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A Spring Wedding at the Tythe Barn {Lizzie & David}

On a beautiful, warm sunny day in May last year, David and Lizzie had their wedding.

Just down the road from Lizzie’s parents home was the church they were married. So once Lizzie was dressed and ready, she walked down the little back lane to the ceremony.  The church service and the marriage ceremony was really important to Lizzie and David and even made sure their vicar from their local London church was able to come out to Oxford to be apart of the celebration.

After the wedding, I stole Lizzie and David for a quick few minutes of photos in the meadow close to their church, and then afterwards everyone headed to the Tythe Barn near Bicester for the rest of the wedding day.

I’ve had the pleasure of photographing the Tythe Barn plenty of times over the last few years, and I’m never tired of it.  It’s a really lovely venue run by an incredible team that is really passionate.   The Tythe Barn really stands out with their beautiful wisteria-covered walkway in their courtyard that comes into bloom every spring.

Everything about this wedding was so much fun to photograph, not only was it a beautiful and sunny day, with a stunning backdrop, but Lizzie and David and all their friends and family were fantastic to get to know throughout the day.   I felt like Lizzie and I were kindred sports with our love of a good spreadsheet, and I definitely enjoyed David’s enjoyment of owning his own ducks.

Thanks again for having me!

 

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The Case for the Sunrise Photo Sessions

bride and groom on london's tower bridge at sunriseIt’s a Tuesday morning, and I’m catching the first train from my house into central London.

I’m not a morning person. Honestly, I’d rather have a lie-in until 9 AM than be on a 5:30 AM train. But I do this because I firmly believe in the perks of having a sunrise photo session with my clients.

In the photography world, the term “magic hour” is thrown around a lot.  Essentially it’s the time that the sun is lower in the sky and it creates more dramatic and golden light. It happens both in the morning and in the evening. It’s a much more flattering light than when it’s completely overhead.  It can create a beautiful backlight or a dramatic front light, and it’s by far my favourite type of light to work with.

But the golden hour isn’t the only reason to get up early in the morning, but it’s the empty streets.   London can get incredibly busy, especially around some of the prominent landmarks.

Tower Bridge, in particular, is one area that works best at sunrise.  The rest of the day, the bridge is full of both commuters and tourists, filling out the walkways and feeling overrun.  But first thing in the morning, the only other people you might run into are some morning joggers.  The bridge feels empty and looks beautiful.  So even if we don’t get any of that stunning morning light, the empty pathways make it worth the early morning.

Here’s another angle of tower bridge that is also typically quite busy in the middle of the day, but first thing in the morning, it feels peaceful.

a couple reading together during their engagement session in london

But it’s not only Tower Bridge that can be worth the early morning.  Some of London’s iconic train stations become insanely busy as the day moves on.  Here’s a shot from Stuart and Ashley’s morning shoot at Saint Pancreas Station. As one of the busiest train stations in the UK, this entrance would generally have a lot of people and cars in the background, but first thing in the morning, it’s perfectly quiet.

bride and groom in londons saint pancras station

Even on the streets, London is more photogenic at sunrise.  Here’s a couple of frames from the morning of Catherine and Micheals wedding a few years ago.

I know that I’m also asking a lot from my clients to make the sunrise photoshoot happen.  While I can show up in the morning without putting a lot of thought into my look, since I’m behind the camera, but I know my clients want to look their best, which takes extra time.   If you’re worried about the getting ready process, there are some hair and makeup artists (which I’m happy to recommend) that are willing to do the early morning.  And it’s worth the effort to pre-book a taxi to our starting point, as finding something on the street at that time of morning may be impossible.

So if you’re not put off by the idea of getting dressed up and heading out an ungodly hour, why not give a sunrise session a go?

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Album Fundraiser for UK Food Banks

You’re stuck at home for the next few weeks, and I’m stuck at home for the next few weeks.  You’ve been meaning to get around to ordering your wedding album but haven’t really had time to select the images. I’ve had my shoots and upcoming weddings over the next few weeks postponed.  But why should you think about ordering your wedding album right now when there’s a crisis?

Here’s the plan…

Every single of penny of profit I make from print sales and wedding albums in the next two weeks will go to The Trussell Trust,  a charity that supports 2/3rds of all of the UK’s food banks.  They are working hard at the moment to help people that need emergency food right now, including those that have been affected by the Coronavirus outbreak.

I will be donating all of my time spent on design and admin, and you will receive a beautiful, bespoke handmade album of your favourite images from your wedding day.  You’ll have a stunning family heirloom and also made a purchase that will help families around the UK during this difficult time.

Each album purchase includes: 

  • A completely custom layout and design (and 3 rounds of graphic design revision included in the price)
  • A bespoke handmade album of your choice with real leather, linen or velvet covers.
  • Up to two lines of text on the cover of your album.
  • At least 80 of your favourite images from your wedding (and expandable up to 240 more images depending on the book size).
  • A flexible, lay-flat design, that includes full-width-images across two pages and custom layouts.
  • 240 GSM Paper
  • A matching linen box and canvas cover bag
  • All shipping costs
  • No additional VAT charges (photo albums are VAT exempt)

You can see more of your options here on my Artbook Album Order Form.

The exact amount of profit varies depending on your album selection, but I’ll let you know exactly how much this will be once we’ve gone through the order and design process.  Naturally, the bigger album you order, the more money will be donated to The Trussell Trust.

If I shot your wedding years ago, that’s not a problem, your gallery is still active for you to make your image selections.  If you’re one of my future clients, you can pre-order your album now and those profits will still be donated to help UK food banks.

If you’d like to just order a print, this can easily be done through your image galleries.  I’ll send you a personal email shortly afterwards to let you know how much your donation will be.

So if you’re looking for a good way to spend some of your downtime over the next couple of weeks, get started on your image selection!

Here are some images of what your album could look like to help get you started!! And when you’re ready, fill out the order form to get the ball rolling!

I really can’t wait to see if this works and I’m really excited to see if we can use our downtime to not only make some incredible albums but do some good in the world.

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Bushy Park and Teddington Cricket Club Wedding {Amelia & Josh}

This wedding was definitely one of a kind.  From a sunny outdoor ceremony, a sequin dress, and a lot of drunken mayhem, it was so much fun to photograph.  

Amelia and Josh really loved London’s Bushy Park, which sits right next to the grounds of Hampton Court Palace. They wanted their wedding day to feature the beautiful late summer fields and views of over the park, and so they were lucky enough to find the Teddington Cricket Club, which sat just inside Bushy Park and but still gave them loads of private open space.  It felt like we were in the middle of the country, not still inside London!  

The first kiss shot from this wedding has to be one of my favourite first kiss shots ever.  During the ceremony, their little son couldn’t bare to be away from them, so he ended up at their feet as they said their vows to each other.   When it came to their first kiss, he was still at their feet! 

Later in the day, we were treated to the most fantastic sunset.  So we went for a quick walk to take advantage of the magical light.  Amelia’s sequin dress just glimmered in the sun!  Afterwards, the party got a little crazy, and some of the cricket equipment made it’s way to the dance floor and even the bride and groom taking the stage as apart of the wedding band.  

Amelia and Josh- Thank you so much for having me photograph your amazing wedding! I know you really wanted your wedding photography to feel as natural and relaxed as possible, and I really think it was exactly that.  I really felt a part of the wedding, and I really had an amazing time with all your family and friends.  I’m so glad you love your images, and I loved being apart of it all! 

A big thank you to the lovely Caroline from Do Events for being the planner of this wedding.  The whole wedding was thrown for a bit of a loophole when the brand new clubhouse at Teddington Cricket Club fell behind schedule, and wouldn’t be open in time for their wedding. Caroline sprung into action and was able to move the whole wedding to a marquee on the grounds.   It was impressive how the wedding could still come together so quickly despite the building change last minute.   It was lovely working with you! 

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My Favourite Images of 2019

2019 marked the 10th year of me shooting weddings.

Which is insane, because I swear it was just yesterday,. I know this makes me sound a little old, but I can’t believe how quickly the time passes. It’s like you blink and it’s been ten years.

And as I get older, the more important photography has become. I’ve started making a massive mission of rescuing my digital files from the deep dark depths of the internet and printing them off. I realised that even my own wedding photos were stored on a CD and I know longer own something that reads a CD. (I’ve now started putting print credits in my packages to help encourage my clients to print their photos!)

Every single year, I’m blown away by how awesome my clients are and how much they trust me to just do my thing. This type of client trust is empowering as a photographer and it really does feel like my clients are allowing me to capture the emotion that is really there in the room.

It’s the type of trust that makes me so thankful and happy that this has been my career for the last ten years. I really couldn’t imagine doing anything else. To be able capture these moments for my clients, the same ones I know their going to treasure years from now, is the most rewarding thing ever.

Thank you so much to my amazing clients from 2019! You’ll were fantastic to get to know and work with. I couldn’t have made any of these images without your support and trust!

Bride and Groom walking together with romantic graffiti
bride looking out of window about to get married
engagement photoshoot in Notting Hill
london engagement photo session
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