No need for lights

On Saturday I went to my second wedding reception held in a marquee. I have been to a couple of evening receptions in marquees and they are really useful if location is important to the bride and groom. As for the photography it was easy to take photos inside because it was so light.

The lining of the walls looks really good on photos too. As you can see from these photos it is a really light background and is probably the lightest background that I have ever used for the artificial cutting of the cake. It gets even lighter with the vignette.

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A high contrast version

This pre-wedding meeting was only a few days ago and the wedding was on Saturday. This particular photo is from an almost identical position as that shown in the blog from Friday, so the couple were expecting to have their photo taken like this.

On the left we have the unmanipulated original. Alright it has been cropped. On the right we have a monochrome version with a high contrast. The contrast has been increased so much that you can't see the mountain in the distance. You may not see the mountain but you can still see the expressions, in fact they become more obvious because of the change in contrast.

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Sepia variation

This is a photo that really has to be taken if you get married at the Ashton Memorial. The trouble is we don't always get nice weather in Lancaster. It had been raining heavily before the wedding and there was even light rain falling at times while we were in the park.

However we did manage quite a few photos with the whole of the memorial in the background. The lawn wasn't quite this nice but with a few moments on the computer it was soon tidied up.

The difference between colour and sepia is there for all to see. The most obvious difference for me is that the flowers are emphasised in colour. Sepia does give warmth to a photo but as it was a nineteenth century technique then it makes me think that the photo was not taken recently.

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Natural and posed smiles

These photos are from yesterday's wedding. I haven't had chance to look through all the photos properly but I glance through them to see which photo I should enlarge and take back to the evening reception as my present. I chose the photo on the left.

I also choose a photo for a three 'surprise' fridge magnets for the bride and groom and for the parents of the bride and the groom. One comment from the best man was about natural and posed smiles. He preferred the photo on the left. I suppose he is right but I like both and it is so much easier to get a photo like the one on the right. You just ask for it.

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Can You guess where we are yet?

This pre-wedding meeting was like others in that we were looking for a background for the main group photos and we wanted to look at backgrounds for smaller groups.

You would not recognise Keswick from the photo on the right. You may just recognise the mountain in the background (I am not sure if it is Skiddaw or Blencathra but I am sure the couple do) but you may guess that we were in the Lake District.

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Sawley Abbey

This was the first time that I had been to Sawley Abbey. The lawns are kept really well and when you look at these photographs the lawn takes up quite a proportion of the whole picture. It may be a third of this photo, but there are one or two weeds. Look on the right and they have gone.

We didn't go to the abbey because of the lawn but the lack of weeds was definitely a bonus. We went because of the ruined abbey. You could easily be back a few hundred years except for that van in the background. Look on the right and its gone.

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Same place, different view

It is often the case that I can walk around a bride and groom and find four different backgrounds. I like efficiency and if I can get four great photos in a few seconds then I will. It is the same with poses. If a slight change in pose brings out a different expression then it is worth doing.

You only have so long to take a photo. Generally I take two of everything. I decided on this pattern because sometimes people blink and I can amend the photo as long as I have some eyes that are open. Sometimes the first photo looks better than the second and vice-versa. Any more and the expression could turn to boredom.

These photos are a perfect example of the difference that my position makes to the photograph. I think the bridge makes an equally good photo from either side. Maybe if I had taken one along the bridge then this would have been equally as good.

Happy snapping