie between The Office and I’m Alan Partridge. I can quote too many lines from both!!
So what is natural wedding photography!?
Well… to me “natural wedding photography”, often called documentary photography means it’s unposed. So on your wedding day, my job is to find the nice light, create interesting compositions and then capture that special moment – from all the giggles to tears of joy.
For 95% of the day, I don’t tell you what to do or where to stand as your wedding day isn’t a photoshoot. If you ask me to photograph something or someone, of course I’ll gladly do so :)
I’ll help rally the troops for family group photographs and make suggestions for where to go for your couple time photographs – my aim is for you to relax and enjoy your new husband/wife!
Are you organised?
Well yes I am… so much so that I write out a timeline of the wedding day so I know what is happening and when so I’m super prepared!
I wasn’t always a photographer as I used to be a solicitor in the City for a number of years so that taught me to be prepared… well that and the scouts!
For my couples who are organised – they definitely enjoy this as I can help them keep to time on their wedding day if necessary so they can relax and not worry about what’s happening and when.
For my couples who are less organised – then I can help with some suggestions as to timings as to what might happen and when and also where they might like to have photographs on the day.
What advice would you give couples who are deciding on their photographer?
I say to all my couples, your wedding photographer is one of the only suppliers that you will spend many hours with on your wedding day.
If you get a good feeling about your photographer and you think they’ll get on with your Gran, then you’ve found a good one!
Other than photography, what do you enjoy doing?
I’ve a real passion for interior design having recently renovated our home… think Victorian chic… dark, rich colours with teak and Scandi furniture.
I’m a big golf fan too… one day I’m hoping to go over to the US to watch the Masters at Augusta, but in the meantime I’m trying to keep the handicap below 20!
Steph says I mentioned this on our first date but I enjoy hiking and getting outdoors when I can (must have been my time in the scouts). I’ve raised money for charity by climbing Kilimanjaro and walking across Wales in under 24 hours… yes the country. You should have seen the blisters… actually you don’t.
Can you tell us more about your awards/finalist places?
I’m not one to sing my own praises as I’m happy when I’ve captured some super fun and lovely moments for my couples. It’s always great to hear when they tell me they’ve displayed my photographs around their homes.
But back to your question… I’m a four time People’s choice finalist at the Event Photography Awards 2020 – and one of them is my favourite photograph I’ve ever taken… where Emily & Daniel are walking under a massive tree at Kew Gardens – see if you can find it in my Portfolio.
4x People's Choice Finalist - Event Photography Awards 2020
Winner of the Creative Portraits Award
Highly Commended Finalist - Event Photography Awards 2018
Finalist - Event Photography Awards 2017
Where might people have seen your photographs?
My photographs have been printed and displayed in several photography magazines and wedding blogs. Some of the logos from them can be seen below.
What have your couples said about you?
My couples have been so lovely and they’ve said some wonderful things about me. I would suggest checking out my Google Reviews as well as the comments below!
We wanted to let you know that we finally got to look through the photos last night and they are just incredible! We are both so thrilled. You have done a fantastic job and we are hugely grateful to you. They are brilliant and they are exactly what we wanted. You even managed to elicit what I think is a smile from my Dad. Thank you very much!
Just to let you know the album has arrived safely and we think it is incredible! We looked at it last night and we cannot get over how good the pictures look and how beautifully the album has been put together. Thank you so so much for all of your help with this and for capturing our wedding day so perfectly. We are both extremely grateful.
So thank you very much for sending them through as promised and for capturing such amazing moments of our day! Both of us absolutely LOVE all the photos and are so impressed by your work.
I have to also say that a number of people came up to me on the day and after to say how lovely you were, just in the way you got people to feel relaxed but at the same time ensuring good photos! Also as you can see from reactions to the few you posted on Facebook last month everyone loved them!
Firstly, sorry for the delay in coming back to you – we really wanted to show the photos to our immediate family before sending our thanks to you.
Secondly, and more importantly, the thanks. Thank you so much for your time and effort on the wedding day. Everyone who has now seen the pictures has said how much they love the candid photos and how wonderfully they captured the feeling of the day. We cannot praise you enough for the wonderful story your pictures tell and the beautiful moments of our friends and family your captured that we ourselves missed being caught up in the day.
Your professionalism was second to none and we cannot thank you enough. We already have several of our favourite pictures printed and around the house – although this was a hard choice as they are all such amazing pictures.
Once again, thank you SO much!
Can’t thank you enough, David. It was a pleasure to meet you – I wish we’d had longer to talk. Maybe I can buy you a beer some time. And the photos… oh boy, you nailed it. You really know how to catch people at their best! We will make sure your name is mentioned at every possible opportunity. Thank you again.
Thank you very much for the wonderful photos from our big day and your time and efforts on the day. It was all very much appreciated and we now have wonderful pictures to go with the memories, all of which you have captured.
Thank you once again. It has been entirely our pleasure.
Wow!! These are AMAZING! Thank you so much! We loved having you to take our photos and we feel you really captured us as a couple. Thanks again for these amazing pictures! Maybe some for your next competition!
Thank you so much for photographing our wedding.
We’ve both been saying that you really put us at ease and took away a lot of the stress we thought we’d have as we don’t usually like to be photographed!
You did a fantastic job, thank you so much, your pictures are amazing!
Looking at them is a bit like living our wedding day again, you certainly know how to tell a story with a picture!
You were definitely right to give up your career as a lawyer!
David you were very discreet and unobtrusive unlike most photographers.
Highly Commended and Finalist in the Event Photography Awards 2018 ‘Weddings’ Category
4 x People’s Choice Finalist at the Event Photography Awards 2020
Get In Touch!
If you like what you see and would like natural creative wedding photographs that bring back memories of your wedding day, please do get in touch to find out more how I can help you!
Where I am located
Weybridge, Surrey
Call Me
07595044793
Email Me
david@davidjprior.com