Andy Griffiths

Hi, I’m Andy and I live in Rainford, which is a lovely little village in the North west of England.

I shot my first wedding in 2015 and have shot over 200 weddings since then, including locations in Germany, South Africa, and all over the UK.

My style is mostly documentary, where I pride myself on capturing beautiful images but without taking you away from your own wedding for ages. I don’t think there is much worse than having all your loved ones in one place but then not see them all day!

When I first started shooting weddings my camera choice was Canon 5D Mark III, but although a good camera I decided to move to Nikon and had two D750’s which were two amazing cameras!

But having used them extensively I decided to move to Sony in 2017. When I first moved I actually hated them – couldn’t get on with them and went back to Nikon. I ended up really missing the Sonys and went back at the start of 2019 and I am really pleased I did.

I guess the main reason for this was the silence. It allows you to capture real moments without people knowing and also without being intrusive – a massive thing for me. The EVF and the tracking were also exceptional. Lastly, the fact they keep upgrading the firmware was great!

So, I should probably list my kit – so here it is.

Cameras
Sony A9 x 2 – My favourite camera I have ever used. It is incredible in all situations and the silent shutter means I can get photos that I previously might struggle to get. Also, problematic vicars also love it!

With the silent shutter and the eye focus – as well as the incredible EVF (Electronic view finder) means I no longer have to look through the OVF (Optical view finder) which is a massive help as I have to wear glasses in my old age of 35! But it is also excellent for looking past what is in front of me. So I catch the moments or reactions are happening in the background.

Sony A7III x 1 – this pretty much stays in my Tenba bag and is a backup in case something happens to my Sony A9.

Nikon D750 – A battered backup camera in case something really unexpected happens. But in reality, it is retired until my 4-year old little boy shows an interest in photography.

Lenses
Sony 35mm Zeiss f/1.4 – My favourite lens I have ever used. Worth its weight in gold and incredibly fast and sharp. My go-to lens all day until the evening party!

Sony 85mm f/1.8 – What a lens – I love it. It is a great pairing for my Sony 35mm f/1.4 and much cheaper than the Sony 85mm f/1.4. I have compared the two and there wasn’t really any reason for me to opt for the more expensive 85mm f/1.4

Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 – A great value lens and one which I use to shoot all my group photos on and also occasionally on the dance floor. It gets used every wedding for sure!

Zeiss Batis 18mm f/2.8 – This lens is incredible for when the dance floor is packed, or I am in a tight spot. It is also great for wide shots of venues or a little bit of creative work.

Sony FE 28mm f/2 – Light, small and a great quality lens for super cheap! This comes on later on in the evening when the dance floor is tight and crazy!

Flashes and triggers
Godox TT350s x 3 – Small, compact flash guns that don’t weigh much and are quick and easy to set up when I need fill light for the speeches or additional light for the dancefloor.

Godox Xpro S– This goes on-camera for speeches and for some creative work outside in the evening. Great piece of kit.

Godox X1 N – I use these on the Nikon SB-700 and pair up brilliantly.

Godox X1 S – I have three of these for the dance floor photos. They work with the Nikons and the Godox TT350’s at the same time which is awesome.

Nikon SB700 Flash x 3 – I have used these since I first switched to Nikon and they are still going strong, the fact they work with the Sonys is a massive bonus as I know all the settings really well. I only shoot Manual flash.

Bags/Straps
I use two bags when at a wedding. My main bag is my Think Tank Retrospective 7 – perfect to hold my Think Tank SD Pixel Pocket Rocket – or card holder, a couple of my Nikon SB-700 Flashes (They work great on Sony) and some spare Sony NP-FZ100 batteries.

My bigger bag is the Tenba 32L backpack – It’s been with me since the beginning and is still in great condition! This is always kept in a safe space at the wedding venue as I don’t really need it until I need my flashes.

Other key bits
Spider Holster Black Widow Spider Camera Holster – sits on my normal belt and a great piece of kit. Convent, flexible and unrestrictive – I have been using these since the start of 2019 and wouldn’t be without them now.

MagMod – I purchased the Magmod Mega Kit a couple of years ago, but in reality, I only use the two grids and Maggrip’s on the flashes. I do however sometimes use the gels on occasion. A fantastic and really important piece of kit in my bag for my flash work.

Zeiss Lens wipes – A great addition to the kit bag to keep the lenses clean.

VSG0 Full frame sensor cleaning swab – Sonys can occasionally get some dust spots on the sensors so these stay in my bag as they are really simple to use!

Moman LED Video Light – my newest piece of kit to see me through the winter in some darker venues if needed. I have only used them a couple of times but they seem great and are a good price.

G-Technology 2 TB G-DRIVE Mobile SSD R-Series Ruggedised – taken to every wedding to back up images and then transfer them at home onto more hard drives and the cloud.

ThinkTank Pixel Pocket Rocket – Stores all my memory cards which are almost all either 128gb or 256gb Sandisk Pros.

Macbook Air – this comes with me to every wedding to back up the photos and start the sneak peek for the next day!

Make sure you wear the right shoes. Once I was running late and grabbed my black converse only to realise I had picked up two different shoes. Oh, how we laughed at that wedding!

www.andygriffithsphotography.co.uk | @andygriffithsphotography