Chris Walton-Tate
Photographer, Musician, Avid Reader, Aspiring Writer, Animal Lover, Traveller.
Based in York, England.
If you’re hiring a wedding photographer, you’re going to want to know about them, right? Well, here I am! The incredibly atmospheric photo of me just here was taken by my wife, Sarah, at Valley of Rocks in Devon - that place just totally blew me away.
So, who am I?
I’m an elder emo, according to my cousin-in-law. My love for photography began during those heady days of 2005’s indie and emo scenes - I was photographing bands on the local scene with a Pentax K100D digital SLR that my dad gave me. I then went to university and founded the Leeds Metropolitan University Photography Society with my good mates Dave and Andrew - it’s still going strong today, just under a different name as it’s now Leeds Beckett University. I found work as an events and nightlife photographer, really getting into it during my university days - I won awards and was given the opportunity to travel all because of my skills! As part of the photography society, I furthered my skills with events for the university - I covered black tie events, fresher’s, varsity sports, live music, corporate matters. You name it, I photographed it!
After university, I found more work in head office as part of the UK’s largest events photography company. I then returned to university to do a Master’s degree in Design, passing that with distinction as my thesis focused on research into operating systems and print media and how to do things better for those with neurodiversity.
I then, for some reason, joined the police - in part, due to the lack of work in the area after my degree and because I had always grown up being told ‘find a steady job, a good pension, and live comfortably.’
So, a few years in police, a move to Devon, a promotion, and a move to York later… I realised that, throughout all of this, my ‘second job’ as a photographer was really my true calling in life. So, here we are!
With nearly twenty years’ worth of experience behind me, I’m proud to say that photography is well and truly in my blood. I love photographing weddings and being a part of people’s special days, taking photos and creating memories that last forever - thinking about when couples I’ve worked with look back on their wedding day through my photos is both a scary amount of pressure and a huge source of pride… at the same time!
I remember at one of my cousin’s weddings, I think I was easily about 8 or 9 years old, I was given a video camera (yes, the kind with magnetic VHS tape, I’m that old!) and told to ‘have fun.’ I zoomed around the wedding looking through the lens of the video camera filming everyone and everything - I loved it! The video I created, however, was absolute trash - I was flying around like a plane with the camera, so it was all tilting around corners and shaky. Nevertheless, it’s safe to say, the bug of capturing moments - especially at weddings - had crawled under my skin.
Outside of all that…
I am an avid nature lover - Sarah always rolls her eyes when I launch the Merlin bird ID app on my phone to see what birds are singing around us! I’m a keen musician - I hold a BSc Degree in Music Technology - and in a past life I was on BBC Radio and toured the UK. Travel is in my blood, with dual German and British nationality and passports, I am capable of working in the EU with no restrictions - making for an easy time when it comes to destination weddings! I spent a period of my life growing up in Asia and started school in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. It’s safe to say, I’ve seen a lot of the world and have loved every opportunity I’ve had to experience it.
If I’m not reading a book, playing a game, pootling around with some musical idea, or playing around with something camera-related (my collection is getting embarrassing…), I’ll be with my wife, Sarah, and our two cats - Nyx and Ziggy. That’s us on our wedding day in the photo!
Life is for living - it took me way too long to realise that.