Gorgeous girls, big white dresses, some pretty hot grooms and my lil' cousin's wedding

Hello there!

As many of you have let me know, I've not been keeping up with the blog terribly well lately! All I can say is that I've been so busy with so many fabulous weddings, I've not had time for anything else!

This includes planning my own big day - so to everyone who's told me how organised they are for their wedding next year - "you're making me nervous!" However, Mr Sam and I are now getting into planning mode in earnest. I will bore you... I mean fascinate you with all the news just as soon as I have some!

As for now, well wedding season is coming to an end but what a brilliant season it's been, we really have had some great weddings to photograph. As usual, you'll find lots of photographs of our recent brides and grooms in our "recent work" gallery. You'll see they're a bit of a gorgeous bunch so a "big thank you" and "m'wah" to everyone who invited us to be a part of their day. I hope you all had as much fun as I did!

Now of course all of our brides and grooms are special but there is one very special couple who aren't in the gallery just yet, so I thought I'd share some of their photos with you. Who are these stunning individuals? Why it's my own little cousin Anna-Louise and her new husband, Paddy!












We had such a wonderful weekend with them and it was just the best thing to see them get married. Especially as Paddy has felt like a part of the family for years, so it was nice to see it made official!

Recent Wedding: Phill and Vicky, Petwood Hotel, Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire

We have just uploaded the pictures for Phill and Vicky. They were married in Horncastle and held their reception at the Petwood Hotel, in Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire. Use the link below to see the gallery.

Phill and Vicky's Wedding Pictures.

Today we are off to take pictures for Zoe and David, who will be getting married in Arnold and their reception is at the Priest House, Castle Donington. Tomorrow (Sunday 26th) we will be at the Nottigham Belfry Wedding Show and I will be down at Fawsley Hall, Northamptonshire taking some pictures, as they have an open day - so a busy weekend in store.

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Recent Wedding - David and Victoria

I have just uploaded the pictures from David and Victoria's wedding, which you can see in our recent wedding gallery by clicking here . Here are a few pictures below:-


I really like this picture of Victoria and David, the light in the wooded area was more subtle than in the sun and the tree provides a nice setting and it makes for a very good romantic picture.


This more abstract picture of Victoria getting ready shows what can be achieved using a professional lens and no flash. The only item in focus is her tiara. This effect is entirely created within the camera - I use very little photoshop, as these images were taken using good old film. It is the quality of the lens that has created this - and capturing the moment.


We like to take a few different bride and groom pictures at our weddings. This involves a little more time and sometimes a few moments after the meal, like this picture here. It was taken early in the evening, when David and Victoria were more relaxed. The use of the wall creates a slightly different effect.


This picture again shows the quality of the lenses we use. The soft background is again created entirely in camera, as this picture was also taken on film with no photoshop applied and it makes for a nice picture, especially in black and white.


Speeches are great for candid moments, like this one.


And this one too.

Recent Wedding - Hayley and Gavin

I have just uploaded the pictures from Hayley and Gavin's wedding. You can see some of these pictures below and more at our recent gallery. Hayley and Gavin were married on 26th July and they were married at the Guards Chapel by St James Park and their reception was at the Cavalry and Guards Club, Piccadilly.

You can see their pictures on the recent wedding gallery by clicking here. .


This is Gavin's mum during the speeches. The light and colours are great.


Wedding cakes are always one of the highlights for a wedding and the pictures.


This is Gavin just before Hayley came into the chapel He seems pretty relaxed.


These always make for great pictures, capturing moments as the happen.


This is one of Hayley's bridesmaids relaxing in the morning.


This is the collar, specially bought for the wedding, for Hayley's dog, who was a special guest at the wedding later in the day.


Shoes are important to many girls and this was definitely the case with Hayley.


This is an outside picture of the Cavalry and Guards Club, 127 Piccadilly.

Recent Wedding - Karima and Raj

I've just uploaded the photographs for Karima and Raj's wedding, which was on the 20th July at the Marriott Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club, Warwickshire. We first met Karima and Raj at the wedding of Karima's sister - Salima - last year. We absolutely loved working with Salima and her now husband Arif and we were delighted when Karima booked us to photograph her wedding this year. They are such a lovely family that is was a true pleasure for both Samantha and me to take their photographs.

We worked with the girls, Ranj and Sney, from Tania Tapel wedding and event organisers on this wedding, as we did last year.

You can see their pictures on the recent wedding gallery by clicking here. . Here are a few:-


The dancing is always a big part of any Asian wedding.


This was a nice tier of cup-cakes.


A simple but relaxed pose.


Sam is great at these pictures - wish I could take them! Requires a female touch, I think.


Now this is more my type of picture - looks like Raj should be on the silver screen.


Another one of Sam's very effective creative photographs.


And another - they work very well, but you have to have the eye to see it in the first, and Sam certainly does.

My Favourite Wedding Pictures

If you have read this blog recently then you will see that I have put together a collection of my recent favourite images - which contains around 150 images taken over the past 6 months. We'll I have gone a small step further and I have narrowed this down to my favourite 50 or so images. This is, of course, an entirely personal and subjective exercise but it is one that I get immense pleasure and is one of my main motivations.

There are a range of images that to me work well - a good proportion are black and white, with some colour - but overwhelmingly they have a simple approach and a compelling impact, to me at least.

I was speaking to a fellow professional on the weekend, a videographer, and he was commenting on how much is possible these days to edit pictures and adjust them on the computer. I replied that we have a much more simple and less artificial approach in that we look to do as much of the creativity when we take the picture rather than afterwards - and almost all these pictures have received fairly limited processing.

Here is the link to see the show, it takes about 5 minutes to play, start to finish.

See my recent favourites click here. This will open in a new window and will take a few moments to load, so please be patient.

Album Designs

We are very interested in how our images are presented and as professionals we see the difference good presentation makes to images. This year we have invested in the services of a graphic designer - Ness - who has worked with us since we formed PureLight. She did all the original branding for the business. There is most definitely a need for graphic design with more contemporary album layouts, to make sure there is a flow and consistency across the whole album. This is, of course, a different skill from the one required to take the photographs in the first place - which is part of the reason why we asked Ness to help us with this. It also means we can focus more of our efforts on taking the photographs.

Here are links to two recent layouts from Ness. One is for Ash and Geeta, who were married in May, and the other is for Claire and Gareth, who were also married in May.

See Ash and Geeta's layouts by clicking here. This will open in a new window and will take a few moments to load, so please be patient.

See Claire and Gareth's layouts by clicking here. This will open in a new window and will take a few moments to load, so please be patient.

We work to a system where we (or should I say Ness) provides the initial design and then our couples can make changes. This is so much easier for our couples, as the task of choosing pictures for the album is one that many find very difficult. We always think pictures look their best when they are in the context of an album or even a slideshow - where they tell the story of the day.

Happy viewing and thanks to Ness for all her hard work and excellent designs.

Recent Weddings

Well it is the main season for weddings and we have been busy. We have also started to upload portrait images here too, including lifestyle and engagement shoots. If you look on our recent wedding gallery and our client gallery you will see quite a few recent examples of our work.

These include:

Hayley and Gavin engagement shoot. I met Hayley and Gavin in central London on the 22nd June to finalise the details for their wedding photography, as they are getting married in late July, and I also took some engagement pictures.

Lucy and Peter were married in Shropshire in May. This was very much a village style wedding, as Lucy walked to church and then Lucy and Peter and their guests walked home with the reception in a marquee.

Dan and Rita were married in Nottinghamshire in May. Rita is Chinese so this wedding has a very different feel and made for some great and very unusual images.

Claire and Gareth were married at Colwick Hall in May. They have some lovely pictures from Gareth brushing his shoes in the morning to fireworks at night.

The wedding of Ash and Geeta was our first Asian wedding of the year. They were also married in May, with the wedding on a Saturday in Harrow and the reception held on the following Sunday at the Sheraton in Heathrow.

Katie and Will came across a few weeks ago for some engagement pictures. They are getting married later in the year in early September.

And, finally, I have just uploaded the pictures for Claire and Jamie, who were married in late May at Belton Woods Hotel, near Grantham, and also the pictures for Alexa and Andy, who were married in early June in Shropshire.

So you can see it has been a busy few weeks and please do take the time to have a look at our recent weddings page.

I am off to do another engagement shoot in central London... I hope you all have a good day.
Glen

Engagement Pictures

Along with our new and growing portrait businesses we also offer engagement shoots for wedding couples. These are really great fun! People can be apprehensive about being photographed but find the actual experience is much more enjoyable - so this is a good way of a dry run before the big day, to feel more relaxed about photographs and makes for some really nice pictures too.

There is something special about couples when they are engaged. You can tell from the pictures - there is a certain playful chemistry and it is great to capture. This also helps to build a stronger relationship with us ahead of the wedding day and makes for much better wedding photographs. Here are a few pictures from recent shoots:-


This is Naomi and Chris, who are getting married in June.


This is Ash and Geeta, who are getting married next weekend. We took these pictures at the Sheraton Hotel, Heathrow.


This is Claire and Gareth, who were married last weekend.


This is Rita and Dan, who were married last Thursday.

Recent Wedding: Robert and Zoe

Well it is quite useful to have the internet - because Robert and Zoe moved to Japan immediately after their wedding, so without internet access it would be a bit tricky and no doubt a long wait to see their pictures! We designed this site to give our couples a great on-line viewing experience for their pictures, so they can see some of the pictures, all of them, a slideshow set to music, and even the layout for their album, where the pages turn like the pages of the book - neat, eh!

You can see their pictures at the recent weddings gallery, all of the images at the client gallery, and their wedding album at our album design page. I have posted a few highlights below.

I first spoke with Robert just under 12 months ago. They looked at our site, we spoke on the phone, exchanged a few emails and they booked - it was all sorted in a few hours. I met them several months after this, for our pre-wedding consultation. It has been a real pleasure and a privilege to meet Robert and Zoe, and their families. It is one of those special parts of our job that we really do like - meeting people, getting to know them a little, and being able to record special moments in their lives.

A few special comments are reserved for the wedding cake - I do really like to see a lovely wedding cake, and this was definitely the case with Robert and Zoe.

Samantha came with me for most of the wedding day, and it was very helpful to have an extra pair of hands - and Samantha, being a girl, gets a little more access in the getting ready part, as you can imagine, and she has got some outstanding pictures, especially the one below, where one of the bridesmaids is putting the finishing touches to Zoe's dress.


The glance from Robert to Zoe makes this shot - he is one lucky guy!


I am so jealous of Sam, what a picture - this is a work of art not just a photograph. This was a digital image and was edited by Rob, who is also now part of our PureLight team. He has done a great job with the sepia tone, it creates a striking picture.


This is a lovely cake, simple and lovely.


This is Robert's grandmother, who is like a mother to him. She is so proud of him, and rightly so, he is a fine fellow and has obviously brought much joy to those around him.


What can I say, this is Zoe - I could have taken pictures like this all afternoon - she looks fantastic.

Recent Weddings - Andy and Fiona

We've been away for a few weeks, so this is a delayed post.

When I went to the venue, the White Hart Hotel in Lincoln, I was faced with road closures due to the annual Santa Fun Run - there are some things you just can't plan for! Well, this only meant that there was a longer walk from my car to the hotel, although other suppliers had much more items to carry, so it was relatively painless for me.

As you can guess this was just before Christmas, on Sunday 16th December. I have posted a few pictures below and you can see a selection at recent weddings and all of the images at client gallery.

Glen

Recent Weddings - John and Loralie

We have just uploaded the pictures from John and Loralie's wedding. You can see a selection at recent weddings and all of the images at client gallery. I have uploaded a few pictures here also.

They were married on the 1st December at Allington Church - the service was carried out by the lovely Steph - and they held their reception at Allington Manor, which is a delightful venue only a short walk away. We saw John and Loralie earlier this week when they came across to see their pictures. It is always nice to meet up with couples again after the day and it helps to speed up the process of selecting pictures for their album.

Well it has been a busy year and it is nearly time for Christmas, so I will sign off and wish you all a very, happy Christmas and best wishes for 2008. A special big thanks to all the couples who have entrusted us with photographing their wedding this year - we thoroughly enjoyed meeting you and capturing your day in pictures. We really do love weddings and it is a special privilege to be part of someone's big day.
Glen