I recently had the honour of photographing Lisa Snowdon for my good friend Harriet Kelsall, the jeweller. Lisa, well known as a model and radio broadcaster, had commissioned Harriet to make a beautiful necklace, and I went along to the May Fair Hotel, just off Piccadilly, in London, to document the hand-over for her.

The hotel is a boutique venue, and in the evening is virtually pitch black – very atmospheric, perfect for romantic meetings. Tricky to photograph in! Nevertheless, Lisa was the easiest person to work with, and I had help from Kirsty, Harriet’s assistant, who gallantly held my flash in a suitable position to artistically sculpt Lisa’s cheekbones!

Here are a few selection from our portrait session. Please get in touch if you’d like to commission a portrait, and, as always, do leave a comment.

This is such a fun image of the week for you – a wonderful spontaneous moment caught with purely reportage wedding photography – no setting up. The little boy’s mum had already chased him round the tree, so anticipating him coming around again I ran to catch him coming towards me.

I wanted a low camera angle so I could see his face, and I also wanted his mum in the shot to tell the story – she wants her hat back! The trick was not to get his mum directly behind him, so I had to hold my nerve for a split second while he crossed the frame from left to right, and shoot the instant everything fell into place – the decisive moment, as coined by Henri Cartier-Bresson, probably the world’s most famous exponent of reportage photography. I love their smiles – each of them enjoying the chase!

Using manual exposure, I kept the exposure set up I had been using for some other family portraits under the tree, and with the shutter at 200th I knew I’d get a reasonably sharp image. The ISO was 800, and the aperture was f4.5, all on my 24mm lens. I don’t like to tilt the camera normally, but it happened as I half crouched, and I decided not to correct it  by cropping. I feel that in this case the tilt adds a little dynamism to the shot, and works well with the diagonal slope of the hat, and each of their raised knees.

I hope you like the image – as always, do leave a comment!

I am not a heavy handed user of Photoshop, at least I try not to be. This is a good example of how I can enhance and image to direct the eye and avoid distractions. This is one of Dana’s photos of Albert, (Becky and Albert’s wedding is here) taken during the getting ready stage at the beginning of our day’s work. The shot was a little compromised – the rather large owner of the bike was right behind Dana, and she wasn’t about to push her luck and ask to have the bike moved further into the shade!

Without being too technical, we always shoot RAW files, so giving ourselves the maximum amount of information in our digital files. The retouching consisted of gently lightening areas in the RAW image (using Lightroom) and after exporting as a JPG, opening the file in Photoshop to do the detailed stuff. I’m not a purist, and I do have to work quickly, so I work on the background layer only, using the clone tool to eliminate anything that is distracting to my eye – the railings and wooden shutter on the left of the image, the discoloured black wall behind Albert, spotlights, and general specks that appear anywhere. I have been known to remove chewing gum from pavements – digitally of course!

I like the guy in the doorway, and deliberately kept him in the shot, brightening him a little. Finally I gave the image a bit more colour saturation and contrast, and it’s done. About fifteen minutes, well worth it for a fun and quirky shot.

Before

After

Poppy and Boz had a spectacular wedding, the ceremony taking place in an ancient candle-lit chapel in Dode, in deepest darkest Kent. Later at the reception, there was an oyster bar, an aerial stunt display piloted by Poppy’s brother Ed, a hot air balloon and fireworks!

The Norman chapel at Dode is a rare and magical place, apparently looking almost exactly as it did 900 years ago when it was first built in the reign of William Rufus, the son of William the Conqueror. The Village of Dode was destroyed in 1349 as a result of the Black Death and afterwards the building was abandoned until re-discovery and partial restoration in 1901.
Poppy and Boz’ wedding day was full of excitement and emotion – Poppy smiled all day and looked amazing in her Lusan Mandogus dress, and it was Boz who shed a tear during the speeches. One of the bridesmaids, Jill, sang a song during the ceremony that she’d written specially for them. Poppy is an artist and designed and created all the place settings, signs, table decorations and cake herself.

Hair and make-up by Matthew Alexander

Poppy’s dress by Lusan Mandongus

Floristry by Laura Broad

General artistry by Poppy Cyster

I’m delighted to say that Poppy and Boz’ wedding has been featured on the wedding blog Whimsical Wonderland Weddings!

Simone and Mike’s wedding took place in sunny South Wales and as we’re a long way from Hertfordshire, I chose to stay the previous night in Carmarthen, to make sure we were there on time! Simone and the girls got ready at the reception venue, the fab boutique hotel The Grove, in Narberth. As you’ll see, Simone was supported by her gorgeous bridesmaids, dressed in the bold red of the colour scheme. Mike is a designer, and his touch was evident in all the stationery, seating plan and table decorations.
I’ve included a couple of group shot in this post, just to show that they are an important part of the photographic coverage of the day, and also that they can be fun and involving.

Crystal and Daniel’s wedding was unconventional in many ways – which I love! They both got ready in the same place, and travelled together to a tucked away location where Daniel gently lead Crystal to a horse and carriage. They were then taken to a tucked away river bank, where they boarded a punt on the River Cam, and were gently guided downriver to The Doubletree Hotel. Daniel and Crystal were married there, in the sunshine, on the river bank.