Roberta Facchini is a Destination Wedding Photographer based in London. She is Italian (from a coastal town on the Adriatic sea called Fano in the Marche region) but I made London her home 7 years ago. We caught up with her to find out more about her transition from a full time job to pursuing her dream as a wedding photographer.
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Tell is a bit about Roberta Facchini Photography?
I’m a photographer specialised in intimate weddings and events in London and abroad. I love romantic, airy, editorial and dreamy images, full of natural light and this is what I want to create for my clients who choose me to document their special wedding or event. I’m based in London but every season I’m blessed to photograph destination weddings in Italy and Greece, as well as in London. Last year I also photographed destination weddings in Ireland, St Lucia and Portugal and travelled to Morocco to shoot a bridal editorial. I believe in offering experiences to my clients from the moment they first get in touch, until after they receive the gallery of their wedding day. I want to build relationships with them, getting to know them and talking to them throughout the year (offering help, suggestions, support) so that they feel comfortable with me before and during their wedding day. It’s like having a friend there, I want to be approachable while still offering outstanding service. I also believe in documenting their day as it naturally unfolds, without forcing any postures, in order to capture them and the real atmosphere of the day. A light guidance will only be given during the wedding portrait session. Nothing makes me happier than hearing lovely feedback from my clients and their families after they receive their images.
Where did your passion for photography come from?
I literally grew up with a camera on my hand and since I was a child every holiday I took with my family I was taking pictures of everything. I still remember a photography course that I attended when I was 6 years old in my elementary school in Italy. My parents booked it for me as an afternoon activity and us kids were taken to the beach with our teacher to take some photographs with his SLR. I still remember how heavy that camera was that I could barely hold it to look into the viewfinder. Those photos were then printed in a photography exhibition in my town. As I grew older, I remember taking a weekend job when I was in school to buy my first Canon DSLR. I took that camera to every trip I was taking abroad, and practising portraiture with my girlfriends. Later on I naturally upgraded my kit and bought several lenses and practised with travel and reportage photography, fashion and portraiture as a passion. I’ve always loved to travel and I’ve visited over 30 countries so I’ve taken loads of travelling photos throughout the years. In my early days I took part in several competitions and my travelling and portraiture photos have been accepted into competitions in Italy, and featured on the National Geographic website and as book covers.
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Why did you decide to become a wedding photographer?
4 years ago I wanted more from my photography and I started to think about what I enjoyed the most. I thrive when travelling and being among people. Photographing beautiful and intimate weddings and especially destination weddings and celebrations was my answer. As this was a unknown world for me and I didn’t know anyone, I started by approaching some wedding photographers in the UK offering my help as a second shooter. At the time I had no idea on the style of photography I liked (for example bright and light, like the one I do, or flashy, strong reportage, moody and so on). I was extremely blessed to have found a photographer who I, still to date, really admire that took me along for a couple of weddings that year and that showed me their natural light style. I absolutely fell in love with the images I took for her at those weddings. I really enjoyed that experience, the excitement of photographing such a precious day, and from my first wedding I knew that I wanted to become a full time wedding photographer.
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How did you make the transition from your previous job to being a full time wedding photographer, and how did you manage the ‘side hustle’?
At the time I was working at a London-based company as an Anti-Fraud Online Investigator, a role that I had for 6 years. This is also the reason why I moved to London in the first place. It was a job that I loved and that was exactly on my path as I hold a Bachelor and First Honour Master in Criminology and Security received from two Italian Universities. It was exciting but, as any office job, I didn’t like the idea of being stuck for 90% of the time in an office, doing a 9-5 job. It was monotonous and repetitive, and I was craving the idea to work in the creative world, being around people, building my own business and travelling the world.
The good thing about my job was that I had many days of annual leave, 30 to be precise + bank holidays, and that working near the office meant I would be at home every day at 4:30PM. For two years (the first with only a few weddings booked, the second being completely booked) I managed to work every day after work, in the evenings, every weekend in order to get to know the wedding industry, understand how a business was run, networking with people in the industry (photographers, florists, planners and so on), understand the ever evolving world of social media, rebuilding completely my new online home, working on my branding, stationery, on top of photographing weddings, destination weddings and editorial. And of course, while maintaining a social life, practise yoga, and getting married myself..
It was tough, using all of my spare time creating a business from scratch, speaking with friends who obviously thought I was crazy, sacrificing time for a passion that I didn’t know if I was able to call my business at some point, sacrificing time with my boyfriend who in the middle of all of this became my husband, using all the annual leave I had to go and work and photograph destination weddings, therefore not doing any holiday for a year although giving the impression that I was on holiday all the time.
That second year (which was my first fully booked year) was very successful. It was very demanding, considering I travelled to Italy 5 times in a summer using, and once to Santorini. I was excited, I was actually achieving my dreams of being a Destination Wedding Photographer, which is a very competitive and highly ambitious job. Every photographer I know wants to be a Destination Photographer and I was lucky to start right away like that. The following season was looking well, I was again fully booked with amazing weddings and couples, photographing the exact style of weddings I liked and dreamt: intimate, in beautiful destinations with stunning decor and lots of pretty details to photograph. I therefore decided to resign from my job and pursued my dream of becoming a full time photographer, as I didn’t want to have another year juggling both jobs. It was an exciting moment in my life and definitely the best decision I took in 2017. I did not regret it for a second, and I’ve been living my dream life since!
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Where does your inspiration for each shoot come from?
I take inspiration from my travels (Bali, Greece, Italy being my favourite destinations), from fashion, from the work of famous photographers, from interiors. I’m obsessed with anything Scandinavian, which I find simple and stylish. I love white, elegant, bright spaces and decors.
What do you enjoy most about doing your own thing?
Now that I’m a full time photographer, I appreciate my new life and I never take it for granted. Every day is different. It’s satisfying to know that I’m working for myself and for my business. I love that I can wake up late one day if I want to, I love the flexibility that I can work from wherever I want (last year for example I had two weddings in Santorini and my husband and I worked from there for 10 days, it was incredible). I love that I have the freedom to decide when to work and that I can explore and meet so many creatives during the day, still smiling at that fact that in the past I had to plan all these meetings after work. I’m so passionate about my job that it’s true when people say that if you love what you do, it doesn’t feel like work at all. As every job, it has its own challenges and it can be physically exhausting, but I could never imagine myself going back to an office.
What advice would you give to people thinking of changing career?
Be focussed, determined, and extremely passionate about what you want to do. You need to be ready to really hustle for the first few years, sacrificing weekends, evenings and all the free time you have in order to build your business. This shouldn’t feel like a sacrifice, it just helps you to be more motivated in reaching your goals. Having a full time job while working on your new career has its plus side. It means that you don’t have to worry about your salary and you can easily pay your bills at the end of the month, it means that you can afford to invest in your business easily (which is so important), it means you are less stressed (financially) although time I know is never enough. Once you can see that your new career is bringing in income, you can start finalising all the details for the big step.
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You must get excited about working with some incredible brands and partners, tell us a bit more about that?
Absolutely, I get so excited with all the clients that book me to photograph their wedding or event. Two years ago I started working as an event photographer for Conde Nast Brides, covering all their bridal events and fashion catwalks around the most stylish hotels in London. It has been a dream, this allowed me to meet so many incredible people, designers and work for the number 1 Bridal magazine in the UK.
What we’d really love to know is what is your favourite thing about photographing a wedding?
This is a tough one, I love so many moments about a wedding day and I often get emotional with my couples as well during speeches for example. I adore photographing the bridal preparation and seeing the reactions of the bridesmaids and mothers when they see a bride getting into the dress. I love wedding portraits at sunset, when my couples take a minute for themselves to really understand the day, away from all the guests and create some amazing memories together. I love knowing that my couples have used my images in albums or framed my prints around their home. Nothing makes me happier. I also love multicultural weddings, when I see my brides and grooms bring and incorporate their unique traditions to the wedding day, it’s so inspiring for me to photograph – like this American-Korean couple.
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What are your favourite wedding destinations? And where are you going next?
Undoubtedly Italy. The light is just fabulous there, the locations are incredible (you get villas on the lakes, castles, houses on the countryside and more). I photographed all around Italy including Tuscany, Amalfi Coasts, Lake Garda and more. I’m still dreaming of photographing a wedding in a typical masseria in Apulia. I also love Greece, the South of France, Morocco and Bali. This year I will be travelling all around Italy to Tuscany (always the most popular choice), Venice, South of Italy, the Marche region and Verona, I will be going again to Greece and to the South of France (Nice).
What’s next for you and for RFP?
The business is growing fast, faster that I could have ever dreamed! I’ve started offering mentoring sessions to new photographers, which it’s been quite exciting. I love to inspire and help people. In the future I might expand and have other photographers joining me as associates, we will see…
Website https://www.robertafacchini.com/
Instagram @robertafacchiniphotography
Facebook @Roberta Facchini Photography
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The post Meet Roberta Facchini – the London-based Destination Wedding Photographer appeared first on Eyedea - Female Millennials Network.