Weekly photo challenge: ‘mine’

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Each week there’s a WordPress photo challenge – an invitation to post an image related to a particular theme, this week’s being ‘mine’. I decided to use this to post an image taken at one of this year’s weddings. The picture I chose was of a small girl at a woodland wedding I photographed in June. She was sitting in a tent, eating sausages in a bun. This is just one of the shots I took of the children – they usually make the best subjects as they tend to be uninhibited and rarely seem to notice the camera. Of course, this isn’t obviously a photograph taken at a wedding, but this was hardly a run of the mill type of wedding anyway. For me, I’m sure she is thinking the bun is most definitely “mine”.

Lost in the moment

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Here’s one of the photographs from Tracy and Ian’s woodland wedding held in June in the grounds of The Old Rectory, Great Melton near Norwich. I hadn’t given this picture much thorught originally, partly because I had so many images of the bridesmaids that I really liked. But going back through all the pictures taken in the house, around the time the bride was getting ready and the young bridesmaids were exploring the property, this is one that interested me.

In the music room there were all kinds of musical instruments set out, to the great delight of the bridesmaids, who no doubt were glad of a break between getting ready and the time when they would have to go out through the gardens to the marquee where the ceremony would be held (and hoping that the rain would stay away). I went into the room with them, hoping something interesting would happen.

She’s so lost in what she’s doing, she’s taking no notice of me as I capture her concentration. For me, it’s one of those things easily missed, and probably not even looked for if you’re concentrating totally on the bride of even just switching off for a while. Of course, the image isn’t obviously taken at a wedding, but it’s one of the parts of the day to record and appreciate just as much as shots of the main activity. It’s an ordinary shot, but it’s full of meaning.

Putting details in context

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When it comes to photographing weddings, I’m a big believer in getting those detail shots in such a way that their context is clear. On its own, a picture of flowers, table decorations, place cards, shoes or whatever isn’t going to have anything like the same emotional resonance as a picture that relates the detail to people, or at least something that shows it’s clearly taken at a wedding.

As an illustration, here’s a picture I took at a wedding earlier this year in Norwich. It’s in a church, it looks like a wedding, the people are obviously concentrating on what’s being said, but the focus is clearly on the coloured ribbons in centre shot, and that’s exactly what I had intended. I like other elements of the composition – the strong curve of the wooden railing linking the people together and drawing the eye to the centre of the frame, but for me the main thing here is to establish the context of the decorative details.

Image of the month 7

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Looking through the images I saved from a July impromptu photo shoot outside the Assembly House in Norwich, from which I selceted the previous image of the month, I decided that I rather liked this one than I at first thought. It’s a fairly ordinary shot of two groups of people talking, and I had to crop out some distracting details to the sides, but there is a certain symmetry in the basic composition. We have two pairs of people taling to each other and engrossed in their conversations. Are the two women closer friends than the two men, or is their sense of personal space a significant factor? It’s easy to be drawn in and to speculate on their relationships. A black and white conversion helps to focus on the people in centre frame and ignore the unnecessary details.

 

A Cambridge photoshoot

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Browsing through some photographs I took in Cambridge a couple of years ago, I came across some great black and white conversions – I’d forgotten how much I liked these at the time. There are shots of people and objects, mainly in and around Magdalen Bridge and King’s College.

The one I’ve chosen to reproduce here is one of my favourites, and could easily pass for a shot of a classic French bridal car at a wedding, especially parked as it was near King’s College. I never did discover who the owners were or what they were doing in Cambridge (and as I recall, they were given a parking ticket by a zealous traffic warden).

The Wedding Party

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Another week, another champagne reception…….this time, to mark the move of the bridal shop The Wedding Party fromn St. Benedict’s Street  to Westlegate in Norwich. I called in for a chat and to wander around, looking at some of the gifts, novelties and decorations. Just one photograph to include this time – some interesting reflactions in mirrors near the window, again taken on my camera phone.

 

Champagne reception at Pure

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Always looking for opportunities to photograph brides and wedding paraphernalia and seek out potential clients, and not being averse to the occasional glass of champagne, I went along today to a reception to celebrate the relocation of the Pure Bridal Boutique to new premises in Lower Goat Lane, Norwich. I only had my camera phone with me, but captured a few images and some of these are included here. I’m really glad I found the time to call in, as I managed to talk to several couples planning to get married, had one or two good leads, and distributed some business cards and flyers. I also had some interesting conversations with others involved in the wedding business, includig a toastmaster and a wedding cake supplier.I’ve heard there is another new opening next week, so I will be sure to look by. if I can.

Image of the month 6

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For this month I’ve chosen a picture I took of the post-wedding celebratrions outside the Assembly House in Norwich. On this occasion I had been passing by the Assembly House one Saturday afternoon in JUly after photographing the Norwich Pride parade through the town centre. I saw the people gathered around the front of the building and decided to just mill around with everyone else and take a few candid pictures. No-one seemed to mind. Maybe it’s just me, but I seem to be able to blend in with these kind of occasions.

The image shows the bride and groom in the foreground, out of focus and not the main point of interest, making the main points of interest the two women in the centre and the two men on the right. I felt this was an interesting composition and well suited to a straightforward black and white conversion. I took several other images focusing on the bride and groom so this was an interesting alternative point of view.

Canon EOS400D, 1/80 at f6.3, ISO 400

Great Melton wedding photography – Tracy and Ian

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In June I was invited to photograph Tracy and Ian’s woodland wedding in the grounds of the Old Rectory near Norwich. This was really interesting fo me as I hadn’t experienced this type of wedding before, and realised that the weather would be critical. In the end, though we dodged the showers from time to time, the day was fairly warm and the whole day was a great success. Guests mingled in a woodland garden setting with a marquee, tests, yurts and a woodland walk in the grounds of an old rectory a few miles out of Norwich.

The whole event was quite informal, with few speeches, a really interesting handfasting ceremony, storytellers and acoustic musicians.

My approach is very much that of a documentary wedding photographer or photojournalist. I try to record the events, incidents and emotions of the day as they unfold. I did get free licence to roam around and take candid photographs, and in addition a number of posed portraits and group shots, and a few shots of the bride and groom in some of the more unusual settings around the grounds of the old rectory.

I’ve included a small selection of my favourites here.

Image of the month 5

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There’s a marvellous cafe in Florence called Gilli (www.gilli.it) – to quote from the Lonely Planet Encounter guide, ‘At this Florentine institution you can sip your coffee or cocktail beneath Venetian chandeliers and billowy art nouveau ceiling frescoes, or opt for the terrace, with ringside seats on the upscale bustle of Piazza della Repubblica’. What really captured my attention was the amazing window displays of cakes and confectionery, in most cases complete with wedding cakes, brides and grooms.

While in Florence I took the opportunity to capture some lazrgely candid picures of several brides and grooms on their post wedding shoots, mainly in and around the Ponte Vecchio, Piazza della Signoria and Chiesa de San Miniato Al Monte. More of this to follow.