Bagden Hall, Scissett

Our first wedding of the year for photography was at Bagden Hall at Scissett. Unfortunately it rained all day! However Sam and Dave were absolutely great and were happy to go outside with one of the white umberellas that we always carry with us just for this sort of weather. I think that the umberella actually added something to the photos and I've included some of my favourites. Our next wedding takes us to Wood Hall near Wetherby then it's the Easter weekend with weddings at Coniston Cold then Oulton Hall. We now have 58 bookings for this year so far so it's going to be busy!

Burn Hall, York

Just had a great day at Burn Hall in York in the company of 30 like-minded photographers and 5 great models. The great advantage to me on a day like this is that it gives me time to play and try out new ideas. Then, if they work, I can utilise them on the wedding day to quickly get the shot, then get on with the next one. The secret of great wedding photography is to get as many good shots in as short as time as possible, so that the bride and groom get a fantastic wedding album but also have plenty of time to enjoy their day. To-morrow it's off to Lincoln to take some family portrait shots of Rachael and Leigh, a wedding couple of mine who got married in 2008 and now have a new addition to the family. Then it's off to Hazlewood Castle the week after for our first wedding of the year.

Waterton Park Wedding Album

Just for a change I thought that I would post a wedding album that I spent all New Years Eve putting together (how sad is that?). Waterton Park is a superb setting and we never fail to get a great set of photos from the venue. Jenny and Tim's wedding was particularly interesting as Jenny originally came from Russia, together with two of her bridesmaids. Those girls really know how to pose for a camera! If you want to see a bigger version of the album just click on the "Return to Magic Moments Photo and Video Homepage" icon top right to go to our main wedding photography website then navigate to the "Your Images" page. Better still, why not come down to the studio and see the album for real!

The Mansion House, Roundhay Park, Leeds

I can't believe 2009 is nearly over! We've met some great people, photographed in some new venues (and in one new country!) and generally had a great time. We finished the year with weddings at Hazlewood Castle, Rogerthorpe Manor, the Craiglands Hotel at Ilkley and the Mansion House in Roundhay Park, which was a new venue for us. Winter weddings pose new challenges with the weather and the light (or lack of it!), so we made the most of the opportunity to shoot some images with our new video light. Here are some of my favourites from the Mansion House wedding.

Off-Camera Flash

For my last training day of the year I took the long drive down to Bristol on Monday to spend the day with Damien Lovegrove, who really is one of the best photographers in the country. We spent the day perfecting the technique of using the brand new radio system for firing Canon speedlights. This gives a whole new range of pictures available to the photographer using this new kit which was previously impossible to do, giving a real "fashion" feel to the photographs. Now I can't wait for the next wedding to employ these techniques and add a new "Bridal Fashion" range to my repertiore.

Training

I always think that there is always more to learn and that you can never know everything so with that in mind I always ensure that I have at least five days training every year with photographers who I think are some of the best in the country. So on Monday I braved the wind and driving rain for a trip into North Yorkshire to spend the day with John Denton, whose work I really like. Here are some of the images from the day.

Wedding Photography in Tunisia

Thursday weddings are quite unusual, but a Thursday wedding in Tunisia is even more unusual! We flew out on the Sunday to give ourselves plenty of time to meet the families and visit the venues. The wedding was at three o'clock and the reception was at six, which at first seemed fine. Then we discovered that the two locations were 110 kilometres apart! This gave us practically no time to do any really good couple shots, so it was decided to do these the following day. Unfortunately, the following day it rained, so we were so pleased that our flight home was not until the Sunday, which allowed us to do some really cool couple shots on the Saturday. Thanks to having time to do a good recce we had found a superb building with a traditional internal patio and a domed glass ceiling which was a photographer's dream! Just amazing! And to think I get paid for doing this!