Personal blog of London based Asian Wedding Photographer Jay Hoque.
Welcome to J.Hoque Photography.
We are a husband & wife team that specialise in Asian Wedding Photography.
We cover weddings of all faiths throughout the UK and abroad. This blog documents our most up to date work and hope to give you an insight into the creative and contemporary edge that we can bring to your wedding photography.
Please get in touch if you have any queries, wish to arrange a personal consultation, or just to say hi!
Hope to speak to you soon,
Jay and Shuhenaz.
J.Hoque Photography
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Teybia & Imran – Muslim Wedding ceremony at Crowne Plaza London Docklands. Just a small selection of images from Teybia & Imrans Wedding which took place at the Crowne Plaza in London Docklands. More will be uploaded to our website and blog very soon. In the meantime, hope you like these.
Teybia & Imran – Pre-Wedding Shoot at Thames Barrier Park, London. Teybia was a little nervous about the wedding (apparently) so we did a pre wedding shoot just to get her comfortable in front of the camera. They chose The Thames Barrier Park in London as the location, well, Imran’s sister chose it as we…
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She looks quite comfortable. And the result is excellent..
Hi Jay,
You have real talent! Your wedding photos are beautiful! Lighting, framing, subject positioning, post production… all perfect!!
I see a lot of photographers and your work really stands out to me… Just had to leave you a comment.
Thanks for some great viewing.
Jay, your photography is excellent! Like said above, your framing, positioning, and post production are all great!
Thanks for sharing your photography with the world!
Thanks for the compliments everyone. Really appreciate it.
Some really nice photos there really like them
beautiful pictures !! love it !!
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A collection of Asian Bridal Portraits and all images related to Indian/Asian Weddings.
These weren’t real brides, not at the time of shooting anyway, just some beautiful women who were kind enough to pose for us.
Most of the shots were taken in our home studio in Uxbridge and surrounding areas.
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You have a wonderful sense of color. The pink on green, the red on red…you very deftly reduce the color palette down to something coherent and pleasing. No clutter, just full impact.
Wow there’s a shot with an amazing amount of detail. Everything compliments each other so perfectly. It is as though there were this flow between the henia, the shoes, and the dress.
very -2 nice pics
Stunning shots. Great colours
VERY VERY NICE Photography
HEY..I HAD NEVER SEEN LIKE THIS TYPE PHOTOGRAPHY OF BRIDAL.GRETEST….YAAAR.EXTRAEORDINARI…..
So many beautiful pictures, gourgeous brides!!! amazinnngggg
Once again some stunning photos and beautiful colours! Very well done…
very nice photography
Kymi & Talha. Couples portrait shoot in Westminster. We took this lovely couple out to Westminster for a few lifestyle portraits. We just let them be themselves and followed them around and captured some beautiful moments between them.
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Ive always loved these fotos… amazing…
they reflect the love they both have for each other…
nicely captured Jay…
x
That’s an amazing portrait! simple shot yet full of love. The most wonderful thing every couple can do before their wedding is to have a pre-wedding shoot that will make them remember their love forever.
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Collection of Studio and outdoor Portraits shot in my home studio in Uxbridge Middlesex. These are samples of my early work when I first started in photography back in 2008.
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A collection of smoke photos. All photos of smoke taken with a Nikon D300, Nikon SB900 Speedlight (remote), Incense, black background, and lots of patience. All shots were taken manually without the use of a tripod. Click on the following link to view a step-by-step tutorial on how to photograph smoke.
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Hard to believe there are no comments on this post. Great work! Thanks for the tutorial too!
Thanks Stephen. If you go to the actual tutorial you’ll see most people have commented there.. http://www.jhoque.com/blog/how-to-photograph-smoke
Inspiring! Any suggestions about how to create enough smoke for a full figure portrait? (Small indoor studio.)
@ Julie, for that I think you’ll need a smoke machine. I can’t think of anything else that would produce that much smoke in a safe manner. You don’t want to be lighting a bonfire indoors now do you? lol..
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Why wedding photography is not as expensive as you think. “Why is wedding photography so expensive?” “Photographers just exploit the fact that it’s a wedding and overcharge to make a profit!” “They’re only there for a few hours! It’s a rip off to charge that much for a few photos!” These are just some of…
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Excellent article (all very true – and one of the best of the is type that I have read). Well done!
Thanks Gary,
I’m glad you agree.
I was in the middle of writing another tutorial, but felt I had to stop and post this after overhearing some colleagues at work arguing about the “extortionate” fees wedding photographers charge.
It frustrates me that a photographers work is so overlooked.
Hi Jay, just found you’re website when I was looking for smoke photography for food shots. I have to say, that this article is so excellent, I had always been trying to explain to people the same reasons!!! Well only those who value the memories would agree the cost!
Great reading bro! and great shots… Cheers 
Well said Jay! All true
Hi Jay,
Just came across this article – you’ve hit the nail on the head! This article should be put in be put in front of every client that comes through the door as it will be the only way they will realise! As a full time professional photographer I’ve had to explain this day in day out…
Well said!
i think i might just print this out and hand it to every prospective client! make some sort of a check sheet for them! really well said!!!!
Jay. This was a fascinating read. I’ve just jumped through 3 websites and stopped here when I started to read this. I can’t believe you wrote this back in June last year, and i’m only just seeing it now. I definitely agree with everything you’ve written! I’m not sure how many soon-to-be bride or grooms will ever get to read this, but as already mentioned by others, it would be a dream to give every client a chance to understand the inner workings of wedding photography as they walk through the door.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m glad everyone agrees with it all, because I wrote this last year, long before I actually started doing weddings myself.
Now I’ve learnt a lot more about wedding photography, Asian wedding photography in particular, and will be updating this post.
Its just amazing how many people, including some photographers, dismiss or ignore the real value of photography.
Jay,
Well said! This is a great article to educate people on what we do and what we charge.
Thanks, Amar
Some great points and a good debate. and very well written!
However, you said you started shooting only weddings within the last year. So how does someone who is new to wedding photography and wanting to enter this field get experience without charging lower fees? how did you break into this already competitive industry? what advice do you have to newcomers?
Thanks for sparking this debate
[SK]
Oh! Jay you are a writer as well. Very well written.
I think it’s all depends up on the experience and goodwill of photographers for how much they charge. But is doesn’t mean that cheap photographers are not well trained. There is not so much difference between their photography.
Quite possibly the most honest and true article I have ever read about our industry.
Thank you for a great read.
Great article Jay, I think i’m gonna forward this link to every complaining enquirer from now on!!
Excellent article. Thank you
Jay, really liked that article, one of the most comprehensive on the subject and a link that I will be passing on when i hear that question again. All the best
Paul
Really enjoyed reading your article Jay. I spent a lot of years as an amateur before realising I may have the talent to make photography my profession. My first experience as a wedding photographer was simply doing a favour for a good friend who could not afford anything more than a very low key ceremony. I learned so much on that first shoot, not only how much work goes into wedding photography but how much satisfaction I got out of it. My next step was to do some second shooting but I quickly found myself being recommended as a primary. No matter what line of work we’re in we never stop learning but to me that’s half the fun of it.
Your article has been very inspiring and the images you’ve chosen to display are truly beautiful.
Michael
Excellent stuff, very well written.
On the whole, I agree with the points made here, but by pointing out how expensive lawyers are, I feel you may have shot yourself in the foot somewhat (have you seen the fees for law schools – and that’s before the cost of the daft clothes they’re compelled to wear, the years spent ‘devilling’ for not an awful lot of money and the years preceding that at a good uni where part time jobs are discouraged).
My degree (Photography BA Hons) was an absolute walk in the park in comparison – perhaps 16 contact hours a week and the homework was usually a lot of fun!
Having said all that, perhaps the question should have been, “Why are wedding photographers so cheap”!
Lovely set of pics by the way
Thanks again for all the comments everyone.. glad most of you agree with whats been written.
I just want to take the opportunity to respond to some individual comments. So sorry that it’s (extremely) late. Just been mega busy lately.
@Jamie Emerson
On the contrary Jamie, I don’t think I’ve shot myself in the foot by mentioning lawyers. I was merely stating a fact that there are certain necessary expenses when running a business, whether we want to or not. It actually strengthens my point about how people under value a photographers skill and knowledge. Most people (myself included) justify a lawyers fee because, as you have mentioned, they have an idea of what was invested to become one, but mainly because of the fact that without the lawyers expertise and knowledge, people would be stuck when it comes to legal matters. So there is a need for that lawyers services hence the justification of fees.
I’m not comparing the value of lawyer to a photographer, all I’m trying to point out is that the principle is the same, a lot of investment has gone into becoming one. And without a photographers vision and skill, people would have to take shots of themselves or make do with snapshots by non experts. Therefore, by default, the professional photographer IS valuable to them.
@Sunny
I agree with you. And I never categorically said that cheap photographers are not well trained. There are number of reasons why some people are cheap and I’ve mentioned just a few of those reasons.
Howdy! I know this is somewhat off topic but I was wondering if you knew where I could locate a captcha plugin for my comment form? I’m using the same blog platform as yours and I’m having problems finding one? Thanks a lot!
Some really wonderful content on this site, thankyou for contribution.
That was a very good read.
Glad you enjoyed it Amin..
sure did Boss Man. u are one of my inspirations when photogrphing weddings amongs few other photographers.
Amin Islam, I’m humbled to be amongst them.. it makes proud to know I inspire others..
Lovely….Lighting
Thank you Rohit..
Good read
Thanks Vishal.. glad you enjoyed it..
Lou, I don’t use a captcha plugin for the comments so wouldn’t be able to advise unfortunately.
Try the anti spam plugin Akismet before using a CAPTCHA. Visually impaired people will not be able to comment, nor will people with images turned off. And all of your commenters will be inconvenienced.
In your wordpress settings, just go to ‘discussion’ and check the box that says “An administrator must always approve the comment” That way you get to see the comment and decide whether it goes live or not.
That was great Jay, I know what your talking about being a photographer myself. Loving your work!
Couldn’t have expresses it better myself An excellent analysis and accurate explanation. xx
Sadly there will always be people who believe we just press a button and out pop perfect pictures every time, and that the value of a print is the cost of the paper and ink. If so. ask them to explain why Edvard Munch’s artwork “The Scream” was sold for millions and millions, if it is only canvass and paint, or could artistic merit have a tiny bit to do with it?
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Photoshop Tutorial: Processing Smoke Photographs
In this tutorial, I will show you how to process your smoke photographs using Photoshop. This is a follow up to the tutorial on “How to photograph Smoke – Step-by-Step Tutorial”
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[...] and I bookmarked the tutorial on photographing smoke that he linked to, and also the tutorial on editing smoke I came across later. Now I have yet another photography goal: play around with shooting smoke! I [...]
thanks for breaking down how you work with photoshop
excellent and easy to follow
Thanks for the comment Jayne.
I wrote it with the total novice in mind. At first I thought maybe it was too simple, but glad it came across how I intended.
Nicely done! Although quite frankly I would have been happy with the original image without touch ups, as it was pretty phenomenal right out of the camera.
Thanks Matt.. Appreciate the compliment.. I’m a bit of a perfectionist when it comes to my images, so had to get rid of the few bits I didn’t like..
On some monitors it would’ve shown up, and that would’ve taken away the magic of the overall picture..
Neat tutorial. Who knew that smoke could look so beautiful. I’ll have to come back and study this more carefully. I enjoy working in Photoshop but just haven’t had the time to do much in it lately. Do you have any recommendations on camera equipment and are you using digital equipment mostly? I don’t think smoke would photograph so well with my little camera, somehow. I’ll check out your Youtube videos too because I bet those are great. Great site.
nice , please put more tutorial especially on how to edit those wedding photos . thanks
thanks a lot for this Tutorial
thanks a lot for this Tutorial
i wanted to know how to create smoke with two or more colors
hey (: nice tutorial, really like it
how do you do the two-colour-effects?
i tried to make my own but it’s not that easy :S
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A step-by-step Tutorial on How to photograph Smoke. In this tutorial, I will guide you through the entire shoot step-by-step. Ok, let’s begin…
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[...] first picture I landed on made my jaw drop. I love the smorkin labbits photos and I bookmarked the tutorial on photographing smoke that he linked to. Now I have yet another photography goal: play around with shooting smoke! I can [...]
LOVE this tutorial! I’ve linked to in on my photoblog, including describing the sorta roundabout way I found it.
Glad you like it and thanks for linking to it. Let me know how you get on when you try this technique.
Thank you, very nice tutorial with hands on tipps. I wanted to do a photo for a friend who just commited suicide and had some ideas but didn’t know how to solve the smoke. Now I do, nice work!
Sorry to hear about your friend.
I’m glad my tutorial came in useful. Hope you achieve the results you want.
Great tutorial, how did you get the varies colors in your smoke shots?
Hi John,
You can get the colours in various ways, you just need to experiment really..
Read my other tutorial ‘How to Edit Smoke Photographs in Photoshop’
You can also use the gradient tool for 2 different colours, or create new layers and brush over the areas you want to add colour to.. and then blend using overlay or any other blending modes of your choice.. this method is longer and need a lot of intricate work..
hmm i though it use bulb method but yours is using faster shutter speed.. i guess i’m wrong
[...] cu fum nu sunt greu de facut. Urmariti cu atentie tutorialul lui Jay si o sa va convingeti singuri. Cea mai importanta chestie in acest tip de fotografie este [...]
I’m going to have to try this one sometime.
Nice tutorials. Will be great help for many. Thanks for sharing this.
Loving this one! Jay, will be sure to try it! Thankyou
Anusha, it’s a whole load of fun.. but make sure not to choke yourself and everyone in the house.. 
Have you ever tried to manipulate the shape of the smoke with a fan, blowing on it, or anything like that? I have a feeling if you spent an entire afternoon, you could have plenty of fun and different results with taking pictures of smoke.
[...] like to thank >>Sandra << for posting a link on her Facebook page to this >>tutorial<< which I somewhat [...]
great tutorial, 10/10.
but, i was wondering if there was anything else i could substitute an off camera flash, or a strobe with, because i have neither, and am very determined to give it a go
cheers
Oscar, you could try using a builders light or something similar. You will have to create a customised snoot to direct the light onto the smoke. Just use a bit of card and wrap it round the light in a cone shape.
Check out this link for a the type of light I’m referring to.
Thanks for a well written tutorial! I’m very pleased with the results. It was also great to learn more about lighting and image editing. Thanks!
Thanks alot for the tutorial..I made my first shot of smoke by using Fuji S2950 but it wasnt that good ..so do you think i can make a good one with it?
[...] You can view this article (with diagrams and sample images) at http://www.jhoque.com/blog/how-to-photograph-smoke. [...]
The best photographing smoke tutorial I’ve come across. IT WORKS !!!!
Great tutorial!
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I love how your work is going from strength to strength guys.
Keep up the FAB work
Thanks Sanj..
The photographs are very impressive, they really capture the atmosphere of the wedding, excellent work!
Very lovely pictures. My favorite is the second to last picture. Watching that picture somehow put all the pictures into a finishing touch and added up to a feeling that I somehow felt as I was almost there.
Perhaps it was because seeing that picture in a way displayed some of the traditions involved in the wedding. At least how I felt.
Lovely images , I have a wedding like this coming up and found your blog looking for some inspiration!
Lovely photographs, loved the way you have captured the vivid colours .. well done. When you have time please have a look at my website johnyoung.co
Hi jay, if you ever come to Leicester, do let me know, would love to get some handy tips from you for you take these stunningly captured shots. Will email you sometime soon and maybe we can keep in touch. Monica x