Journal

The great thing about shooting intimate weddings is the time you get to take the photographs, it’s rare to get this amount of time to experiment and shoot in such a relaxed manner at larger weddings. We spent the day walking around Belfast and going to places like Botanic Gardens and the Cathedral Quarter, everything was so much more spontanious than the constraints associated with bigger weddings. If I learned anything from this wedding it was to keep my eyes open for new things, push myself harder to do more original work and not just do the usual type of photographs that are expected at a wedding.

To view another wedding photographed at The Merchant Hotel click on the link below -

Wedding Photographer Merchant Hotel Belfast

 

One of the good things about being a wedding photographer is you really appreciate being off on a Saturday and one of the things I love most is walking Coco along the coast to the beach, today I brought a camera with me. This is my favourite.

It’s always good to get a little bit of time to experiment and play with new filters, etc. I am waiting on clients coming to meet me for the first time and have a spare half hour to play about. My latest is tilt shift effect, this is were the focal plane has been moved to change the depth of focus field. I will post more but this is my first attempt, not bad I recon !

Wow ! I have a wedding featured on the Vera Wang website. To view it you can click on this link  – Larchfield Wedding Feature

Over a year ago I photographed Hugh & Rita’s wedding at Larchfield Estate, Rita was wearing the most amazing Vera Wang  wedding dress, so after the wedding we submitted images to Vera Wang for possible inclusion in their featured weddings section. As you can imagine it’s quite a long process and they are very choosy about what they publish, it’s only the best wedding photographers around who have been featured.

Since I hadn’t heard from them in so long I thought they were not going to use them, I didn’t expect them to as all the wedding images on the website are of such a high quality, so I couldn’t believe it when I received an email yesterday to tell me that my images had been accepted for inclusion.

After looking through the other weddings featured I am the only wedding photographer in Northern Ireland to have work published on this prestigious site, Vera Wang is an iconic brand and I am so delighted that they feel that my work is of such a standard that they are happy to be associated with me.

If you would like to view more of my work of talk to me about your Wedding Photography you can click on the link below.

Wedding Photographers Northern Ireland

I was working on proofing David and Sarah’s lovely wedding today when I decided to do a quick blog while I was at it (If doing a blog can be quick). Every time we meet we always talk about our beautiful children, our dogs that is and where we walk them etc. Their wedding was a very relaxed affair and a rather wet one, but all worked out well in the end.

If you are getting married in Clandeboye Estate and want to get in touch with me about your wedding photography click on the link below.

Wedding Photographers Northern Ireland

I’ve been wanting to post a lot of really great weddings I have photographed over the past few months but I am just not getting the time at the minute, I seem to spend most of my days replying to emails and talking to clients and off course boring admin. Blogging has had to take a back seat.

Paul and Jill’s wedding was really good fun with a lovely relaxed vibe, it seemed to happen so fast, I remember looking at my watch when we started the photographs at the Museum and thinking I had an hour to shoot everything, as you can imagine I was under a little pressure. Thankfully the weather was on our side and the sun was starting to drop low in the sky, I was able to work in that magical golden hour of light.

If you would like to get in touch with me about your wedding photography you can view more of my work and check my availability by clicking on the link below -

Wedding Photographers Northern Ireland

I started this book a couple of months back but only got to read the first chapter, I’d been so busy shooting weddings I never found the time to pick it up. I was away for a week to Catalonia so this was the perfect opportunity and to be honest I didn’t put it down the whole trip, much to the detriment of the tourist sights of Barcelona. This is a great read, it’s about two people over a twenty period of their life, very funny and very moving with a few surprises. I won’t say too much about it as it would spoil it if you were to read it but it is without doubt one of my top ten favourite books.

I have just started work on a really fab wedding I photographed recently at the Ulster Museum in Belfast, there’s a lot of really great photographs to share so here is a couple to give you a preview.

The full post is now up on my Journal, to view it click on the link below -

Ulster Museum Wedding

I shot this image last week on one of the wettest Saturdays I’ve seen in a long time,  the Bride and her Dad arrived at the church and I gestured to her to draw a heart in the misted up window, the image isn’t perfectly sharp but that’s what I like about it. I also like the way her forefinger is right at the bottom of the heart just as she has finished drawing it.

As a wedding photographer working in a country that has it’s fair share of inclement weather and when it’s raining as heavy as it was, you have to think creatively to make the most of every situation you find yourself in. This is why it is so important to hire a professional wedding photographer, most amateur wedding photographers would crumble under the pressure of such a day.

Like most wedding photographers in Northern Ireland the blogging has had to take a back seat over the busy summer period, finding the time is nearly impossible. By the time I meet clients for pre-weddings, answer emails, work on albums, do reprints, get images proofed and online and not to mention all the phone calls the day is over. Never mind actually going out to shoot the weddings ! Over the next month or so the wedding season will be drawing to a close for another year and I will get back into the routine of blogging about all the beautiful weddings I have shot over the summer. I hope to do this as the albums are being designed which will make it easier, I always forget about photographs I take, so by doing it this way it will jog my memory and I will be more likely to remember shots, it’s always a nice surprise when you find a great image that had been forgotten about.

I made a decision just over a year ago to take on a lot less weddings, to be honest I was getting a bit fed up with the long hours and the pressure of it all. Looking back it was the best decision I could have made, I have really enjoyed this year more than any in the last ten years, I also feel my creativity has returned and the hunger to strive for something different each time I cover a wedding. I love what I do again, I feel that I have came full circle and have discovered why I became a professional photographer in the first place. My clients this year have also been great, they have been happy to let me do what I feel is best for them, maybe this is because my attitude has changed and I have more time to spend with them and explain to them what we should be aiming for in their pictures. I suppose if you spend more time with clients and take on-board their needs and communicate with them then they will have a better understanding and appreciation of what you are striving to do for them.

I love September more than any other month, I’m sure all wedding photographers in Northern Ireland would agree it is the best month for quality light, it is a warmer light at this time of year as the Sun starts to drop lower in the sky. The colours of the landscape also start to change as everything  starts to take on a golden hue. It’s usually quite a dry month also.

I was back to the beautiful Larchfied Estate to photograph Owen and Joanne’s wedding. The day started in Newcastle with Joanne getting ready at the Slieve Donard Hotel, as I travelled down the rain was so heavy the wipers on my car were struggling to keep up, fortunately by the time I was leaving the hotel the rain had stopped. Then onto Bryansford for the service before heading to the reception. By the time we arrived at Larchfield it was a beautiful still afternoon and we were able to make the most of it’s amazing setting. Joanne wore the most beautiful wedding dress, a couture dress by the bridal designer Stephanie Allin, accompanying it was a hand written letter from the design team, I love these little personal touches.

Here are some of my personal favourites of the day.

Other vendors at the wedding included-

Wedding Films by Bradshaw White, Flowers by House of Elliott in Lisburn, Reception venue by Blue Moon Event Design.

You can see other wedding photography at Larchfield Estate by clicking on the following links -

Wedding Photographer Larchfield Estate I

Wedding Photographer Larchfield Estate II

If you would like to get in touch with me about your wedding photography you can view more of my work and check my availability by clicking on the link below -

Wedding Photographers Northern Ireland