So finally a Wedding Blog for you all, looking at some key points of the day. Its been a while since I have wanted to do a wedding blog post, but wedding season has been truly upon me, plus this wedding was just too much fun not to write about so here goes...

To begin with, this was the first wedding I was able to try out my new 8-14mm fisheye lens on. This specialist lens was bought to show off certain parts of the wedding in a different, more dynamic way. I found myself using the lens sparingly (which I expected), but effectively. 

The images using the fisheye lens are striking and different, I think that this is a great way of showcasing certain aspects of the wedding, such as the church and the cake that can not be achieved with my other lenses. I found that with the waiting around associated with a wedding, going out and using this fisheye lens brings out another side to my work, and gives the client a different and interesting view of their big day that is not always seen.

I arrived at the church (St James the less) a little earlier than I would usually, but this gave me a great opportunity to take my time at the venue, getting some wonderful shots that I would not normally be able to get. I could take my time, select different lenses, and really capture all the little details within the church that will get missed with all the craziness of the day as it unfolds. I was also able to photograph some of the guests who were performing at the ceremony, so I did not need to worry about my position during the ceremony, and missing them doing their reading, or as in the case of one guest, singing from the balcony at the back of the church. (see below)

I love capturing those little moments, or looks that a couple give each other during the wedding. They are the most difficult to capture as the are not staged, and happen when you least expect it to. In this case (see images above), the positions I was able to get into, gave me the perfect view to see these two show exactly why they are getting married to one another. As well as what It meant to their friends and family. This was helped in no small part to the Vicar who was amazing in letting me know where I could stand and when to move positions. This I have found is rare, with many officials at wedding venues being difficult, unapproachable or simply uninterested. I do hope there are more like the Vicar here, who was able to help in getting the best pictures possible, without being intrusive and noticeable during the service. She made my job a lot easier!

 A quick side note on this as well - the use of flash in a church. Now, I will always ask when I arrive at the venue if it is allowed during the ceremony, which in most cases being told I can not use it which is fair enough. In the rare instances I am allowed, I will still use it sparingly as it can distract the officials, and the couple during their big moment. This does mean I will have to use higher ISO levels, and as low an F stop as possible i.e F/1.4 on the 35mm. Grain can then be an issue, but I will try and keep this to a minimum where I can. Shooting in manual is key to this.

The images above shows when a very excited, runaway puppy decided to crash the wedding, just as the bride was about to make her entrance. The puppy played with the bride's dress and and then followed the bridesmaids into the church. What the camera did not capture was me having to grab its collar as I was taking shots of the bridal party coming into the church!!! true multi tasking if I say so myself. This did  however mean I missed my chance to squeeze past everyone to take my position, but again the vicar was great and made sure I got passed with no issues.

Rain..... Now I know what you are all thinking, rain on your wedding day is your least desired weather, rain and wedding dresses do not mix, it also does not mix well with camera equipment and guests, who are not up for standing around for their photo to be taken while the heavens open.... and you would all be right, BUT hold on, its July, surely not....

Sadly in this case, despite it being the end of July, the heavens opened and it really is the most frustrating weather to shoot in but..... and this is a big but, if your bride and groom are enjoying their day (and in this case they were), the weather just does not seem to matter all that much. And sometimes it can help get some nice images if you know where to look. Yes its not ideal but they still were able to have a fantastic day, and get some great pictures out of it all too.

I travelled with the newlyweds, over to Eton bridge to hopefully get some shots of them on the bridge, but as we travelled, the rain just got more and more intense. We decided to give it a go anyway but sadly the shoot could not last long as both myself, my equipment and the dress was starting to suffer. Sadly this is just one of those things that the couple accepted and were both great sports. 

The bride had also had a run in with a door just before her big day leaving a very large, prominent bruise on her arm. Throughout the day I tried to get her to turn slightly so it would shield the bruise from sight. Sadly this only went so far.... thank god for post processing!!!

As you can see from the two images above, the first is an unedited image, which shows the bruise, while the second image is the final product with no bruise in sight. I used Lightroom and Photoshop in order to get the final image to how I wanted it. This process was needed for many other images. it also goes to show the benefits of shooting in RAW!!

Overall, and despite the rain it was a wonderful wedding to be apart of, the bride and groom were amazing throughout which of course makes my job a lot easier, the church was beautiful, as was the village pub where they had their mad hatter tea party reception. Overall a really great shoot and one I will look back on fondly. 

FIN