It's not the chauffeur

I'll stay with the Rolls Royce theme today and this photo was taken a few seconds after the photo from yesterday's blog. There are bright colours in the car and in the flowers and the big difference between the colour and monochrome versions is that your eye is not distracted by colour on the right. The vehicle becomes much less dominant. This photo is also a first for me. I have taken photos with the groom in the driving seat, and for that matter the bride, but this is the first time that the groom has borrowed the cap from the chauffeur.

I am often writing how nice people are on wedding days. Everyone wishes the couple well, but I think this driver stands out as being most helpful and friendly. I certainly didn't expect the loan of the cap.

Happy snapping

The celebration continues

You saw this view on the 28th August at the pre-wedding meeting. We were looking for the place for the main group photos and we chose this background. You didn't see the car which is a 1928 Rolls Royce but you did see the markings on the road. I much prefer roads without white paint and it is at least a third of this photo.

As for the amendments, I thought that the bright colours of the car should be put against a monochrome background and I also knew that they liked high contrast photos. They will get the usual colour photo, a totally monochrome version and I also amended it to a sepia version with a white vignette. It would take too many blogs to show you all the variations.

I am posting this blog at just after midnight and I presume the celebrations are still going on. I was there a couple of hours ago taking photos of the first dance and anything else that was happening. I haven't seen all the photos yet and I am looking forward to working on them all.

Happy snapping

Two of Lancaster Cathedral 's Windows

I took advantage of the heritage open day yesterday (there are more things going on today) and I visited Lancaster Cathedral. I thought that I would be writing about the view from the top of the 240ft tower and I did take plenty of photos, but I chose these photos. On the left you see St Thomas More. There is nothing unusual about this as he is a fairly popular saint. What is much more surprising is to find a window depicting Henry VIII which you see on the right.

I went on the guided tour and heard about the triptych that hides the stained glass windows behind the high altar. It seems that nobody took a photo of these windows when they had the chance. Well it made me wonder if photographic manipulations could allow you to see the windows in all their glory. The windows that you can see here don't actually look like this unless you are 20ft in the air. Henry is partially occluded but from where I took the photos the verticals were definitely not vertical.

Happy snapping

A Pendle Hill background

This view is the one we used for the group photographs. As I don't ask all the guests if they mind being on the blog I will show you these photos instead. The wall in the background was mostly taken up by people and the view in the top third of the photo which is normall sky was taken up by Pendle Hill.

There is nothing wrong with the wall. It's a lovely wall but the view isn't particularly spoiled by the main group. I did say more than once how nice the background was and one of the guests commented that I had not mentioned the foreground. I did mention the foreground after that comment. it was lovely too.

Happy snapping

Look into my eyes

One of the big advantages of being the main photographer at a wedding is that the bride and groom look at you. It may not sound much but it transforms a photo. However this blog is written to show that you don't have to look at the camera to take a great photo.

Occasionally I ask the couple to look at a guest with a camera. This gives the guest the chance to have a fine memory of the day and it means that I get the chance to take the couple who are both looking at the same place. You can't go wrong if they are looking into each other's eyes because you know they are looking at the right place but on the right I just asked them to look in a similar direction.

Happy snapping

A first for me.

This was a first for me. It was my first outdoor wedding. There was a wet-weather option but this was the first choice and you can see where they married on the right. I was interested to know what the registrar would say to me because it was a public area and I presume members of the public, not to mention family and friends, could take photos at any time. As is usually the case, the registrar was really nice and let me get on with things in a discreet manner.

The photo on the left is one that I always try to produce for brides and grooms. I know that some have used these photos to make their own thank you cards and I heard one couple recently who were just going to slip a photo in with their card. It is also a nice size of photo for wallets or purses and is easy to produce. Two photos in the proportion of 4:3 (commonly this is an 8" x 6" photo) when added together make a 6" x 4" photo, a cheap option and you get two for the price of one.

Happy snapping

Wedding Portraits

I like the idea of getting portraits. Not just portraits of the bride and groom but also anyone else who happens to be ready. After all, the guests get dressed up for the wedding too.

I look for a plain wall and direct the flash to the ceiling. If the ceiling is low you will still notice shadows but they will be caused by light reflected off the ceiling where you would expect them from the sun or a ceiling lamp.

The effect is to make an ordinary wall look like it is a photographic studion. Combine this effect with the bride and groom (and the guests) and you end up with great photos whether in colour monochrome or sepia.

Happy snapping