Wedding news, rumours, Royal wedding dress

Things are hectic just now with lots going on and even more lots coming up (excuse the grammar, lol)! As we are approaching the end of summer traditionally the weddings start to slow down a little. It’s this time of year when I am able to accommodate more portrait sessions and photo shoots (so feel free to give me a call and check available times) and I’m also involved in doing some work for some of the Edinburgh wedding venues as they look to update websites and portfolio’s and bring out new brochures. I’ve been in a bunch of meetings this week with four top Edinburgh venue’s, and also two bridal shops, who are arranging for me to come in and do new photography for them. The first one is this Friday!

We are also approaching the autumn wedding fair season and there’s lots of new and exciting things coming up in readiness for that which I’ll tell you about in a minute. One question many folks keep asking me is what do I think will happen to Melville Castle? Well here is my official answer - "dunno". Okay, now for the rumours…The Aurora Group who currently have Melville Castle in their portfolio along with Airth Castle, Glenbervie and a couple of other new venues, will be releasing Melville very shortly. They only have 3 or 4 remaining weddings and then that’s them finished. Melville Castle will then return to the Haye family. Regarding future Melville Castle weddings at this point in time I am not sure what will happen but the rumour is that the Haye’s are looking to re-open the Castle as a Hotel again or at least a wedding venue. I believe Melville Castle is far too beautiful a place for it to go to waste so I’m quite optimistic I will be shooting weddings here again sometime soon.

Here’s some additional exciting news that is definitely not rumour! As you know I organise the Edinburgh Wedding Fair at the Hilton Edinburgh Hotel and the next event is October 16th. The brand new Kate Middleton replica Royal wedding dress will be featured in our fashion show! We are all really excited about this as the dress is creating huge excitement and this will be one of the first opportunities for future brides to see it. I was in the Pretty Woman bridal boutique just yesterday to see for myself that it is really true, lol. I have to say it does look absolutely stunning!

The Radio Forth Win Your Wedding winners have their wedding next Friday, October 7th, so check back in a couple of weeks to see their photographs from their Norton House Hotel wedding. Straight after that I will be at the Debenhams Wedding Weekend at Edinburgh’s Ocean Terminal Saturday the 8th and Sunday the 9th. The event is hosted by Debenhams and they invite along half a dozen "experts" from various other wedding sphere’s like flowers and arrangements, designer cakes, photography, etc. Apparently, I am the wedding photography 'expert' :) So I will have a range of different wedding albums and books, including the award winning 2011 Wedding Album of the Year, and I’ll be available to answer any wedding photography related questions. Although I am privileged to be the only Edinburgh wedding photographer at the weekend you are welcome to discuss any questions or subjects whether you book me for your wedding photography or not.

I have also had a few further meetings this week concerning the introduction of Philip Hawkins Photography courses, training and seminars in 2012. Things are shaping up nicely and details will be available soon. The Edinburgh Hilton Hotel are also in discussion with me about running Edinburgh Photography Weekends based at the Hilton. So I’ll be bringing more news about that fairly soon. I’ve had a few enquiries already about the photography courses so if you’d like to add your name to my email list you’ll be the first to receive details when everything is firmed up.

I know there’s only a couple of photographs this week but if you want to see one of my latest wedding Storybook slideshows click the link to take you to my Youtube channel.

Bestmen have talent

Being a professional wedding photographer means I get to hear and see a great many wedding speeches each year but at Vicky and Danny’s wedding a couple of weeks ago I enjoyed the most entertaining bestmans speech I’ve ever seen! Its always exciting on a wedding day when something completely unexpected happens and Danny’s bestman really made sure of that! He was so brilliant he even out shone the professional wedding entertainer!

As a photographer its great when something dramatic happens particularly when your style of wedding photography is predominantly reportage or photojournalistic. However, it can also prove to be challenging too which, for me, is something I revel in!
As Vicky and Daniel’s guests were getting organised for the line up myself and the videography team were scoping out the marquis in readiness for the wedding speeches. Much of the marquis was quite dark but the top table was positioned in front of a row of windows which meant the backlighting was very strong. From a technical point of view because everyones faces will be looking into the room this can cause the problem of them appearing too dark against the very bright background. To get around this the videography crew decided to set up external lighting positioned slightly in front of the top table and providing illumination from within the room. Usually I will do likewise in this type of situation however for today it was easy enough for me to simply utilise the lighting from the video set up.

When we set up external lighting it is operated by an infra red transmitter attached to the cameras, so when we fire the shutter this triggers the lights. This allows us to move around the room and shoot from the best angles and vantage points knowing that our preset lighting is going to give us excellent results without us worrying about it. From experience though I never connect all the camera’s into the system as I like to have at least one or two camera’s fixed with their own dedicated flash gun which allows for greater manoeuvrability. The problem with using external lights is that once they are set up in the optimum position you cannot really move them until the speeches are over. I learnt this lesson a long time ago from one of my first weddings at Norton House Hotel wedding where during the speeches the bestman had arranged for a friend dressed in a gorilla suit to come charging into the room, scaring all the guests half to death and then uplifting the bride from the top table and whisking her off into the night. This of course had been organised as a surprise so nobody had been expecting it and, has had been hoped, it did indeed cause great hilarity! Back then I didn’t have mobile lighting so it was no problem to simply run after the galloping gorilla and shoot him as he carried out his gorillaring. Although nowadays I have much more equipment at my disposal I nevertheless remember that occurrence and I’m mindful of the fact that if I had been relying on external lighting alone, albeit far more effective than a camera speedlite, it would have been impossible to manouver it to keep up with the swift moving proceedings and I would have lost a lot of potential photographs. As an Edinburgh wedding photographer it’s not just gorilla’s I’ve had to shoot over the years. I recall a rather large penguin at a Harburn House wedding, a bouncing bunny at a wedding at Houston House, a roomful of popping balloons at a Royal Terrace Hotel wedding, a mad monk at a Craighouse wedding and a vampire bat at Barony Castle!

So Danny’s bestman began his speech and he really was a great orator! We got some excellent photos as he stood at the top of the marquis making everyone laugh. But then as he came to the end of his speech he requested that everyone remain seated and allow him 60 seconds to set something up. He left the top table and made his way to the opposite end of the marquis and over to the sound system. A flick of a switch and suddenly a soundtrack burst into life. Although no one knew what was coming I had noted that he had carried the microphone used for the speeches with him all the way to the back of the room so I had a feeling something unusual was on the cards. Sure enough as the music started up he announced he’d like to perform a special song he’d written just for Vicky and Danny.

I immediately ran to the back of the marquis and started photographing him as he launched into a most hilarious song. I have to say he had an amazing voice and the lyrics were side-splitting! He also had some great moves too and as he sang he danced and weaved his way between all the wedding tables as the guests tried their hardest not to fall off their seats from laughing. He eventually made his way to the front again and concluded his song right in front of the bride and groom at the head of the room. A standing ovation ensued! Vicky’s mum told Diane later that if they had known how good he was they could have saved a fortune on the entertainment! lol

Louise and Richard's wedding at Melville Castle

Well I was delighted to pick up three awards last month (August) in the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers monthly contest from three recent weddings. One of the winning images I had used in my blog a couple of weeks ago from Lisa and Richard’s wedding titled When it rains on your wedding day. It’s the black and white shot of my bride Lisa that appears midway through the article. And today I’m going to start with a shot that won in the 'Weddings Traditional' category from Louise and Richard’s wedding at Melville Castle.

For me, this photograph has just about everything, and I love it! It is a classically posed shot, hence why it fitted the 'Traditional Weddings' category, that capitalizes on the grandeur of the venue but also, because I’ve included all the guests milling around enjoying their drinks in the background and also managed to retain a relaxed look in the pose (the reason I asked Richard to have his hand in his pocket) it harmonises well with my storybook style of photography. I lay on ground to take the photograph as this angle creates more impact to the background increasing the drama of the skies and the castle. To avoid the technical problems of having either the couple thrown into silhouette or losing all the detail in the skies I exposed for the sky and bounced some external light up into the bride and groom. The image worked out exactly as I hoped and winning the award is ample compensation for the dry cleaning bill for my suit after clambering up off the damp grass, lol.

Throughout the day I constantly overheard guests commenting on how the beautiful Louise and Richard’s flowers were. You can see from two of the bride and groom photographs here how well the deep,rich colours looked in the photos. I’ve also included a couple of their detail shots too so you can see how their table arrangements and also their wedding cupcakes tied in with them.

You will know doubt have noticed that I have had many weddings this year at Melville Castle. This is because, as you may have heard, the Aurora Group will be releasing Melville Castle from their portfolio at the end of the year so a number of weddings that were already booked for 2012 have been re-arranged and brought forward to 2011. I have been Melville Castle’s main recommended photographer for many years now which is why I photograph so many weddings here. As to what will happen with Melville Castle from 2012 onwards we will have to wait and see. There’s a few possibilities being discussed just now and I’m sure it will continue to be used in some way as it’s too nice a venue to go to waste.

Richard and Louise had come up from the north east of England to marry at Melville Castle and they were really fortunate to have such gorgeous summer weather given all the wind and rain we’ve had in Edinburgh the last few weeks. I think all the wedding photographers in Edinburgh will agree that this year we’ve had some of the craziest weather I can remember! Anyway we all had a brilliant day and came away with a superb set of photographs! This is an extract from their Thank You card I received just a couple of days ago...

"Dear Philip,
Just a quick note to say thank you for everything on the day and for some great shots that we will treasure forever! Everyone has commented on the great service you provided on the day and the way you and your wife made our guests feel so relaxed and were so approachable meant that not only were the portrait style pictures fantastic but also the capture the moment shots are great too. Great news about the award too, much deserved! Thanks again.
Louise and Richard"

I’ve now got their card sitting on top of my 2011 pile for when I update the Testimonial page on my website at the end of the year.

Next for me I'm back for a wedding at Barony Castle on Saturday so really looking forward to another trip down there. Hope I don’t fall in the river, though :O

Melville Castle weddings, Louise and Paul

This has to be one of the most diverse wedding seasons for weather we’ve ever had. I think I’ve photographed a wedding in every possible kind of condition. But the strange thing is it has been so changeable from one day to the next. A fortnight ago I blogged about Lisa and Richard’s wedding in the rain, then last week it was glorious sunshine for Jimmy and Julie’s wedding at Auchen Castle and then Louise and Paul’s wedding at Melville Castle which is todays blog, was the day after Jimmy and Julie’s, and it was not only raining but blowing a gale too! On top of this of course are the weddings when its rained and sunshined (sunshined is this weeks new word, lol) at the same time like Alana and Colin’s Norton House wedding and Jo and Richard’s Harburn House wedding. Anyway, if you’ve wondered what I do when it rains on your wedding day (and you haven’t already done so) you can find the answer by scrolling down the page to the article When it rains on your wedding day and for now I will tell you a bit about Louise and Paul’s wedding whilst trying hard not to repeat myself.

The bridal suite at Melville Castle is room 11 located in the west wing. If you have a preference for some where else they will try to accommodate your request and there are a couple of nice alternatives up on the first floor, one overlooking the front lawn and another overlooking the rear. However, today room 11 was in operation for Louise and her four bridesmaids. It was here that I started with some detail shots of Louise’s dress, flowers, shoes and such like before running back up to the lobby to grab some pictures of Paul and his groomsmen. I was then hurrying back down to the bridal suite as Louise wanted photos of her bridesmaids lacing up the back of the wedding dress, which is always a great fun thing to photograph. I also wanted to get a quick posed photograph of Louise and the girls before they made their way along the west wing for the ceremony. Today’s registrar from the local Dalkeith office was Lyn who I’ve worked with many times before and because she knows I’m quick and unobtrusive she was happy to allow me to set the shot up in the corridor outside the room where there is a lovely large skylight providing beautiful overhead lighting even though it was time for the girls to be making their way to the Ballroom for the ceremony.

At Melville Castle when the bride uses room 11 they give her the choice of
coming along to the Ballroom either through the main lobby or taking her up in the lift to the first floor which allows her to descend the staircase. Most opt for the staircase as it is so distinguished and makes for a more dramatic entrance. Of course, descending the staircase does not take very long but I used to get a good range and diversity of photographs by sitting side saddle style on the banister at the top of the staircase and then sliding down the banister backwards whilst photographing the bridal procession as they make their way down. However, this in itself looked so spectacular that I had to stop doing it as the videographers used to end up filming me instead of the bride! (those of you whose weddings I’ve photographed at Melville Castle know this is a slightly exaggerated story but I just thought I’d throw it in to liven up the narrative)

During the ceremony there was sufficient room for me to move quietly around behind Lyn and use both corners of the room enabling me to shoot the expressions on both Louise and Paul’s faces. This is particularly nice during the declarations and vows which of course are said to each other and often produce those unique, spontaneous moments which make reportage photography so enjoyable. I know many photographers like to try and recreate these afterwards for photographs but in my opinion these never equal an authentic, unrepeatable moment of spontaneity. I’ve used three examples from the ceremony here which as you can see have captured genuine, spur of the moment emotions that are completely natural.

I know a lot of Edinburgh wedding photographers who don’t like to move from side to side during the
ceremony as the changes in light from one corner to another is so dramatically different it can upset the camera’s metering. Videographers often encounter the same difficulty and so they select a spot in advance and choose to remain there for the duration. When working from the window side of the room the camera will give a good accurate exposure reading but when moving to the opposite side where you are then facing the window the camera will usually underexpose everything. From experience I just switch the camera to manual and select my own settings which for the benefit of any other Edinburgh wedding photographer reading this are f4 and an 80th of a second when it is raining outside. If you want to know what settings to use on a sunny day please
check back next week or book yourself on one of my photography courses which start next year (plug, plug, lol).

As you can see from the second last picture I came back and used the staircase later too when I did the bride and groom session. This is one of my favourites looking straight up with that gorgeous light flooding in through the huge ornate windows on the top floor. The final shot I’m posting for today is one of the group photographs taken in the grand lobby. I love the smiles on the parents faces but most of all I just adore the expression on the baby’s face :)

Another beautiful Auchen Castle wedding

Auchen Castle weddings are always a delight! A beautiful, idyllic Scottish castle set within its own glorious grounds and surrounded by gorgeous woodland and the Dumfries hills. It’s no wonder this wedding photographer in Edinburgh enjoys the trip down here so much! Since my last Auchen castle wedding the venue has had a change of ownership but the same high standards of customer service remain and it’s a delight to work with the staff here!

I’ve photographed several I photographed the smallest wedding possible where there was only a bride and groom and the two witnesses ended up being myself and a member of weddings at Auchen Castle but you may recall I set a record last year whenthe Auchen Castle wedding team! However, for this wedding the guests numbers were considerably higher as Julie-ann and Jimmy’s families had all come across from Ireland. As you can imagine with the strong links and close proximity of the two countries its always a great day when the Irish come over to Scotland for a wedding, so I was really looking forward to photographing things.

I was booked to start about an hour before the ceremony through until the guests were to go for their wedding breakfast. As usual I arrived in plenty time and was able to have a good look around the castle and grounds just to double check if anything had changed since last time and also ascertain the lighting. The first photograph here shows how the day was shaping up to be warm and sunny which would be perfect for the outdoor ceremony. I also double checked the lighting for the group photographs as this is critical on bright sunny days as you cannot have people screwing up their faces and squinting into the camera. What I look for is a nice location where the group will be backlit. I know if the sun is particularly strong doing this can pose technical problems for some photographers but as from the beginning of next year I am teaming up with a couple of premier venues who have asked me to run photography courses and workshops, so feel free to book yourself onto one and I’ll happily show you how it’s done (just had to insert a free advert there, lol).

Many wedding photographers in Edinburgh and throughout the country have their own style and format for carrying out the group shots. For myself I prefer to keep things nice and relaxed and use the style you will see in the likes of Hello or OK magazine wedding. This is a nice and smooth formula and generally allows me to complete all the formal group photographs in around twenty minutes. With Julie-ann and Jimmy this all went perfectly and following the family group photographs I finished with a Big Group shot of all the guests on the Auchen Castle lawn.

For the bride and groom session we did my usual mix of classical, romantic, fun and contemporary photos. At such an elegant venue as
Auchen castle it’s nice to get some classical wedding images utilising the grandeur of the castle itself as such a gorgeous backdrop. Although these photos are posed, or directed, my aim is still to get the couple looking relaxed and natural as you can see from the images here. This is especially important as my style of working is for most of the day primarily reportage photography and it means both the formal group photographs and those from the bride and groom session will blend perfectly
with the whole days sequence. If you tend to over pose people or spend a lot of time on creating elaborate, sophisticated scenes it is very difficult to then marry these images into a finished album or Storybook.

Jimmy and Julie-ann asked us to finish up with some photographs of the Dining Room set up before everyone came in and sat down to eat and we also did a mock cake cutting with the great Auchen Castle ceremonial sword whilst we were there.