I love a few detail shots and a set of killer posed photos of the bride and groom, don’t get me wrong I’m very, very proud of them, but the ones that really jumped out when looking back are the emotional shots. Dad pacing in up and down in the back garden as his daughter gets ready, mum gripping her sons hand before the ceremony, these are the kind of shots that underpin my whole approach to wedding photography.

Thanks to all the families, guests, staff at venues (who fed and watered me) and fellow wedding suppliers i have met over the year, but of course the biggest thank you has to go to the bride and grooms who trusted me and gave me the freedom on the day to do what i do best, so with that in mind……bring on 2012.

Continuing my 2011 wedding catch up, here’s Ellie and Stephen’ wedding at the fabulous Sutton Bonington Hall back in September, we even had a double rainbow.

View more photos taken at this fabulous exclusive wedding venue here

I shoot most of my wedding work using available light, the back of the wedding dress photo is a good example of using window light to pick up the detail but I’m not a purist.  I regularly use multiple speedlites and studio lights with commercial work, but they can be intrusive at a wedding when I’m trying to be as discreet as possible.
Knowing when and how to use flash to your advantage is key and with everyone decked out in their Elvis get ups it was the perfect time to use the Orbis portable ring flash and get in amongst the revellers on the dance floor.

I have shot many gigs and festivals in the past usually from the pit, i love it but sometimes you need a challenge, so shooting for the organisers and pretty much having free rein to capture what i like, i set myself the task to capture shots artists just before or after they had been on stage, i wanted well lit, strong quick portraits.  There was no guarantee anyone would be up for it so each shot had to be set up, ready and done in 1-2 minutes tops.

The weather over the weekend wasn’t great for the punters with some massive downpours but perfect for what i was after, big rolling clouds and dramatic stormy skies.  Sounds great but shooting outdoors with a load of lighting kit and the possibility of rain at any moment meant portability was essential, so using Neil’s super powerful Elinchrom Ranger Quadra’s we were able to light the subjects, keep the skies in and shoot quick.

Big thanks to all the artists who stopped, humoured us, posed for us and gave us their time.  From a whopping seven seconds with Kissy Sell Out, to a couple of minutes with the wonderful Nina Smith, Alice Gold and The Rifles. Oh and Rizzle Kicks for being lovely blokes and putting up with the stinging nettles.

Strawberry Fields Festival will run on the the weekend of August 11th 2012 in Heather Leicestershire.

We had the usual british summer weather to deal with, sun, massive downpours and high winds, and thirty mins before the ceremony the sky turned black and heavens opened, luckily it stopped just in time for Lis to walk across the road from home to the Church. After the ceremony the sun came out long enough for canapés, drinks in the garden and a few photos of Lis and Will with their horses.
Inevitably the rain started again just as the guests were heading for the marquee, pretty much perfect timing….ok not probably not that perfect for the guests huddling under jackets and brollies, but it did produced some of my favourite wedding shots of 2011.

With the Lakes not exactly being on my doorstep and a 9am start i headed up the day before hoping to get a days cycling in, no such luck, the weather was awful all day and it continued throughout the night and was still drizzling on the morning of the wedding. I was gutted, this was June! all this amazing scenery and you couldn’t see any of it for mist and rain, but with Heather being an Olympic canoeist, a bit of water wasn’t going bother her at all.
Throughout the day Heather and Geoff were absolute stars to work with and had no problem when i suggested stopping on route to the reception for a few shots even though we were having to dodge huge downpours and high winds.
I had heard that the weather can change quick up there but it went from wind and rain in the morning to glorious sunshine just in time for the highlight of the day a steamboat ride on Ullswater, and then a Ceilidh dance in the evening.

I have shot a few weddings at the Cathedral but they have been fairly large weddings as its pretty big to fill but this was going to be a little different.
No bridal preparations or evening reception to photograph just around 30 guests at the ceremony, cupcakes and champagne in the Church Grounds plus a few photos at Wollaton Park before heading back into Nottingham to Piccolino Restaurant for a meal with close friends and family.
No big fuss, just a small, intimate but beautiful wedding with two wonderful people, and i loved shooting every moment of it.

I first shot at the hall in April 2010 and its definitely up there as one of my favourite venues in the Midlands, the huge rooms with loads of light flooding in, the dramatic light and shade on the staircase and the massive grounds are a dream to photograph in.  Now all i need is the A46 roadworks to be finished before my 2012 weddings and it will perfect ; )

Shameless plug here but the stunning details at the wedding, including the photo tree, menus, the amazing miniature Banksy style canvases and the Harry Potter Sorting Hat favours pictured in this blog post were all hand made by artist / graphic designer and more importantly Groom for the day, Matt.
If you want something unique designing for your big day drop him an email at Favours For You