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

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

Vintage Wedding

29 January 2013

         A potential client contacted me this week and with one word turned me from a business like adult into a six year old, salivating, at seeing her first confectioners window (probably in France where they have all the sticky, chocolatty, goodies on display). What did she say?

She said, I’d like a sort of ‘Vintage’ look.

       "How lovely." I shrieked.

Ideal wedding material in these gorgeous little bonnets?

    From the sepia tones of the 1880’s through the muted colours of the 20’s and thirties to the sharp black and white of the forties and fifties all these presentation styles have their delights but they are as nothing to the possibilities they present in terms of era?

Wedding bliss according to the movies 1820's

       Could she be wearing a Jane Austen style dress, puff sleeves, a sweetheart neckline and one of those gorgeous, little bonnets that frame the face and turn every Miss Jones into Clara Bow?

Not a wedding, the sixtieth birthday party of the Fagan tribe's patriarch

Or could she be wearing something out of the 1900’s with large frilly skirts and even larger hats sprouting window boxes of flowers, feathers and frills. Like in this picture of my family in Ireland in the 1900’s.

     Look at all those pillars!

(So where is this house now? Why isn’t it mine? And where did all the money go?) 

I can surely be forgiven for a little curiosity? 

     

Two gorgeous  Catherine Dean modern wedding dresses in slinky 1920's  Downton Abbey style

      The only thing my potential bride has mentioned since my reaction to the word ‘vintage’ turned into semi-hysteria is that the dress is satin and very figure hugging. That does sound exactly like all those lovely slinky, 1910/1920 Downton Abbey gowns.

I can’t wait.

For more lovely brides and their stylish spouses go to my website.

Black Wedding

17 January 2013

Natalie Portman beautiful as the evil temptress in Black Swan

     "Brides have been wearing white since the Victorian era, so perhaps it is time for a new colour to be introduced?" So says a pundit on the wedding web.

      " When you think of wedding gowns,  a white or ivory confection comes to mind. But recently designers such as Vera Wang have been experimenting with a bold alternative: black. Some may say it can look distinctly Gothic, therefore undermining love, while others  say it is a statement dress that everyone will remember.  It will be interesting to see if this trend will reach local bridal boutiques or will be restricted to the cat walks. Is black the next white?" The pundit continues.

Wedding day bling. Did Klimt get it right is gold the colour of love?

     She definitely wasn't thinking of gold, or to be exact yellow but Klimt's wonderful exercise in bling maybe gets it right.

     The only problem I can see looking at Vera Wang's selection, of predominantly black dresses, on her website is that all the striking girls wearing these witchy black wedding gowns (the designer herself is said to have admitted that they are on the 'witchy' side) would probably look more attractive in white, cream, ivory or almost any other pastel shade. 

    The rebellious, statement making, drama queens who might be tempted to weddings with a gothic look, might be put off by 'gothic' being a bit passé these days, and are surely the girls who would probably find the whole idea of getting 'married' an anathema anyway.

     Better than the designer black perhaps, a scarlet woman?

Ruby red wedding dress for a foxy lady.

   However, I don't think it is the colour black that is at fault. Any bride thinking of a dramatic statement dress might well be tempted by the look above. All it requires is the healthy beauty of a real woman rather than the clothes horse, bag of bones, "you wanna see my skeleton? " image demanded of model girls.

Five lovely bridemaids in black and not a witch amongst them

More Swan Lake than Hansel and Gretel, the black tiara and stunning eye make-up above would certainly set off a black wedding gown. If you then dress your bridesmaids in fluffy white tulle you have all the style, romance and drama that your friends swan like forms can support. 
    You can have the choice between being Odette or Odile, black swan or white, (if I were you I'd base the decision more on Tchaikovski 's ballet than the heart rending cinematic update of the same theme).

    Less  art and ballet and more happy brides on my website

Bridal pair run off to Coity Castle

Bridgend couple add romance to their wedding celebrations

        Special people Alison Reynolds and Darren Wyatt got married at the Great House Hotel in Laleston on Saturday, August 20^th.

      As we all know the Welsh winter had already set in by then and threatened to ruin our more exotic plans.

      The night before the big day, the Friday, the bridal couple had paid a visit to a rather soggy Coity Castle to see if it was possible to shoot some pictures within it’s romantic confines. The Castle itself looked as dramatic and inviting as ever but wet grass and mud are not things most brides associate with wedding dresses and satin shoes.

     If it doesn’t rain on the day, we told ourselves. It did rain on the day….. and it stopped ……..and it rained again…… but our indomitable couple proved to be made of stern stuff, and undaunted we set off.
   Fleeing the wedding venue immediately after the ceremony, the glamorous bride swapped her high heels for something a little more resilient once we were through the Castle gateway. Once there the old stones seemed to be waiting just for us and we spent a truly happy half hour exploring Coity’s nooks and crannies, it’s archways and bridges, it’s dungeons and towers. There is no doubt in my mind that the awesome history and dramatic beauty of the deserted ruin added a sense of adventure to what was already a perfect day.
Romantic wedding photographs in Bridgend