Lucy and Martin's Wedding at Wiston House, West Sussex.

Saturday saw me cover the wedding of Lucy and Martin at the wonderful Wiston House in West Sussex.

It was the first wedding of a very busy weekend, and for once we had a very hot and sunny few days to enjoy.

Lucy and Martin had managed to obtain special permission from the Archbishop to be married in the pretty old chuch within the grounds of Wilton Park with everything taking place within the estate.

Here a few early favourite shots from the day.

Latest Harley-Davidson Shoots for Shaw Speed Shop in East Sussex

Our friends at Shaw Harley-Davidson have been hard at it again, producing even more stunning custom Harley's for their clients.

Along the way they have won awards for the results of their endeavours in London, Germany and France.

The new Shaw Speed Shop is rapidly becoming a big success story in these troubled economic times and to boost awareness of the fabulous service and work at the dealership, they have continued to commission us to photograph the latest bikes out of the workshops and shoot images on location for their international advertising campaigns.

Here are a few recent images. The location shots were taken on a very bright but very cold and windy day on Eastbourne seafront and at the Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour.

The black and white shot of yours truly in action was kindly supplied by Gary Ticehurst of Shaw H-D.

Location Cover Shoot.

















Some Recent Studio Shots.

A stunning custom V-Rod





A James Dean/Porsche Spyder Tribute.







X-bones-based Custom Soft Tail.



Johnny Cash Tribute Soft Tail.

Clare and Simon's Wedding at the English Wine Centre, East Sussex

Clare and Simon chose to get married at the very beautiful, English Wine Centre in East Sussex.

I hadn't covered a wedding there for about 4 years and in that time the venue has gone a transformation under the new owners. The landscaped garden is quite stunning and really compliments the feel of the rustic barn and marquee.

I had originally been recommended to Clare and Simon by good friends of theirs who's wedding i covered a couple of years back.

We were treated to lovely May sunshine and i have to say the whole wedding was extremely relaxed.

Here are a few moments from the day.

May Workshop Report: The Grand Hotel Eastbourne

Tuesday saw me hold my fourth intensive REAL World Wedding Workshop for aspiring and established wedding photographers.

The venue was the superb Grand Hotel in Eastbourne, a spectacular building blessed with fabulous staff and service that all goes to make the day one to remember.

A sell out the day was attended by Nick Mifsud of South West Photo Mounts who supply my stunning wedding albums from Jorgensen Albums of Australia, Nigel from Fotoboxpro and Nik Stewart of Aduki Multimedia Insurance .

Although we were supposed to close by 5pm, i ended up speaking to about 7.15pm as i tried to answer the many questions that the delegates asked in an attempt to ensure everyone left with their heads buzzing with ideas for the future of their wedding photography careers.

I really enjoy trying to save folks from the many pitfalls that abound in our business and if i have helped to point them in the right direction, i feel that the day was well worth it.

After lunch, the lovely Shelly modeled for me as i demonstrated a few ideas around the hotel, using environmental light inside and hopefully this gave the guys a few ideas to help them speed up their bridal images when shooting up against it in a real life wedding scenario. Thank you Shelly (and Mum) for helping us out.

Here's a shot that my friend and photographer Chris Mann took of me rabbiting on. I had "known" Chris for a few years on Digital Wedding Forum, but finally got to meet him face to face now that he has moved back to the UK.



I would like to thank all of you who attended and especially Dave Cosens who was a huge help on the IT side of things.

Here are a couple of images from the live shoot.

For photographers: these were taken on a dark staircase on 1600iso with an exposure of about 1/50th sec @ 2.8.







These were taken at 1/60th sec @ 2.8 on 400iso in soft window light.





Same settings and location but with Paul Weller standing in as a groom.





Same location again, but much harsher light to create a completely different feel and mood.





Same window but with a completely different look. Its amazing how much variety you can get in one place in a short space of time!





On the front porch of the Grand. Luckily we had cloud cover giving us softish light as this place is south facing.









The delegates are let loose with their cameras and Shelly!




I have been overwhelmed with the kind emails and notes that have been sent already.

Here are a few received todate.

"Thank you Peter for hosting the Wedding Photography and Business Workshop on 4 May. I thoroughly enjoyed the day, and it has given me a lot to think about on ways to improve my photography business. And, not only that, you are a really nice person! Thanks again. Brenda"

Brenda Rogers

"Hi Peter,
just a quick note to say thanks for the seminar on Tuesday, not only
was the venue absolutely superb and the food excellent, the actual
workshop was really informative and a no holds barred insight into how
you work and market your photography business.
I liked the way that any question that was asked was answered fully,
and without keeping any 'hidden' details, even your pricing and
budgets were shared without flinching! The only problem I had was
getting a word in!! The photo-shoot was a little glimpse into how you
work the light to your advantage, and great for me to get to
understand the methods of metering that you use, I got some lovely
images, I can't wait to produce similar quality images at my next
wedding!

Thanks again, and I look forward to meeting again in the future.

Best Regards
Bob Rhodes Photography"


"Peter's 'Real Wedding Workshop' was a revelation. He is incredibly
generous with his considerable knowledge, answering all our questions
with insightful enthusiasm. For someone so skilled and established he
is also very down to earth, and as such his workshop was equally
suited to near beginners as well as experienced photographers. I
learned so much in one day: from a hands-on live shoot, to answering
technical questions, and developing business and marketing potential.
All this in a refreshingly ego-free environment. Thanks very much,
Peter."

Catherine Benson

"Hi Peter,

Thanks for a great day on Tuesday, really enjoyed it and learned a lot.
I must say the venue was outstanding, you are very lucky. We don't have anything like that here in Pembrokeshire although I did recieve an enquiry about a wedding at Peterstone Court near Brecon today which looks like a lovely venue for photos. If I get it I'm hoping to put everything I learned into practice!
Well, thanks again.
Kindest regards
Kevin"

ALL about YOU Photography

Alessia's Baptism in Eastbourne

I was very pleased to be asked to cover the Baptism of baby Alessia a couple of weeks ago.



I have known her parents for a number of years and Betty had asked me to travel to the French Alps to photograph their wedding a couple of years back. Unfortunately i was already booked up as it was a summer date, but these things happen.

The Baptism was held at Christ the King Catholic Church in Eastbourne and then an informal lunch was held at the beautiful Grand Hotel in Eastbourne.

With families traveling in from France and many other places, despite the best efforts of the Icelandic volcano, it was a really good afternoon. I was asked to photograph the day in my usual documentary style as well as include some good family and godparent shots.

Here are a few moments of the day.











The proud Grandparents









Peace at last!