Becca the glamorous bride and head teacher. Edward the cool as a cucumber optician to Olympic standard skeet shooters, this bride and groom were out to impress, and this wedding was going to be nothing short of stunning.
When I met Becca and Ed at Weston Park a few weeks before the ceremony, I could already sense that meticulous level of planning was in force. We chatted then wandered and explored the rooms of the venue, whilst I took light meter readings, and found sources of natural soft light.
On the day we had hoped for a few outdoor autumnal shots, but the weather had other ideas. The afternoon brought rain, and Becca’s 25 foot wedding train was not not being worn for the purpose of clearing wet leaves from the soaking grass. As a professional photographer you must always have a plan B (and at times a plan C). I unloaded the off camera flashes and reflectors, and we made the best of it. The rooms were stunning, but natural light was at a premium. Bouncing an artificial light source from carefully placed off camera flashes allowed me to light Bec & Ed in a way that looked totally natural. All wedding photographers should know how to use off camera flashes, and know how to use them well. Beware of ‘I love to use natural light’ in anyone’s role description. This often means, ‘I don’t know how to use on and off camera flashes at a professional level’. Always something to be aware of when you’re searching for your wedding photographer.
The evening revelry ensued, with great music and lots of dancing. Becca and her Dad were great fun to photograph, swaying and singing on the dancefloor, they were having such a great time and every photograph showed that.
Apart from the very low light levels, my main problem as the wedding photographer (and theirs too) was working at the same time as two videographers. We spent most of the day and evening attempting to keep out of one another’s way. In fact one of my favourite ‘first dance’ shots had both of the videographers in the background. This is where a few years of Adobe Photoshop editing can help. It took about half an hour to remove each videographer to end up with a soft, clean unblemished background. But the final shot was well worth it.
Thank you both so much for choosing me to be your wedding photographer. It’s always a great honour. May you enjoy a lifetime of love together x
