Hannah and Dylans Wedding in Peldon, Colchester

Pin It

I've just got back from showing Hannah and Dylans their images from their fantastic wedding.  I first met Hannah and Dylan back in March when we talked about their day then took a few pictures (link to their pre wed shoot) .

Having had such fun on that day I had no doubt their wedding day would be a real fun event and it certainly was.  The church (St. Mary the Virgin) was just a few minutes away from Hannah's parents house (where the party was to be held), so the pressure of getting lost was non existent taking away something that can be a major stress, I did raise a smile when I mentioned to a nervous Dylan at the alter that the girls were going to be late cause the sat nav had gone wrong.

The ceremony was ministered by Dylans uncle so it really was a tight family service.  After a few pictures at the church it was time to head back to the marquee set up in the garden.

 The evening couldn't have been any better with some fantastic food, top notch speeches and a band that really rocked the house (well marquee).  A truely magical day and an honour to have photographed.

Wedding at the Royal Majestic

On Sunday I had the honour of photographing Emma and Barrys wedding.

The venue they had chosen for the reception was the Royal majestic. I've photographed several functions at this location, as a photographer this is a great venue. There's a large area to the rear of the hotel with some interesting garden areas, across the road there's a lake and the actual venue is large enough to cope easily with large groups.

An added bonus for Sundays party was that they had booked fantastic band (mixed feelings). I've seen mixed feelings many times at functions all over the UK and I can honestly say they have never failed to ensure everyone packs the dancefloor all night, as you can see in the top image even the toast master (Howard Robbins) couldn't resist :-).

All in all a fantastic wedding and a great time was had by all.

Now I really, really must start packing for Saturdays wedding (6,000 miles away) ....

Winter Weddings

First things first if you're reading this today, happy new year!

As a pro photographer on of the biggest challenges of a winter wedding is the lack of light. Especially if like me you love to shoot out side. Capturing a good exposure in the dark can be extremely challenging and takes a lot more than putting the camera in programme mode and attaching a flash. At the same time the Bride and groom are normally freezing and all they want to do is get back into the warm.

I was lucky in the early part of my photography career there were no digital cameras and I used a manual Hasselblad. exposure and flash settings all had to be worked out manually which meant unless you didn't want to stay in the business long you soon learnt how to work out the best settings for different lighting. I guess with modern cameras we've all become a little bit spoilt, but it's occasions like the one above (taken last week) that can separate the people who take pictures and those that make them.

A piece of advice for anyone wanting to learn photography would be, go and buy a cheap film manual camera and learn how shutterspeeds and apertures work together. Modern cameras are fantastic at working out exposures but they can't think and can (and often do) get things wrong.

Ron and Charlene's Wedding at Crondon Park

A few weeks back I had the honour of being asked to photograph Ron and Charlenes wedding.

It was a great day and the weather held out making a fantastic day even better.

For a sneak preview of some of the images from their wedding day click on the picture or click here.

Weddings at the Landmark hotel

Yesterday I was honoured to be employed to shoot a wedding in central London.

The west end of London is not the easiest location to work, mainly down to the 24hour traffic that sucks the life out of the city. I must admit looking out of the window in the morning didn't help, driving snow.

Luckily enough the snow soon melted long before the cameras came out of their bags however it was still very very cold and the wonderful bride and groom were like troopers never complaining once.

The wedding reception was booked for probably my favourite hotel in the city the Landmark. take a few minutes to look around their website and you'll see why its a great favourite with photographers, an absolutely stunning venue.

Not only is the venue fantastic but the staff work very hard to ensure the customers are completely satisfied (including the workers). The serving staff are all full time (rare at most hotels) and as such are well drilled ensuring everyone at the table gets served their meal at the same time. Little things like this go a long way in making a difference.

All in all a fantastic wedding made even better by great service and a wonderfull venue.

Wedding at London Zoo

Ever since the laws were relaxed about where people could get married couples have taken advantage of some excellent and exciting venues.

I was recently commissioned to capture a young couples special day at London Zoo.

Click on the picture see some (about a third) of the images.

It was an excellent day with lots of fun and laughter along the way.

Winter Wedding at Layer Marney

It seems to be a growing trend that weddings are now taking place throughout the year.

On Saturday I was lucky enough to shoot a wedding at Layer Marney Towers near Tiptree. It was a fantastic day and the wonderfull couple were obviously so in love.

Shooting in the winter brings new challenges, the main ones being lack of light (it gets dark by 4pm) and lack of warmth. We were really lucky on Sunday that all the rain fell the day before and the sun actually came out and did its best to keep the temperature above freezing.

I was really pleased with the above shot, I used the light from the video mans camera to backlight the couple and just natural light to capture the image. All in all a fantastic day spent with fantastic people.

Uncle Bobs!

Uncle Bob is an occupational hazard for any wedding photographer. Let me explain, at every wedding there will undoubtedly be someone (normally an uncle, hence the nick name) who has a keen interest in photography and has all the gear his local camera shop can sell him. They are often referred to as "all the gear with no idea".

Normally I have no problem working with uncle Bob's and often have a chat in quiet times and talk photography. However occasionally there's one that gets in the way and physically stops me from doing my job.

I recently had one of these at a wedding. The venue was a top west end hotel in London and the main ball room has mirrors all over including behind the top table. Mirrors make taking photographs harder for several reasons i.e. flash has to be bounced rather than direct, you have to shoot at an angle so you're not in the shots etc.

It was during the speeches that uncle Bob continually stood in the centre of the table firing his flash straight into the mirror (he couldn't have got a single shot) and being in every photograph. Every time I would set up a shot and take a step backwards he would be under my feet ..... a complete nightmare!

I have no problem with people taking photographs but please, have some respect and stay out of the way.

On another note the next Lifestyle portrait training day has been booked for the 30th March 2008 at the Pontlands park Hotel near Chelmsford. Drop me an e-mail if you feel like coming along (it would make a better Christmas present than socks).

Different Traditions

Yesterday I covered another fantastic wedding. One of the joys of being a wedding photographer is the chance to discover a different traditions.

For example traditional christian weddings have bride and grooms families on opposite sides of the church were as Jewish weddings have male and female sides (as can be seen here).

Another thing I noticed yesterday is in the traditional Jewish wedding the groom actually places the wedding ring onto the index finger of the right hand. At some stage later the bride normally moves it onto the ring finger of the left hand. Intrigued by this discovery i asked the Rabbi who kindly explained, "the reason goes back to the time of the Talmud and the difference in beliefs at that time about which finger is closer or more direct to the heart. Christianity taught the ring finger: Judaism taught the index finger."

Another thing that would appear to be apparent is how different religions view photographers. I have photographed many Jewish weddings and without exception they are more respectfull to any the professionals employed to record the day. I always find it very sad when a couple are denied the main part of their day to be recorded because the person in charge decides that's what they want (irrespective of the couples wishes). Of course there are exceptions to every rule and I have worked alongside some excellent Christian ministers.

Just Do It!

I love the Nike phrase, just do it. I wish I had though of it as it fits in perfectly with many of my thoughts on life and business.

I firmly believe that If we all did what other people told us to, no forward movement would ever be made. There are too many people who are willing to give "advice" that will ensure that the person receiving it doesn't move forward (and do better than the advice givers).

I find customers are bored rigid with safe and normal things and leap at things that are different. For example when I started my mad bride photographs (see below) wedding photographers began asking if i had lost the plot! I had many conversations which went along the lines of .... but Martin your going to scare away customers. What they (and most other business people) failed to realise was that I couldn't deal with everybody! There are millions of weddings a year and I can't photograph all of them (nor would i want to if i could). So if I put off the people who didn't get me than I was doing both them and me a big favour.


Actually what happened when Ii began using these adverts was the complete opposite, I got more referrals from this style of advertising than any other printed media I have ever used. I have no doubt that some brides may have been put off when they saw these images but the ones who did get in touch where right on my wave length!

Take it from me if you truly believe something is right ...... Just do it! (Just don't bet your house on it).

For those that maybe interested in my "shoot to sell course" I finally managed to tie the date down for the next one. It will be over the 8th and 9th october this year. It is designed to help photographers who want their business to grow or new photographers who want to start. It is two whole days of marketing and sales. See my blog for comments from the last batch of students, if you're interested drop me an e-mail.

Disaster at Orsett Hall

I'm in shock! One of my favourite wedding venues in the local area has been completely destroyed. Apparently this morning a fire started in the kitchen that spread through the old building very quickly.

I heard a rumour but presumed it was an over exaggerated story about a small fire. As I'm sure you can see from the photograph it'sgoing to be some while before they hold another wedding here.

I feel sorry for any couples who have booked for this year. It's going to be a complete nightmare trying to rearrange at short notice.

If you are in this unlucky situation the management of Orsett house have set up an emergency number which is 01375 891402.

Wedding photography

I saw this and it made me grin. I guess i'm not the only person who gets this happening to them.

Wedding Photographs Sharon & Adam

At the start of the month I was honoured to be asked to photograph Sharon & Adams wedding that took place at the Essex Golf and Country Club. It's not a venue i've worked at before but everything went smoothly and a good time was had by all.

You can see a few of the wedding photographs in a slideshow by clicking here. The weather just about managed to hold out and give us enough time before the heavens opened.

The shot on the left here is amongst my favourites for the day although i did have a bit of trouble convincing Sharon to trust me and it would look good. I was realy pleased with it, I don't think I would have had been forgiven if it had looked wrong!

On another note the lifestyle photographic training day is getting near is maximum number of delegates and i can't wait to meet up with everyone who's coming and share some ideas and tricks. I'm meeting up with Doug tommorow to have a run through and ensure everythings going to plan. If you wanted to come on the day you can still book but be quick the details can be found on my portrait photography website just look under the tips section, or just give me a call on 01376 567995 and i'll talk you through it.


lifestyle photographer lifestyle photography Wedding Photography professional photographer Photography Training Essex Golf and Country Club

Great Weddings

One of the great things about this job is I get to enjoy many fantastic days out (and call it work). I feel sure every bride and groom must spend weeks / months planning every little detail which ensures these fantastic events. However having done the easy bit (capturing the images) its then time to do the hard bit.

Alot of people don't realise how long is spent in post production after a wedding / event and think photographers only work one day per wedding (I wish). I estimate a wedding job takes me about 7 days in total to complete (not back to back). I often wonder when I read about photographers doing 50 / 60 weddings a year what sort of end product they produce?

There are many hours sitting infront of the computer, firstly sorting the images, then adjusting them and then producing them in a way so they can be viewed. That's only half the job done, having been viewed it's now time to plan the albums that are ordered and place the orders to the various companies so they all come together like clock work at the end. It is hard work and stressfull sometimes but i can tell you it is really worth it when the bride is given her album and the tears come to her eyes.

wedding photography, wedding photographer, photographer, wedding albums

Pre wedding Shoot

I always offer a pre wedding shoot to any couple who contact me about shooting their wedding. There are several reasons for this but the main one is to get to know the couple and see what sort of people they are (and how far I can take them).

Recently I shot this couple Sharon and Adam (on the left), it took about 30 minutes but was a very worthwhile excercise. We got to know each other and they now get to see my work before deciding to book me and paying any money. Works best for both groups.

You wouldn't buy a car without a test drive (well most people wouldn't anyway) so why not test drive your chosen photographer? I have nothing to hide and it also helps to realise why there's a differance in the prices people charge. Of course it's not always practical to do a pre wedding shoot (especially if the couple are living in another country) but whenever possible I always do.

Any way if you want to check out some of the images from the shoot click here pre wedding photographs. There are great couple with a real cute little one. I know shootingtyhere wedding will be fun!

Oh by the way the England game was due to be played that afternoon hence the patriotic clothing.

wedding photography wedding photographer pre wedding photographer slide show lifestyle photographer

Wedding Album Images Updated

I've updated the images in the wedding album on my site. I looked at the album last week and realised I had moved on from the images that were there. The album now has a more modern approach.

At the moment every plug socket in my office has something plugged into it. Everything is on charge ready for the weekend. It's amazing how one weekend will have nothing and another weekend a wedding on both days.

I've also just added another set of notes to the tips for photographers available from my site. This time a little bit about photoshop and a neat trick about mixing colour and black and white images. If you want to sign up for the course (it's free) just go to my site www.martinwilmottphotography.com and click on the tips section, at the bottom of the page there's a section to add your e mail address and the tips will start being sent.

On another note two really good friends of mine have a feature in this months Professional Photographer magazine. Ryan and Val Harvey from Wales, they are really great people and Ryan's a fantastic photographer. I'd point you to their website but they don't have one????

wedding photos wedding photographer professional photographer

Online Wedding and Portrait Brochures

It's slowly beginning to dawn on me how important websites are. When I first set about designing mine originally I thought I had everything covered. As you may know I'm deep into some pretty big changes to make it more user friendly for everyone. In particular there'll be a whole section for photographers as well as future brides and portrait enquiries.

I see the internet as like another T.V. Channel with lots of interesting things to watch, unfortunately there are alot of adverts too. How do you rate your site? Is it an interesting show or an advert? If it's an advert (and most are) do you blame people for skipping past it on there search for something interesting?

Here's a link to a sneak peak of what my potential brides get to see when they contact me (feel free to e mail it to anyone you know who's getting married)http://martinwilmottphotography.com/slideshows/wedenquiry/ yes it's an advert but hopefully an entertaining one.

As you can see the internet is moving at a massive pace. Only the other day I sat and watched Top Gear on my laptop (this show just gets better and better). The first time I have ever watched a TV show online! If this is becoming more and more available I can see no need for video recorders in the future. Incidently if you are into photography Top Gear is fantastic for picking up ideas, watch how the shows are filmed in high fashion style colour and often cross processed, fantastic! its already driven me to create some more photoshop styles.

On the subject of sport the Colchester Gladiators game scheduled for this Sunday was called off due to a rain soaked pitch (yes we are still in a drought). This is real bad news for me as the rest of the home games I have got weddings booked on the days! I might have to see some of there away games instead (as long as it's not too far to travel).

photography wedding enquiry wedding photography slideshow

Wedding season already?

Just got back from a trip to see the national wedding show at Olympia, after receiving a free invite. Wedding shows aren't my idea of fun but It can be interesting to go and have a scout around and try and spot a new trend coming through. It's also an excuse to have a good natter with other people who i may have worked with at some stage or other. Hairdressers, toast masters, florists, videoographers, weddings are a funny business and it can be amazing how many people you can be working with on just one day.

As for the show itself there were a few photographers of note and some not so good. It just proves the saying that in most instances you tend to get what you pay for.