Instagram Influencer Spotlight On: Louise @samandlouisephotography

1) Tell us a little about yourself. What are you doing now and where do you come from?

HI! I’m Louise and I’m a professional wedding photographer from Essex. I shoot alongside my husband Sam. Together we’re Sam & Louise photography. We shoot all over the UK and across Europe. We’ve been working together for the last 6 years

2) What are your topics of interest? What do you post on Instagram the most?

Obviously with my line of work, i’m really interested in photography, but also in the wedding industry as a whole. It’s a very dynamic, creative industry to work in and on the whole it’s full of brilliantly talented people. I’m also very into cinematography since receiving our own wedding film back. It’s given me a whole different level of appreciation for story telling. I like to post couple photos on instagram most- you get such a variety on a wedding day. From the bold and dramatic WOW pictures, to the cutesy intimate ones.

3) How did your Instagram name come about?

It was super straightforward for us- we just went with our business name. It made finding us a lot easier for pre-existing clients, or those who’d been recommended to us. It also meant it was easier to maintain a more personal relationship with our followers, as we’re already on first name terms!

4) What are some apps you use to edit your photos? Share with us your photo-editing routine!

We absolutely do not edit with apps or filters, they’re actually our worst nightmare! As a photographer you spend literally hours editing a set of photos- correcting the colour to best represent real life, accounting for shadows/highlights etc….and then someone comes along and sticks a garish pink overlay on it. Noooooo!

5) Any Instagrammers whom you really like? Which Instagrammer inspires you the most?

I really love Bridebook. Unlike a lot of directory style sites they’re actually very active and engage with wedding professionals. The additional level of support and a like every so often goes a long way. They also have great, varies and inspirational content across several areas. All categorised across various accounts, which makes planning so much easier!

6) If there’s one thing your fellow Instagrammers just gotta try now, what’s it gonna be?

IG Mini blogs! This is something I tried for the first time a little while ago when I was trying to think of new ideas to make our IG more interesting for our followers and to encourage engagement. The concept was basically to post 3-4 photos a day from the same wedding over the space of a week. By the end of the week creating a mini blog on our feed. This allowed followers to not just see one off shots, but how a wedding looked across a full day. It also got people checking back for the next photo. It meant I could tag multiple vendors who we’d worked with, which built relationships too. We were even approached by the venue featured who loved the photos. We ended up being put on their recommended list as a result! This also works out so well if you don’t necessarily have any new content to share. You have a weeks worth of content from "old" stuff. It’s adaptable too. It doesn’t have to be weddings. It can be a trip, a collection of your favourite shoes, books, or just things about you!

I used the #IGminiblog so followers could easily find our posts.

7) What’s your favorite part about being an influencer?

The engagement with people who may not have otherwise seen or come across your work. We engage with a lot of photographers overseas now, who it’s unlikely we’d have "met" otherwise. That’s really nice. It’s also great when aspiring photographers and students interact with you and you see their work develop!

8) What are some of your top tips to brands for running campaigns? How do you maintain authenticity?

Always keep your own values and goals as your core and primary focus. It’s easy to feel that you’re doing something wrong simply because you’re doing something different to others. There’s a first time for everything, remember that. Sometimes it’ll be the first and last and it’ll be uniquely yours, other times it’ll be a first of many.

9) What would your advice be on the importance of quality and original content?

Quality is key. Poor quality images, poor quality content doesn’t peak interest. If people aren’t interested, they wont engage and you’re just another forgotten photo in a feed of thousands. The same applies for duplicate content. Originality encourages people to think, form an opinion. They may then share that opinion- that image or product. People don’t do that when it’s something they’ve seen before.

10) What do you like best about partnering with brands?

The opportunity to try things new to us and share our experiences. It keeps you open minded. When we first started out in photography we wasted SO-MUCH-MONEY on things we just didn’t need or things that were just no good. It would have been great to have someone out there we could trust giving rounded feedback and relaying what purchases really were worth the investment.

Topics:

• Photography

Country:

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland