Todays wedding photography was very local to me, just down the road at Avenue House in East Finchley. Janine and Azim had booked a civil ceremony followed by a champagne & canapes reception for their closest family and friends. It was an intimate affair, full of love and totally gorgeous - To quote Janine, “today I married my best friend”
I promised them sneak peeks today and here they are. Congratulations both of you, a fabulous afternoon celebrated just the way you wanted it.
As people. we are always learning & developing and for most professional photographers, that process will include attending workshops & training run by other photographers who you admire and respect. These days aren’t just about learning of course, bouncing ideas and thoughts around with other professionals in the same boat as you can provide great motivation and inspiration and stop you getting into too much of a comfortable rut – all of which can only benefit clients.
So, with all that in mind, last Monday I was in Bristol to attend a workshop run by Damien Lovegrove with the title ‘Passion on the Streets’ – the day was about photographing a couple, the sort of thing one might do during an engagement shoot. Our couple, Jon and Faye, are a genuine couple and neither are experienced models, which helped make the day more ‘genuine’. We walked in a relatively small circle around the basin area of the city and used several different areas to create a whole set of images that tell a continual story yet vary dramatically across the day.
I have deliberately chosen to process about the same number of images as would fit nicely into a good photobook or album from such a session.
I had a really fun afternoon today photographing Megan and her friends as they helped her to celebrate her 15th birthday party. Mum had organised for them all to have their make-up and hair done as part of the party, as well as food and drink and some Justin Bieber inspired fun & games.
I set up the back drop and a beauty dish light and we got some very posy headshots of the girls as well as more fun stuff outside the hall. These quickly edited preview shots are so Megan can have a quick look at her birthday photos.
I always knew, from the first time I met these two, that Linda & Keith’s wedding would be huge fun, full of emotion, love and family being first. It was all those things and more.
The wedding ceremony & reception were held at the rather lovely Pendley Manor in Hertfordshire, the perfect backdrop for the days events. Linda had chosen beautiful spring flowers for the bouquet and room decorations, while sister Tina had created gorgeous birdcage themed stationery that together created a light, joyous feeling.
Linda and Keith both love black & white photographs and indeed, old photos of both sets of their parents were part of the table decorations during the ceremony, a really lovely touch. It is this love of black & white images that has offered the chance to turn the tables on these quick preview shots of their wedding photography – instead of mainly colour with a few black & white, I have done nearly all black & white with a few colour ones to show off the flowers.
Have a fabulous honeymoon you two and I hope you enjoy these sneak peeks of your amazing day before you go.
Laura and Jon are getting married in July at one of my favourite local venues, Shenley Cricket Club. When they booked, during our first meeting, they explained that the wedding would be penguin themed, as Laura in particular is fascinated by these flightless but very photogenic birds. So, of course, we set ourselves the task of starting that theme off in the pre-wedding shoot. After some searching, it was finally decided we would travel a little further than normal so we could go to BirdLand, in the Cotswolds
I don’t think when we planned this, given the current weather, we expected a gloriously sunny day – in fact had we been photographing penguins in the snow, it would not have been a surprise. However, the skies were much bluer than they have been all year and the sun was adding just a touch of warmth to the occasion. When we first arrived, the penguins seemed very sleepy and were just standing around, so after a few photos with them, we had a wander round the park, finally ending up back at the penguins pool, where they seemed to have woken up and even came over to say hello.
This is probably the most unusual pre-wedding shoot request I have done, but glad I did, Laura and Jon now have lots of penguin themed pictures. Here are just a few quickly edited sneak peeks.
You know that feeling when you want something different on your website, you just need to find the right way and person to do it? For quite some time I have toyed with the idea of having some kind of non-photographic image, something that represents me, without necessarily being a self portrait, something fun that visitors will see when they get here.
A few weeks ago I was at a wedding fair in Essex, sharing a room with Claire Spake of Claire Spake Design - a fabulous designer and illustrator. As soon as I saw some of her designs, the brain cells mustered some energy and got to thinking.
Finally, we got our heads together and have produced exactly the sort of thing I had in mind without necessarily being able to explain it properly. Working with Claire has been brilliant, she was able to take some random ideas and produce this fantastic piece of artwork that I absolutely love. It now has pride of place on the homepage slideshow.
If you would like to see more of Claire’s unique designs and ideas, with a vintage twist, especially for your wedding stationery or other events, please do have a look at her website or facebook page.
Website - http://clairespake.com/
Facebook – www.facebook.com/Claire-Spake-Design-c
I have to say, I am more used to seeing the photographs I take printed in albums, as prints and canvasses, or viewed digitally so it was something of a novelty and a huge pleasure to open a copy of Wedding Ideas Magazine this morning and see the wedding of Carly & Richard at Latimer Place, Buckinghamshire, feature in the Real Weddings section. A quick sneak peek here, go and buy your copy now to see the rest!!
Yesterday I headed to Stevenage in Hertfordshire for the wedding of Sussie and Matthew and the rain came down, we could only hope it improved as the day wore on.
I first met this couple after Sussie’s Dad, a keen amateur photographer himself, had contacted me looking for a photographer for the wedding of his daughter. We all met up and Sussie & Matthew proved to be a lovely couple with some great plans for their wedding.
The venue for both ceremony and reception was the Ramada Cromwell hotel in old Stevenage town centre, an old fashioned high street with some pretty architecture. The hotel itself is a former coaching inn, now much extended but with retaining plenty of its traditional features which we used to get some portraits of Sussie and Matthew.
It was an emotional but happy day, with lots of family and friends helping them to celebrate and their 2 year old son Ben playing the cutest ring bearer ever.
Some quick sneak peeks and congratulations both of you, a great day.
A lovely local wedding today at Shenley Cricket Centre where Claire & Richard tied the knot in front of their family and friends. Obvious the weather was always going to be questionable this early in March, but thankfully it remained dry even if it was perishingly cold.
No one was going to let a bit of a chill stand in the way of good celebration though, and from Richards lego place names to the hugely fun ‘Marryoke‘ to You’re the One That I Want from the musical Grease, organised by the videographer, there was definitely a touch of spring in the air amongst everyone at Shenley today.
Congratulations you two, have a fab honeymoon, here are some sneak peeks before you go.
Louise and Steve married in a very intimate family wedding in Cornwall last Monday, but last night was the big party for extended friends and family at the Grange Country House Hotel in Northwood, Middlesex.
The evening started with a drinks reception as guests arrived, followed by a buffet style meal out in the marquee. After dinner, the cake was officially cut and then the dancing began with Louise and Steve getting the ball rolling. For those that wanted a dancing break, there were two casino tables to enjoy.
My photography brief was to get lots of pictures of everyone enjoying themselves. Easy enough when everyone certainly did exactly that, especially the dancers. Some quick sneak peeks…
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