Never work with whom?

It's always an honour to be asked to photograph someone's wedding - it's the most important day of their lives, and they're asking to remember it through your eyes (or at least your lens!). People sometimes ask me whether I feel a lot of pressure because of this - fortunately, my approach to weddings is all about taking the emphasis of the photographer! No-one wants to stand in a line for four hours whilst the photographer bosses them all about. And, conversely, the best shots are the ones which allow the couple to later look back at the day through the eyes of their guests, family and friends, as well as bringing back their own happy memories of the day.

One of the best ways to view a wedding is through the eyes of a child - everything's new, exciting, everyone's a new friend, and the outfits are the best thing ever. Until the opportunity to slide down grassy banks comes along. So, here is a journey through a wedding; as seen by the children that make it so fun!

Boys like cars. Girls, less so, but if it's pretty, they'll be very happy to stand near it.
"One day, I'll have one like this..."


"This is more my scene - time to become the most important person/princess of the day.
What's that? I'm not the most important person here?"



Pretty much anything that shows up fingerprints, will.



Pretty in pink!


They're great smiles; but in truth, they're made slightly nervous by the size of my camera compared to theirs.



"Time for a nap..."



"What's down here? Probably going to get muddy."



"Worms and mud I can deal with. But girls? With tennis balls?"



One of the most important things is to give children the space they need to have fun. This was shot using a telephoto lens about 30m away from the fountain - they didn't even know we were there!

Here comes the sun...

Well, the summer seems to be arriving in force - last weekend took us to rural Oxfordshire for the beautiful wedding of Laura and Tim in Berrick Salome. What can I say about this lovely couple? As you can tell from our pick of the day's shots, there were smiles all round, all day, and the sun had his hat on and was certainly keen on coming out to play with the happy newlyweds!

At times in the distant past, I've been known to complain about the harsh light of a summer's day - but more and more I love the defining nature of it, and the high-key shots it allows you to get. As a well regarded fellow-blogger and photographer said, "Show me an image with a good amount of internal contrast [lots of lights and darks] and I'll show you an image that will look good anywhere, on any paper!"

It makes things harder, yes - but what's life without a little challenge? And just because something's a little more tricky to get spot on doesn't mean it's not as good! A good example - the couple in the church, photo below; backlit from a huge window with light streaming in, south-facing windows high up casting a beam of light straight onto the bride's back, and deep shadows behind the groom. Modern cameras are usually ok at guessing the correct exposure to use, but in situations like this, it's up to the human behind the viewfinder to get it right... Hard work? Yes. Worth it? Definitely.

The bride ...



... and her proud father.



The groom ...



... and his new wife!



The afternoon sun ...



... and the happy couple.

Fairies in the lens

It's been a while since I've had a normal Saturday. By which I mean one of those lie-in, get-up-and-have-a-cooked-breakfast, maybe-think-about-doing-something-productive-later kind of Saturdays. Mostly I'm off to crazy places all over the country to photograph lovely people's weddings - and during the week I'm blissfully up to my ears in Photoshop and thousands of photos of smiling happy people.

Louise, my partner in crime on these exploits, is particularly great at getting kids on her side at weddings, which results in some fantastic shots (who said never work with children and animals? they're great fun!) but can sometimes give unexpected results.

Last weekend she managed to convince three wonderfully cute kids that there were fairies in the lens of her (admittedly rather large and intriguing) camera. Sorting through the dozens of photos of very earnest, slightly puzzled-looking kids at a very short distance from the lens has been an entertaining break from the usual kind of shots we come away with!

Which reminds me - I have to get those little fingerprints off the glass...

Curiouser and curiouser...

Summer is here...

Well, May has arrived, with its strange Oxford traditions of students jumping off bridges, Morris dancers in the streets, and choirs singing from towers. If that makes no sense to you - join the club.

What makes perfect sense is the wedding of the wonderful Piper and Simon at Ardington House in south Oxfordshire. Fairytale is one way to describe the day - the bride looked utterly stunning, making her way to get married on an island in the middle of a lake (carried on a boat, no less!); the weather was perfect; the couple's guests were a delight to be around and a great laugh (the speeches - award-winning), and the lovely couple were so relaxed in front of the camera we couldn't help but take some stunning shots. Did I mention last week that this is the best job in the world?

As a fan of occasionally walking up hills, an important part of that particular past-time is to stop every so often and look back, and marvel at how far you've come. The moment I finished processing Piper and Simon's wedding was one of those metaphorical enjoy-the-view moments - comparing last weekend's wedding with the photos I gave to my good friends Ben and Clare all those weddings ago (kudos for letting me cut my teeth at their special day!) is quite a reminder that the only way to survive in the photography business is to try and make every shoot better than the last - cliched perhaps, but nonetheless true!

The bride



Arriving by boat to meet her beloved...



Pure joy!



The fabulous grounds at Ardington



Piper and Simon picked exactly the right weekend for the blossom...







Cutting the cake at sunset - with a kiwi to celebrate!



We like to party.

...say the bells of St Paul's

It was off to London last weekend for a real treat - Liv and Tony got married in the crypt at St Paul's Cathedral. Welcome to fairytale land! As if someone was listening out for us, the weather was better than any other weekend this year, with some breathtaking blue skies and great light even through the stained glass.

I had the pleasure of working with another professional image-maker in the evening - and it would be safe to say I've never seen anything like it. Liv and Tony had a silhouette-cutter providing not-inconsiderable entertainment in the evening! I still have no idea how she did it - take a piece of card, a pair of scissors and a subject, and two minutes later, pure genius. Amazing. It certainly put me in my place - all I have to do is press a button!

The adorned bride...


In front of St Paul's Cathedral - watched by more people than I'm usually used to!



Returning for dinner


Here comes the sun!


Here's one I made... just now.

New Year's Hi-Resolution

With the new year have come new projects, both in the studio and out of it. Quite quickly the period for settling in has come and gone - the real work is starting now. Studio work is high-pressure, but the results can be amazing - you need to be able to cope with complex lighting setups and some quick mental arithmetic without too much thought, so those higher brain functions can be dedicated to the imagination - thinking up new approaches to images, not only that look good and are comfortable for your client, but that get a bit of their soul in the shot.

No wonder people around the world still see photographers as stealing people's souls. A good shot can often do just that - or at least borrow it for a while...

One of the many great shots from Karen's modelling portfolio, put together in the studio in only half a day. You wouldn't have guessed this was her first foray into professional modelling!


A study in perfect hair-lighting...





The eyes are a window to the soul...





"How did he do that?"


Attitude...


Fiona's headshots - just a bit nicer than a passport photo...!

No rest for the... photographers

Sincere and abject apologies to those of you who have been checking back recently, hoping to find more news from everyone's favourite Oxford-wedding-photographer-with-a-studio-on-Cowley-Road. He's been busy.

Naomi and Jonathan got married just before Christmas - a special time for so many reasons, but specially for us at Simplicity Photography - it marks another year that's gone by since our first paid wedding for our great friends James and Charley, back in the day!

Far from being just another wedding, Naomi and Jonathan's day was fantastic - as if I needed reminding that this is the best job in the world! Perfect weather, amazing location, fun guests, and an incredibly photogenic couple - what more could a photographer ask for?

Some of our favourite shots from the day:

A sneaky kiss...


The gorgeous location...


A late-night serenade


Even later-night dancing with an incredible band