Antigone - shooting theatrical productions

I can't believe we're nearly at the end of March. I've been very busy in this 'quiet' time of the year, not just shooting portraits but also indulging - pro bono - in one of my passions, photographing theatrical productions.

I hadn't seen the production before, and - just like a wedding - all the shots were taken without setting anything up, just as the rehearsal happened.

In the old days of film, ISO 800 was about as high as you could go and get anything usable. You had to use a tripod and so the angles you could shoot a production from were severely limited if you didn't want to miss anything. The new digital cameras have changed all that. Some of the shots were taken at ISO's well over 1600 as the stage lighting wasn't available at the start of the rehearsal; I also had help from the image stabiliser on my EF zoom lens.

Capturing Perfect Moments

Some potential wedding clients ask me about the cameras and lenses I use (it's often a boy thing); some ask me how many photos I will take. I usually can't answer either question very accurately - because my equipment is just a means to an end and I take as many images as I see for as long as I am shooting. For some clients these seem to be very important questions, but I can't answer them very well because that's not what I'm selling.

I'm selling a split second, a moment, caught in time forever. A discreet glance that is the look of love. The image that sticks in the mind after you've seen it. This is priceless. It's not just a record of the day, it's the emotion, living in the images long after the champagne has been drunk and the guests have departed. You cannot add it back in afterwards. It isn't a Photoshop 'plug in'.

The most important thing I do is to capture the emotion in the special moments of the lives of the people that populate my work and make them live forever. It's a privilege. As the year draws to a close, I'd like to thank all my clients, both past, present and future for entrusting me with the task of capturing their perfect moments for eternity.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Trash the Dress on TV!

I've just completed a fantastic Trash the Dress shoot with a client which was filmed for TV.

Shooting took place in Norfolk on a private estate using a wide variety of locations. These ranged from beautiful gates, to an ancient tractor, a water sprinkler in a potato field! Finally we went to the beach where my client Susie was game enough to go into the sea! The weather had become somewhat windy and stormy by this time but we got some amazing shots. To view the video, please click on the link below. Please note that although I have usage rights, copyright is with Reuters, thank you.

Advice on Choosing Your Wedding Photographer. Recent Publicity - Wedding Venues & Services

Featuring one of my favourite informal photos from Elissa and Michael's wedding, I contributed to a piece in this summer's Wedding Venues & Services magazine: Ask the Expert

What interested me most on reading it was that all five of us featured - some of the top names in the wedding photography world - gave essentially the same advice to prospective clients seeking to choose a wedding photographer:

See at least two complete recent weddings; you get what you pay for in photography - the better the photographer the more they charge;

see client testimonials as well as wedding photography; check experience, & whether the photographer is full or part time;

check they have client liability insurance (an absolute must have);

choose someone you get on well with;

look for passion and emotion in the images;

choose a reportage photographer with great care, not all 'reportage' images are flattering - make sure they can also take the other type of shots that matter e.g. groups, lovely portraits of the couple.

In terms of trends, each of us picked our own trend, but I agree with all of them:

1. Image manipulation - there is currently a fashion for heavily manipulated, fashion style images.

Whilst I think this can work well for a portrait shoot, for a wedding I offer this style to clients on one or two photos only from the hundreds taken. I prefer wedding photography to be 'real' rather than fake, to tell the story of the day. When I do show such an image I usually recommend that it is a stand alone image, rather than one put in the album.

2. The best of both worlds - Not just reportage or portraiture.

More Brides are realising that posed photographs don't have to be stiff and formal and that reportage shots aren't necessarily relaxed! The best photographers are combining both, I certainly do.

3. Trash the Dress - the big trend coming in from the USA.

This is becoming more and more popular both with my existing clients and with Brides who have used other photographers for their wedding.

4. The importance of the classic wedding album

Digital only packages are popular, but invariably clients realise that a wedding album is more than a collection of photos - it's an heirloom, and a repository of their memories of an extra-special day.

Bumps and Babies

There's something quite miraculous about Bumps turning into Babies!

Congratulations to Jane and Phil on the arrival of their beautiful daughter Erin.

Jane is responsible for my fab logo and a very talented designer who is now enjoying juggling - time that is, not babies!

If you're looking for a graphic designer check out Jane's web site at www.danglydog.com

Funky fun!

One of the great things about a Love Your Dress shoot is that you can have a lot of fun trying out different 'looks' so that you have a wide choice of photos from the classically beautiful to the funky and fun.

I adore photographing weddings, but on a portrait shoot I also get the one thing I don't get at a wedding: plenty of time! On the wedding day itself, the most important thing is to capture the real day, and to spend time with the Bride & Groom judiciously so that they get stunning photos but don't feel that their day was turned into a full scale photo-shoot. Unless we can build in a lot of time prior to the ceremony, the portraiture time afterwards is usually about the couple, not the dress, so a Love Your Dress (or if you feel like living dangerously a Trash Your Dress) shoot is the perfect opportunity for us both to relax and have fun, without any pressure.

Recently, Emma and I had a fabulous afternoon doing just that at a variety of locations. We did some classic shots as a bit of a 'warm up' and then moved on to more adventurous pictures. Emma's stunning Vera Wang dress had the chance for another outing before being finally packed away.

She's still choosing her favourite photos which we intend to put at the end of an album with the photos from her wedding in Australia.

Sumptuous in Chocolate Leather

I'm just sending off a really lovely Chocolate Leather bound album to two super people, Sarah & David.

This is a classic album with a subtle twist, where the bespoke flexibility of the Queensberry product has enabled me to design the album to reflect the colours of the wedding and the intimacy of the day.

Their autumn wedding had a lovely bronze and orange theme, so the rich chocolate leather is perfect, and a softer option to black. The cover features a small image of the couple, and the colour theme is carried through with ivory mats and the photographs mounted onto chocolate pages.

On this first right hand page, instead of a traditional 'title' I mounted Sarah & David's wedding invitation into the square space - so just a thin cholcolate border shows - and then placed three small square images taken from different sections of Sarah's bouquet, as accents underneath.

The wedding at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Hyde Park, London, was an intimate affair for close family and friends. The album relects this, in particular on the pages featuring the speeches where, using the option to include a 'flip' page, we can see both the Bride's speech and the whole speech sequence all at once. Capturing the reaction of guests during this time is one of my favourite parts of any wedding.