Very proud of this image being ranked in the top ten for location flash in the Professional Photographer of the year competition. Below I have dropped in the magazine page along with some comments from the judge. Will also be entering this year now I know the sort of thing that they like!
I like to be friends with all types of image makers and film makers. I think the learning process never really ends and bits and pieces pop up all over to advance your knowledge and understanding. To this end I have recently worked alongside Simon Love from Courting Whale pictures. His work is awesome and really shows off what is possible within the confines of a wedding day.
At Morland the main video was done by CPD films who very kindly said that we could produce something extra for Helen and Steve… A summary, a short trailer, a chunk of amazing and something for Helen and Steve to keep alongside all of the other photographs and video pieces from their day. I took a hit and asked Simon if he would like to be commissioned to do it and he very kindly took the time out for me from his mental schedule. Its for the best as we are both covering another wedding together in August at the Roundthorn, which we now know with such a similar work ethic to one another, will be great.
A full photo blog will follow on from this in a few weeks,
I am sorry to say that in my absolute insistence to do all of my blog post in the order that they were shot, in the blog world of Lake District Wedding Photography, it is still winter. I do intend to rectify this by putting in a ton of new blogs ( or getting someone else to do it) over the coming weeks before we get into the wedding season full.
I love the Swan at Newby Bridge, the interiors are lush and colorful and the whole styling of the hotel is very well thought out. To cut it short, it is a great place for me to go from a creative standpoint… Oh we had the website changed around slightly.. Do you like it? Very neutral so the images can do all of the talking for me.
Sarah and Danny actually got married at Ulverston Registry Office near Dalton in Furness (Its like a ship inside!) in the old council meeting chamber and then on to do a few shots up high overlooking the Southern Lakes and back to the Swan for a wedding reception. Sarah went non-traditional with her dress, which I really loved and everything to do with the day was rather stylish and homemade. It almost felt like an elopement which left me with Simon and Garfunkel in my head for an hour or so afterwards.
On with the images then from the nicest couple who had a small wedding with a big bash afterwards at the Swan… Funky, glamorous, kitsch, boutique hotel.
Thankyou Sarah and Danny, your wedding was perfectly styled and all of the elements of your day just fell together (apart from the roadworks). I will look forward to photographing you both again soon.
By day one sets out on a trip, but by night one sets out on a journey.
With this wedding being only five days after new year, setting out from home in the dark was much less of an option than I would have liked. Dalston is about 15 miles from home though, which came in handy when I had forgotten one of my bags at the back of the hall and had to trudge back in the car at 11pm.
As weddings go and also as venues go, there is nothing nicer than a wedding at an unusual venue. Its great to have to deal with the challenges that presents, which usually ends up in embracing what is around to create images that show the people at their very best, funniest and most emotional. This was a winter wedding not to be missed, on one hand because winter weddings present their own set of challenges with light but also because the bride and groom were so in love, so gracious and so kind that I knew creating some amazing imagery would come Naturally.
The ceremony was held at St Michaels in Dalston on an unusually warm 5th of Jan with a reception at Victory Hall, also in the village and all was decked out in a Finland, UK, tea party with the moomins theme. Care had been taken over the venue styling and it looked great. I also shot quite a large quantity of film on the day. Main films used were Kodak 3200 and Sensia 1600 (for geeks) which produced some really nice results on the Nikon F4 and F100. All of the digital images were styled up to mimic the film emulsions to make the whole portfolio of images flow nicely. The venue styling and the effort that had been put into the wedding day really shone through. Any of the wedding photographers in the Lake District would have killed to photograph this one!
Thanks to you both for a great days photography and the “OMG the photographs are a-ma-zing” that I got in a text from Rebekkah really made my day. I hope to see you both again soon. P.S. Rose destroyed the gingerbread!
Warning….. Rather large post….
I have been holding onto this wedding to blog for about 8 months now and my original intention was that it was to be one of the first blogs on my new website. With the restrictions in time and web/graphic designer time being such an apparent valuable commodity, I have decided to add it in now, to the current site instead.
Nick and Joanna had quite a search for a wedding photographer that they thought could appropriately interpret their wedding day in a style that is a little more outrageous than most and their search led them to me. Whilst this is a real honor and a pleasure, there were a few logistical problems to iron out first. Everyone was to be leaving from Longhirst Hall in Morpeth where the girls were getting their hair done at Saks on the high street (which is lovely by the way) and the boys were having a game of pre-wedding cricket outside the hall. I invaded the game and found Nick who I found, works at Apple (wow) and asked him to bat so I could get some ace batting shots and he wasn’t half bad either!
Nick and his brother went down to Nicks room to get ready and I got some really good images here. There are always nerves on a wedding day and this one was no exception. When you are around brides, the nerves tend to be less as there is always a certain amount of commotion going on but grooms always tend be a little more anxious. Nick had every apple gadget under the sun and even brought me some gadgetry remote shutter cables for iphones as a thank-you for coming so far to cover his wedding. They have since been put to good use. Wouldn’t be without mine now.
After everyone was ready, the buses were to take everyone up to Hulne Priory for the wedding and then onto Alnwick Garden for the reception but there was some time before we set off to get some prep photos.
I really need to give a shout out at this point to the ushers who in a rather large group of people, managed to round up the relevant people for the group shots in double quick time. It helps to have someone else looking for the lost person who has gone to the loo.
Back at Alnwick Gardens, we had only a short time before the meal. I grabbed whatever I could of people milling around and then took Joanna and Nick off for a wander around the lower half of the gardens. There was no chance of rain, so I left some images until later on in the day when the light would be sufficient for us to get out into some of the open spaces. Alnwick Garden is the most amazing place. It makes some of the waterfalls in the lakes look tiny. Mind you we have Aira Force…. Not too shabby.
Great wedding. Lovely people. Red bull on the 2 hour drive home.
Thank you both.
I cover more and more weddings each year in the south of the county and after speaking to Kerry on the phone several times it was obvious that this was going to be quite a good one. Abbey house is Barrows best wedding venue… That’s it really. As a venue in Barrow it is popular, so if it were situated 20 miles North in the lakes it would be swamped with weddings, but I quite like the way it is a little more tucked away than others.
Kerry and Mike married at St Marys’ Church on Church walk in Ulverston but I had been to Abbey house first to get some images of the girls getting ready. What did I really enjoy about the day? Well, the guests were great, the planning was equally as great, Kerry and Mikes son Enzo was a real riot and great to photograph and like most of my brides and grooms, they were up for pretty much anything.
Firstly, Kerry photographs really well from pretty much any angle you can think of and this does make the job much easier, but it was the guests being so relaxed that made it such an enjoyable but also personal day. Sometimes a wedding comes along that changes the way I look at photography, something that is constantly evolving anyway and this was such a wedding. The first thing that happened when I walked into the room at Abbey house was Kerry coming up to give me a hug. From that moment on I felt part of the wedding rather than an outsider. With all of the wedding fairs and editing, client meetings, tax returns and juggling that goes on in my life, for the whole day I thought surely, this is what it is all about.
Thanks for the experience both and I hope to catch up with you soon.
This really is the tip of the iceberg for this wedding as the portfolio that was amassed was huge. Some of my firm favorites of the year were among the images taken at Abbey house. Just time for one more.
Being from Carlisle myself and currently only living fifteen miles away, it is not that often that I will photograph a wedding there. David and Rachel were married in a civil ceremony at the Crown & Mitre followed by a reception at the Tithe Barn. The theme was a sumptuous vintage 30’s theme which was set off really well by the stylish prefect badges everyone wore which read bride, groom, usher etc… A great find. I don’t really seek themes at weddings but an underlying theme is always nice, made buoyant by the vintage china, table settings and paraphernalia used to decorate the Tithe Barn.
It really didn’t take too much convincing to get Rachel and David over to the old carousel in the middle of Carlisle. It is in the town center a lot and just happened to coincide with this wedding. We even hit the right time of day just as the people were packing up and the center was quiet. This turned out to be some of my favorite imagery from the day. We just did the usual. Went for a walk…. Mucked about.
Forgot to mention, Rachels’ dress was a Mia Original made from scratch by Sarah at Mia Bridal in Carlisle. Sarah stacks some amazing dresses but the ones that she makes bespoke for Mia Originals are mind blowing.
I generally try to resist the common photographers label of ‘wedding storyteller’ but this really was a wedding that read like a book from start to finish, filled with good people and heaps and heaps of laughs. I shoot weddings in a different way every time because there is a different feel to the way they all flow. All this blog aims to do is give you a real time look at the events of the day and how I have seen them. Hopefully you can sense the tension, see the personality of each bride and groom shining through to the point where you feel like you know them. I think my job would be done after that?
A pilgramage
Oh, an old friend is the Gilsland Spa and where I shot one of my first weddings so going back is always a treat. Jayne is one of the most down to earth people that I have ever met. She is a farm girl through and through but is training in midwifery under the guidance of my auntie Christine (small world Cumbria) who works at the Cumberland Infirmary. Gary is a busy man and I hadn’t actually met him until the wedding day itself, but was just as lovely as Jayne. Nice doing nice weddings for nice people.
I started photographing at the farm where Jayne grew up in Alston, after a quick stop off to catch everyone at the hairdressers, TLC in the middle of town.
I wanted to photograph something that was relevant to Jayne and her links to the farm, so after the wedding I set about creating a sort of collage for her of the buildings and familiar places around the farm. One of these locations was to prove decisive and another was to pop up whilst Jayne and I went for a quick wander.
After the rather lairy drive down from Alston to Gilsland I set about photographing the guests who were milling about and taking their seats in the Orangery. I think that this is an awesome addition to the Gilsland Spa and a great alternative to the older ballroom. Weddings here are now a real pleasure. I think one on a stormy day in there would be very dramatic as there are views right across the valley from inside.
Not all of my favourite venues and locations are in the Lakes and Gilsland Spa can hold its head high amongs some of the best Lake District Hotels. This is due to its incredible location and beautiful renovations which have made shooting there a pleasure. Jayne and Gary were really charming on their wedding day, after some emotional and heartfelt speeches, everyone retired to freshen up and I siezed the opportunity for one last image. I like to finish posts on an image!
Some days are a little more than you expect and shooting at a venue for the first time is more than enough to get me out of bed at some ungodly hour. Scott and Lynn were looking for someone to photograph their wedding at the Belsfield in Windermere and I went down to meet up with them in Ambleside to talk through the arrangements. I knew that they wanted something different and like most of my brides and grooms, got me in to take the photographs because of that. Lynn is stunning…. Thats it really, she photographed every bit as well as I expected and some of the images with her were some of my favorites of this summers season. All of the guests were from the North East and after living there for 7 years I well and truly had my geordie accent back the next day. What a great bunch of people.
The sun shone all day really and after a few clouds after coming out of St. Martins Church the sky was nice and patchy (weather with options) which is just how I like it.
On with the photographs.
Just a quick warning: This wedding is image intensive. I do this so that people get the best idea of how I photograph and approach a wedding but also to show the consistency of a body of work across a wedding day.
Thanks again both for choosing me to take your photographs. I had a wail and got to know a hotel that I had never been to before. There are so many images I love from your wedding so get picking!
Many things dictate how you shoot a wedding day. Weather is one factor and also after a consultation with the couple to be photographed, what they want to get from the photography of their wedding day. Del and Chris were very happy to let me call the shots on their day and also to let me decide on the locations for photography at the hotel.
Working at the North Lakes means that because of its location, you are always trying to avoid photographs that have the nearby M6 in the background and there are two ways to do this. The first involves shooting in the traditional locations at the hotel and the second involves blurring it out to the point where it is invisible. After a recce of the hotel which is the home of one of my favorite wedding fairs held each January (one for the diary) I decided that there was more to the gardens than meets the eye. I set about on the day exploring some newer angles in some well trodden locations and to good effect.
During the group shots Elliot (Chris and Dels’ son) ran into a tree giving himself a rather nice shiner in the process, so we had to pause for ten mins while we got something cold to put on his cheek. This gave me time to move my kit inside to avoid the rain and I shot some very nice groups in the dining room instead. Sometimes compromise can be a blessing.
It was another outing for my new Magneflash though which performed admirably. The first dance was Islands by the Amazing XX and for a couple that are all about the music they listen to and the festivals they attend I thought that this was the perfect choice. Here we go, a beautiful wedding for an old friend that ensured that we were older friends by the end of it. Thankyou for allowing me to capture the events of your wedding day, It was epic!
After a mess about with the girls I decided to get ahead of them and head around to the room where the civil ceremony was to be held. With friends in the audience it was great to see so many smiling faces. There were a few children there too which is great as they are much easier to photograph than adults. I got a great shot of Elliot pre-tree bash too.
As the nights events started I arrived back after picking up some giant sparklers from a friend. These were to be used to create a beautiful night lit image of Del and Chris. They worked a treat as you will see below.
Thanks again both, your wedding was amazing to cover and the fact that you were up for all of my mad ideas paid off in the end.
A full day’s wedding coverage (8hrs)
Includes a USB drive of images.
Option of a half-price photobooth (£200)
Lake District Wedding Photography, 21 Mill Road, Glasson, Cumbria, CA7 5EE
[email protected]
