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Isn't it amazing how time flies? Six years ago I photographed Julies sisters wedding, 6 YEARS!! Was it really that long ago? It's always a fantastic pleasure to catch up with old clients and find out how their families are doing. This weekend I met up with Julie, Dave and Julies parents at their house in Braintree as we discussed their plans for their upcoming wedding.
As always I offer all my couples a free pre wedding shoot so I can see how they are infront of the lens and also as an excuse to have some fun. As you can see in the slideshow below we had a good laugh throughout the shoot. Such a fun couple and so easy to work with, I have a feeling their wedding will be spectacular!!
If you wish you can download Julie and Daves slideshow via i-tunes by clicking this link. It can then be added to a video i-pod or i-phone meaning you can show your friends anytime.
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Sometimes I forget how lucky I am and how much I love to take photographs and as a result I've had some pretty incredible opportunities. I'm lucky enough to have travelled the world and photographed in some incredible locations.
Last weekend was one of those incredible wedding days. Frank and Meagan had chosen to marry at the fantastic wedding venue "La Maison Creole" in New Orleans and I was honoured to be asked to capture their day.
New Orleans is famous for many things but probably top of the list are its infamous Mardi Gras parties.
Maegan and Frank's whole wedding theme was "Mardi Gras" based and incorporated the three mardi gras colours of gold purple and green which realy helped set of the photographs.
I also encountered a new tradition i'd never seen at a wedding before. It was based around the cake (check out Frank and Maegans incredible cake in the slide show above). The base of the cake has strings attached and the single ladies each take one. On the command they all pull and at the end of each string is a small pendant that signifies various things, I love discovering new ideas and traditions and this wedding was packed full of them.
There are so many happy highlights from the day but one of the most touching parts was when Maegans grandfather sang to her and her new husband, a very touching and heartfelt moment in time, not a dry eye in the house.
You can watch a short selection of their images in the slideshow above. You can also download this slide show via i-tunes by clicking this link. You can then add it to your i-phone / i-pod and have it with you wherever you go.
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This weekend I took the trip over to meet up with Alexia and Paul in Colchester who had recently got engaged and plan to marry in the summer of 2012. We had a great chat about their day and possible ideas that could happen.
We then took a short drive to Friday woods were we took a few photographs. We timed it pretty well as it was probably the only time over the weekend when it wasn't raining althought it was very muddy underfoot (which added to the fun).
You can see a selection of the images we captured on the slideshow below. You can also download this (and other) slideshows via i-tunes by clicking this link. you can then add them to your i-phone or i-player so you always have them available to show anyone who may be interested.
I always try and do a pre wedding / engagement shoot for any couples that contact me when they're considering me as their photographer. I find it helps everyone involved, the couple so they have an idea of me and how I work and me as I can get used to the couple and see what they want and how far I can push them. It's like taking a test drive before you have to make a decision as to who you want to photograph your big day and best of all its completely free, drop me a line if you think you may be interested.
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I was chatting to a fellow pro photographer the other day and we got around to discussing the natural progression photographers follow. As everything there are those that these general guidelines don't apply to (and if you take photographs you're probably convinced you're one of them) but I'll hold my hand up and admit, I've been through all of these stages including the horrible overphotoshop one, eughhh!
Anyway I thought a good way to explain the different levels would be tell you the story of Goldilocks and the four wedding photographers, so if you're sitting comfortably, i'll begin.
Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess called Goldilocks who had met and fallen in love with her very own prince charming. In no time at all they had realised they were meant to be together and begun arranging their wedding day. Now the prince was a very busy man and being male had left all the important details to be arranged by his beloved Goldilocks which she had done in a very short period of time. All that remained to be done was to find the right type of photographer that could capture her day in the way she wanted to remember it. So she drafted a letter to go to all the kingdom stating she wished to see all the kingdoms photographers.
On the first day she saw the talented amateur photographer who showed her his work and whilst it seemed adequate it lacked the overall wow factor Goldilocks was looking for. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but the images although well exposed and posed seemed to lack the pozaz she was looking for. So she thanked the talented amateur photographer and sent him on his way.
On the second day young Goldilocks interviewed the "I'm not confident enough so i turn everything black and white specialist". Now the images he showed were striking but as Goldilocks soon found out after seeing page after page of black and white images they all seemed rather ... well dull. Goldilocks new she liked Black and White but had discovered that too much of one thing just doesn't work.
So now on the third day Goldilocks interviewed the third photographer who was strangely named "look how clever I am in photoshop.com". Again this photographer had an impressive catalogue of images all of which looked stunning in their own way. However what Goldilocks soon realised was that whilst it was groovy to have a modern style image looking like something straight out of a Doctor Who poster when it came to wedding images in an album it just looked a mess. Much more than five minutes of looking at them left her feeling like her eyes wanted to bleed. She thanked the photographer and sent him on his way.
On the fourth day she interviewed the "Just right photographer". He showed and explained that with a good image and the right type of touching up in photoshop you should be able to make a good image great, without causing distress to the viewer. Goldilocks looked through his images and realised in an instant that this was exactly what she had been looking for, not too little black and whites and not too much over saturation and photoshop magic.
The images looked alive without being over powering so she booked the photographer.
A long time after the wedding when she sat with her grandchildren looking through the record of her wedding (her album) she would often look back and be happy that she had taken the time to look at the different levels of photographers in her Kingdom. As Goldilocks looked through the lasting record of her magical day she thought about her beloved prince charming and thanked the fact he had left the choice of photographer up to her so she could be happy ever after ......... the end.
I was going to put a bit in about a wicked step uncle who had a nice camera and had said they would photograph the wedding for free (always a recipe for disaster), but I prefer my tales to finish with a happy ending rather than tears.
It's also worth mentioning that the couple in the images above are in fact Gemma and Paul who I had the honour of photographing recently. Whilst their wonderfull day was it's own fairytale the above story is completely made up and the images are used only as a visual explanation.
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This weekend was the hottest that the UK has seen for quite some time, and when the weathers good there's only one place anyone should be, the beach!
Having said that, there was the wedding blessing of Gemma and Paul that needed photographing but having photographed them earlier in the year on their free pre wed shoot I had an idea they were a fun couple that might be up for anything. The photography test drive had been in snow and the wedding blessing was in extreme heat so there really couldn't have been anything more different! (click here to see their pre wed photography test drive)
The day started at Paul's parents house where everyone was getting ready, as Paul and Gemma had married the week earlier in St. Lucia it was a very relaxed and fun environment with everyone mucking in with the preparation.
As you can see from the slideshow below it all went without a hitch and was a magnificent day enjoyed by all. You can download this slideshow via i-tunes and have it on your i-phone / player by clicking here.
Having enjoyed the wedding blessing ceremony all the guests headed to a friends nearbye house where a marquee had been erected whilst, Paul, Gemma and I headed out to the beach. When we arrived the tide was on it's way in meaning we had to work super fast in the small area of sand we had left.
I must say Paul and Gemma were fantastic to work with and in some cases brave. I find if the Bride and groom are willing to go with it and be brave it opens up all sorts of exciting possibilities when it comes to composition. I even found enough of an excuse to go for a paddle whilst taking the pics and I was very tempted to go the whole hog and dive straight in, the water was so cooling.
It's a common mistake that people think bright sunshine is good and makes best wedding photography conditions. In fact the complete opposite is true and harsh bright sunshine can cause all sorts of problems.
However a little bit of tactical positioning and knowledge meant we could use the sun to our advantage and capture some fun and dynamic shots.
All in all a fantastic day spent with lovely people.
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