Your Presenters

Sam Docker

Derby, UK

About

Hi, I’m Sam, a wedding photographer based in Derby, and I’ve been shooting weddings now for 5 years, travelling all over the UK and Europe. I still find the process of being invited into a close family environment for a day a wonderfully surreal experience, but one that I never take for granted. I don’t feel, and never have, that I have a “style” as such, more just an approach to documenting a day that truly reflects my couples, their guests and the surroundings they find themselves celebrating in. I pride my work and approach to photographing a wedding as genuine and authentic, constantly trying to be creative with whatever situation is in front of me, completely embracing the craziness of the day, and producing a body of work that allows my clients and guests to feel as though they’re re-living the whole experience.

In 2015 I was named amongst Rangefinders Rising stars, and have multiple Masters of Wedding Photography and Fearless Photographers awards.

What am I looking forward to about NineDots…. well I strongly believe that you never stop learning, everyone can learn something from anyone, so I can’t wait to see and hear what the other speakers have to say, but also being able to talk to attendees and find out how others approach shooting weddings, the day to day side of running a business alongside having a family, and obviously how to defeat the Alan Law serve!! It goes without saying, the combination of ping-pong and beer are also a small attraction!!! Just don’t tell my wife!!! 😉

Mainstage

Less is more!

How I’ve taken an approach throughout my business of less is more, and how defining your more is important!

Mini - Masterclass

How to love, and light, the dance floor!!

I’ll be the first to hold my hands up and say I’m not a camera-techy-geek kinda guy, far from it, I like to keep things simple with my kit, and for the first couple of years of shooting weddings, I was terrified of the dance floor. How to light it, how to get a consistent look, wireless triggers, flash guns, LED panels, shutter drag, you name it, my mind was all over the shop with options and I had no idea where to start. I then started my 3rd year of weddings and said to myself that enough was enough, I needed a setup that worked, was easy to configure, and reliable. Now, the dancefloor is one of my favourite parts of the day, and this is partly down to removing all of those initial fears I experienced in the first couple of years. I’ll be talking through how I setup to light a dance floor, using 3 different techniques, but also how I document and work through the space. If you’re like I was, and fearful of how to light a dark barn with high ceilings, then you won’t be come the end of this.