Fotograf Steve Grogan

—Først og fremst, hvem vil du si er den beste fotografen i Manchester, Storbritannia? :)

—Oooooh crikey, that is a very good question. There are many that I admire from my home city, but I'll plump for Pete Farrell of Pixies in the Cellar. His eye for composition is just ridiculous!

—Er du fotogen?

—No. I absolutely hate having my photograph taken as I have a head like a thumb.

—Hvordan ble du en del av fotografbransjen?

—If you'd have told me 5-6 years ago that I'd be a wedding photographer I'd have laughed at you. I believed that all wedding photography was contrived nonsense and it didn't appeal to me at all. However, once I'd photographed a couple of weddings as a second shooter I realised that wedding photography could be whatever you wanted it to be. So I took the plunge!

—Hva er de viktigste komponentene i et bra bilde etter din mening?

—For me it's all about the moment and composition. I'm not overly technical and don't stress about a little over/under exposure. The moment is so important to me.

—Er du glad i å reise?

—Yes. I love it. Thankfully I've been able to travel rather a lot and being my own boss has enabled me to do more than ever.

—Hva liker du best med yrket ditt?

—Perhaps a little cliched, but I like the idea of leaving behind images for future generations to enjoy. Plus I get to work alongside some amazing people. I've made friends for life since I started out.

—Hva liker du minst med yrket ditt?

—Of course, there is always going to be something. The only part I don't enjoy is doing the staged group photos, but that's only a tiny percentage of the wedding so I can live with that.

—Hvordan ser fremtiden ut for fotografering?

—I honestly have no idea. Who knows what the future holds?

—Hva er det spesielle med den fotografisjanger du har spesialisert deg i?

—Wedding photographers have to deal with a myriad of changing lighting situations throughout the day. This is definitely one of the most challenging aspects, especially when there are restrictions placed on you by churches for example, where you are rarely allowed to add any flash.

—Hvordan takler du kritikk?

—I take it on the chin. If it's unsolicited then I'll always question it, but any constructive feedback I get is valued as it'll help me to improve.

—Finnes det noen trender innen fotografering?

—A lot of weddings in the UK do follow a similar pattern, so it's quite easy for your images to eventually become repetitive.

—Hva bør kriteriene være for en kunde som skal velge en fotograf?

—If I was looking for a wedding photographer then I'd obviously be looking for someone whose images connected with me in some way. Once you've established that you like the images then I would advise any future newlyweds to meet up with the photographer, go for a beer/coffee/cake, have a chat with them, see if you like them as they are going to be around for pretty much all of your day.

—Hvilke ting er absolutt ikke tillatt under fotograferingen?

—For me, not much. I'd photograph anything if it happened at a wedding. Obviously, if someone objected for any reason then I'd stop. But I'd also use my common sense and gut feeling.

—Hvilke detaljer, som vanligvis ingen ville lagt merke til, kan en fotograf fange opp?

—One thing I learned quite early on was to step away from the couple for most of the day. There is so much going on around them that you can miss if you are too focussed on photographing just the couple. My couples seem to appreciate that I can show them images from moments they had no idea happened on their wedding day.

—Hva påvirker bildets verdi? Hvilke elementer inneholder det?

—Any photo can hold value to anyone. I've probably taken thousands of "average" simple photos that could be so valuable to my couples and their families/friends. For example, someone who has recently passed away. Those photos then become priceless.

—Hvilken person kan være symbolet på det 21. århundre etter din mening?

—Mark Zuckerberg, undoubtedly.

—Hvem kunne du tenkt deg å fotografere?

—Easy one. I'd love to spend some time photographing and chatting with Sir Alex Ferguson.

—Hva bekymrer deg, og hvorfor?

—Yes, the constant wars all over the world. Utterly awful.

—Hvilken animert figur, literær person eller filmkarakter ville du vært, og hvorfor?

—Bananaman.

—Hvordan definerer du suksess? Hvordan måler du graden av suksess?

—Happiness is the only measure of success. People who equate money to success are totally missing the point, in my opinion.

—Foretrekker du å bli likt eller respektert?

—A bit of both.

—Når du skal ut å reise; hva tar du med deg, og hvorfor?

—I travel light.

—Hvordan utdanner du deg for stadig å ta bedre bilder?

—Practice, practice and practice. Take photos, thousands of them. And if you don't like them or they don't look right, figure out why that is, and then work on it. That's pretty much how I managed to become an established full-time professional. I lived and breathed photography until I was confident I'd reached a certain level of competency to be able to charge money for my work. Oh, and practice more. Did I mention practice?

—Hvem sitt arbeid har inspirert deg mest som fotograf?

—There are a few whose work I admire and these were inspiring for me when I was first dipping my toes into the world of wedding photography. Andrew Billington, Alan Law, Steven Rooney, Adam Johnson, Two Mann Studios & Pete Farrell are all wedding photographers that I admire. There are more, but these are the ones off the top of my head.

—Hva motiverer deg til å fortsette med fotografering?

—The genuine love for what I do. Being surrounded by happy people is infectious and good for my soul. I rarely do negativity.

—Skulle foreldrene dine ha vært mer eller mindre strenge?

—Possible more strict, especially at meal times as I have a lot of mental blocks to certain types of food.

—Hva ville du ha gjort annerledes hvis du kunne reise tilbake i tid?

—I'd probably have traveled more in my late teens/early twenties.

—Hva tenker du angående liv på andre planeter?

—Based on the laws of probability, I'd say yes.

—Hva gjør du i fritiden din?

—With my family and friends plus lots of napping with my dogs, reading, traveling and being idle.

—Hvilken side av deg viser du aldri offentlig?

—My insecurities tend to be kept under lock and key. But I worry myself to sleep most nights.

—Har du lett for å få nye venner?

—Yes, I like to think so.

—Hvor kunne du tenke deg å bo?

—Reykjavik, Iceland.

—Har du en favorittspøk? Fortell.

—Why was the sand wet? Because the sea weed.

—Liker du hunder eller katter?

—Dogs.

—Hvem eller hva hater du?

—Hate is a strong word. Wow. That's a hard one. Perhaps Donald Trump or Theresa May could fall into that category.

—I morgen skal jeg...

—I'm going out with some fellow photographers for drinks in Manchester. Our weekends tend to be during the week given what we do for a living.