Wedding Photography, Portrait Photography and Family Photos in and around: Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire, Cotswolds and Somerset.
Wedding Photography, Portrait Photography and Family Photos in and around: Bristol, Bath, Gloucestershire, Cotswolds and Somerset.
Welcome to my blog! I am a full time professional photographer specialising in natural, creative wedding photography and a range of different types of portrait photography including maternity, new born babies, families and pets.
I love my work as, for me, a photograph is a split second in time, which is shaped by the emotions of a moment. Every photograph tells a story and particular images can conjour up strong and sometimes powerful memories. I count myself lucky to really love what I do as I have a passion for taking photographs and finding out what makes people tick.
I am based near Bristol and Bath in the Chew Valley. For weddings, I work mainly in the Bristol, Bath, Somerset and Gloucestershire areas and photograph weddings regularly at some of the best venues in the region including: Hunstrete House, Thornbury Castle, Ston Easton Park, Maunsel House, Kingscote Barn, The Park, The Matara Centre and Guyers House. I am happy to travel to other parts of the country and abroad. To find out more about my wedding photography please click here. For portraits I work either in clients' homes, on location or from my studio in the Chew Valley and aim to offer a relaxed, fun and personal experience, particularly as many of my clients have known me since photographing their wedding and come back to me for their family photographs. For more information about portraits, please click here.
I hope you enjoy looking through my most recent work on the blog. If you are interested in wedding or portrait photography specifically and would like to search for posts related to that, just use the categories button to refine your search.
Last week before all this awful rain descended Rachel and Andy came out to the studio for their pre-wedding meeting and shoot. We caught up over a cuppa and then did a shoot in the hayfield – which looks so lovely at this time of year and is a great background for photographs. Watch this space for their wedding pictures in a few weeks’ time, but in the meantime, here are a few favourites from their pre-wedding shoot:
Kimberley and Joss were really lucky on their wedding day that they had one of the nicest days of the year so far weatherwise. They had planned to have both the ceremony and the wedding breakfast outside in the grounds of Maunsel House, so I was really hoping the day would be sunny and warm and fortunately it was perfect!
When I arrived Kimberley had just started to get ready with her Maid of Honour Katherine upstairs in the Bridal Suite. Also popping from time to time were flower girls Mia and Jasmine and Page Boy Sasha. Kimberley had chosen a lovely yellow theme for the day which looked really fresh and summery – the girls dresses in particular were a great choice for a summer wedding.
Kimberley and Joss both used to dance with the Royal Ballet, which I only discovered that morning – seeing some amazing pictures of them on a photo montage in the hallway. I think it definately explained why Kimberley looked so elegant and graceful in her stunning bridal gown all day!
Outside, the cellist and pianist were warming up and Joss and his three best men Cedric, Matthew and Graham were chatting to guests as they arrived and trying to keep Joss’ nerves at bay. During the ceremony Samantha sang a beautiful song and Sasha did a lovely reading and it was great for me being able to move around a bit and have a bit more freedom than you usually do indoors.
After the ceremony, guests enjoyed Champagne on the lawn and the kids ran around and played on the big swings under Maunsel’s gorgeous old trees. I took Kimberley and Joss off briefly for a few photographs and then everyone sat down to the speeches and wedding breakfast under the pergola.
Here are a few of my favourite images:
It is rare for me to visit a venue I haven’t shot at, but until I went to see Gants Mill with Jo and Tim a couple of weeks before their wedding, I had not been there before. Only a 15 minute drive from North Cadbury, it is set in a secluded valley and as you can see from the images has lovely old mill buildings as well as a truely spectacular garden (put my efforts with a few pots to shame!!!).
We managed to dodge the odd shower and get some lovely shots of Jo and Tim in front of the mill and waterfall – you don’t get much better backgrounds than that! The nice thing about the gardens was also that guests just wandered around them finding a pergola to walk under or a bench to sit on and enjoy their Champagne. The marquee was decorated beautifully in an English county style ready for afternoon tea – complete with vintage cups and saucers and, of course, tea pots! Being a tea fiend myself – they looked great and very welcoming at that time of the afternoon. Everyone tucked into a proper afternoon tea and enjoyed the speeches.
Here are a few more favourite images from their day:
The one thing couples getting married tend to stress about the most is the weather! It is really pretty unusual for it to rain all day without stopping in this country, but last Sunday it did! Not that this made any difference to Emma and Dan’s wedding at the lovely Kingscote Barn in Gloucestershire – a favourite venue of mine. I headed over to see Emma in the morning, getting ready at her parents’ house and then drove over to the barn to catch up with Dan and the guys. After the ceremony in the barn, we did manage to take a few shots outside with the aid of a couple of brolleys and it was clear that, despite the rain, Emma, Dan and their guests had a great time.
Here are a few favourites:
I seem to have been flying around the country over the last weeek so I am a bit behind with blogging. I will try and get back on track over the next few days so bear with me! For now, here is part 2 of Erica and James’ wedding last month in Bath. Erica and James had their wedding reception at a favourite haunt of mine - the George in Norton St Philip. It has a lovely setting on the edge of the village with views over the village green and the surrounding fields. Guests enjoyed Champagne in the garden before sitting down to a medieval themed banquet. Here are a few images from the reception:
A week ago on Saturday, I had the pleasure of photographing Erica and James’ wedding in Bath. They had had such a sunny day for their pre-wedding shoot I was really hoping the day would dawn sunny and dry and as luck would have it – it did! I drove over to Norton St Philip to meet up with Erica and her mum Christine and bridesmaids Mairead, Jessica her Sister and friend Donna. I have been in touch with Erica since last May when we first met up and it has been great to see all her plans coming together. She decided on a medieval theme, to fit in with the setting of Bath Abbey and her venue – the George in Norton St Philip which was a 14th century coaching in – so very atmospheric! The girls’ bridesmaids dresses were a medieval style and in a deep red colour – which looked gorgeous with the reds and oranges of the flowers. Erica’s dress and veil had been made for her by her Mother and was a beautiful cream silk gown, also in a medieval style.
I then headed into Bath to the Abbey and met up with James and his best man Dave and ushers Phil and Nick. Although the Abbey is a spectacular building for a wedding it is also surprisingly intimate as they close it an hour before the wedding and it is so peaceful and tranquil inside despite crowds of tourists outside watching the street performers. Erica arriving created quite a stir as all sorts of visitors to Bath were keen to see her and I think she must have felt a bit like a celebrity!
Erica is a musican and had written her entrance music – which was quite amazing. She has quite a musical family as her cousin sang a beautiful aria during the service and at the end, a favourite piece of mine, John Rutter’s The Lord bless you and keep you – after which there wasn’t a dry eye in the whole Abbey!
After the ceremony, Erica and James greeted guests outside before we all headed off to the George.
Here are a few of my favourite shots from the first part of their day:
It’s been a really busy couple of weeks for me here with a couple of weddings, several portrait sessions and the first wedding fayre of the year last Sunday which was a great start to the 2011 wedding season. To backtrack a little, two weeks ago at the end of January (doesn’t that seem a long time ago already?!) I photographed John and Diana’s wedding at Thornbury Castle near Bristol – a favourite venue of mine, particularly at this time of year as it is so warm and cosy!
John was greeting guests in the lounge when I arrived so I took a few pictures of him with his guests before heading up to see Diana who looked amazing in a medieval style gown and a really stunning gold tiara. As they wanted a small intimate wedding, John and Diana got married in the library, which is such a lovely room for smaller weddings as you can get married in front of the window and your guests can take their pick from the comfortable arm chairs and sofas.
John and Diana couldn’t stop smiling at each other throughout the ceremony and everyone then tucked into Champagne and canapes while I took some photographs of the drinks reception.
The sun had decided to come out so we nipped outside briefly for a few photographs – you can get lovely shots outside even at this time of year if you know where to look! Back inside, everyone was ready for their wedding breakfast – which was set up with just one big table, which is a really nice touch if you can do it that way.
Here are a few of my favourite images:
Here is the second instalment from Zoey and Jurgen’s wonderful wedding.
We left off with Zoey and Jurgen coming out of the ceremony. They were followed by their guests who tucked into Champagne and canapes in the library and were entertained by a magician. I wandered around taking informal photographs and later on took Zoey and Jurgen outside for a few shots on their own. By now it was completely dark so using some nifty lighting, got some great shots of them in front of the house.
Soon it was time to sit down for dinner and a fantastic pianist (www.iantowerspianist.co.uk) played a mixture of music – including some favourites of mine, while guests enjoyed their meal. There were 4 speeches – Zoey’s uncle, Jurgen, Jurgen’s Father and his Best Man Paul – who managed to strike just the right note of fun.
After dinner, there was a brilliant surprise for everyone – a fire-eater on the front lawn and Chinese lanterns to set alight. These can be tricky to get going but I don’t think anyone had any accidents that I could see! We all then walked around to the back of the house for a fireworks display, mince pies and mulled wine, which was a real treat. Back inside, Zoey and Jurgen had their first dance as man and wife before all their friends joined them on the dancefloor.
Here are some of my favourite images:
Last Wednesday, just after the snow had melted and we had that ever so brief spell of milder weather, Zoey and Jurgen had their wedding at Ston Easton Park, near Bristol, which is a favourite venue of mine. The house looks lovely at any time of year but is a great venue for Winter weddings in particular as its so cosy and comfortable. When I arrived I went for a wander around to see what had been set up already (including a fabulous looking sweetie bar! ) and also to admire the huge and truely fabulous Christmas tree in the dining room. What a nice way to have your wedding breakfast – with all the decorations up and a huge twinkling tree.
Upstairs, Zoey was having her hair done, along with bridesmaids Katy B, Katy H, Claudine, who is Jurgen’s Sister, Ellie and Victoria. A girl after my own heart, Zoey was getting stuck into the Champagne and seemed to be really enjoying having her hair done and the company of all the girls.
One of the nicest things about hiring a lovely venue for your whole day is that no one has to spend ages driving around and it means that preparations are more leisurely, as you are all already where you need to be. I headed over to Jurgen’s room to catch up with him, his Best Man Paul and his Father Kurt. As Jurgen is South African, his family had made a pretty big journey over for the wedding which meant it was a doubly special time.
After taking some photos of the boys’ preparations, I went back to the girls and before long it was time for the ceremony. Zoey had made a real effort with her decorations and had really thought of the details throughout the day. The Yellow Room looked amazing with an aisle of flower petals and candles and rich red fabric ties on the chairs. During the ceremony, Paul and Katy both did readings and there were a few tears (happy ones of course!).
Here are some of my favourite images from the first part of the day (watch this space for Part 2):
A week last Saturday I headed down to Devon for Hannah and Lloyd’s wedding in Exeter Cathedral. Hannah and Lloyd live in sunny Dubai so it was a bit of a temperature drop for them coming back to the UK for their wedding – although the snow had retreated quite a bit. I had spent a morning with them earlier in the week to go through everything and as often happens, the time flew by and before I knew it – it was time to hit the M5 again!
When I arrived at Hannah’s Mum’s house she was getting ready with bridesmaids Nicky, her Sister, Venetia, Helen and Lucy. Before long, the Champagne was cracked open and there was a real sense of excitement. I then drove into Exeter and met up with Lloyd. The Cathedral looked stunning with all the Christmas decorations and for a big church was surprisingly warm.
Hannah and the girls arrived (in Bovey Castle’s fantastic big Landrovers!) and walked into church to the fantastic sound of the organ - quite spine tingling! The highlight of the service for me was Hannah’s surprise for Lloyd of the choir singing the Band Aid song – Do they know it’s Christmas -which everyone loved.
Outside, everyone mingled greeting Hannah and Lloyd but before long, thinking of cups of tea and a log fire at Bovey Castle, headed off for the reception.
Here are my favourite images from the first part of their day – part 2 coming up soon!:
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