Poetic views

I like the symmetry of these photos. The photo on the left of the bride and her father is just as they enter the church. They are headed into the building but the glance over the shoulder is a glance to the past before marriage takes over. This may sound a little poetic so you can think of it as the last look of freedom :-)

On the right the couple are about to be welcomed into their new life as husband and wife. It says to me 'here we are about to enter into our future married life'.

From a different perspective you can think of these photos as an opportunity to take a picture of the back of the dress. I have zoomed in with these photos but they do get a photo of the full train as well.

Happy snapping

Two for the price of one

Wedding days are busy days. There is always plenty to do and because of this the day flies by. So when the bride and groom are getting ready I try to take the photos without affecting their preparations.

I like to find a frame. It could be a mirror, a painting or a photo and then superimpose a photo from the day. It only takes a second to do this. Wherever you get ready you are not far from a frame to look at or a frame to hold. I remember at a previous wedding asking the bride and groom to look at a mirror with a poster on it. The manager of the hotel wanted to take down the poster and I had to explain that nobody would ever see it. The bonus of taking a photo in a mirror is that very often you get a good photo as a reflection as well as photos like the two above.

Happy snapping

Three dimensions in Morecambe Bay

I don't think that you can beat Morecambe Bay as a background. There are lots of wonderful views all around the country. Bill Bryson chose to live in Yorkshire but he called the Bay the best view in Europe in his book "Notes from a Small Island". It makes sense to use it for backgrounds to wedding photos and taking them in the evening is even better than in the afternoon. I try to combine twenty minutes of photos on the prom with the first dance.

The photo on the right shows a detail of the wedding and that background helps again. The flower still looks good even though it is now evening. The bonus is the light and the shadows certainy bring out three dimensions to the petals. Take the same photo in mid-afternoon and you only get two dimensions.

Happy snapping

Photo Manipulations

It was a fine evening on Saturday and you can take photos almost anywhere on Morecambe Bay. You may recognise this vantage point because you can just see the car park near the Dome. It may look strange to you and the reason is because I have taken out the rail and if you know the area then you will also know that the rail protects you from a drop of a few feet.

I don't object to taking out rails if the photo looks better for it and I think it works this time. If I like a picture then it is converted to black and white and sepia and I may put in a vignette for good measure. So here is one variation on this theme. A bit of cropping and black and white and you have a totally different photo.

Happy snapping

Make things click

A couple of years ago I received a 'thank you' card from one bride and groom. I appreciate all thanks, verbal and non-verbal including cards, but this one was home made. I had put two photos together and written the words 'thank you' on one of the photos. They had cut the 6"x 4" photo in two and stuck them onto A5 card folded in half. The card was balanced by having one on the front and one on the back. The note was very nice too.

I have stopped asking brides and grooms if they want me to do this for them - I just do it. If they want to use it that's fine, and if they don't then that's fine too. In this example from last Friday I chose a couple of photos and left a bit of space in the sky for the words.

I saw a sign for a flower shop today that said something like our reputation grows with your recommendation. I am thinking more along the lines of making everything 'click' at a wedding. If you can think of a suitable pun then let me know.

Happy snapping

Eric and Wedding Photography 2

On Thursday I had a pre-wedding meeting - see the blog from two days ago. The wedding took place on Saturday 25th July and here is the first photo from the day. I will get more photos on the blog from the Friday and from the Saturday wedding but I wanted to put this one on the blog so that you can compare the practice run with the real thing.

We managed to get a lot of views of Morecambe Bay in the background. We went back in the evening for this photo but it is a popular place. I think the rehearsal was great but you can't beat the real thing.

I will post more photos from both weddings in the next few days.

Happy snapping

Two photos from the day

These photos were taken in the afternoon (Friday 24th July). I normally take photos on the prom with a setting sun but the forecast was not good. we took photos at the first opportunity. As it happens it did rain for less than ten minutes in the morning but other than that it was fine with lots of sunny intervals.

I printed this photo and took it back to them in the evening. It is 10"x 8" but it doesn't matter about the proportions of the photo in the photo. I wanted to be generous - that goes without saying, but it is great advertising when you get a photo back on the same day.

The main photo has been amended. I have taken out a distracting wall in the bottom left-hand corner. More obviously I have taken out the rail. You can get onto the beach quite easily in Morecambe but it is not quite as easy as this photo would suggest.

Happy snapping