Delphine & Chris

Every event has it's own signature, and this one certainly had some unique points. Quite casual and relaxed with the added element of a lovely two part reception. The service was at St. Andrew's church and a short stroll took everyone to the couple's most remarkable house. Now Chris is an amazing designer and he is responsible for the design of the house, I am told Delphine was responsible for the building. I am in awe of your skills, and was very excited about seeing what I could photograph showing the building.

The dress was hung in the perfect place for me, just off a staircase to have enough height to clear the floor. Being able to put the white dress with it's sheen and textures offset by the graphic white interior was stunning, the lighting balance took a while to achieve but well worth the effort. Of course I took full advantage of the amazing interior lighting that is such a clever feature in Chris' design. Photography is all about light, especially to me the edges of light.


Now onto the people, which are naturally the main focus of a wedding. Here we have the bride adding a few finishing touches to her hair with the simple addition of some flowers. I am observing the reflection in the mirror waiting for the perfect moment. Delphine is in a beautiful pose, the lighting is so soft and scattered it is all I can ask for to give this stunning result.

When I want to take a few portraits often all I want is a a blank wall. This is surprisingly lacking in most of our houses, well here I was spoilt. The bridal party are in fine spirits, no nerves evident yet.

I had to include the little flower girl Alex, not once but twice in this blog. Plus I have lots more images of this delightful little girl who behaved impeccably throughout the day. Now one other factor in this event was that the age span of the guests was virtually 100 years, for one of the French relatives was literally 100 years old. What a great occasion.


It was a pleasure to be allowed at the front of the church until just before the ceremony commenced, this enabled me to capture the precise moment the bride and groom saw each other for the first time on their wedding day, a priceless moment. In particular as Papa looks on as he steps aside having just walked his daughter up the aisle.

As mentioned before a short stroll to the house followed the service, everyone sat amongst the trees and enjoyed the fine weather. Naturally a look around the house proved a popular diversion.


Onto the second part of the reception, held at the beautifully decorated Bella Luce hotel. Great speeches were followed by the meal. Toast images are difficult to capture, I was pleased with this image of the groom raising a glass.

Then onto the evening entertainment, some danced, some sat outside in the gardens, but everyone had a great finale to the day.


Look closely and check out one of the craziest dance moves I have seen for a long time!

Lucy & Ross

Another beautiful and special day, this wedding really must have fulfilled everyone's dreams for their wedding day. So much effort must have gone into all the arrangements and well worth it I must say. I know there are a lot of people keen to see a quick preview of some pictures, so I have worked hard to bring these to you as soon as possible. The trouble was I did have a difficult job decided which ones to blog.

One of my favourite getting ready shots is below, when one of the little flower girls admires the just dressed bride, totally unposed and a priceless moment.

Then what can be said about the sheer beauty of the bride and her truly spectacular dress, I feel quite emotional just writing this! Capturing emotion is one of my aims with my photography, so I am allowed to show some myself sometimes! This picture was photographed in a tiny bedroom in a few minutes, fitting in with everything else at this hectic time, just natural light and of course the perfect subject.

I did also get some great shots of the groom's party getting ready, but sorry Ross, no room to show them here.
Fast forward to the church, the groom appears to be showing a few nerves, the final thoughts of an about to be married man.

The bride fittingly arrived in a vintage car, this lovely shot was brilliantly spotted by my assistant (and wife). I reluctantly have to admit this wasn't my picture and shows that sometimes having someone else around can help to capture a different angle I am unable to.

In the church there are always some intimate and highly touching moments, it was a pleasure to be able to capture some of these from slightly different positions to normal.

Now I haven't mentioned Lucy's veil, but this shot illustrates it perfectly. I spent a long time thinking how to show the veil to its best, this shot was taken as Ross and Lucy walked out from the church which was in deep shadow from the strong sun. Again this shows the need to react quickly to all situations, I will not pose something like this as it really is too intrusive and breaks up the natural flow of events, and of course fails to capture the genuine true moment.

A carriage ride to the reception was a relaxing way to travel in a beautifully turned out carriage. I wanted to illustrate the movement so deliberately panned the camera to capture this action. Challenging yes, but this adds the extra special element to the photograph. Now Ross must be thinking I am a bit accident prone, he witnessed my shower at a friend's wedding back in May (see blog entry for that month), well this time I was following the carriage on my bike with two cameras round my neck, and maybe trying to take a photograph at the same time wasn't the best idea. At least the hedge was soft and I was travelling at walking pace!

I am aware this entry is getting a bit long, so a few images to sum up the reception.

Now Donna, (Lucy's mum) had made the cake herself, as if there wasn't enough to do already, great hat too!

Awaiting the first dance.


As expected a vibrant party completed the day. Well done to all for making this day so memorable.

Sam and Gilly

August is a bit of a frantic time for me, it's difficult to keep pace with the weddings and the subsequent work editing the images. I set myself very high standards and will not cut corners in my editing work, it is time consuming but I want to deliver to my clients the very best work. This means long hours editing and selecting the files from the wedding day, but this is one aspect that separates people in my profession. Chose your wedding photographer with care for your once in a lifetime event.

Anyway my last event was another action packed day. Hairdressers, make up and getting ready for the bridal party, a pre-event drink for the groom's party, then the cermony at St. James and a great reception and dance at the Farmhouse.

I am truly passionate about my photography and want to take great images for my clients, pictures I am proud of. I hope you agree the below images give a good summary of the event in a true photojournalistic sense, while providing a beautiful pictorial record too.





Of course I had to record the fact that the couple were lent a special car to go for a drive on the way to the reception.

There is always a need to capture some group shots of family and friends, but I ensure these are done quickly and with an element of fun, of course you all want to enjoy your party and not spend time posing for pictures.

I am always looking for the small off beat moments that others may miss, this next image portrays a new found friendship in a quiet corner of the grounds.

Sam and Gilly decided to break away from the traditional concept of a wedding cake and went for a beautifully constructed "cheese cake" supplied by French Accents. Well worth the effort I would say.


The evening was completed with a dance, it is also a challenge to sum up the atmosphere of the first dance, but I feel this image makes a perfect statement of the intimacey and spectacle that we witnessed.

Sara and Solly

Every now and then I photograph a small and intimate wedding, this one was a lovely affair with just very close family and friends attending. Small events present their own challenges, in some ways there is less to be photographed, but this also allows me to concentrate on obtaining just the perfect expression from many of the guests. It also challenges my creativity, as it is more difficult to avoid repeating the same style of picture.

Here's a brief taste of what I came up with at this event, my coverage as normal commenced with both the bride's and groom's preparations, and finished with their reception at Christophe's before they left for their honeymoon in the evening. Everyone really did seem to have a thoroughly enjoyable day.



Rings are always difficult to achieve something different with, I was quite excited by this composition.

Some details also tell a story, as well as making an attractive picture.

Sara really did look radiant, and they make a great looking couple. Yes I did get covered in biting ants taking this shot, I will go to any lengths to get a great picture for my clients!

Again looking for slightly different angles and compositions helps to give a variety of pictures. The last image is looking straight into the sunlight to provide a beautiful rimlit silhouette.

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!