windermere lake cruises

Big Big beaming sunshine on my way down to meed Adrian of Blackwater Photography who was assisting me on this bright Friday. We convened at the Salutation hotel to go over the itinerary for the day. Kerry was also leaving from the Salutation, so we could get some time in shooting the preparations before we left for the registry office in Kendal. Kerry had booked me only six weeks before the wedding as the wedding was… Wait for it… A suprise.

Bringing their closest family and friends up to Ambleside for the weekend, they announced that they were to be married on the Friday to them all on the Thursday night!

Its safe to say that people were looking a little bemused still early on the Friday morning but thrilled that Kerry and Neil were to wed in Just a few hours nonetheless. Kerry and Neil had also done their homework and preselected some locations that they would like to be photographed at. I had never been to these locations before on a wedding and with no time in a busy schedule to do a recce, I had to have my thinking cap on on the day.

Wedding Photographer in the town of Ambleside. — From the very beginning I knew that this was going to be a really nice, visual wedding, partly due to Kerry being stunning and also because people were already laughing before we entered the room.

Black and white wedding photographer, Lake District — We had a quick shoot on the balcony outside that looks out over Ambleside.

Early morning and all day wedding coverage in The Lake District — Forgot to put this one in earlier. Everyone was getting ready upstairs, so this was a good time to grab a shot of the dress at the hotel entrance.

Freat brides deserve great photographs in lakeland. — Looking around on the quick recce, we found this nice little hidey hole at the back of the lounge and on our return we were graced with the sun peeping through the blinds. This made what was a nice shot into a much much nicer one.

ambient light for bridal portraits aint always the way to go. — The golden glow here is from the lamp just over Kerrys shoulder. I pulled it a little closer so it was a little over the ambient light in the room to create a nice contrast in this image, shot in the lounge at the salutation.

One last shot on the balcony of one of the front bedrooms at the hotel (kindly allowed by one of the housekeepers) meant that we had a great summer image with the Ambleside skyline in the background. I must admit to pre-visualizing this one when speaking to Kerry on the phone, so it was a nice one to get in the bag.

Loving the Ambleside skyline for wedding images — Not many tourists on the third floor balcony. Possibly one of the only places in Ambleside where they find themselves absent.

Off to the registry office in Kendal now, just a short hop on from Windermere and Ambleside. We quickly met up with Ian before heading in to get the low down on one of our locations for after the service. So began the nervous wait after that with the whole family. It was here that we found out that the following Saturday Kerrys sister, also attending the wedding was to be married. Emotional times indeed.

Early bridal arrivals? Not to be caught off guard now! — Kerry arrived earlier than expected and was taken into a side room with her dad and little girl, who was nothing short of angelic all day.

Kendal wedding photography. — Love this room. It used to be the council chamber and is now used mainly for civil celebrations. It is set out like you would expect a courtroom to be set out.

Beautiful weddings are more than possible here. Loving the vintage glow at the moment. — One of the first runs out for the silent camera. I thought it worked a treat here as the registrar didn’t turn around once. Maybe we will start re-writing that no photography during rule that the registrars have.

Coming out of the registry office in Kendal. — Wooo hooo, nearly missed this for clapping. Over the moon for these two and they seemed to take it all in their stride.. I didn’t get emotional, it was a bit of grit that the wind blew in.

Confetti is only allowed at the bottom of the steps at Kendal, so I got everyone to throw it really far. — Lots and lots of confetti. There were only 14 people at the wedding, so everybody used two handfuls… Right off to Kendal Park for a few.

Kendal park wedding photographers, near the Castle Green Hotel — This is my pick of the groups in the park, shot without the use of a flash and at one of the lenses most difficult settings. I love it when things work out though.

Leaving kendal we stopped for two more mini shoots. — This was shot just outside of Kendal on the road up to Windermere. Literally blink and you will miss this lane at Black Moss.

Bright sunlit wedding image — This one a little further down the road was shot with Adrians help holding the flash just a little off camera. He is becoming a great wedding photographer and was a massive help. Thanks again.

After this challenging shot we headed to Windermere to catch the boat, but a little ahead of schedule we were allowed to park at the Lake Cruises office, which was fab. I do a lot of work with the Lake Cruises and their site has a few of my images on it. If you are getting married in the Lake District a Cruise on one of the bigger lakes is a great addition to the day.

Casino shot in Windermere. — As Neil was waiting for Kerry we walked past and I happened to have my camera turned on. I managed to snatch two of these with the camera upside down as I was balancing my bag. This was the best of the two by a mile.

A great addition to a wedding for a meal is fish and chips on a boat! — What a great idea! fish and chips on a wedding day is a great idea, especially when you are on a boat in the middle of the Lake District…. With Champagne of course.

Lake District, Water, Fizz, Fish and Chips? Does it get any better than this? Done with style and panache too.

A wedding photograph taken just off Hawkshead. — Ironic that I was to be at Graythwaite the next week and we were on the other side of the lake at one point. This shot was taken on the journey to the drop off point at Ambleside next to the glamorous ferry terminal.

On the public Jetty at Ambleside. — This was taken as the crew were turning the boat around for our lift back up to the cars at Windermere. The evening light was sublime by this point. It always gets a little softer at this time of day and makes photographing in direct light much easier.

Bride and groom outside the waterhead hotel — Room for one more… Go on then!

The final image of the day was a little more unusual but works nonetheless. It was also taken on a rangefinder camera which makes it cool too, by default.. Seriously. They are the coolest cameras in the world and I get a massive kick out of using them to create images like the next one from the jetty with the Waterhead Hotel in the Background.

Windermere and waterhead wedding photographers. — Possibly my favourite of the day. As my style of photography evolves into different areas and I gain newer experiences. Risky stuff like this only appeals more.

Thanks for everything both and best of luck in the future. Adam and Adrian.

* Big post warning *

There really aren’t enough adjectives to get me through the descriptions of Jen and Phils’ wedding. Lets throw a few in early on so you can all get a feel for the kind of wedding that it was, the shenanigans that occurred and also the great people who were involved. So: awesome, fortunate, bright, emotional, sweet, grand, beautiful, wicked, dope, supafly… okay that’s enough. I always say that it is the characters that make any wedding day shine, regardless of weather, planning, location, style or color themes. This…. This wedding was no exception.

The Merewood is a favorite for me and I am sure that I am not alone in saying that as the location and the views are some of the best in the Lake District. Being high up off the Windermere shoreline means that you get a later sunset too. For winter weddings this is great as it means on clear frosty days you get at least another 20 mins of good light. Not to be sniffed at when you only have six hours of daylight total on a winter wedding. This was a summer wedding though and everything down to Jesus Church in troutbeck had a lovely hazy glow on an overcast but warm day. As I was photographing in Jesus Church I was consigned to the back as usual on the balcony but managed to get some really nice images with a long lens.

After church and a great confetti shot we retired to the Merewood for a few extra images, drinks and giggles. I could put another hundred images into the online portfolio alone. Every single one was a keeper and together produced a portfolio of mighty proportions. A great day in the heart of the Lake District… Thank you both.