Image of the Day - Church Weddings

One of the great things about being a wedding photographer in the East Midlands is seeing all the beautiful old churches we have here.

This photograph was taken at Naomi and Chris' wedding last year. Naomi and Chris were lucky enough to have a wonderful church next door to the Lincolnshire home of the Chirs' parents. This meant they were able to hold their summery marquee reception right next to the place they had tied the knot. Their vicar was wonderful and gave such a moving ceremony. She also allowed us to take a few photographs, as long as we were very discrete, meaning that we could capture this really special moment as Chris slipped the ring onto Naomi's finger. I just love the way she's looking at him! Aw!

Here is another gorgeous moment from Matt and Rachael's Christmas wedding.

Last Christmas we were also invited to photograph Jo and Scott's wedding at the stunning cathedral in Derby. These photographs, taken by Glen, really shows how impressive the building is and yet their ceremony was still very personal and emotional.




Lastly, here are a few images which show how perfect the light can be in an old church and how this really adds a touch of magic to the photographs.

Whenever we're allowed to photograph church ceremonies we work hard to remain almost invisible and not distract from the ceremony itself. The added benefit of this is that we get to capture some great natural moments that really sum up what the day is all about. Sx

Image of the Day - En Guarde

Good morning! Today's image of the day is a bit of a break from wedding photography. This is my other half, Andrew, who is currently gracing the pages of Lincolnshire Pride magazine as they've run a piece on the Fernwood Sword Club. The Club's been going from strength to strength and after Easter we move to a new home, as we've already outgrown our current location. So we're responsible for a growing number of sword-fighters in Lincolnshire, especially as the latest beginners have all passed their course with flying colours.

See you tomorrow!

Sam
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Image of the Day - Take 2

Hello! Well it won't take the most observant of people to notice that my attempts at posting an image a day were somewhat short lived. Partly, events rather overtook me but mostly this was because Blogger fell out with me. Or I broke the internets. Or something. Either way it's taken me until now to figure out how to post to our blog again, but here I am!

As usual, lots has happened here and I'll be letting you know all our news over the next couple of days. We've been shooting lots of gorgeous portrait photographs, had more brave and beautiful ladies take part in the PureWoman experience and photographed our first weddings of 2009. The image above was taken at Rina and Amit's wedding. I'll be showing you more of their photographs later as they are such a stunning couple whose perfect Leicester wedding took place over two packed days so they have LOTS of great photographs! This photograph was one Glen took at the party a couple of weeks ago and I just love it!

It's clear that the sunshine brings out the romantic in everyone as we've heard from lots of couples getting married next year. It looks like 2010 is going to be another busy year for us with weddings not just around Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands but as far afield as Surrey and London.

Our other big news is that the PureLight photography studio is moving from our home at Hexgreave to Stoke Rochford, but more on that later.

In the meantime, I can't resist showing you one more wedding photograph from Rina and Amit. This time, just because it makes me laugh!



More tomorrow (no, really!)

Sam
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Image of the Day - Modern Hindu Wedding Ceremonies

Hello again!

Last year Glen and I were privileged to photograph a number of Hindu weddings in some beautiful locations. The combination of gorgeous couples, stunning mandaps and emotional ceremonies allowed us to create some of our favourite photographs of the year.

Although the most important elements of the wedding are always present, modern Hindu weddings can vary greatly. Some will have most of the important ceremonies on one day, others will last several days. This makes every wedding we cover unique, as different combinations of rituals are observed.

However, all weddings have at their heart the coming together of two people in love and the blessing of that parntership. This photograph was taken at Meghna and Jignesh's wedding at the Royal Lancaster Hotel, Hyde Park in London. I love how their special union as man and wife is shown by the way they are making their offering together, the knot and the chord binding them together and the garlands they have presented to each other.

S
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Image of the Day - Veils

2008 saw veils make a big comeback, and as a wedding photographer, that made me very happy!

Veils have a beautiful way of catching and diffusing light and really help to make a bridal portrait something special. The photograph on the left is of Emma, whose shoes I showed you yesterday. Simply by using the light from a window and her veil, we've created a really contemporary, fashion-style bridal portrait. So you can see, veils don't have to look cheesy or old fashioned.







Veils can add a touch of magic to wedding photographs. Here are some photographs taken at Sarah and Matt's wedding at Norwood Park in Southwell, Nottinghamshire. Their wedding day was pretty windy, and when the wind caught Sarah's veil it gave the pictures a real sense of movement and something of a fairy-tale quality.
















Many of the veils we saw last year were very long and very impressive, a trend which looks set to stay for 2009. A lot of brides told me they had chosen such a big and beautiful veil because it was the only time they were going to get to wear one, so why not go all out? I couldn't agree more! Here's a photograph that Glen took of Caroline at Stoke Rochford Hall, near Grantham, Lincolnshire. Caroline really knew how to work a veil!

Finally, you can have a bit of fun with a veil. Here are Robert and Zoe at Holme Pierrepont Hall in Nottinghamshire. Another wonderful long, swishy veil!









On Monday - Hindu Wedding Ceremonies.

Have a great, snowy weekend!

Sam
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Image of the Day - Shoes!

Hello!

I've been trying to think of new ways of using the blog and interesting, weddingy things to tell you about. I thought it might be interesting to show you a different photograph every day, one that shows some aspect of weddings and wedding photography. And here it is "Image of the Day" (insert fanfare here). Let's see how long I can keep this up for....

Being a girl, where else was I going to start but SHOES! Don't worry, I'm not about to launch into a Sex and the City style homily on the virtues of Louboutin and Blahnik. But I have seen some gorgeous wedding shoes I'd like to show you.

2008 introduced me to a new name in wedding shoes - Diane Hassall. Designer, Diane Hassall has created some stunning designs and each pair is handmade to the bride's specifications, making them even more special.

Also, they come in a really nice box! And if you're like me you're a sucker for anything in really nice packaging.


The ones at the top belong to Emma, who married James in December at Belton Woods and the pair on the right are Sarah's, who wore them at her Norwood Park wedding earlier last year (both were Lincolnshire weddings). I can report neither had sore feet by the end of the day, despite the killer heels!


Wedding shoes don't have to be white: here are a couple of gorgeous examples of gold and silver shoes. As you can see, Jimmy Choo is still a firm favourite!















Tomorrow - veils!

Sam
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