I spent a few days at Saint Audries park near Taunton, Somerset for Elizabeth & Lee’s wedding last week and what a fantastic wedding it was too. I had been looking forward to it for a while as it was a bit out of the ordinary. Firstly I spent almost 3 days with the Bride, Groom and guests. Elizabeth wanted a really intimate wedding which felt more like a holiday with all of her friends (and me!) This gave me a lot of time to get to know everyone there which I really enjoyed. I was also shooting the entire wedding in black and white. I love black and white images and think they lend themselves very well to weddings as it is easier to see emotion and feelings when you strip away the colour but I had never attempted to cover an entire event in monochrome. It may seem a little strange having no colour images from your wedding but it fitted perfectly with the black and white theme for the wedding itself.

On the day of the wedding all the guys enjoyed a morning of Laser clay pigeon shooting, shame there was no break in the rain but it didn’t seem to dampen their spirits at all. Meanwhile the girls had cupcakes and Champagne, I certainly know where I would have rather been!

All the way through the preparations, Elizabeth was full of smiles and laughter and was soon ready for the wedding with the help of her bridesmaids. Lee waited nervously in the Orangery where the ceremony was due to take place, the light in here was fantastic as you will be able to see from the photographs below. The smiles and laughter continued all the way through the ceremony and for the rest of the day, right into the evening. After the first dance the dance floor was never empty and I was even treated to a few “dance off’s” (fortunatly I had been warned the guys were likely to get all competitive after a few drinks so I was ready, camera in hand!)

While a little out of the ordinary, I thoroughly enjoyed Elizabeth & Lee’s wedding and after spending so long with them and their friends I cant imagine their wedding any other way. I with them the best of luck for the future but I’m pretty sure they won’t need any luck.

St Audires park wedding, Clay pigeon shoot Bridesmaid prior to the wedding Guest relaxes prior to the wedding at St Audries park Bride and Brides laugh prior to their wedding Bridesmaid getting ready at St Audries park, Taunton Bride making final alterations prior to the ceremony Groom makes his way to the orangery at St Audries park, somerset Bride and Bridesmaids watch guests Groom waits as Bride arrives Bride and groom kiss during the ceremony Bride and groom laugh as they sign the register Bride and Groom celebrate being Man and Wife Bride and Groom outside St Audries Park, Taunton, Somerset Bride and Groom portrait at St Audries Park, Taunton, Somerset Bride and Groom laugh after their wedding breakfast The dancefloor at St Audries Park after the wedding.

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I was fortunate enough to spend most of my weekend with Raman and Parminder in Wolverhampton for their wedding.

I started out with Parminder during her preparations at her parents house in Willenhall. It was an early start (7:30) and the house was a picture of calm as the bride was already dressed with hair and makeup almost complete and the bridesmaids were not far behind.

We then moved on to the Gurdwara Nanaksar temple in Wolverhampton where I was treated to breakfast! (I could get used to this) A wonderful ceremony filled with tradition followed breakfast and the light in the room was about as good as it gets, it really helped me show off the wonderful outfits worn by the Bride and Groom.

After Parminder’s sisters returned Raman’s shoes (another tradition) we headed to the Ramada Park Hall hotel and the partying and dancing started as soon as we arrived as all of the guests were set on enjoying themselves. Once again we were all treated to some traditional ceremonies before heading outside to make the most of the gardens where I captured some wonderful portraits of the Bride and Groom.

Finally we returned to Parminder’s parents house for final farewells as Raman and Parminder departed for London. I had a fantastic day and while very tiring, I enjoyed every minute. I wish both Raman and Parminder all the best for their married life and want to thank them for their and their families hospitality.

bride checks her dress before her wedding bride arrives at the gurdwara nanaksar temple in wolverhampton bride portrait prior to her wedding groom is dressed prior to his wedding bride is led into the gurdwara nanaksar temple, wolverhampton bride and groom during their wedding flowers decorating the top table at the ramada park hall, wolverhampton guests dancing at wedding reception brides bother chatting to guests bride and grooms first dance at the ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom listen and smile during speeches bride and groom portrait at ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom portrait at ramada park hall, wolverhampton bride and groom leave after their wedding

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Two weeks ago I covered Bal & Derricks wedding just down the road from me in Codsall. It is always nice to have such a local wedding as very often I am booked by couples several hours drive from my home in Wolverhampton.

We were graced with fantastic weather for the wedding, brilliant sunshine, high temperatures and a nice summers breeze, anyone would have thought I was shooting a wedding in the Med! From beginning to end both Bal and Derrick were great to work with they allowed us a lot of freedom on the day to shoot what we saw instead of covering a long list of images. I don’t mind having ‘must get shots’ from Brides and Grooms but I think the freedom given to us at this wedding will really show in the album.

The reception was held just down the road from Codsall church at Chillington hall, one of the venues that recommend me as their photographer. I have said it before but I really do enjoying working closely with the guys at Chillington Hall its such a friendly atmosphere, I think due in part to it still being a family home.

Images have been processed in Aperture 3 with some extra touches in Photoshop.

bal-derrick-026 bal-derrick-039 bal-derrick-043 bal-derrick-089 bal-derrick-110 bal-derrick-141 bal-derrick-167 bal-derrick-214 bal-derrick-336 bal-derrick-353 bal-derrick-445

A couple of weeks ago I got to cover another wedding up in Leeds. This time we were at the fabulous Oulton Hall in Rothwell. The hall is set in a pristine golf complex and has some of the most amazing rooms that I have photographed in for a long time.

We covered both Bride and Grooms preparations and it would appear that Jess and Durham are perfectly matched as they were both laughing and joking from the moment we got there until we left at midnight. Its wonderful to see a couple so in love and it always seems to be infectious  as the dance floor was covered with happy couples, both young and old.

I have featured more portraits than usual, I always like to include a few from the day but the ones Bryn and Myself captured in the evening were too good not to show here.

I hope you enjoy them.

Once again these images were processed in Apple’s Aperture 3 and I am continually impressed with the colours coming out of this software.

Bridal portrait before wedding Bride walks down the isle Close up bride and groom portrait Groom hold bride close in portrait Confetti shot 1st dance Bride and groom relaxing portrait bride looks into the camera

I got the chance to travel up to Newark 2 weeks ago to cover Maureen & Bill’s wedding at Kelham Hall. I had previously shot Maureen’s brothers wedding in Lichfield.

The wedding was the Saturday before the bank holiday so being unsure how much traffic we would encounter Bryn & myself set off with at 7am to ensure we got there on time. As it turned out there was very little traffic so we ended up having a picnic breakfast out in the country, not a bad start to the day is it?

The day went swimmingly and both Maureen and Bill were on top of the world. It’s been a while since I was at a wedding with such a quantity of laughing and joking, the whole group were great fun. As for Kelham hall itself, its a great venue with stacks of great locations for photographs, I think I could shoot ten weddings there and not have to duplicate any locations.

We stayed well into the night getting some great dancing images, catching up with Paul & Miriam (Maureen’s brother and wife) and giving the guests chance to watch the slideshow.

I have included an extended sample of the pictures below, this is the first full wedding I have processed with Apple’s “Aperture 3″ software, the picture quality is second to none and I am really happy with the colour rendition too. I hope you enjoy the images.

I covered Anna and Stephen’s wedding two weeks ago at one of my regular venues, Chillington Hall in Brewood, Staffordshire. I have more information on Chillington here.

I met Anna and Stephen at one of the venue’s ‘Open days’ and we got on straight away so I was very happy when they booked me for their wedding. Anna got ready in one of the bedrooms of the historic house whereas Stephen got to fly-in via helicopter, he certainly made quite an entrance.

The ceremony was beautiful with the light streaming in from the side windows, I really do enjoy shooting at Chillington as there are so many locations to take wonderful photographs. I was only with Anna and Stephen for a few hours so we had more of a focus on group shots and portraits. We got some fantastic shots on the great staircase.

Both Anna and Stephen were great on the day, both were bubbly and determined to enjoy the day, we left them as they sat down for their wedding breakfast and I’m sure they partied long into the night!

Here are some of my favourite shots from the day.

I had the pleasure of photographing Jackie and Paul’s wedding a couple of weeks ago in Birmingham. The ceremony was held at Birmingham register office and the reception at Jury’s inn on Broad Street.

I met up with Paul and Jackie just before they left for the register office, they were both in great spirits and remained that way all day, even through the rain that came down, fortunately it eased off for the walk down to the ceremony, the group shots and the walk back.

One thing that really stood out were the speeches, Paul and Jackie invited guests to come up and say a few words and it is rare I hear so many heart felt words, everyone that stood up delivered a great speech which are a lot harder than they look!

I hope you enjoy the photographs.

I have just been informed the post that contained my review of 2009 has disappeared from my site. It was posted during the server change which is maybe where my post has got too!

Anyway, here is the reposted review of 2009 in movie form

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This is a short video of some of my favourite shots of the year.

This list is by no means exhaustive, I had to keep editing the list down so I could bring the video in under six minutes. I think it is a true reflection of my work this year though and I’m very proud of it.

Last week I spent the afternoon shooting Lizzie & Paul’s wedding in Warwick. I started off covering Lizzie’s preparations at the Warwick Arms then moved down the road to the Lord Leycester Hospital, Its a fantastic old building dating back to the 15th Century.

We had hoped to spend a few hours in Warwick getting some great portraits of the newly married couple but unfortunately the great British weather didn’t oblige us although it stayed dry enough for us to get some shots down by the river at the foot of the castle.

For the reception we moved to a small central restaurant called 7 Square. The restaurant was beautifully decorated and a perfect size for the wedding. I often comment how much I enjoy winter weddings because of the soft, low light. Well this wedding was no  different but it was really pushing the limits of what was possible without using flash. Throughout the whole day, apart from the portraits in front of the castle I was running at 3200ISO to avoid using flash but I think the extra effort was well worth it as the low natural light gives a 3D effect to the images.

I hope you enjoy the images.

Martyn