It was such an honour to be the wedding photographer for Olivia and Jev’s wonderful winter wedding in Dorset. Having photographed her sister Laura’s wedding a couple of years ago, it was lovely to see the family again. Whilst Laura and Harry had to contend with incessant rain, Olivia and Jev had the covid pandemic! From 150 guests at Tisbury church and a reception at Messums, Wiltshire, to 15 family members in the Shaftesbury Town Hall, and a small family dinner at home. But I have come to the conclusion that small covid weddings are every bit as spectacular as the larger weddings. They are intimate, personal and charged with emotion. Perfect ingredients for a memorable occasion.
The day started with the usual bridal preparations, before we set off to the registry office. Despite the cold and covid, some of their closest friends gathered as a surprise to Olivia to greet them on their exit. All adhering to the social distancing requirements of course! Indeed surprised she was. And not a dry eye was in sight. After this, we headed back home and raced through the family group photos, leaving time for this quick more informal portrait on the steps outside. A few drinks and canapes were followed by a delicious sit down dinner, prepared by Victoria Blashford-Snell. All in all, it couldn’t have been a more perfect day for a more wonderful couple.
If you’re interested in booking me as your wedding photographer, please do email me with your date, location of the ceremony & reception, timings, and approximate number of guests so I can send you a bespoke quote. You can also see more examples of my work on my website. Whilst based in Dorset, I travel throughout the UK.
It’s not hard to provide stunning wedding photography when you are blessed with a beautiful bride. Even easier when she is dressed in one of the most incredible wedding dresses I’ve ever seen. Bearing in mind I’ve been a leading wedding photographer in the UK for nearly 20 years, I’ve seen quite a few! The dress was made by the insanely talented Fiona Clare Couture.
Whilst I take a mixture of colour and black & white photos of the whole day, I generally prefer black and white for the ‘classic’ portraits such as this. I find colour too distracting. You end up studying the colours of the flowers, or wallpaper etc. Black and white wedding portrait photography is timeless, classic and captures the mood of the day so much more effectively. Where possible, I also love to work with natural light which I find much softer. It also enables me to work really fast, which is one of the key skills for a wedding photographer.
I took this portrait just before leaving for Sherborne Abbey. We only had a few minutes to spare. But long enough to lay out her lace coat in a perfect circle. I love how the tiara mirrors this circle.
Please do visit my wedding gallery to see more examples of my wedding photography. And please email me if you are interested in finding out more about the packages I offer as a wedding photographer. Please include your date, location of the ceremony & reception, timings, and approximate number of guests so I can send you a bespoke quote. Alternatively, you can call me on 07815 750 141 to discuss your day in more details.
Although many of my photoshoots involve activities indoors and outdoors, there are times when my clients have a specific location in mind. Somewhere that encapsulates an era in their children’s life. On this occasion, the family were moving house and school. So it seemed fitting to have an outdoor children photography shoot in the grounds of Cheam Prep school, Newbury, Berkshire, where the girls had both been at school.
We started the shoot by playing lots of games in the main grounds, using the beautiful avenue and stunning gardens as backdrops. And then headed to the fabulous outdoor play area, which offers an abundance of entertainment. We had so much fun. Playgrounds are perfect locations for outdoor children photography. I love to capture the children’s adventurous spirit whilst they explore, climb, slide and swing. Indeed we explored every nook and cranny, climbed every ladder, slid down every slide, and swung high into the skies. I find static swing shots can look as void of emotion as motion and prefer to capture them moving. This is obviously more challenging photographically but nothing beats that feeling of wind through your hair as you swing high and low.
This shot was one of my favourites. I absolutely love it. There is so much joy, energy and movement. You can feel her excitement at reaching high into the sky. It’s an image that is full of emotion and spirit. It can’t help but make you smile when you look at and remind you of those exhilarating feelings of ‘flying high’ when you were little. This is what I strive to provide in my children photography sessions.
For more examples of my children photography, please do visit my children, teenage and family galleries. Please do get in touch if you would like to discuss the possibility of me coming to your home and photographing your children and family.
Capturing the spirit of school life and providing schools with compelling images to use for advertising, prospectus, website, PR and social media is one of the areas of my work that I most enjoy. Indeed I photograph regularly for schools across South West England, from Perrott Hill School (as per the above image) in Somerset, Sandroyd & Pinewood in Wiltshire, Leweston, Hanford and Castle Court School in Dorset, Cheam and Twyford in Hampshire, Horris Hill in Berkshire and the Westminster Choir School in central London.
I love the colours, light and composition in this image, but it’s the way that the boy is looking cheekily up at the little girl that brings the image to life – reflecting the most important qualities we, as parents, look for in a school – the happiness factor – and the same reason that Country Life Magazine chose this for the front cover of their annual supplement School Life.
Nothing like photographing a baby in water. In fact, I think ‘splash’ might be one of the first words babies learn. This kitchen sink was ideal for a fun portrait – lovely uncluttered background and large windows letting in lots of natural light. He created quite a mess in a matter of seconds – this was one of his ‘milder’ splashes. So needless to say we got quite wet. But it was worth it.
I had such fun on this informal engagement shoot walking the streets of Notting Hill. We had more or less finished our shoot and were wandering back to their flat when we passed this florist’s shop. The striped roof and diagonal wall instantly caught my eye, the light streaming in towards me provided a fabulous backlight glow, but the icing on the cake was the shop name: “Wild at Heart”.
We literally only had a handful of minutes but this is one of my favourite images from our shoot. One of those rare moments when all the elements come together and provide you with an instant gem of a photograph. Rather like Kate and Fred, this was quite simply ‘meant to be’.
Really looking forward to photographing their wedding in a few weeks time.
Thank you @CountryLifeMagazine for featuring me in their Top 10 Wedding Photographers in their Guide to Weddings, included in 26th April 2016 edition. #honoured!
Lovely to return almost 3 years after her wedding, to photograph the beautiful Lady Natasha Rufus Isaacs with her stunning daughter Georgia, both donning dresses from Natasha’s fashion range Beulah.
Founded in 2010 by Natasha along with Lavinia Brennan, Beulah London was born out of a desire to design and produce beautiful clothes that empower and inspire the women who wear them, whilst being committed to raising awareness of the plight of women trapped by human slavery.
This luxury fashion brand with a social conscience has inspired some of the world’s most influential women to wear the label, including the Duchess of Cambridge.
