Yoga in the landscape

My cousin Emma is a very highly regarded yoga instructor, and I love taking pictures of her and her friends. Adding the human element into a dramatic landscape utilises both my wedding and landscape experience. Of course it's no use having the photographic expertise without a willing and equally skilled model. Holding the poses for a sufficiently long time, in often uncomfortable places, is crucial to the success of a picture like this. So a big thank you to Emma for enduring the session last night, this was not an easy image for either of us to obtain, but well worth it as I think the result is truly spectacular.

If you want to see a few more from earlier sessions please see the Yoga gallery on the main site. Or look at Emma's website - www.beinspiredby.co.uk

Juzy & Chris

Everything's so busy, but I know you are keen to see some images asap after your wedding, plus I believe in keeping prospective clients up to date too, so a bit of general chat too before I get more specific. I am always excited to see what I have got, these days it's not quite as agonising as waiting for a film to develop, but even so still exciting. It's got to be a good sign when your photographer is so enthusiastic. Also one thing to bear in mind is the work rate that your photographer is capable of, physical fitness and enthusiasm play a big part in what can be a long arduous day. As one of Guernsey's top sportsmen from not that very long ago, I pride myself in being able to keep going and strive to get great images for you, I often stay until the party's over, not just to the first dance. I try to blog a few images straight after most events so here goes for last weekend's.....

Justine and Chris' wedding was truly fabulous, what a day. I can only blog a handful of images to give you a flavour of what the full coverage can offer, so enjoy these images in the meantime while I try and catch up with my workload.

The day started at the hairdresser for the bridal party, but the groom certainly did an interesting job himself after a few moments of frantic activity.



Then back to mum and dad's house for the final preparations of the bride, Justine was fabulous, and seemingly so relaxed!







Now this is going down in history as the BBQ Summer (a reference to the British Met Office's long range forecast for this summer to those who log onto this from abroad, but recently heavy rain and cool conditions have have led to much amusement on this score!) Well you cannot change the weather, and it was great to see Juzy with a beaming smile as she proceeded to the church in heavy rain and wind. I always tell my clients that whatever happens it is my job to record the day as it occurs and I hope the next shot illustrates this perfectly.



St. Matthew's church is one of my favourites, the craftsmanship in it's construction is quite admirable and I wanted to show the setting in this next picture.



A brief stop at the park on the way to the reception yielded one of my favourite pictures for a long time, at least the newly weds had some shelter, but then marginal weather often leads to more atmosphere. Thanks Dan for carrying my gear bag!



Fast forward to the reception and evening functions, the weather cleared up in time for sunset and the effort so obviously put into the garden and interior of the marquee were so appreciated by all. What a stunning location and amazing atmosphere, well done. I must add that the first dance was beautifully moving, call me a bit of a romantic, soppy or whatever, but one of those moments that I love about my job.





The band rocked and that's how the night was seen out. You hockey people sure know how to party!

Sarah and TK

Well sorry for taking a while to blog this event, but I actually managed to fit in a short holiday myself!

Sarah and TK's wedding was a beautiful and intimate event, with lots of different aspects to cover. Great fun it was too, there was much laughter throughout and the day, especially the evening function was extremely vibrant.

As normal I try to fit in the bride's, and groom's, preparations.



Trying to follow the action discreetly without getting in the way is my goal, as is getting the best pictures I can of course!





These momentary glances are so precious, yet so fleeting.



The service took place at St. James, this beautiful location is spectacular inside and naturally I try to make full use of the architectural features. While outside children are their unpredictable selves, but this can yield photo opportunities if you are quick enough!





The remainder of the day was spent at Le Gouffre, with the reception taking place at L'Escalier. Just a few images to show this aspect, but of course Dean's cooking is legendary and the story of the paella and cake will have to be told another time.

Chantal and Mark

I really haven't had time to attend to the blog for a while, so sorry to those who have looked recently. But I just have to post an entry from my last wedding. This gives the newly wed couple a little teaser of what lies in store for them once back from honeymoon.

Chantal and Mark are a beautiful couple and full of humour. Here are some of my favourites to share for now. I like to start with any preparatory shots and with this event the dress hanging up made for a stunning picture, all lit with natural light from a nearby window. This natural lighting also made the illumination for the lovely image of Chantal wearing her veil, a nice high key image.



At this stage everyone is busy getting ready, I am watching the time as I must get to the church myself, but want to stay with the bride as long as possible in order to capture as much of the story of the day. Displaying great efficiency and team work the next image shows 2 bridesmaids, the bride and her mother all working to ensure that they won't be late.



I haven't got room to post too many images here, but will try to show the key moments of the day. So here's my choice from the church service. Timing was critical with this image as Chantal made her way to the room with the register. A fraction later and her head would not be isolated against the blank wall, it's little things like this that can make a good shot even better.



On the way to the reception it is often possible to stop off at a picturesque location for a few portraits. This is the only time the bride and groom are alone together with me just for a few pictures. My style is to shoot in a journalistic way and I do not set up any images apart from at this time and for family group pictures. Again looking for something different I also chose to try a panoramic image, which I feel works well and adds variety to the normal compositions.




Fast forward to the reception and one of the most memorable events was the song by one of the bride's sisters, who also played the guitar. Again here I tried to capture a bit more than the obvious, purposely choosing a slower shutter speed with a touch of flash the intention was to convey the movement of the hand on the strings, so much more effective than just a static image. Isn't photography wonderful? Challenging too!



Just to finish this post off one picture of the first dance. Hope you have enjoyed this preview and I am looking forward to designing this album. But many days of editing work to go first!

THE Shower Incident.....

Okay, okay by popular request here's what happened on Saturday when I went to the football club to photograph the groom's party getting ready.  With a degree of embarrassment I'll admit that in trying to find the best angle of Simon adjusting his tie in the mirror I was tight in against the opposite wall.  Well my back pressed the shower button and I was nicely drenched in a powerful overhead spray designed to clean off muddy footballers.  My jacket and head were soaked, unfortunately I was carrying 2 cameras and a flash gun at the time.

But fortunately the great merriment at my predicament made one of the highlights of the day for some, I dried off, the gear survived and also I had the presence to keep shooting to record the reactions.  I even laugh myself now when I think about it!

Sara and Simon

Well there's so much to say about this event, how so much was fitted into this wonderful day was remarkable. It was a beautiful and fun packed wedding, quite memorable. Naturally there are a huge number of images to go through, I estimate I spend 4 times the number of hours editing my work than I do photographing the event, and I was taking pictures for a solid 16 hours on Saturday. This is the unseen side of the wedding photographer's workload.

I am keen to share a few initial images on the blog, to give a flavour of the event. So hope you enjoy these images, from the preparations, the service, football on the beach, to the reception and dance. I am looking forward to presenting the images to Sara and Simon when they return from honeymoon, we have some great images to show what an exciting day you had.

Golden Wedding Anniversary

While attending a family celebration today I naturally had to cover the event for the record.  But there is always the opportunity to keep an eye out for something special too.  Here are two images I was very pleased with, just taken as the children were playing naturally in the afternoon.  The saxaphone picture of Alex was in a corner of a room between a couple of windows, a radiator and a set of blinds. Natural light only and some contortions on the floor from me yielded a splendid image that I look forward to getting printed.

This other image of Fern was hastily photographed by looking through a collection of floral gifts.  To me it gives the impression of dense undergrowth or an elaborate hat.  Just goes to show we have to be prepared to deal with unexpected and fleeting chances, and having the eye to spot these opportunities in the first place.