A Candid Portrait

I see portraits almost everywhere i go and whilst shooting a wedding i often see opportunities in stunning or dramatic light.

At a recent wedding i saw a shaft of light on a little girl who was on her Grandmother's lap during the church ceremony. It turns out that i photographed her parent's own wedding last year in Kent (small world).

I managed to grab this "quick" portrait during the hymns and thought i would share it here.

Captured by available light on my 17-55 2.8 lens.

Abi and Simon's Powdermills Hotel Wedding

As summer runs into autumn i am just catching my breath after a couple of extremely busy weekends. There is always so much to do this time of year and to add to to the workload we are busy designing and ordering new sample albums as we change things a tad for 2011 and beyond.

Abi and Simon were married at St Mary the Virgin Church at Salehurst in East Sussex. I hadn't shot at this beautiful church, a few miles north of Hastings for a number of years, so was excited to be back.

They had 8 stunning bridesmaids, our highest number of the year to look after Abi and after a lovely service the couple were greeted her pupils from the nearby Sandhurst Primary School. It was total chaos for a while outside the church door but this created plenty of emotion and exciting images.

Following the ceremony they left for one of my favourite Sussex venues, the Powdermills Hotel near Battle. Over the years i have probably covered in excess of 50 weddings there but this was my first visit of 2010.

Fortunately, after a few weeks of mixed weather we were blessed with a dry day culminating with the lighting of lanterns over the front lake.

Here are a few favourite moments of the day.

Wedding Workshop Expo at the Arndale Centre Eastbourne

Just thought i would post a photo taken by my good friend Nicky Thomas of the exhibition stand the Wedding Workshop manned last month.

The week was very busy with many people showing a huge interest in the services, advice and ideas offered by the members of our group.

This was taken Tuesday morning.

Master Photography Awards 2010

I was very pleased and excited to receive the news that one of my images has been awarded a Merit in this year's Master Photography Awards and will be exhibited on the MPA's "Wall of Fame" at the Annual Awards Dinner at the Hilton Metropole Hotel in Birmingham. The winners will be announced and presentations made there in October.

Its always great to have your work recognised by your peers and is a real boost as a busy summer passes into autumn.

Wedding Fair at the Eastbourne Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club Tomorrow

Just a quick shout to remind folks that i will be at the Wedding Workshop's wedding fair at the Sovereign Harbour Yacht Club in Eastbourne tomorrow (5th September)

The doors open 11am-4pm with entry free for everyone.

It would be great to see you there so come and say "Hello".


I will also be supporting a number of other wedding events over the next few weeks and here are the details:

19th September: The Cavendish Hotel, Eastbourne (11-4)

26th September: Ashdown Park Hotel, East Sussex (10-3)

10th October: Loseley Park, Surrey (11-4)

31st October: Wiston House, West Sussex

Rebecca and Sam's Wedding at Ashdown Park Hotel

Sometimes, a wedding stands tall in your memory and this was certainly one of them. Mind you, 2010 has been a vintage year for stunning and exciting weddings for me.

Rebecca and Sam's wedding was a terrific day, despite the inclement weather. It really was a mixed bag but in between the showers i managed to capture some terrific images from their day.

The ceremony was held at the beautiful St Paul's Church, near Tunbridge Wells, and this was the second time i had shot there this year. It really is so refreshing to have such a welcoming vicar who made life easy to photograph the ceremony and the church's stunning candlelit interior.

The reception was a 20 minute drive through the Sussex countryside to one of my favourite venues, Ashdown Park Hotel.

In a strange way the rain enabled us us to take the opportunity to produce some amazing shots, shooting inside the breathtaking chapel with its huge stain glass windows. I love the challenge of working in low and challenging light and the settings gave me an excuse to go to town, following my career-long passion of shooting with wide angle lenses. I have always loved my fisheye lenses!

Of late i have found myself shooting more colour images than in the past and the location was perfect for this.

It was great to work alongside my friend and amazing videographer Barry Weare and Ashdown's resident Toastmaster, Stephen Hall.

Here are some favourite images.

Wedding Fairs in Sussex

The silly season is upon us as as ever some of our favourite venues are holding wedding fairs to showcase themselves as dream locations to hold your wedding.

Of course, its lovely for us to be invited to support them and in addition as part of the Wedding Workshop, i will also be at two of the group's fairs this autumn.

Wedding Fairs are a great place for us to showcase our new albums, ideas and to meet new clients. It is a good opportunity to speak with couples about their ideas and really give them some inspiration for their wedding photography. Many will not know about how different and exciting their images can be.

It would be lovely to meet and speak to as many couple as possible so if you want to take a look, ask any questions or even just say "hello" please drop into to one to shows below.

5th September: The Yacht Club at Eastbourne's Sovereign Harbour (11-4)

19th September: The Cavendish Hotel, Eastbourne (11-4)

26th September: Ashdown Park Hotel, East Sussex (10-3)

10th October: Loseley Park, Surrey (11-4)

31st October: Wiston House, West Sussex