Jillian & Andrew, 17th December 2011 - Barham Church, Barham

Not too far to go to this one, I like local weddings especially at Barham its a really lovely place.

Well done some strange venues in my time but the first time I'd done a reception in a yeart!, a bloody big one, well two as it happens.

Jillian getting ready, nice natural light from the window. Sometimes you just have to pick your moment to shoot. I never direct people I just wait for that moment when everything is right.

Bell ringers in the church.

Short walk from the house to the church, luckily the weather held up nicely.

A proud son and a happy bride.

A shot from the rear of the church with my trusty 70-200mm.

Happy days.

Now back to the yeart for the evenings entertainment.

Had to use flash here as the light was very low in the venue. Managed to balance the flash with the ambient light though so didn't look too false. A good day and a nice wedding to round off the year. Now for the Xmas celebrations!!.

Hannah & Peter, 16th December 2011 - The Bell Hotel, Sandwich

The weather forecast was for severe winds this weekend and I was really wondering how the day was going to turn out. As it happens, the wind wasn't that bad and a great day followed. Hannah & Peter were such fun, this was the first time I'd travelled to the venue with the bride, it was a good laugh. A good day was had by all.

Ok, its Christmas, so the tree and decorations were a major feature throughout the day.

Time to get suited and booted, the hour has come.

Nice shoe shot on the window. The bride was getting ready at her parents and it was a lovely cottage, although the lighting was limited.

Hannah was really getting into her day and was one of those people that were really positive and happy, as you can see from this mirror shot.

Time to get to the taxi, a quick walk down the alleyway. Nice urban bride shot I think.

The ceremony.

Posing for the guests, I like to take side shots at this point.

It was a freezing day but as we were so near the beach Hannah wanted all the guests to go to the beach for a group shot. Used a bit of old film colouring in this shot. I love the couple engaged in a chat, nice and natural.

Back to Deal town hall and getting ready for the bus trip back to The Bell. I travelled on the bus with the guests and carried on shooting during the journey. I never realised how bumpy a bus could be, suppose you don't notice when your sitting down but I had to get into a stance standing up and shoot.

7pm, winter, no flash, just using the light from the shop. I love this sort of situation making something out of nothing. I always look around the location and find somewhere to utilise the shoot. I think this really worked well.

Again, at the Bell, under the tree in the pub garden

The Bell has some lovely stained glass at the entrance so we used this as a back drop and the lighting from the doorway illuminated Hannah & Peters faces, nice

First dance, Hannah was eager to get all the guests involved. A great couple and a most enjoyable day.

Rebecca & Leon, 3rd December 2011 - The Blazing Donkey

It had been a long season and 2011 was drawing to a close. I love shooting winter weddings the light can be a challenge but it makes you think more before you shoot, all good stuff. I had the pleasure of shooting Rebecca & Leons wedding and loved every minute of it.

Rebecca concentrating on getting ready. When I first enter the room brides are a little shy of the camera but after 10 mins they forget I'm there and thats when you get unposed natural shots like this.

A chain of bridesmaids!, this is the sort of shot you never really get unless you arrange them, but believe it or not they did this naturally...result!.

Just a couple of minutes spare to take a few shots on the couch, I love the backlit light from the window. With this sort of shot you have to over expose or the picture will just be dark and Rebecca will be a silhouette.

After ceremony shot as the sun was going down. Really had to work fast here. I think we had approximately 20 mins before the light disappeared, it was a close call but I think this shot worked great.

The first dance with a kiss to seal it. Love the back light.

Pesky kids!, they just don't care do they.

Last kiss before the end of the dance and that was me done, time to call it a wrap after another successful shoot.

Bronwyn & Lewis - Stevenage, 19th November 2011

Never usually travel this far for a wedding, but I was asked by Bron & Lewis to cover their wedding day as they were guests at a friends wedding the year before and liked the way I worked. It was a pleasure to be part of their day and really enjoyed being out of my territory.

Nice to get pictures like this. Shows minor details in the church that usually get missed.

Guests arriving in style, the old London bus, always on time and never breaks down. Unlike our trains!.

Ok, so you think this one is out of focus. Nope, deliberately focused on the bus, think this works showing the brides car coming up the road. Its good to break the rules!.

The sun was really low and shining directly at the camera. Had to position myself behind the one bush in the church entrance and shoot from there as I would have ended up with lens flare, bit of a technical head ache but as long as you know what your doing thats fine.

Church shot, lovely stained glass.

Time was running short and the light was dipping fast. Managed to get a few shots in a avenue near the church. Used a little flash to correctly expose the couple and under exposed the background to capture the winter sun (what was left of it).

Again, flash used here. Had to use on camera flash (which I hate doing) as there wasn't time to set the off camera flash system up. But I think this worked fine.

Nothing like a nice cuppa tea. Bron with her bridesmaids before the after dinner speeches reflecting on the days events.

So if theres no natural light left, then lets go for street lighting. I love doing urban shots like this. Although you do have to ramp up the ISO settings a bit. I think this night session worked really well.

Just love this shot!. Who would think a shop doorway could be a romantic spot....me!...so I suggested we do a few shots there and use the light in the doorway.

Ok, newly weds generally have a slow dance as the first dance, but Bron and Lewis were throwing each other around!. I wasn't really expecting that and had to change tact with camera setting pretty quick. Had to use quite a burst of flash to freeze the moment but still use a slow shutter speed to capture as much ambient light as possible. Also, the aperture was wide open so a shallow depth of field. I now ask couples before the dance whether it will be slow or fast! :-)

A lull in the throwing around!

Hannah & Lee, 11th November 2011 - Howfield Manor, Chartham Hatch

A lovely day for wedding photography, the day was overcast (just how we like it) and therefore creating a nice soft light thats flattering. Not bad considering its the middle of November!.

Hannah & bridesmaid showing some affection

What are those?, they look like some sort of medieval torture instrument?. Forgive me I am a man and know nothing of ladies tools!.

Lee and groomsmen having a crafty smoke as they arrive, time to keep those nerves at bay

Hannah "striking a pose", some people are just natural in front of the lens, thats why I am behind it :-)

The big moment arrives as Hannah walks up to the ceremony area for the the magical moment.

I like capturing close ups of small details, this picture shows the intensity of the moment

All done!, no time for the celebrations, luckily the weather was not too cold and no rain. I think they were glad it was all over and they could relax a bit more. I love the way this picture captures the feeling of jubilation from Hannah.

Now time for the post wedding portraits in the grounds. No flash used as the natural light was great. Although, time was cracking on and the light was falling at a great rate so had to work fast and use a high ISO and slow shutter speed, "keep still!".

As Hannah was very confident in front of the lens I used the day to its advantage and took a few shots of her on her own. I don't generally do that unless I feel the bride feels comfortable in that situation.

As for Lee, I think he just wanted to get it over and done with so he could go to the bar, nice one!.

I always try to reflect the seasons in my pictures, so took them over to a tree where the colours had changed and gave a lovely colourful back drop. By this time it was late dusk (if theres such a phrase) so the light was nearly gone. Working fast at weddings is essential as there are specific time limits to adhere too. It does put you under pressure to perform though :-). Overall a nice day with a lovely couple. Happy days.