When Eilidh Robertson began developing her photography skills she swore she’d never shoot a wedding.
But now she’s a well-established Perthshire wedding photographer and has lured sister Laura Hay into the business.
They are so well-regarded that their success is fuelled by word-of-mouth. Often their brides and grooms were guests of previous weddings they shot.
It was photographing Laura that led to Eilidh launching Eilidh Robertson Photography in 2013 so it’s only fitting that the family story continues.
Five babies later between them, their partnership is going strong.
When we meet them at Laura’s home near Bridge of Earn they tell us about life as wedding photographers. And this includes tales of walking barefoot among heifers and falling in the aisle!
Eilidh, 38, of Logierait, reignited her schoolgirl interest in photography while she was working as a charity’s development officer.
She says: “Laura has always ridden and when she was going to horse events at weekends I decided to take a camera along.
How one wedding became 10
“It was the best way to learn because out on a cross country course a horse is galloping past and you’ve only got one chance to get it right.”
Posting her pictures on social media, Eilidh started to build a following.
People would ask her to do family shots then a friend asked her to photograph their wedding.
She says: “I said I could never shoot weddings but then I got roped into it.
“Before I knew it I ended up with 10 wedding bookings before I’d even shot one!
“So when I put the preview from my first wedding up [online] it wasn’t just that bride and groom I wanted to impress it was the nine other couples too.”
When Eilidh needed help she turned to her sister
Eilidh shot 12 weddings in her first year. The next year she shot 24 weddings then 30 the year after.
She needed a second pair of hands and turned to her sister.
Laura, 36, started helping with admin, album design and culling. The latter task can involve whittling 12,000 pictures down to 1,000.
Then a few months later as she helped Eilidh at an event in Aberdeen Laura took a few shots herself.
And she fell in love with the camera.
Laura began second shooting at Eilidh’s weddings in April 2015 and just over a year later shot her first wedding solo.
She’s now associate photographer in Eilidh Robertson Photography.
The sisters sometimes shoot together, sometimes alone.
And they feel privileged – and often emotional – to be asked to capture such special moments in couple’s lives.
“I love telling the story of the whole day,” says Laura.
“I’m not an emotional person but sometimes you feel your eyes welling up and you’ve only just met these people!
“It’s usually the speeches. That’s when you really find out about the family and the couple.”
‘We love a wild dance floor!’
While they both love the speeches, it’s often later in the day that they are really able to capture the moment.
“We also love a wild dance floor!” says Eilidh. “People with ties round their head, shirts open, people getting picked up.
“You get such a buzz when you’re photographing that.”
Both married to farmers, Eilidh and Laura are well-known in agricultural circles so are often commissioned for weddings on farms.
That means animals feature large, and not just the family dog. Horses, sheep and cows often muscle in on the big day.
“I had one bride got married barefoot up a hill then we went into a field with a load of heifers and she was walking barefoot among the heifers,” says Eilidh.
Although she and Laura are almost always behind the lens, an unfortunate incident led to Eilidh becoming a highlight of one couple’s wedding album.
“Everyone was lined up with confetti as the bride and groom were coming out,” Eilidh recalls.
“I shoot with two cameras (one in each hand) when they are doing that.
“I was walking backwards and didn’t realise there was a bump so I fell and I couldn’t put my hands down to save myself.”
Eilidh’s tumble was caught on video and in Laura’s photos as laughter erupted among the guests. Ever the professional Eilidh kept clicking and even has photos from ground level.
“I’ve known the bride for years and she thought it was hilarious,” Eilidh says.
“Laura was shooting from behind me and has all the reaction shots.
“It had to be at a wedding where we knew 75% of the guests!”
Knowing a large proportion of their guests is common for the sisters.
“We shoot so many farming and rural weddings that quite often there can be 10 couples there whose weddings we’ve already shot.
“Then people don’t feel like we are strangers because they’ve seen us at other weddings.
“We’re lucky that all of our work is word-of-mouth.”
Although guests might be familiar with Eilidh and Laura, they might struggle to tell their images apart.
“I taught Laura from never having picked up a camera so the way she shoots is very similar to how I shoot,” says Eilidh.
“When you put our photographs together you can’t tell the difference.
“A photographer in Aberdeen sent me a message saying she had gone to someone’s house to take new-born photos for them and knew immediately their wedding photos on the wall were Robertson photos.
“And they were Laura’s photos not mine.”
Being sisters also helps with the working mum juggle. Eilidh and husband Craig have two sons Jack, 7, and Andrew, 5, while Laura and Fin have three children Lottie, 6, Bella, 4, and Freddie, 2.
Being mum and Perthshire wedding photographer
When Eilidh went into labour with Jack on the day she was supposed to shoot a wedding, Laura was there to take over.
And Eilidh returned the favour when Laura also had Freddie on the day of a wedding booking.
Running Eilidh Robertson Photography does gives them flexibility to manage family life. Although peak wedding season coincides with the school summer holidays.
And what’s it like working with your sister?
“She’s quite bossy,” jokes Laura.
But she adds: “We’re a good team. There’s the confidence there; we know we’ve got each other’s back and we’ve got everything covered.”
And after their weddings, Eilidh, who also does family photography, loves seeing her couples grow into families.
“You can photograph someone’s wedding then they come back with one baby and then again with two or sometimes more.
“It’s really nice being involved in that next stage of their lives.”
Conversation