This Moment Photo Stories…

Like all things in life, weddings come in different forms, with different hopes and dreams, details and outcomes. It’s your wedding and of course you do it your way. However, reality is that some weddings could do with a boost… there you go, I’ve said it! Whatever you plan though, it’s natural, candid and fun moments like this one that will really paint the story your day, and although I’ll capture everything as it unfolds, it’s these sort of moments that most people say they love to look back at.

Injecting some fun into your wedding day really doesn’t have to cost a fortune, and in the grand scheme of things the fun element can cost very little. Space-hoppers, a good length of rope for tug-of-war, jenga-blocks, table games like “heads and tails” (and there’s many more options too) can all really add an element to your day that would otherwise be missing.

If you’d like more ideas, please do ask! 🙂

A Country Marquee Wedding, Suffolk.

As a storytelling wedding photographer, it’s really quite inspiring when couples plan their wedding day a little differently to the norm. It means that I’m likely to see something different, and of course capture it all for the couple.

That’s exactly the case for this wedding day. After a beautiful Church service, everyone made their way to this meadow for the celebrations, where the theme for the afternoon was a family “wedding day olympics!”.

Things didn’t go quite to plan. It rained. A lot. And then it rained some more. Plans needed to change; some of the games were held inside the marquee, some held in the rain, and some left in the hope that the rain stopped. And it did! Final game of the day; Blind Brides Bluff! Teams, blindfolded, made their way along a course putting on items of costume along the way. First team with their nominated bride fully dressed was the winner! And here we see the winning team!

Technically this was a little challenging… it’s June but it’s now 8.22pm, and quite dull. It’s shot with natural light at 9000iso, so the colours are muted but all that matters is that the moment was captured right there.

It’s one of my most challenging, but enjoyable weddings I’ve ever had the pleasure of covering.

The Abbey Gardens, Bury St Edmunds.

Autumn is a lovely season for weddings in the UK, but the weather can be unpredictable. When you do have a dry spell though, the natural colours in the landscape can be breathtaking and make stunning settings for timeless natural portraits.

I love all the elements of this picture; the Autumn colour, a relaxed Bride & Groom having a post-wedding stroll in the park with their daughter, and of course the feature of the couple enjoying a spot of lunch. By shooting wide to purposefully include all of these elements, the picture becomes really timeless, a real and honest story from the wedding day.

Years ago when I started shooting weddings I probably wouldn’t have appreciated this scene because of the couple having lunch on the bench, but it’s their inclusion that really pulls this scene together, making the image so “real” and less contrived.

I have a demo album featuring this wedding, and this picture is of course featured as a large spread; it always attracts positive comments.

Butley Priory, Suffolk.

This is the sort of picture that forms the foundation of my “storytelling” style of wedding photography. Weddings are full of love and laughter (well, mostly!), natural moments that in addition to all the important formal elements, contribute to the real story of the day.

I’m constantly looking for tender moments like this. By working quietly and as unobtrusively as possible, guests become more relaxed and less worried about “the photographer”. This shows here; I was passing close-by and saw the conversation develop, by being patient this tender touch took place, and that was the moment.

There’s nothing wrong with the colour version of this scene, but as so often the case, the conversion to mono really helps to emphasise the moment.

Tewin Bury Farm, Hertfordshire.

It never ceases to amaze me how quickly and easily kids make friends and have fun with each other. My own kids do this of course, but I see it at weddings all the time.

Here’s one such example. When I see a scene unfolding like this at a wedding, I’ll often just wait at distance to see what happens next. So in this case it went from the kids sitting and playing to deciding if they could hide underneath… and there’s the shot.

Candid Wedding Photography: The Hokey-Cokey…

Moreves Barn, Suffolk.

I don’t know if there’s some Dad dancing here or not, but there might be! I’m not referring to the main guy in the foreground of course, but the guy in the red jumper… the one holding his leg up higher than seems comfortable! This scene made a decent dancing shot anyway, but the guy in the red jumper makes it priceless; a candid natural moment that is much more powerful than anything I could contrive. Makes me smile every time I see it. 🙂