Happy Christmas to everyone and all the best for 2012, especially if you are getting married :)

Today was the turn of the lovely Eleanor and Anthony to get married at the Crazy Bear in Stadhampton. E & A are a terrific couple – so happy and relaxed and helpful it was a genuine pleasure to be there at the wedding and to photograph the story of their day. The wedding venue was The Crazy Bear in Stadhampton, a great choice for a cosy winter wedding. The whole place, inside and out, is a mish mash of styles and design influences which all seem to work together. It’s an interesting and unique venue and it was great fun to photograph there.

Here are some images that caught my eye, if you were at the wedding and would like to know when Eleanor and Anthony’s complete gallery is uploaded, CLICK HERE and I will send you an email.

Some scene-setting detail shots at the Crazy Bear.

Eleanor and Anthony opted for one big long single table in the Moroccan Glasshouse for the wedding meal – looks fantastic, eh?

An unusual wedding bouquet for the bride and some beautiful shoes.

A few favourite photographs from the bride and bridesmaids preparations.

Often when I talk to brides, they remember being a bridesmaid when they were small – it’s always nice to see the little ones enjoying the pampering and the experience of the wedding day.

Meanwhile over in the Jet Black suite Anthony and the boys get ready.

The preparations are an interesting time of day – it goes really quickly of course which is one of the reasons I enjoy being around and photographing what’s happening. In years to come it’s going to be great to look back on and remember how you felt on the morning of the wedding.

Anthony the groom, ready to roll.

Eleanor and friends.

I love this image – a quiet few minutes before the wedding ceremony.

The Oak Room was beautifully decorated for the wedding ceremony.

The groom and the guests take their places.

The brand new Mr. and Mrs.

The beautiful bride.

Some favourite photographs from the reception.

The gardens at the Crazy Bear are great – as night falls the colours and the lights begin to show.

The wedding speeches are great to photograph, here’s a few from the evening that caught my eye.

Thanks again Anthony and Eleanor!

I am a member of MV, a photographers collective and next Wednesday 9th November from 12 to 8.30pm) we are giving talks and presentations at the Apple Store in London.

The talks will be on photography in general but particularly wedding, portrait and personal photographic projects (like this one).

The MV Photographers Collective is a group of some of the leading wedding, portrait and commercial photographers in the UK. You will see some amazing photographs and get a fascinating insight on how the images were created from the photographers themselves.

There will be six talks lasting 15-20 minutes which will repeated throughout the day from 12pm to 8.30pm. Please drop in if you are in the area and interested in photography. Bring your own work along for review, feedback and advice.

Cost? Nothing, free of charge!

Click right here for further information and see you there!

Hot on the heels of my English Wedding Blog publication (last post) I was again really pleased to see that momentjunkie.com featured a wedding photograph of mine from Ali and Matt’s wedding at Headley Park a couple of years ago. Moment Junkie is a website devoted to capturing those unique wedding day moments that happen in a split second and are gone. There are some great pictures from some superb photographers there, well worth a look if you have five minutes.

Wedding photojournalism is all about capturing moments at the right time. Often I hear that brides think the photographer engages the motordrive at warp speed and ‘machine guns’ every occurrence on the wedding day in the hope of getting a picture. They call it the ‘spray and pray’ approach :)

Nothing could be further from the truth. One of the benefits of being a highly experienced wedding photographer is that I have learned to anticipate images and pride myself on being in the right place at the right time. Photographing many hundreds of weddings has given me a sense of when things are going to happen and to be there when it matters.

Quality wedding photography is all about picking the right moments to shoot. I think it’s important for a wedding photographer to remain unobtrusive and low key during the wedding ceremony particularly but also at the wedding reception. It’s also important to not get in the way too much. If you get this approach right, I find people ignore you (in a nice way I am sure!) and this is invaluable in capturing those moments and those interactions that would otherwise go unrecorded.

If you would like to check out my photograph that they kindly published, please click here.

I was decidedly chuffed when Claire from the wedding blog English Wedding asked to feature Adam and Caroline’s Cambridgeshire wedding from a couple of months ago.

Claire sent me a questionnaire to forward to Caroline the bride and the resulting post makes interesting reading for a bride to be. If you would like a look, the English Wedding Blog post is right here.

Today’s wedding was at St. Anne’s Church in Bagshot and at nearby Pennyhill Park Hotel. I’ve photographed many weddings at Pennyhill Park over the years and it’s always lovely to return. The lovely Ann-Marie and Steve held their wedding reception here today. The church is only five minutes from the hotel so it was a pleasure to start the day with the ladies in the Heyward Suite for some getting ready photographs. I know I say this often on this blog but the bride and groom were a joy to work with – friendly and relaxed and it was a privilege to be present on the big day.

As always, here’s a few favourite photographs from the wedding day – if you were there and would like to know when the complete gallery is uploaded CLICK HERE and I will send you an email. Comments, compliments or questions? Please let me know at the bottom of this post.

The radiant bride.

The Flower Distribution Meeting. Very important.

Steve and the boys arrive at the church.

Steve watches at the guests arrive at St. Annes’s Church.

The FOG arrives with a huge supply of confetti…

…and it’s a thumbs up from bridesmaid Nancy.

Ann-Marie and her dad arriving at church.

14:43

A great touch at the wedding was the piper who played during the register signing and on arrival at Pennyhill Park.

Ambushed :)

Some favourite photographs of the bride and groom at Pennyhill Park.

The beautiful bride.

That is one fruity wedding cake.

A couple of behind the scenes shots as the Pennyhill Park wedding machine swings into action.

Speech time!

I love photographing expressions during the wedding speeches – both the audience and the speakers, it’s great fun.

Ladies and gentlemen – I am pleased to present..the McDonogh/Maitland wedding photobooth!

Avert your eyes…

Steve throws some shapes during the bride and groom dance…

Thanks for looking! Have a brilliant honeymoon in the far east Ann-Marie and Steve – looking forward to showing you the photographs when you get back.

From Vicki and Simon’s wedding at St. Mary’s Wargrave and Old Luxters Barn a few weeks ago – here’s an online slideshow (with music) that I made for them.

Today I was in the little village of Hamerton in Cambridgeshire for Caroline and Adam’s wedding. I do love little village weddings – Caroline and the family had worked really hard to make the big day special and it was clear that a lot of effort and thought had gone into the reception details. The meal was held in a marquee next to Caroline’s mum’s house and everything was set up beautifully. Here’s a few of my favourite photographs from the day – the rest will be coming soon.

A couple of detail shots from the marquee tables.

Caroline still working hard, about an hour and a half before the ceremony. This is the table plan she is putting together.

Bridesmaid Lara (and helper) drew all the beautiful table name signs.

At one hour to go, Caroline finally gets herself ready!

The little church at Hamerton is a short distance away from the house.

Adam the groom. A short shower of rain just before the ceremony didn’t do anything to dampen anyone’s spirits.

Jeep.

Caroline ready for the walk down the aisle.

The church dates back to the 13th Century. Mary the vicar conducted a lovely service.

Adam seals the deal.

I love that period immediately after the ceremony where everyone is congratulating the bride and groom and milling around in the churchyard – great to photograph.

Everyone walked back to the house in the sunshine.

Priorities, priorities – Adam goes for the well deserved beer.

The beautiful bride.

And finally a couple of images from the speeches.

Thanks again, Caroline and Adam! The complete gallery will be coming soon.

Laura and Ed were married today at St. Josephs in Chalfont St. Peter and held their wedding reception at beautiful Stoke Park in nearby Stoke Poges. Stoke Park is one of my favourite wedding venues, I have photographed there many times over the years and it’s always lovely to return – there’s always more interesting angles and corners of the grounds to photograph. Laura and Ed were great to work with on the day. Their families were lovely too – made me feel very welcome and Laura’s mum particularly was brilliant, helping organise the group photography of friends and family. Laura and Ed are sunning themselves in Italy at the moment and their complete gallery will be uploaded when they return. If you would like to see the gallery of all the wedding photographs **CLICK HERE** and I’ll send you an email.

In the meantime here’s a few pictures that caught my eye.

First, a photo of my house as I left home  :)  …kidding…it is of course the beautiful wedding venue of Stoke Park.

The wedding bus, a great way of shipping the guests around.

A few favourites from the morning.

I love the hands in this photograph. All five of them.

Laura and bridesmaid Natalie.

Laura in the mirror  rorrim eht ni aruaL

Mr. and Mrs. L. and their baby girl  :)

Laura and her dad on their way down the fabulous stairs at Stoke Park. I love the lighting in this photograph.

The wedding bus waits outside the entrance to Stoke Park.

Meanwhile at the church, a relaxed and dapper looking Ed waits for the bride.

Some ceremony favourites from St. Josephs in Chalfont St. Peter.

A shot in the rear view mirror of the wedding Rolls.

The brand new Mr. and Mrs!

I am proud to say we held up a phalanx of golfers for this photograph. Well worth it in my view.

The media scrum at the drinks reception.

The lay-deeez!

And here are some more reception images that I liked.

Napkin shenanigans. I think it’s meant to be a chicken. Or perhaps a rabbit.

Speeding puddings. Stand well clear.

Is this a new dance craze? Hope not.

I hope Italy is brilliant Ed and Laura, have a great time and see you when you get back.

I am seriously considering adding this text to my website :) “Good weather guaranteed for your wedding if you book me!”

I’ve just been checking and it’s over two years since I had a rainy day wedding. I am pleased to say today was no exception for Vicki and Simon and it was more sunshine than showers and it really only rained when everyone was safely inside Old Luxters Barn for the wedding meal. I’ve know Simon for a while as we have worked together a few times. Simon is an ace video director and owner of Sugarsnap Video and produces some really great work.

S & V have been together a while and have three beautiful daughters who of course were very excited to be bridesmaids today. Check out the fantastic wedding stationery -

Vicki retreated to her parents house for the preparations in the morning. I love photographing this part of the day, I am of the firm belief a wedding is not just a few hours in the afternoon. The prelude to the ceremony is very important and it’s great to give the bride and groom a glimpse of each others morning. Here’s a few favourites from the getting ready part of the day.

I love this series of images :)

The wedding ceremony was at St. Mary’s Church in Wargrave. Here’s Simon and best man Andy.

Ambush :)

Old Luxters Barn near Henley on Thames is a lovely wedding reception venue, very rural and with some lovely spots for wedding photography.

As usual, we took a few minutes away from the guests for some bride and groom photography.

Simon and Vicki’s daughters. Butter wouldn’t melt eh?

…and finally some photos from the wedding reception.

Into the meal!

A detail from the errific wedding cake.

If you were at the wedding and would like to know when the complete gallery has been uploaded **CLICK HERE** and I will send you an email.

Thanks again for being so easy to work with, Simon and Vicki. Hope you enjoy Sorrento!