Qualified wedding photographer

I have recently achieved Licentiate status with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (LSWPP) and can now use the Qualified Logo on my web-site

This is achieved by submitting a panel of 20 images from real weddings (no model shoots or study day images) for review by a a number of highly qualified and experienced wedding photographers who mark each image and decide if you have reached the required standard.

 For my submission I decided to show a variety of images from throughout the wedding day to showcase the coverage that we offer (the we in this case is my wife and I who work together on a wedding day - me photographing and Leigh sorting the dress, lights etc)

The first set below are all pre-wedding, the essential getting ready shots that set the tone for the day

The next set are ceremony and immediately post ceremony, the tension and nerves are suddenly released and the new married couple can ease into married life

Then of course, after the wedding breakfast and the speeches, it is time to party, we love to photograph the first dance and also will always try to take a parting shot as the light fades to round off the coverage

 

I hope you enjoyed this brief flick through some of my wedding photography, now I need to start thinking about the next level of qualification (Associate)

Spring time wedding

It's been a long time since my last post and I have been busy.

Hopefully I will post a bit more regularly over the winter.

Back in April we photographed a lovely spring wedding at a fantastic old church St Mary and All Angels Newburn followed by a reception at the magnificent Grand Hotel in Tynemouth

The bridesmaids dresses were all different spring shades and looked fabulous

They complemented the vintage style wedding gown perfectly

The home made direction sign at the church was a lovely and personal touch

The wedding was a family event with a relaxed atmosphere

Bride and groom portrait with a difference

There was a great vintage wedding car

The wedding breakfast was in a wonderful room at the Grand Hotel

The always excellent Chris Cross provided some entertainment for the guests

If you have a great dress like this you need to twirl

A last shot of the Grand Hotel and then we left the guests to party

An elegant wedding

In the summer we photographed the very elegant wedding of Clare and Fletcher at Ellingham hall in Northumberland

We took a quick picture of the hall on arrival and then went to find Clare and the bridesmaids and some very posh footwear

We found a nice doorway to show off the dresses 

Some meaningful gifts from the groom

We found the guys being cool in the rather plush drawing room

Then on to the ceremony, which was full of love and joy

The grounds outside are fantastic for photography, the roaming peacocks didn't want to be in the pictures on this occasion, so we had to do without, but we managed

The meal and speeches were great fun, the power-point presentation by the Dads' was excellent and provided everyone with a lot of laughs, the room looked wonderful and the little touches were everywhere

Clare and Fletcher had a first dance routine that they had been learning and it was very slick and well done

We stopped into the evening capturing the party and taking a few twilight shots before leaving

These are only a small selection of pictures taken on the day which was a fantastic celebration of love and family, we were honored to have been asked to document it

Newton Hall Wedding

We recently had the good fortune to photograph the wedding of Jill and Steven.
The ceremony was in the very grand church of St John the Baptist in Annitsford near Cramlington, the priest was a long standing family friend who had known the bride for many years which added to the emotion of the day.
Another unique touch was that Jill's dad is also an organist and played at his daughters wedding.

We first called in on Jill and took a few pictures.

Then it was off to visit the guys and see how they were doing

The ceremony was lovely with family and friends from all over the globe attending, after completing the paperwork and making it official, we took a number of family portraits, then off in the cars to Newton Hall a fabulous wedding venue a few miles north of Alnwick in Northumberland.

There were some fantastic looking cocktails for guests on arrival, along with a range of afternoon tea type nibbles to keep everyone going. Jill and Steven traveled up to Newton Hall in a lovely vintage Daimler supplied by Alnwick wedding cars.

The wedding breakfast included a quite amazing barbecue followed by the speeches and music from a live band with loads of guests on the dance floor and a party which went on for quite a while (so we believe).

The whole day was filled with love and laughter, and despite having to do a bit of shower dodging due to the typical British summer weather, a wonderful time was had by all.

A visit to Chester Zoo

I was visiting my eldest daughter in Liverpool as the weather was so good we decided to visit Chester Zoo (top tip: buy the combined rail, bus and zoo entrance ticket from the Merseyrail ticket office for a discount and to bypass the queues)

As you enter the zoo, the first animals you see are the Elephants.

This young one was touching the large elephants tusks with its trunk as they were standing face to face

We then had a walk around to the Giraffe enclosures, where the family group were enjoying the sun

The younger Giraffes were racing around the area like spring lambs (2.5m tall ones!)

In the butterfly house there were a wide range of beautiful butterflies, but this one that landed on one of the walls really caught my eye

After this we took a stroll along to the land of the red ape and saw some of the magnificent Orangutan, these lovely animals radiate an intelligence and serenity that is a privilege to witness - I took a few portraits of them, both of these are females, the larger one had a babe in her arms - due to the crowds I couldn't get a clear picture of the babe but it was lovely to see

The big cats were magnificent and I loved the male lion who was walking around his compound 'gruffing' whilst the lionesses just watched looking rather bored

We finished our visit by the Rhino, it was amazing to see a mother and young one playing chase running around the compound, in and out the having fun in the sun, the mother was amazingly agile and light on her feet considering she must weigh a couple of ton

I would highly recommend a visit if you are at all interested in animals and conservation