Keith & Victoria – Galgorm Resort & Spa
May 3rd, 2010
What our customers think of Peter Thomas Photography
April 19th, 2010
A few months ago I launched a customer survey. I wanted to find out exactly how my customers felt about my service. I wasn’t planning on publishing them, but I’m pretty happy with the results – so here are a few highlights.
The survey was sent to 80 recent wedding customers and the response rate was about 60% – a reasonably good sample. The survey was completed online and anonymously to ensure customers felt free to give honest answers.
100% of our customers are likely to recommend Peter Thomas Photography.
With any survey, there is really only one question that matters. If your customers are happy to recommend you, your doing a good job. I asked ‘How likely are you to recommend Peter Thomas Photography?’. (Very likely, Quite likely, Not Likely, Very unlikely)
100% of customers were satisfied with their wedding album
When asked how satisfied our customers were with their album, more than 97% said they rated it ‘excellent’. The other 3% said they rated it ‘Good’
More detailed results
For those statisticians – feel free to browse through some more of the detail! (trust me – there is a lot more than this!)
Freeform answers
Customers also had a chance to write some comments on any positive or negative experiences they had. Here’s a selection of responses to the question “Let us know about anything you think we could improve on. Feel free to explain any negative or positive experiences you have had.”
“You made us feel relaxed and added to the enjoyment of the day, the photographs you’ve taken of both the wedding party and our guests are perfect and we appreciated how unobtrusive you were after taking the official photographs when taking pictures of our guests mingling.”
“Peter was extremely efficient at getting our proofs and mock-up album in good time and soon after the wedding.”
“Peter was friendly and accommodating throughout the whole process. He was very willing to adapt to our needs and wishes. He arrived early to capture hairdressers/beautician photos and stayed until after the 1st dance which we really appreciated as not all photographers are willing to do that and it meant we had a record of whole day. He was unobtrusive and many guests said they weren’t even aware of him capturing shots of them so we have some lovely natural photos of guests. He was polite and encouraging to guests when trying to take group photos unlike some photographers I’ve encountered at weddngs who can be rude and bullying. We have recommended Peter as we were very happy with the service he provided 
”
“We were 100% happy with the service. You were so friendly & helpful throughout the whole day.”
“Wasn’t greedy and you did not feel you were getting ripped off. Very good package and photos and quality all very high standard. Highly recommended.”
“Everything was excellent – we were really pleased!”
“The service we received was excellent! No negative experiences!”
“We couldn’t fault Peter Thomas Photography in any way. We were delighted with everything Peter did for us.”
“Everything was fantastic, in our opinion nothing could be improved, we were delighted with the service provided and our album”
What I learned
Overall the survey was really positive and I was delighted. My customers also gave us some great feedback, and areas for future growth and improvement. Of course, customer feedback is useless unless you actually change for the better, so here are a few things I have implemented since the survey, based entirely on customer feedback.
- I have much improved my pre-wedding consultations. I now provide a list of photographs and have a more detailed discussion around the photographs desired. This has been well received by new customers.
- I now take more photographs which suit framing. Close-up, romantic type shots – plenty of stuff to fill our new selection of frames.
- Improved posing of brides. The photographs haven’t changed, but I’ve improved how I direct the bride and group photographs.
Its important not to become complacent – so if you have ever got any feedback just let me know!
Wedding at Sinclair Seamen’s Church & Ballygally Castle
April 17th, 2010
The first wedding in April, I had a very enjoyable day with Jonathan & Heather. I’m not doing too bad at posting these to the blog – we’ll see how long it lasts! I have quite a few more pictures from March, but waiting on the couples getting back from honeymoon.
This particular day started with rain – but the weather picked up in the afternoon. Sinclair Seamen’s church is great inside.
Above: Outside Sinclair Seamen’s Church.
Above: This is fast becoming one of my favourite shots to take at a wedding!
Above: The classic Ballygally picture. I actually did a photograph a few weeks back from the other side of the archway – which I hope to post soon.
Above: the stormy weather had washed up tonnes (and I mean tonnes) of seaweed onto the beach – so unfortunately we couldn’t take photos on the sand. With a little improvisation, we got quite a few good photographs with the amazing scenery in the background. I thought I’d post the most different one – which was on the steps onto the beach.
Above – the spiral steps in the Ballygally Castle. Probably my favourite image from the wedding.
Above: hard to beat the natural photographs!
Above: And finally, one idea which Heather had which I thought was really nice, was to have a picture taken in her Mum’s wedding dress! I’m sure that will have been a lovely surprise for her mother.
You can view the full album mock-up here
A few photos from Antrim Castle Gardens & The Rosspark Hotel
April 8th, 2010
Earlier in the year I said I’d post a few photos from each wedding on the blog, as long as the bride and groom gave permission. I think it gives a good feel for a photographers work if you can see sample photographs from real-life weddings – with all kinds of weddings, all kinds of weather and all kinds of locations.
So with the wedding season pretty much kicked off, here are a few pictures from a recent wedding. (watch this space for more – but the couples aren’t back from honeymoon yet!). Alastair & Judith’s wedding kicked off at Judith’s house where we got some interesting pictures at her grand-father’s Massey Ferguson! Then over to Maze Presbyterian, Lisburn , Antrim Castle Gardens and The Rosspark Hotel, Kells.
You can view the album mock-up here
The joys of doing reprints…
March 18th, 2010
I have to confess, I love my job. But if there was one part of the job I like the less than the others – its doing reprints. I really love doing framed stuff (mainly because I get to hang out in a local gallery), but 6×4′s, 7×5′s etc don’t get me too excited. Having said that, they have a definite plus point…Firstly they help pay the bills, and secondly while working on them I’m often reminded of weddings that happened a while ago.
That happened tonight when I came across this wee picture in the middle of a reprint order. It’s funny how when you come back to a picture a year later, you take a totally different approach to re-touching it. I still kinda like this picture – so here it is again!
Wedding in Castlewellan & Slieve Donard Hotel
March 6th, 2010
I had a great day with Frank & Karen in February. The wedding started in Clonvaraghan (somewhere near Newcastle), then onto Castlewellan Forest Park and The Slieve Donard, Newcastle. It was a relaxed, fun day..Here are a few photos:
Above: one of the album layouts from the service.
Above: thought this chipboard would be interesting!
Above: There 2 were good fun!
Above: I’m into doing a few more interesting crops at the moment. This one was done in camera
Above: The Slieve Donard in all its glory.
You can view more here
A brief video from our storybook manufacturer…
February 15th, 2010
We use only the best Storybook manufacturer – and recently I came across this short video from them which gives an interesting insight into the manufacturing process. Hope you enjoy.
Galgorm Resort & Spa, Ballymena
January 25th, 2010
One of my new years resolutions is to post a few pictures from each wedding on the blog…so here goes the 1st!
Taken in January 2010, at the Galgorm Resort and Spa, Ballymena, Northern Ireland.
The Christmas Self Portrait
November 6th, 2009
Every Christmas, I face the feedback from friends and family that I spend much more time behind the camera than in front of it!
The fact is I spend so much time taking photographs, that I often escape being the subject of their photographs.
So just for fun, here’s a self-portrait taken during a recent commercial shoot at a garden centre.
Peter Joins Professional Photographers Association of Northern Ireland
October 7th, 2009
Peter has been awarded a ‘Licentiate’ of the Professional Photographers Association of Northern Ireland (PPANI).
Members of the PPANI must be full-time and properly insured – and its a mark of quality in a photographer. To gain the Licenciate, Peters work was judged by a Fellow of the PPANI to be of an acceptable, professional standard. View Peter’s PPANI profile here.
Peter is also a Licentiate of the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers (SWPP).
