Georgina and Stuart's Oxford organic wedding

I got out of the train to the rain lashing down and the sky dark with forbidding clouds...oh dear, this wasnt the perfect spring weather I had been hoping for, and this certainly wasnt the right coat to be wearing! But as I entered Harris Manchester College, Oxford and saw the beautiful settings that had been arranged in the Arlosh Hall my excitement grew for what was a brilliant wedding - hells bells to the rain!

The whole ethos of the wedding was to be easy on the environment, so the flowers were locally grown (by Bath Organic Blooms) and there were baskets of wild and spring flowers as table decorations that could be taken away by the guests at the end of the day. The cake was baked and decorated by a friend of Stuart's mum's and the band - the Sultana Brothers (which were rocking) was from where Georgina's family are based in Shropshire....best of all everyone was fed by home reared lamb and watered by a keg of good old beer.

Georgina is hilarious - she's so funny and easy going and amazingly clever. Stuart is perfect for her as she is for him, being the quieter but strong in his support of her. Together they make a truly perfect match...something you could see all day, from the quiet look when they met at the alter, to the laugher they shared afterwards as their family congratulated them and their amazing first dance at the end of the night. Here are a few of my favourite pictures...

I love this picture of Bo, Georgina's sister Elizabeth and Georgina's mum all helping her into her dress - swoon, how fab was the dress?! Lots of lace but also a great overlay of lace with stitched polkadots - it really stood out when it came to the dancing in St Edmonds Hall with the purple lighting.
I love this one too - Elizabeth and Emily sorting out the train of Georgina's dress.

Stuart looking down the aisle as Georgina is walking towards him - this gives me goosebumps - I know it doesnt seem much, but its the look that Stuart has. Love it.

And here's Georgina with her dad - beaming!

We had a really fun - and quick photoshoot, and this was one of the pictures where they are both smiling at the camera (rather than cracking up laughing which each other).

I grabbed this picture as they were walking back to their guests after our shoot - it just came together.
The reception and the speaches were fantastic, and so much laughter and a laid back atmosphere it was great. I love this picture of Elizabeth laughing...I would say in terms of photograph, whilst round tables seem to be the trend, its the long tables that are the best for photographing - you can get lots more people in a frame, and it is easier to take more candid pics of people...just in case you were wondering whether to have long tables Id say Definitely!

The evening dancing and merriment took place in St Edmonds Hall, which was a short walk from Harris Manchester College. So at about 8pm all the guests armed themselves with lanterns and walked down old alleyways to arrive at St Edmonds Hall...Photography wise I didnt want to use a flash - it would have killed the atmosphere, so instead had a high ISO and hired a particularly fast lens for the occasion (50mm L f1.2)...and hopefully you agree it was worth it - I think so!

I love this picture - look closely, you have the singer of the band, the best man grinning, someone taking a picture, one of the bridesmaids looking on, and a couple wrapped in each other - and then you have Georgina and Stuart and that dress, lit up - beautiful.

This is a picture of the Arlosh Hall whilst everyone was inside eating pudding. I dashed out before the light went completely and took a series of pictures...this is where the rain can really work well, reflecting the light from windows on the wet surfaces. Love the atmosphere of this shot.

Photoshoot part deux

Ive just come back from India and am bursting with ideas and general enthusiasm for colour, light and jasmine. I'll be blogging about the wedding I went to there in a couple of days, as well as putting up some pics of the gorgeous wedding I photographed for Georgina and Stuart in Oxford a few weeks ago...In the meantime here is part two of the photoshoot I did with Rebecca.

Wham, the bright red of the stairs really hits you and shows of the brilliant white of Rebecca's dress. Love this picture - some passers by had just shouted "congratulations"!!
The light was fading as I took a series of shots of Rebecca on the pier. Although I had in my mind's eye using the pier slats to draw in the eye, this is the photograph I love the most...Its rather haunting...It also shows off the back of her dress perfectly.

This was a bit of a fun location - I found the boat, together with Banksy graffiti of Super Woman (which I think was rather apt), and just asked Rebecca to lean away from it. The daylight had properly gone, but with a high ISO I was able to get this without a flash.

This was Rebecca's idea of throwing the bouquet and it worked so well. I think there was a little bit of luck involved - from the fab throw, to me catching the moment of the bouquet between panels. I didnt have the camera on continuous shutter, I find I often miss that crucial moment if I do, plus it means I have about 20 photographs to pick through in post production.

This was a bit of fun too - Rebecca holding her shoes waiting for a bus...what with me the other side of the road the poor bus driver didnt realise it was a shoot, and asked Rebecca if she needed a lift!!!

Treasure the Dress Photoshoot

The sun is shining outside and I can smell Easter dinner cooking - yumm....So, whilst I wait for the turkey to crisp up, I thought I would blog about the photoshoot I did with Rebecca. If you've been reading this blog for a while you'll remember that I did a photoshoot with Miranda and mentioned I had also shot another bride at the same time - well this was with the gorgeous Rebecca with her absolutely stunning dress an parasol! I chose the same locations but shot each bride at different angles and places to set off their dresses and personalities. Rebecca was fab - it can be difficult having a photographer with their lens in your face asking you relax - I know I am the worst person to be in front of a camera, but Rebecca took it in her stride...First up are pictures that I took in the Rookery in Streatham - not the most glamorous of places but with a bit of thought, some unusual angles and some luck with the sun coming out I think they look pretty amazing!

Photograph techie stuff - for this shot I really wanted to show off Rebecca's gorgeous dress. So by placing her on the steps, facing the sun, slightly underexposed to get the textures of the dress and the silhouette of the tree this photograph came together. Although I dont really do much "extreme" photoshop work, I did make the sash of Rebecca's dress a mirror image on each side - it saved time on the day of trying to get it to match - which would have been so difficult to do.

I love this picture - Rebecca's face lit up by the low-light sunshine and smiling, looking away from the camera. I think its always so much easier not to look at the camera and smile, and much prefer it rather than a false "rabbit in the headlights" kind of a look. Good zoom lens also helps - I always shoot on L series Canon lenses - this is the 70-200 f4 (it is so flattering).

Again another dress gorgeousness shot - I think the dress speaks so much about the bride and I know that it can cost rather a lot, so have fun, make the most of it, ask your photographer to shoot the dress and not just on the hanger but on you! Rebecca's dress came alive when she was wearing it, and was perfect for her. So if like her's you have a sweeping back or fab details, make sure your photographer knows about it and is willing to photograph it.

Stay tuned for more of Rebecca's photoshoot being posted later!