A few photos clumped together in a sneaky preview of Nick and Maggies pre-wedding shoot. The weather was perfect for what is traditionally a rather changeable time of year in the Northern Lakes and we managed to visit several locations. We started on the shore, just a little way from one of my favourite venues, Armathwaite Hall. We then followed the road over to High Ireby to a location very close to my heart as it is where my wife and I moved to when returning to Cumbria. We finished on Binsey Fell, which has fantastic views of the valley below. Nick & Maggies wedding is one that I will be shooting later in the year and by the sound of things, will be one to remember.
I was thrilled with the way the images turned out and especially love the image shot down the track framed by the trees. I look forward to photographing you both on your wedding day!
I was asked by Mark and his band Burn the Negative to head down to London with them for the mastering of their album. Lets face it, I jumped at the chance to go. Being paid for doing something you love is made even better when you get the chance to go somewhere as cool as Abbey Road. My images now grace the inside of the album cover with a beautiful landscape on the front of Rynose Pass, possibly the most unforgiving place in the Lake District. I must admit, going into HMV to actually buy a copy of the album was amazing. The album is just as amazing too and getting to meet Geoff Pesche who has worked with the likes of Depeche Mode and Kylie Minogue was an experience in itself. Click here to buy a copy of the album from Amazon.
Once you have a copy, have a look at the photos in the space below. I shot half of the images on Black and White film and half on digital. It seemed only right to split each image in half! Thankyou Ilford.
What a great album.Everybody was huddled around deciding the track orderGeoff working the most confusing looking desk ever.In the Mastering suite, surrounded by a kings ransom in equipment.” width=”800″ height=”400″ />Love this one. We were all shattered though!
Victoria and Kevin met eachother whilst Victoria and her family were on holiday in Ireland. They had a catholic service at St Bedes Church on Wigton Road in Carlisle, followed by a reception at the beautiful Roundthorn Hotel on Beacon edge in Penrith. It was a great wedding to shoot with a 50/50 split of people who had made the journey over the water and people who had just come from up the road to see them tie the knot.
Victoria having her makeup done.The detail on the bridesmaids dresses
The Bridesmaids were Victorias sisters, all of whom were dresses in a very well themed Irish green. The girls looked amazing on the day.
I love the way everyone is gathered around you at St Bedes as you get married and you are not up at the altar on your own.The best mans speech was great.Lots of images from their day.
I love photographing at venues that I have never been to before and this was my first time at the Heather Glen in Ainstable. What a great venue and what a great couple to photograph there. Hamish and Lucie had a distinctly Scottish feel to their wedding as Hamish has his roots up in the far north of Scotland. The people and guests could not have been lovelier and the staff at the hotel no more helpful. The dress was from I do bridal in Cockermouth and the car was a classic VW camper van from my friends at Solway Beetles.
This was a wedding that I could shoot ten times and come out with something different each time. There was so much to it! Best of luck both and have a fantastic honeymoon. Thankyou for a great day.
Just one more before I left.The cool Camper vanThe first danceInside the camper van.Lots and lots of confetti.during the serviceLucie arriving at churchGetting ready in Cumwhitton before walking to church.
Don’t get me wrong, I dont avoid weddings at Gretna Green, far from it, I find them quite good fun. Only a small percentage of my work centres around Scotland, but I always seem to have a great days photography whenever I go up there more often to Friars Carse and Hetland Hall.
Rik and Rachel booked me for their wedding…. actually no, thats not right. Rick suprised Rachel with a renewal of their vows and a blessing at the Blacksmiths in Gretna Green, so Rachel knew nothing about it. Rik booked me to pop up and get some shots of their renewal and do something at the Smiths hotel where they were having a small reception with close family and friends.
It was great fun doing a few hours photography at Gretna and having the luxury of 30 mins to spend with the couple in Smiths hotel was great too. Rachels dress was a Jenny Packham as was her hairpiece. To see more Jenny Packham dresses, visit our local stockist, Sarah at Mia Bridal.
So here are your images folks, it was a privelage for Emma and I to meet you both and if you do decide to do Vegas next year can I come along too??……Worth a try I suppose.
Rachel and her dad on the way into the BlacksmithsRachel and Rick at the Anvil.Rachel signing on the Anvil at the Blacksmiths.The boys were drinking Red Bull, but we left before it kicked in.The colours in Smiths are amazing.That dress is fantastic.The slick interior of Smiths.This was a lovely moment.In the bridal suite was amazingThe detail on Rachels Jenny Packham dress
Ade and Bex booked me to cover their wedding at Morland Church with a marquee as a follow up in one of Ades’ parents fields. The setting for this wedding could not have been better and everyone had a ball. The gates were tied in the traditional Cumbrian way at the church too and cost a few quid to cut free. Bakerwood supplied a massive marquee which was placed in a family owned field in Newby, just 5 mins drive from the church so we had lots of time for photographs and to catch people mingling.
This post is very image heavy, but this was a long day with a ton of great images as a result and I wanted to show everyone the great locations available to anyone getting married up this neck of the woods.
The sun shone, birds sang, people smiled and we went to work producing a portfolio of nearly 850 images. I would put the kettle on….
Lots of the Girls getting ready and the curious cat.Lots of the boys getting ready and larking about on tractors.
Bex’s dress was supplied by Jacinta Cooper and the team at Kokoa bride in Penrith. Jacinta even came along personally to fit Bex into the dress.
Bex during her dress fittingLacing up the dress at the back. Nice when it is done by a professional.
Reportage shots should all be black and white… If only.One last shot at the farm..
Once we were at the church in Morland, people were starting to come in from all over, so we used this time to capture some of the guests arriving down the church path. There must have been ten people looking out for the bridesmaids arriving!
guests arriving at Morland Church.The arrival of thew Bride…Moments before heading in..
The Vicar at Morland could not have been any better. Vicars that realise that you have a job to do too and know that you will be as unobtrusive as possible are worth their weight in gold. It falls to the inexperienced photographers in rural churches to turn the milk sour. We on the other hand were as quiet as mice.
What a great church.3..2..1..applause.Signing the register.I think people brought extra confetti.
This shot looked great in colour and much much better in black and white.The walled gardens next to Morland church made for some great photographs.
Over the road from the church is a garage that is fairly beaten up and weather worn. It was a location from the moment that I clapped eyes on it as the huge green door would look great as a backdrop for a country wedding. Before I finish, the cars were supplied by Cars of Distinction, but not this one below!
The car at the garage ran out of tax in 2002. I’ll bet it hasnt moved since way before then.
the car at least served the purpose of being a reflective makeup checker.
I will use my digital crowbar and cram in one more from the garage.
The boys (and some of the girls) are massive vw fans, so I made them some Beastie Boys style chains. P.S. RIP: Adam Yauch
Some of the guests, as we arrived with a little time to spare before going in for the meal.
After the meal, time was ours in abundance so we used it to grab a few more shots in the village.
Ades’ grandfather had a commemorative bench nearby and it was lovely to photograph the two of them sitting on it and around the pond. That aside, we went to Adrians grandmothers back garden which has some beautiful trees in the old quarry at the back. I was blown away by this location.
Bex’s dress looked incredible in the evening light… Good choice.
Work it girl!.. She’s a natural and they are few and far between.
What a great Bride to photograph. This might be my favourite of the day.
Sorry that this post is so long, but we managed to cram in a huge amount in the time that we spent at Adrian and Rebeccas wedding. There are fewer places in Cumbria with as much to photograph as in the Morland area. I have another wedding in Morland church next year and am looking forward to it immensley. Thankyou Adrian and Bex.. All of your images are online now and guess what? You are on the blog!!!!!
Christina first and although nervous, she was great.
Its not often I am in Gretna, but for those who ask, I can sometimes be tempted across the border to put my stamp on a nuptual. It all depends on who is doing the asking! Dave is a graphic designer and art director who had looked hard enough in google to find a gretna wedding that I had completed last year and instantly took to my style of photography as being different to all of the photographers that are online with a Gretna website.
I had some ideas for using some newer techniques and some very very old ones for this wedding and managed to get most of them done including the use of my old Lomo LC-A camera and shooting a large percentage of the wedding with the awesome Fuji x-100 camera. Both of these have a high saturation and high contrast, so obviously I was going for a look.
Dave was quick to get sorted and the punk cufflinks finished off his suit nicely.I love this….Pretty brides make my day.
Sometimes an image can capture a whole range of emotions that someone is feeling at the time. Its easy for photojournalists to capture these kind of images, but harder for studio based and wedding photographers. For some reason though it is becoming easier and when I get an image like the one below, it always makes me feel happy
This image has my own recipe on it which really brings out the tones..The bathrooms at Smiths are cool. Shot on a lomo LCA.
Its hard enough to shoot on film for most people before you even start to get creative with it. It takes a lot of time and money spent before a film camera can become intuitive to use. If you use something with a bit of passion and a creative eye, you can get some really unique results.
A last bit of makeup before heading out to the Blacksmiths.
No comment needed….
This is the bit where a 7 foot tall man neatly misses your hands with a massive hammer.
A few images from inside the marriage room at the Blacksmiths shop.
A lot of the photographers in Gretna seem to tow the line as far as standardisation goes. Lots of people want a one stop shop when it comes to the organisation of their day, so it is always refreshing when someone comes along looking for something a little different.
This is a well used archway outside the blacksmiths. There is something quaint about it though.
Something different for a quaint old arch.
After this we headed back to Smiths Hotel for a few more images of the newlyweds before letting them head in for some food. The sky at this point was clouding in and looked very dramatic, so after some alternative shots in the hotel, we headed up onto the balcony of the suite. Smiths is a great hotel to work in and I wouldn’t mind being there more often. As with most places, you feel as though you have only just scratched the surface when you shoot there and you could always find something new to do.
The 5 mins that was spent planning this image out paid dividends.
On the balcony the clouds were coming in.
Lave everything about this from the pose to the tone. Its a firm favourite.
Lots to do in Smiths, I love the tables. Whoever polished it did a very good job.
This bar is cool. It generally needs a bit of chair shuffling but this was shot as is.The door is closing… Quick, snog!
The man (or woman) who thought of making a cake out of pies needs some sort of award.
Sorry this post is a little ‘image heavy’ but we covered so many locations throughout the course of the day that I just had to cram them all in somehow. Tara and Nigel had a very relaxed approach to their photography and their day was suitably relaxed to match. They were married at St Marys Church in Rydal, followed by a quick shoot in the beautiful gardens at Rydal Mount, a racing run down to the jetty at waterhead bay and then back to the Merewood to join the rest of their guests. I also got to go in the beautiful camper from splitscreen dreams along the way. If that is not enough to go at, I caught Sebastian Vettel going out of qualifying in Q2 on the radio in the Chinese Grand Prix, so all in all a successful day.
I will cut into the mass of images with updates as you go further down the page.
Tara getting her Makeup done in the beautiful room 2 at the Merewood
The bridesmaids were great in the morning. The mood was very relaxed.A lot of detail and preparation + giggles = great images
After taking a few images of the girls and with 15 or so minutes in hand I decided to drop in on the boys who were getting ready in room 5. There was a little Lakeland ale going on, hip flasks, and a fair ammount of jibing Nigel. Quite a contrast to the girls, but a hoot to photograph all the same.
Yes that is the Grand Prix in the top left corner..Lots of confetti. A lot got thrown too.
Tara and her Dad exchanging a few words before walking down the aisle.
Tara and Nigel at the AltarThe Interior of St Marys is beautiful.
How well do these colours work together? Well done Tara.The groups look great in the church interior.
Tara in a vintage blush tone. This really made the image pop.Great light at the top of St Marys.All of that confetti got used in style.
After leaving the church we headed up to the grounds at Rydal Mount. I had to be careful here as I am familiar with so many images from this location. Going off the beaten track and away from the run of the mill images that other wedding photographers would produce was a must. There are so many images from this location even though we were there only a small amount of time, so I have shown only the ones that I intend to go into the album.
Loads and loads of Tara and Nigel after we left the church.Tara in amongst the amazing foliage at Rydal Mount.
This jetty has been photographed a billion times. Maybe this is an alternative to the norm?
Some images shot in the evening when the light was coloured like parma violets.
What a day. I could show people more from the Merewood, but this post would go over two pages. Congratulations to Tara and Nigel who have a big job getting through the 500 or so images that have just landed in the gallery space. I hope you enjoy them all.
We are doing more and more wedding stories at the Merewood and having a photographer that produces images that are a little more timeless than other styles seems to be a much more popular choice for people.
I have known Zoe for a few years now and was thrilled to find out that she was getting married. Her and Donalds’ whole day was at the Friars Carse which I have photographed at a few times now and I love the grounds there. When I heard that they were planning to get married by the river, my ears instantly pricked up. I know the place exactly as it is in a break in the massive trees and looks out over a bend in the river, which some mistake for a lake at first as the bend is so severe.
The wedding was in the fluke warm week that we had three weeks ago on a wednesday and I was bowled over to be driving up there in the warm sunshine. The next few days it poured down. I do photograph one or two weddings up in Dumfries in the year, mainly at Easterbrook Hall or Comlongan Castle, so to be going back to Friars Carse was a real treat.
The boys got ready at the Station Hotel in Dumfries.
Oliver was chosen as best man and did a great job of winding up Donald all morning and when I arrived we had a great time photographing them getting ready and I loved the pattern on the kilts from Andersons in Dumfries. After the Station Hotel, I shot up to Friars Carse to catch Laura from Blusha Starting on Zoe’s makeup. Laura is an amazing makeup artist and I have a back catalogue of weddings that I have worked on with her and all of the brides look amazing.
Zoe was nice and relaxed when I got there with some nice calming music on and her sisters and parents dotting in and out amongst other well wishers. I love this as it allows me to blend in a little more and I got some great shots in the room.
The view from the window of the wedding location.Zoe once she had her Dress on from Dresses and Dreams.
With it being spring, the shadows were nice and long, so where the marriage was taking place was in the shade, this allowed me to move a bit further away than normal and it pretty much gives me free reign outdoors. Just had to get one or two of Donald before the service started in the awesome snooker room.
Donald in the Snooker room at Friars Carse
The setting for the ceremony was incredible.Zoe looked quite regal in this image I thought.What a great setting.The first smooch… Quite appropriate given the setting.
Sometimes everything just falls into place.This shot made my day. Put through my own cross process recipe in Phase.
This was a wedding all about the details and it was obvious that in preparation for the day, a lot of time had been spent on the little things that tie it all in. Future brides will probably see more than one idea in this next image.
Lots of bits on the tables with flashes of the tartan.
After the meal I took Zoe out and about for a wander around the hotel. There are stacks of locations at Friars Carse but I decided to go to some that I had not seen used before.
I hung back here and snatched Zoe on her way back downstairs.The entrance to the hotel is incredible.
I drove down through the Lakes for the start of what was to be a great wedding day for Tessa and Andy. The idea was that I was going to drop in on Andy at Windermere Golf Club for his 8am tee off time in the winter tournament there. It was always the intention that Andy would play a round of golf on the morning of his wedding and with him and the best man finishing at 7 under par, the day had begun with a bang.
Starting off on their round.Heading off up the course.
Back in Kendal, the girls were getting ready and opening up the presents that Andy had sent through for Tessa. It was a hoot going through everything with Tessa who was as relaxed as I have ever seen on a wedding day. She had some fabulous Vivienne Westwood shoes and a vintage style dress that fitted her like a glove. Many conversations where had about makeup and the location of Antigua…….. Its not in Spain.
Anglomania by Vivienne Westwood…. Tres Chic.It was only on the morning of the wedding that Tessa found out that she was honeymooning in Antigua!The beautiful dress.
Most of the guests at the wedding came from further afield and most were staying at what is a really unique wedding venue that is styled perfectly for Andy and Tessas semi vintage wedding. They even had an e-type jaguar for the day which all of the men folk were cooing over.
Tessa arriving at the church with her dad.
Lots from inside the church.Tessa holding her Dads hand taken from the back of the church.Tessa smiled all day, so it was hard to put the camera down… I took hundreds just of her on her own!
After going back into the church for the groups, everyone left for the reception, which gave me a little more time top do some shots of Andy and Tessa on their own. The church is on the side of a fell looking over into a huge valley that leads down to Morecambe bay. The view was more than a little hazy, so the most we could make out was the outline of the hills in the distance. It still made for some great photographs though.
Oops… almost forgot about the mass of confetti that was thrown.Looking out over Honeybee wood and the Levens Valley.
OOOOhhh, that E-type!Flawless brides make my days and hours slaving over images seem a little less challenging.
Had less time than expected with Tessa and Andy before they went in for their meal supplied be the delectable Lucys of Ambleside, but managed to get a stack of images done quickly beforehand.
Love the colours in this image.The thing that I noticed on the way in was the road back out. Had to take this.Their first dance was to Zero 7 – Destiny. The band nailed it too.
It felt like the day before that I started photographing this wedding which probably explaines the ammount of images that I had to wade through on the Sunday. I was blown away by how accomodating and friendly everyone was, even after herding people together for a big group shot of all guests. Best of luck in the future both, your album will be amazing….
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Lake District Wedding Photography, 21 Mill Road, Glasson, Cumbria, CA7 5EE