Sam and Kerryl at Graysonside, Cockermouth… Fast ‘N’ Loud

13 June 2014
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: Bakerwood marquee, Graysonside, cockermouth, cumbria

Sam and Kerryl are nestled in among a group of the nicest people that I have ever met. Their wedding was suitably epic to boot. A ceremony at the beautiful Graysonside on the way to Lorton, followed by a Huge Bakerwood Marquee reception in one of their fields at home. Due to the commitments of the registrar on the day of their wedding, they got married early… Really early, but this meant that we could pack the day to the rafters with photography in various locations and also wait for the light to be really right for each. It also meant that we could give them time to mill around with people and come and grab them when the moment was right for photos.

So, the day before I took a look at the forecast and it said hot. Hot Hot Hot. Those of us of a fairer skin were soon wilting in the heat and it took at least one Red Bull to keep me going (maybe two) for the whole day. We started at Kerryls’ folks house in Penrith and then took on the epic drive to Lorton via the Whinlatter pass which is an amazing drive on a wedding day. It also gave me time to get my head into the days photography to come. The Lake District is beautiful at the best of times but on a wedding day it seems to shine that little bit more and give a little more back than when I am out taking landscapes.

Some of my favorite images from the day were taken down a little lane at the side of Graysonside which is really beautiful in the dappled sunlight. Oh, I almost forgot. The fast ‘n’ loud tag at the top of the post: Sam and Kerryl have their own rally car and are fans of everything fast using it in events for the West Cumbria Motorsport Club. Although we couldn’t use it on the day, I took some great images with the wedding car, a Mitsubishi Evo. It is really noisy. Another shot that made me smile was the ladybird crawling over their hands. Oh and the shot of Kerryl with the long grass and that huge sky behind. It’s a great portfolio and one that I could shoot over and over.

Wedding photography in CockermouthGraysonside wedding, cockermouthBakerwood wedding receptionLake District sunset wedding

The wedding of Matt and Carrie at the Roundthorn, Penrith….. I knew instantly.

29 April 2014
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: Penrith, Roundthorn

A lot of the weddings that I photograph come from afar to get married in the Lake District and Eden Valley. Photographing these weddings is great and always varied, but it is always nice to do a wedding for a local couple. Carrie and Matt originally booked me for one date and venue and then booked me for another date and another venue. It was luck or maybe even fate that allowed the second date to be free, but I think every photographer has a date that is free throughout the peak season that just doesn’t book… Almost like it is meant for a higher purpose but usually ends up being a day for a barbecue or a trip to the Metro. This day and this date was meant for Matt and Carrie.

Karma!

I do quite a few weddings at the Roundthorn each year and there are several sneaky places around within a couple of miles that lend themselves to moving a bit off piste with photography. This time I chose with Simon from Courting Whale an abandoned quarry, popular with dog walkers and the like… We prayed for sunshine and got it. The resulting images were perfect. The resulting film from Courting Whale was also perfect we were blown away with how it turned out, like schoolboys finding a massive conker… The link to Matt and Carries trailer is at the end of the images. Simon will have to teach me to embed things properly.

I am banging on about this a bit now, so here it is, The wedding of Carrie and Matt, on the fringe of the Lakes, On a dappled sunny day, up on a hill with plenty of champagne and dancing.

Wedding prep at the North Lakes Hotel Wedding photographers at the Roundthorn Penrith Roundthorn photographs Weddings Photography in the Eden Valley Wedding Photographers Penrith and Keswick

 

Carrie and Matt Couring Whale

 

The wedding of Lauren and James at the Old England, Windermere… Darling this is love.

7 January 2014
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: lake district, windermere lake cruises, Old England Windermere, cumbria

This is a great location for a wedding, it really is awesome. Throw in a lake Cruise on Windermere with Windermere Lake Cruises and you are set. Lauren and James Came through to Windermere from Thornaby, near where I went to university, so we could talk about the awful takeaways in Middlesborough and why the A19 is never busy. Also there to lend support with steaming dresses and giggles were her lovely bridesmaids – A right hoot on an otherwise pressured morning. The makeup on the day was the incredibly talented Jackie Brader who did makeup for my wife on our own wedding day and is without doubt my favourite makeup artist in the Lake District.

So. The wedding itself. A small affair with around thirty guests in total, just friends and family, but a really lovely atmosphere, which in many ways I really liked. It was a bit more about the two of them than the occasion or the venue, the food or the champagne. Really personal with small touches that bound the day together.

A small civil ceremony followed by a lake cruise and dinner back at the hotel with some great group shots on the lawn and a little jaunt under starling filled skys down to the Bowness marina at the back of the Old England. The starlings making a hitchcock esque backdrop for one of the final but personal favourite images of the day.

A real treat to photograph and a real treat to edit.

wedding photography at the old england hotel on windermere

 

Jackie Brader Makeup artist Windermere Lake District Wedding Photography

 

Wedding photography in the lake district and cumbria with windermere as a backdrop for beautiful images

 

Staggering pictures of a wedding from the Windermere marina wedding

Kayleigh and Tony Graythwaite, Grange-Over-Sands… Groundskeeping by the Mario Brothers.

1 January 2014
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: greythwaite, cumbria

If a wedding were about key moments or defining moments that make up memories from the day, this one would read like a vintage timepiece. Seriously, I remember so much from this day I could probably recount most of the jokes and conversations that made my sides hurt with laughing, the images that were produced which have been looked at over and over, burned into my retina from constant reworks. I wanted it to be really perfect…. Kayleigh and Tony were amazing, up for any mad ideas and pretty much got on with enjoying their day.

Graythwaite is a really really great venue, the grounds are really nice too and even better when you think about them in 3D and go a little off piste. Images were taken in greenhouses, literally from inside bushes, hanging off balcony trusses and from one of my firm favorites, the floor. Combining some funky angles with a bit of a rest.

The best mans’ speech had everyone in tears and it was clear from the outset that his only intention was a hilarious take down of the groom, well versed and well prepared. It really was impressive, with laughter that was likely heard as far away as the Netherwood. The props could probably be seen from the Grange- Over-Sands Lido.

The venues in the Southern Lake District are often some of the finest and although Graythwaite isn’t the biggest, it probably has the biggest heart, is looked back on with the most fondness and is probably one of my favorites. Two days after this wedding my own wife gave birth to our little boy Samuel, so a lot changed after this wedding and I am viewing it now almost like the end of an era and the beginning of a new one. It was also great to hear that Tony and Kayleigh have had a baby now too, which is amazing and also an embarrassing indication of how far I am behind with producing blog posts. What can I say, It has been a choc-full year.

A phase of darker, moody images ended here and I felt that I had said everything that I wanted to say with harsh contrast and fast negative films like Ilford 3200, which was the film of choice for this particular wedding. I still keep two rolls in the bag though for special occasions.

Please enjoy these images. Time, work, creativity, preparation and soul goes into producing a portfolio like this and the edit alone took three days to complete. Would I do it again…. Oh aye!

cumbria and lake district wedding photography

 

netherwood hotel weddings

 

dalton wedding photographers

 

awesome wedding photography in barrow, gosforth and wasdale

 

grange over sands and newby bridge wedding photographers

Emma and Phil: Inn on the Lake… Kindly sponsored by Jägermeister

23 October 2013
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: lake district, Penrith, Inn on the Lake

Wow, Emma can dance, a lot of the time it seems too. It also seems that the outside weddings at Inn on the Lake have really become popular. The pagoda come bandstand that Gary and the team have installed next to the Ullswater shoreline is fantastic. Not to mention the addition of a new Orangery, phase one of redevelopment at the Inn on the Lake which will make shooting weddings there much easier, as it is only for hotel guests not associated with the wedding, so no more ‘are they or aren’t they?’ at the wedding moments in the future.

Taking everything into account and reflecting on Emma and Phils’ wedding got me to thinking. Mainly about the people who I have photographed at the Inn before but also about the kind of people that Inn on the Lake may attract in the future. Every bride and groom there, have been easy going and relaxed on their wedding day. Now, I don’t know if this is down to the sort of couple that Inn on the Lake attracts or possibly some other phenomenon, (not barometric pressure or what they had for tea!) like location? There really is nowhere else like it and stacks of venues huddle into the Lake District and photographing at them is really amazing but Inn on the Lake seems to be the one that I come back to, like a worn in pair of loafers or my wifes’ spaghetti bolognese. Inn on the Lake is the only one where I compromise little and create lots.

Emma was slightly nervous on the morning and Phil was really really not. I wanted time alone on the morning of our wedding to take stock, but Emma and Phil wanted to be surrounded by those closest to them. Several events followed which made the day an awesome portfolio of photographs and a lot of fun to boot. To name but a few: An excellent best mans speech, a more than understanding registrar from the Penrith office, Some Jaegerbombs and a bride and groom who were as natural in front of the camera as they were with each other. Half way through the day I was happy with the results and by the end of the day I was ecstatic.

So… Emma danced lots, including as she was being married by the registrar. Everyone had an a-m-a-z-i-n-g time and confetti seemed to be thrown at every corner of the hotel. Phil got through his speech and the first dance involved everyone at the wedding and really made the walls of the Ramblers shake. Job done…

wedding photographers in the lake district, ullswaterwedding photography from inn on the lake in glenriddinginn on the lake weddings and eventsweddings photographed by the lake districts wedding photographerawesome rock 'n' roll images from a cumbrian wedding at inn on the lakecumbrias finest photographer at inn opn the lake, glenridding

The wedding of Helen and Steve at Morland House – Another level.

30 September 2013
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: Morland House

Neglect is a terrible thing and I have been so busy I have really neglected to post anything new. I will be swift to rectify this in the clear air that is the next fortnight. Helen and Steve, wow. What a brilliant day, so well themed and personal, made up of elements from where they first met to a garden party styling that suited their personalities perfectly. When someone puts their stamp on a wedding like this, you can’t fail to produce a brilliant portfolio.

Helen and Steve first met at Morland House, so as they now do weddings with space for a massive marquee, it seemed appropriate for their wedding to take place there. The grounds are staggering for a start, a beautiful walled garden and breathtaking winding paths that lead down to the river… It is a true photographers playground.

Thanks also go out to Simon Love at Courting Whale for producing a video that really is mind blowing to go alongside the images from the day which can be seen in an older blog post. Thanks also go out to Bakerwood for providing an awesome venue on a lovely spring day (thankfully), so enjoy the portfolio, big as it may be. Selecting the images to go into the blog was hard I shot so many on the day. These are my selection..

A fabulous venue at Morland House near Centre Parcs and Whinfell ForestGreat wedding images from Cumbria photography.

 

A beautiful wedding at Morland Church

 

Photography in CUmbria and south west scotland

 

 

Wedding photography at Morland house near Penrith, Cumbria

 

 

Wedding Photography at the Punchbowl inn the Lake District… Tom & Nicola.

29 June 2012
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: Punchbowl inn

Shooting weddings on film can be a little nerve racking which is why Dave Draffan and I shot this one along side eachother so we didn’t miss a beat. The Punchbowl has acres of locations around it so we were spoilt for choice when it came to photograph the two of them alone. Dave was getting everything on digital which left me a little time to experiment. The Church is the very beautiful Our Lady Of The Wayside in Grasmere and the rain and storms were blowing in that morning. Even though it was only slightly calmer when we got to the church we gave it a green light for images outside sfter the service.

The Images that you see here are all film. I have left the digital images out to concentrate on getting the best from these film images. Not knowing what you have and seeing how the light has fallen onto the film is a great way of working for me and helps me to visualize what I want the final image to look like. These images are untouched and as such are straight from the Camera as the Ilford HP5 film has seen it. Wedding Photography at the Punchbowl looks very different through black and white film.

A wedding at the Punchbowl Inn and Our Lady of the Wayside.
The beautiful interior of Our Lady Of The Wayside
wedding photography at grasmere.
Knocked this out of focus in a deliberate way to give it a dreamy quality.
The punchbowl inn wedding photographers
I wish that this country lane was at the back of more wedding venues.

Some of these files have dark corners or ‘vignetting’ as it is called in camera speak. This is just a natural property of the lens that the Yashica 55 camera has and it really is a one trick pony for that reason. colour images look nowhere near as nice as black and white due to the colours becoming oversaturated at the edges. With Black and white though, it allows me to produce some beautiful results. I have seen the digital version of this file that I took afterwards and to me it doesn’t even come close.

Wedding photographers at the Punchbowl Inn
Shhoting into the light at the back of the Punchbowl was a challenge but the late afternoon sun delivered this result. Very pleasing.

Obviously we shot digital images alongside these film images and to see those feel free to visit Dave Draffans site where he has a full blog post dedicated to this beautiful Lake District wedding. Just the mad creative stuff on here though 😉

Lakeland churches wedding photography
As soon as I had taken this I said yyeessssss under my breath. I knew that it was the one that would knock me off my feet when the film was developed. It didn’t dissappoint.
an image of a lakeland wedding.
There is nothing more Lakeland than a dry stone wall and a beautiful country church.

There is nothing more honest than a black and white negative either. It isn’t something that is easily replicated and the tone and texture of these images is testament to what this camera that is twice my age is capable of. Some of the locations in the Lakes really lend themselves to this black and white imagery that was pioneered by the likes of Stephen Taylor in the nineties using two (Olympus) cameras, one colour and one black and white. My images are not really documentary images but more of a nod towards the style of images that my clients find aesthetically pleasing.

I wish more photographers still saw film as something of a creative tool than something that now just costs the earth and is more of a pain to work with. For the client I will be producing some authentic black and white prints made in the open access darkrooms that I go to to compliment their digital files.

Kerry & Stephen at Hundith Hill, Cockermouth, Lakes.

12 June 2012
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: Uncategorized

Some brides are nervous on their wedding day and it teaches you to be a little more distant on the morning of the wedding. Some brides are excited and bouncy which makes for great images too. Kerry was the third type and so laid back that she was practically horizontal. This lets me get great shots of her and her lovely family as there is no big focus on this one person. There aren’t many brides like this and they usually fall into the other two categories listed above….. It is quite safe to say that when a bride smiles all day like Kerry did, the blog post as a result is going to be a little heavy on images. If you were going to put the kettle on before reading this post, in fact I would recomend a Daiquiri instead… Maybe a gin.

Lovely bride and groom, sun all day, amazing sunset, bouncy castles, children laughing, good food, wine and some gee gee’s to finish off the day. I always remember weddings that have a lot going on and this one feels like it was just a moment ago…

Wedding photographers lake District
There was something going on in every room.
international wedding photography
Love this shot. Its a personal one and you dont see many from me.
Weddings at Hundith Hill
Lots of details and the I Do on the shoes was a nice touch.

Just a little time left before moving on to the church and as I was leaving Kerry wandered into the kitchen. Just a couple more shots before I left for the church as I wanted to get there early to catch people arriving.

Hundith
Hold it, hold it, oh never mind....
White heather wedding photographers.
I adore the shot of the little girl walking into church in the bottom right corner.

During the ceremony the rings were delivered by owl to the best man. The owl was quite stubborn at first and refused to move but as the vicar pointed out in a prayer, it didn’t pooh on the carpet, so it wasn’t all bad. I love it when alternative things happen during a ceremony and this was a nice touch.

aspatria wedding images
It's always this moment where you could cut the air with a knife and I wish I could have photographed everyone in the church at this point.
Weddings in the northern fells of cumbria
The owl makes an entrance.
bridal ceremony photography in the Uk
What a great first kiss .
Aspatria wedding photographers wigton
Just before we went outside for confetti I spotted this shot on the move.

Outside we did the confetti shot at the gates of the church and a few groups in the church doorway. Lots of people hung around to see them leave in a traditional horse and cart, so I was constantly moving locations as the crowd followed. I managed to get Steven and Kerry alone for a couple of moments at the back of the church after we had finished the groups. Westnewton Church is beautiful inside and out.

Lake district wedding venue photography
Back at Hundith I stole Kerry and Stephen away for 5 and the light was superb.

 

Hundith Hill Near Lorton wedding photos
Hundith has some nice little spaces for photographs. Fight your way through the trees and you are welcomed with this lovely little garden.

I love photographing at Hundith, maybe because I used to go there as a kid. I am sure that there is more to Hundith like the secret room that we found the other day. The only way to get images like these is to stay all day and every service that I have is geared towards covering a day in its entirity. Most brides and grooms are retiring for the evening when I am still on the journey home.

weddings in cumbria
Sometimes images can be so simple but so effective. Here we have a bride, the sun and a tree as the elements but its simplicity makes the image jump out, even when it is displayed in black and white.
Weddings in cumbria and the Lake District.
The speeches tickled everyone. I love the oh God moment from Kerry.

 

Equestrian wedding image
That Horse took a spacial shine to Stephen.
Cumbrian and Carlisle wedding photographers
Stay until the end and be rewarded with evening time images like this one.

 

Sometimes it all just comes together….

12 June 2012
Adam Naylor-Whalley
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Categories: storrs hall
weddings at Storrs hall
This I why I love what I do…

Spent a day helping Dave Draffan with logistics and extra filming at the awesome Storrs Hall (I am learning video) and the light had been really harsh all day but in the evening everything just came together. This is the benefit of shooting weddings as full days, the light just fell right as the sun dropped down over Windermere and it dropped slowly, almost like everything slowed down then everything around us went soft. I was asked by Dave if I could do a cover image for the DVD box and after a late night walk through the woods, this is what we produced. We used a Magneflash system fired off a nikon sb800 flash and Hahnel triggers to fire a soft light in the small pier house and bounced it off the back wall at a low power setting. For camera geeks It was exposed on a nikon D700 with an 85mm f1.8 lens at a 40th of a second handheld.

This is why I love what I do…

Lake District Wedding Photography Cumbria

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