Category Archives: Blog
Ellie & Duncan at Swancar Farm, Nottinghamshire Wedding Photography
My wedding bookings at the moment tend to come in around a year in advance or a few months before the wedding so Ellie and Duncan are very much a rarity for me. Let me explain. When I first decided I had to get involved in wedding photography I covered a couple of friends’ weddings, they led to recommendations and word of mouth did the rest. When I first spoke to Ellie in early 2011 she informed me that she had a seen a friends wedding I had covered and would like to talk about her wedding which was nearly two and half years away. This gave some insight into how organised Ellie is and when I met her and Duncan with her family at Swancar Farm I understood why. Even though parts of the venue were, at that time, still under construction Ellie and Duncan knew what they wanted and had a busy few years so wanted to get everything organised as soon as possible. We got on well, they liked my (still developing) style and booked me on the day.
I kept in touch with Ellie and Duncan over the following months and got to know them more and even covered the 80th birthday party of Ellie’s Grandma so by the time the day came around I felt like I knew the whole family and was made to feel really welcome.
It had been so long in the planning that I was extra nervous when the day came around. Unfortunately the one thing they couldn’t plan was the weather and so we had a great day indoors as the rain lashed down outside but the couple and all of the guests had a great day.
Below is a selection of images from the day.
Landscapes
I’m just having a quick update on the old website and found these landscapes from a trip to the Lake District a few years back that I don’t think I’ve done anything with. Thought you might like a quick look.
Jo & Nathan – Greenwich Wedding Photography
I first met Jo when she was Bridesmaid at Kimberly and Owen’s wedding in 2011. To say I didn’t see her much throughout that day is an understatement. Jo positively avoided me. Like so many of the couples I meet these days Jo doesn’t particularly like having her picture taken or feel comfortable in front of the camera. So with this in mind the main request from the couple was to get one photo of Jo with her eyes open and (preferably) smiling. Add to that a few formal groups to please their parents but that was it, a nice, chilled out couple who just wanted a relaxed record of their day. And when you consider the location, the Old Royal Naval College in Greenwich and it made for the perfect day.
One minor snag was that the wedding was to start at 4.30pm in December in a room that relied on natural light for illumination… Being ever the optimist this was a perfect chance to test my cameras’ low light capabilities and they didn’t disappoint. The location was stunning and with a beautiful bride and a very dashing groom I am very happy with the results.
Below is a selection of the images from the few hours I spent with the couple, my final wedding of 2012 and one of my most challenging yet rewarding weddings to date.
Luckily as I already knew Kimberly (who was now returning the favour of being bridesmaid) I was tipped off about a lovely surprise the bridal party had planned. After the signing of the register and before the couple walked back up the aisle a brass band would strike up and a singer would emerge from the congregation and sing ‘All you need is love’ by the Beatles. (I’m told this is happens in a film called Love Actually but being far too tough I can’t recollect seeing it). As the couple prepared to leave, so the band struck up and the singer emerged, much to the delight, and surprise, of Jo & Nathan.
Kirsty and Tom Bristol Wedding Photography
Kirsty and Tom were married on a beautiful day back in July. The couple are huge fans of the zoo, so what better venue for their special day than Bristol Zoo? I’ve been there many times before but never in a professional capacity so it was a very interesting experience and once the public cleared out we were allowed to take a look around.
Here is a selection of some of the images from the few hours I spent with the couple.
Lucas Warren Baby Portraits Northampton
Last year it was my pleasure to photograph the wedding of Sarah and Paul Warren. This Summer, I was delighted to meet their new arrival, Lucas. Here are a few pictures from an informal shoot.
Surrey Wedding Photography
Considering the weather we’re having at the moment I am delighted to say that Maria and Jack enjoyed some beautiful sunshine for their big day on 2nd June. It had been raining all week and was due to rain all of the next week but luckily the window of decent weather fell just at the right time and the couple had a great day.
The ceremony and reception took place in Surrey and I was armed with my trusty Nikon D700 and D3s and it was a second outing for the new Nikkor 24-70mm f2.8 and it didn’t disappoint.
Here are some images from the day.
Heidi and Roger – A preview
Earlier this month I was delighted to be asked to photograph the wedding of a lovely couple (one of whom just happens to be a series producer…) in Wotton-under-Edge followed by a reception in Bristol.
Here is a small preview of a few images from the day, I’ll put more up soon.
It was my first wedding with my shiny new Nikon 24-70mm zoom and I was very pleased with the results.
Charlie Pollock
In November I became the proudest man in the world when my first baby was born. Since then he has not spent one day when he has not been photographed by either of his parents. I decided, finally, today to get in him in a more formal portrait setting with some lights and I also thought it would be a great opportunity to test out my as yet unused ring lite which I intend to use for portraiture in the future.
I think it was all a bit too much for him and the smiles dried up so I think I’ll stick to the less formal portraits. For now at least!
Might have got my head around exposure… a bit.
One of the things I have always found difficult is getting exposure and ‘getting myself out there’. You see, I love taking pictures and on the whole am happy with the images I capture (after walking away and coming back, aren’t you always your own biggest critic?) as are my clients but nothing beats someone else saying ‘Yeah, pretty good.’
So imagine my surprise and delight when new website www.yourperfectweddingphotographer.co.uk featured one of my photos in it’s photo of the week post today.
I signed up to the site before Christmas to increase awareness of what I was doing and I’m very glad I did. There are so many wedding photographers coming fresh into the business (me included) so you need to try everything you can to get couples to even visit your site, let alone stay long enough to have a look at some of your images.
So I am very grateful that the lovely people at YPWP decided they liked my image of Kimberly getting ready, from my Surrey wedding last year, enough to feature it. There’s still along way to go to get the exposure and traffic through the site that I think it deserves but fingers crossed this is a step in the right direction.
You can see the shortlisted three images here or see the original image below.
I should mention that YPWP have also featured one of my photos in a Black and White special post too. You can see it here. Tell them Neil sent you…
Signing up to www.yourperfectweddingphotographer.co.uk
I am in the process of signing up to Your Perfect Wedding Photographer! More to follow.
Your Perfect Wedding Photographer
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