Wedding Photo Journalism

Stylish marriage at a stately home 

      A really cool thing happened to Wedding photography in the nineties. (Greatly helped by digital cameras which were faster and let you see your results as you went along) photographers decided to use photojournalistic skills from the field for weddings. This meant they needed some new wedding “rules”. It was time to allow the natural flow of the day, instead of lighting every event with studio lights –technology evolved to allow photographers to use natural light and their flashguns in cool ways. Wedding Photojournalism was all about capturing the reality of the day, getting the truth of the story on film without staging events. In short, keeping it real. 

These angelic bridesmaids found this lovely spot for me

“Most wedding photojournalists … focus on finding moments during a wedding that happen naturally, rather than setting up portraits.” With my background of twenty years (+) in Newspapers this is fairly obviously the route of my choice but while my children were growing up I was not only a photographer but a painter too so the formal portraits are dear to my heart and the client that I want is the one who has found a venue with a river, a lake or a view of the sea that means something special to them and at the same time allow me to create beautiful images in a gorgeous setting.

    Here in Wales I was asked for a period style approach to a recent wedding to suit a particular venue, a genuine stately pile with peacocks to prove it. 
       

Where were you on the wedding day?

       But by the time the wedding took place, the lake at the stately pile, a lake that I had much admired, had become a ditch full of red sand and, nobody told me that the grand entrance, where I stood to greet the bride with a head full of pre-planned images to create, had been dumped in favour of a gritty, hilly track at the back door without an atom of scenic splendour. As I scrambled round to the back of the building, just as the Rolls crawled gingerly down the track, I found myself repeating with considerable force that truly journalistic phrase, “just do it, just do it!”

Arrival of the bride

Wikipedia says: “The phrase wedding photojournalist has been in vogue for at least ten years and has now become almost synonymous with normal wedding photography”. Does that mean it is possibly a bit passé now?

   I don’t know what the next big thing will be, trash the dress never really appealed to me, and nor did the stiff line-ups of the sixties and seventies but the period mood brought on by Downton Abbey I would have liked to do properly. A stately home and sepia toning is not quite enough. Maybe the next period drama will bring in a look more suited to today’s young.

Dreaming the dream on your wedding day

      The important thing, I believe, is that the bride and groom when they look at their photographs remember how they felt about each other in that ‘just married’ moment, rather than remembering any exhausting antics their photographer might have been imposing upon them.

Wedding garters, Brides and Bacchanalian guests.

      Many brides have a pretty garter under several petticoats and the yards of lace, satin, taffeta or brocade that go to make up a wedding dress. Often they are blue, they are sometimes borrowed but they are rarely flashed at the photographer until late in the evening when the party spirit takes hold.

A bride's garter, too pretty to be hidden

Another bride with a pretty garter 

     I’m often surprised how rarely guests turn weddings into bacchanalian revels. However there are a colourful few who prove the exception to the rule from unruly guests to disgraceful fathers of the bride. and then there are one or two bridegrooms, so anxious to join their mates and party that the first dance simply doesn't happen, of course there are no pictures of that! 

About to tuck in to his breakfast.

This stand in for the deceased father of the bride was taking his duties seriously.

Wedding, what wedding? Brides father with his mates, preparing to make his speech

Did I really say that?

The new bridegroom can't believe his ears but the bride is not surprised.

Judging by the look on his new son in law's face whatever he said was truly unacceptable.

And a good time was had by all

There was a roaring noise coming from this lot but they were beyond speech.

When the groom is well over six foot he needs a lot of friends

     The best revelry pics often come from jewish weddings as the groom's mates hoist him on their shoulders in the course of dancing the hava nageela. I'm not sure that anyone has to be drunk for this but I think it helps.

For more beautiful brides and revealing moments visit my website

Wedding dresses back to the Future

Bride and groom sharing a private moment in the back streets of Nerja in southern Spain

     The back details of a bride's dress are sometimes very beautiful but there are other reasons for photographing backs: one of the reasons is clearly seen above, the further away the bride and groom move from friends, family and photographer the more the illusion of privacy is created and the photographer can record intimate moments without intruding.

       

Bridesmaids displaying enviable tans and rosebuds in their hair       

      Another reason for photographing these backs apart from their beautiful tans is it's an ideal way of recording the scenery and visually establishing where the wedding took place. Yes it could be Italy, but the bride will always be reminded that she was in fact in Spain.

Bridal couples in the beautiful grounds of Margam Park have plenty of space for walking

         Back home in England or Wales, the weather does occasionally prevent bridal couples from wandering too far from their wedding celebrations for fear of a soaking.

An umbrella can be handy if it rains all day, even if the bridegoom doesn't know what to do with it

      My first years as a photographer were not spent surrounded by gorgeous dresses and party people on their best behaviour at a wedding, but on the mean streets of South London before the developers moved in and raised their profile and status. Local newspapers were great training grounds, like repertory theatres for actors, lots of opportunities to practice your craft.
      I first got taken on, as a staff photographer, by my local paper, the Balham and Tooting News,  many years ago (largely because the lovely editor knew that taking on a woman would annoy his  cocky, macho-male incumbent who was, at the time, holding him to ransom over which jobs he would or wouldn’t do, particularly in the evening and at weekends).

         The poor dear man imagined that a woman would be more malleable. Ha! 

         He warned me that if I didn't take the job there would be no more freelance work because with two staffers he couldn't justify the cost.

         I was very much afraid I wouldn't be able to cope. I loved taking photographs and had closely studied a correspondence course on what newspapers want and how to present stuff to editors (no internet in those days, no emailing a couple of frames to the news desk and ringing up to harass the picture edit later) but my professional experience was limited to shooting a few teenage love stories in a freelance capacity, for “My Guy”, placing occasional articles in magazines, and six months working freelance for that same paper.

         So my first dispatch to a football match came as a shock to both of us.

       In a way it was fortunate that the match was a non-league event at Tooting and Mitcham because I hadn’t a clue where to stand, sit, kneel or what the game was about. I found a spot by the goalpost and was soon chatting away to the goalkeeper who didn’t really seem to have much to do.

          When the game hotted up and play came down our end of the pitch my power winder came into it’s own and I shot an entire reel of film (36 frames). However when the ball went into the net, a large sweaty bloke covered in mud (perhaps the captain) hurtled towards the goal and suggested to the goalkeeper that something other than the ball would be kicked if he didn’t keep his mind on the game. At this point I retreated to the side lines.

      Twenty minutes later I had regained my courage and was happily snapping away, running up and down the lines behind the linesman.

      History doesn’t relate what the referee said to me because fortunately I can’t remember it!

         I would love to say that I took wonderful pictures that day but history does relate what my editor said:

           “Patsy, this is useless, you’ve got nothing but the backs of their heads”. 
          At the time it was a lesson well learned.

But what doesn't work in sport can add an extra dimension to wedding photography.

A beautiful dress in the courtyard of this hotel in Seville creates a lovely design for an album

Visit my website for more happy bridal couples

       

      

            

Glorious June in Monmouthshire

Llanvihangel Court a dream venue for a a period wedding

     Llanvihangel Court has it all: glorious old stones, lakes and lily pads, weeping willows and wild life to match. The most beautiful setting for a July wedding. At this time of year I enjoy my reconnoitres. I love to prowl around the setting for next month's wedding and find the best spots to which I'll bring my bride and groom in the 20 minutes or so that we can snatch away from their friends and guests to create the centre pieces for their albums.

The court peacocks on display for visitors and brides alike

          There is something extra special about a venue with peacocks strutting their stuff on the lawns and this one knew how to show off for a visiting photographer when I was up there a short while ago. 
       I'm wondering if he will be so obliging on my lovely couple's big day? 
       As I suspect his display was not for me at all, but for a shy, dun-coloured peafowl lurking in the surrounding bushes, I'm not sure that my bride and groom will be able to orchestrate any  display at all in July.  Even should they wish to. 

A beautiful weeping willow dips its fronds into the water

      The ideal spot for a bridal panorama is this stretch of water, brown and slatey on the damp day of my visit but hopefully reflecting those lovely trees accompanied by a blue sky and fluffy white clouds on the wedding day.

       If not,  the wedding umbrella is always on standby.

For more brides with and without umbrellas:

 

Sunshine, Summertime and Sunsets

Beautiful bride, overjoyed to be in the snowy Welsh Valleys  

     
     In reality the bride above would have her hair soaking wet from the mist, the hem of her lovely dress black and sodden with mud and her beautiful arms like the carcass of a turkey with goose bumps and frozen flesh........ nice.
    Even photographers have to take a holiday in the sun eventually…..! When they become desperate enough.

      The desperation this time was caused by the longest, coldest, winter most people up here in the Welsh Valleys can remember. With a summer of wall to wall welsh wet to look forward to, a trip to Majorca at the end of April seemed to be a necessity for health and sanity reasons and for the health and safety of the brides I shall be photographing. 

Majorcan idyll, a great place for a wedding

          For most of my working life since my children were large enough to fend for themselves I have taken holidays covering colourful events in France, the Gipsy Pilgrimage from Les Saintes Maries de la Mer, being one of my favourites and various pageants in Spain and Italy coming in close runners up, because the pictures still sell and the events are fun in themselves.

           This April trip had no monetary motive. Rest, relaxation and a little roasting in the Mediterranean sun was the sum total of my aspirations. However although I resisted taking my wedding cameras and my favourite lenses (that hurt) a camera is still a must. 

A classy venue, except for the plastic cups.

Not a lager lout in sight, the plastic cups are there to preserve the safety of little feet, and the lovely 
racing yachts below give Arenal a decidedly elegant air.

Yacht racing in the charming seaside town of Arenal

           My battered FujiFinePix with its 28-300 mm lens is always the camera I choose for family snaps and beach outings and despite the lack of control in focusing and it’s inability to produce sharp images when the lens is covered in sand or greasy fingermarks, it does produce some surprisingly attractive images. Particularly some delightful sunsets, something I have never been lucky enough to encounter in Wales!

At the end of a hot day, a glorious display by the setting sun

    Any beautiful Welsh bride deciding to get married in the sunshine of Mallorca, I'm ready and available, my Spanish is excellent, my skills unquestioned and what's more, I know exactly where to find the best sunsets. 
        Which is not to say that I won't be only too happy to provide a large white umbrella and the identical skill set anywhere in the triangle between the Gower, Brecon and Cardiff.

To see more, slightly warmer brides visit my website

Candle in the Wind

Sadly I did not get to photograph this wedding

      As I seem to spend most of my waking hours concerning myself with weddings it is hardly surprising if my mind turns quite frequently to iconic brides.
     There is no doubt that Prince William's bride Kate Middleton is a lovely girl, a very pretty girl and a very sane, sensible seeming, girl. She was a beautiful bride, who it easy to believe will make a wonderful wife and mother to William and his children for many years to come.
     But when it comes to icons, I don't think she can hold a candle to the fragile, dangerous and extremely vulnerable glamour of Princess Di.
    And coming across two photographs I shot of her when I was working as newspaper photographer in London in the early eighties you can see some of the reasons why.
     I was lucky enough in those days to photograph many members of the royal family, the Queen, Princess Anne, the Queen mother and Prince Charles as well as Princess Di.
    The only one who held any truck with the pack of photographers, that always surrounded the royal family, was Prince Charles, who I remember at a Sports Festival in Battersea Park seizing a bicycle made for two, leaping upon it and cycling away from us shouting "I bet you can't catch me on this".
      Indeed we couldn't but it made us laugh as we tried vainly to run after him.
      In those days he was nicknamed 'action man' amongst the press corps.
      But the one thing the whole family had in common was a 'Touch me not aura' that was like a transparent fence. I don't remember anyone ever trying to touch any of them.
    However Princess Di was the exact opposite wherever she went she had the famous 'common touch',  an emotional contact with everyone she came in contact with. This often led to members of the general public reaching out for her.

At a birthday party in an old people's home in Wandsworth

   She stood closer to them and shared their experiences as if she were a member of their own family rather than a royal.

Look how close to this barrier Princess Diana is standing

Causing people, complete strangers to reach out and in this case pull her towards them before planting a noisy smacker on her cheek.

For more beautiful and iconic brides visit my website

Panoramic possibilities

Wedding day blues: the skin tones are first red then gradually turning blue for this brave couple

      Even in February with the bride and groom shivering under threatening Welsh skies in Craig y Nos Parc, for the photographer, a stretch of water is an immediate cue for a bit of creativity.

     For this couple a swift embrace is the only way the bridegroom can combat frostbite.

Sam and Damien at ease beside the water garden in the Villa Romana, Marbella

      I was about to write a piece about wedding traditions but it will have to wait.

      Having just finished creating an album for a delightful couple, who got married last month, I realized that, the album is one of the areas of being a wedding photographer that I absolutely adore.

Lindsey and Jonas sharing an umbrella beside the beautiful small lake at King Arthurs Hotel on the Gower peninsula

            This is partly because of my passion for the panorama!

         The last half a dozen albums, put together by yours truly,  have all contained this quite rare beast. In fact I bought a camera last year that was supposed to do the job for you… and more to the point I actually tried it out several times. However, unsurprisingly, cameras really can’t  be relied to create this sort of image without some pretty uncomplimentary distortions to faces and bodies.

            No it’s back to the photographer to remember that when they shoot the image they must shoot another half as much again to create their final image in the darkroom or in photoshop. 

For more brides and grooms testing the water see my website

Laughter is.......

 Craig y Nos Parc after their wedding ceremony Anghared and Matin relaxing

       Having spent an entire week on my computer, closeted with the two romantic souls who married last week on Valentine’s day, I discovered that the gentle portraits I shot between the ceremony venue in Abercraf and the reception venue  at the Brecon Castle Hotel were not necessarily my favourite photographs of the day.

     I’m surprised at how often this happens and I imagine that possibly the couples themselves experience a similiar progression.  First checking out the images where they both look gorgeous and then maybe? preferring the laughter and shared special moments.

When it comes to carrying off his bride, no caveman could do it better.

 Beautiful Angharad pleased to discover her new husband has survived his efforts.

     The only problem with the computer is, it can't tell me what on earth Martin can have said to her
while the choir was singing to produce this burst of laughter.

I'm sure this has nothing to do with the words the choir are singing.

For more laughing couples visit my website

Brecon Castle Hotel hosts a Valentine's day Wedding

Craig y Nos Parc a beautiful place to relax on your wedding day

       As the bride said to me when arriving at her mother’s house, I failed to recognize her. “I scrub up well, don’t I?” 

She' s in the pink! Wedding day glamour for Angharad

        Always a pretty girl, the joy and excitement of her wedding day transformed her into a beauty. When I mentioned this,  I got a sardonic hmph! 
"Being made up to within an inch of your life will do it every time!"

         The bride on the arm of her father comes down the aisle of Saint David's church in Abercraf, South Wales. 

For more gorgeous brides visit my website

Not quite a wedding!

Wedding day indifference

     Well, I covered the lovely little ankle-biters ceremony and although it had none of the things that make a wedding day special it definitely wasn't a complete disaster.
       Not a hoody in sight!
       Despite a very chilly church and no sense of occasion, I think a good time was had by all. The English Vicar was charming and funny (even if the jokes went straight over the heads of all the assembled company) and the children, mainly Welsh speakers (I believe) were very well behaved and sang their Welsh song very well.

Wedding disappointment? Or is she just cold?

      The most noticeable difference about this wedding, apart from the height of the participants was the complete lack of interest of the bride in her groom and vice versa.

       

For happier bridal couples visit my website

Happiness

Wedding prospects. Butter wouldn't melt. 

Dear Parents,

        "As part of our current work on the theme 'happiness' we have arranged a class wedding to be held in the village church on Wednesday 6th February."

        I found a piece of paper containing this message on my doorstep this morning.
        Fate........ I decided. Instead of, (the more likely) little bit of carelessness from a neighbouring child.

        I do know that in the past I have attended dozens of of carol services, nativity plays, concerts and recitals from the 'oh so adorable' under 5 age group, each time anticipating enchantment, and nine times out of ten have been hideously disappointed.
        The choristers are never wearing the lovely red garments with the white surplices so beloved of TV shows, in fact half of them nowadays sport, scruffy grey hoodies so you can barely see their faces at all, let alone the expressions of religious rapture that I always conjure up, in my 'hope springs eternal' imagination. Instead legions of grubby, grimacing, nose picking, squinting little monsters, present themselves, resisting all attempts to turn them into Botticelli cherubs.

Wedding cherub. The exception that proves the rule.

This little angel was slightly overawed by the half a dozen grown up bridesmaids she had to share her mothers attention with on the day.

    Probably a good thing that these two were only having a laugh as they are brother and sister!

        But I think it's a charming and brave thing my village school is planning on doing.
        Now all I need to do is find the church and the time of the ceremony! And set about getting the various permissions necessary to attend.

Daddy's little princess before she got stuck into the ice cream and started crawling around the floor.

     From the enchanting baby put on the table for the camera by its doting father, to an army of flufflily dressed tots and tinies:

Wedding frills for a pair of bridesmaids

up to and including an elegantly gowned thirteen year old singing for the guests at her mother's ceremony, there is nothing that gives more pleasure to those participating at  a wedding than having their offspring appreciated by the assembled company.

Wedding songbird, delighting the guests .

For more grown up brides and grooms visit my website