Wedding Photographer, Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Posts tagged wedding
Amazing wedding centrepiece decoration at Oulton Hall
Feb 17th
Amazing wedding decoration at Oulton Hall, Wakefield
We covered a wedding at Oulton Hall just outside Wakefield last year and got these shots of what, in my opinion, were some of the most amazing centrepiece decorations for the tables I have ever seen. As wedding photographers we get a bit of a sneak preview of where the guests will be eating to photograph some of the details such as cakes, favours, name labels etc.
Now Oulton Hall is a really fantastic venue with a real wealth of photographic opportunities both inside and out but when the doors opened to this room I was literally speechless. Each table had a fairly large tree in the middle with loads of cool fairy lights, flowers and butterflies hanging from it. As they were all twisted and gnarly it really had an enchanted Forrest feel to it, I loved it. Anyway just thought I’d put it up on the site if any brides out there were looking for decoration inspiration!
Amazing wedding decoration at Oulton Hall, Wakefield
Welcome To My Blog
Dec 22nd
Hi, thanks for visiting my blog. I am a wedding photographer based in Wakefield, West Yorkshire and this is where I keep people informed with what I’m doing, or have been doing recently. I try and offer a few tips on how I get some of the shots but I also encourage feedback, so if you want to leave a comment or a question, please do, I’ll try and reply asap, unless it’s spam and then I ignore it, and rightly so!
Thanks again for stopping by, hope you like my work.
A Thank You Letter
Nov 23rd
No photos to post today, it’s been a wee bit rainy of late so I’ve stayed indoors!
Today I am posting what has to be one of the best thank you notes I have ever received, I do have a testimonials page but this would probably struggle to fit in so I thought I’d make a post out of it. It may seem like a bit of self promotion (which in part it is) but I found the time and effort taken to write this was really quite moving and I’m just happy the couple will be able to look at our photos in years to come and have fond memories, which I believe is really the main aim of the wedding photographer. So without further ado..
Hi Pete,
Sorry for our delay in reply. We have literally just got back from our honeymoon – less than an hour ago – and the first thing we did was head to the computer to see if you had emailed us some photos… and as reliable as ever, you had.
So, what can we say…?
WOW! …AMAZING! …STUNNING! …BREATH-TAKING! …etc…etc…etc!!!
(We don’t really know how to put into words what we are feeling, but we’ll give it a go!)
From the very start we had such high hopes invested in you and we knew that you wouldn’t disappoint us or let us down …and you really haven’t! We’re blown away by all of the photos, there isn’t a single image we don’t like – in fact we couldn’t pick a favourite if we tried! (I mean, how many hours is too many to sit and watch them over and over again?!) …We cannot pass on to you (and Carol, ‘your quiet assistant’) enough thanks! You have truly made our day/ week/ month/ year!
Captured in the shots you and Carol have taken are the very essence of everything that was important to us that day – the laughs, the smiles, the fun, the romance, the friends, the family, the charm, the enchantment, the atmosphere, the love …simply everything! – and you’ve managed to seal it in a visual image that depicts our memories of that day that we will love and cherish, and which will last us a lifetime!
Everything about your management and service has been exceptional; there is nothing we can fault. Not only did your pricing come as a wonderful surprise to us (given the quality and calibre of your images), but your style, generosity and ability to take stunning contemporary photographs has truly blown us away.
We remember back to when we first emailed you and how we waited in anticipation and fear that the hiring of such a high-end photographer would be far out of our price range; but you didn’t disappoint! Right from the very offset you were exactly what we had been looking for; a friendly, down-to-earth, talented and accommodating bloke, who offered us individuality and everything and more that we wanted. We instantly knew that we had landed on our feet! Indeed, in all the hunting and searching we did to find a wedding photographer, the endless meetings and emails we exchanged with them, none came close to your distinctiveness and bespoke approach.
So, as corny as this email reads – and we are aware that it is very fanatical, but in our opinion very much deserved – we cannot put into words how blown away we are by what you have done for us. We were ecstatic when we found you, and even more ecstatic when we realised how flexible and dedicated you were to suiting our needs. In short, this email goes only a small way to giving you the full credit and admiration that you deserve and the thanks that we want to convey to you.
It was our absolute pleasure to have you take our wedding photographs and we had the most amazing day. We feel it very safe to say that we WILL be in touch in the future should we need the slightest of pictures/portraits/photos taking. We will be sure to recommend you to everyone and anyone, and we wish you all the very best for your future photography career and business. We will continue to follow your blog in sheer admiration of the amazing images you take, and we look forward to meeting up with you again in the not to distant future (who knows, maybe to capture the next new chapter in our life)!
Once again, “Thank You” a million times over!
Yours sincerely
Laura & Mike
Bride and Grooms First Dance
Nov 21st
Bride and Groom's First Dance
We got these from a wedding last weekend at the lovely Fawsley Hall in Northamptonshire. The weather unfortunately was less than lovely so we didn’t get to do a great deal of photos in the grounds but the interior was very impressive and so we didn’t struggle. I’m putting these two shots up because they are of the couples first dance and we are often not there to cover this part. I used some off camera flash for a bit of dramatic lighting here, it works well even if you include the flash in the shot as I’ve done in the first photo. The second shot is more about the couple than the scene, there is just enough light bouncing off the grooms shirt to light the brides face and a little ambiant light from the disco lights on the wall behind to add a bit of interest.
Both these shots were on manual with the settings at ISO400 f/2.8 1/60 with the flash fired via pocket wizards also on manual at about 1/8 power with a spread of 24mm, if memory serves correctly.
Bride and Grooms First Dance
Wedding at Sandburn Hall near York
Oct 30th
These are a few shots from a recent wedding we did near York, the wedding was at a church in a lovely little village called Strensall and then the reception was a few miles away at Sandburn Hall. The weather unfortunately was pretty bad, rain followed by prolonged periods of rain but the couple were really relaxed and didn’t let it get to them, probably a little bit more relaxed after the “I Do’s” but that’s to be expected. Sandburn hall has a bit of a barn like feel with loads of wooden floors and beams to make use of and some big windows for great natural light shots. It’s always good to have a nice interior to work with when it’s difficult to get outside.
I really feel I’ve been very fortunate with the couples I’ve had the pleasure of photographing this year and this was no exception. The bride was so photogenic, I kept going more outlandish with the poses and she still looked great! I’m posting a few shots here and a small gallery for friends and family, there are quite a few Black and Whites but the couple will get both colour and mono versions in high resolution on the DVD to print at their leisure.
A view down the aisle
First Kiss
Another Kiss, there are usually quite a few of these
Back up the aisle
Some quick shots on a classic red bus
Some shots at the car, between cloud bursts, nice sky though 
Smiling brides make great photos
Great big windows and diffused light also help
The happy couple
Sometimes photos don't need direct eye contact
She had been on her feet all day
A classic Black and White
Bride blowing bubbles, the balloons helped too
This shot drew quite a crowd
A few informal shots before the meal
A great couple and a pleasure to take their photos
Mustang at a Wedding
Oct 1st
Bride and Groom kissing after the wedding with a classic red ford mustang car IMG_6044-2-Edit
I was looking through some recent (ish) wedding shots we had done and found this one. The Bride and Groom were after a few colour isolation (spot colouring) shots where one colour stands out while the rest is black and white. This technique has been around for a while (it was big in the movie Sin City) and I use it occasionally if the shot is appropriate. This classic Ford Mustang was screaming to be spot coloured, the bridesmaids were also in red so we used the same technique on some of their shots too.
It is easy enough to do in Lightroom, on the HSL panel you just drop all the saturations to -100 then bring the reds (and some of the yellow) back up to 0 (or over). The problem with doing this on red is it leaves some colour on the skin giving ‘not long dead’ look, not great for wedding photography. This is easily solved with the local adjustment brush, set the saturation to -100 and paint over where you want it to get desaturated ie the skin.
I played around with the image a little more to give a more 3D cartoony type look which I find works well with spot colouring. I also personalised the number plate for the couple, just little details I think every wedding photographer should look to add if possible.