An Old Grey Corridor

As an Edinburgh wedding photographer I’ve photographed weddings at some of the finest and

most superb venue’s throughout Scotland and it really is a delight and privilege to work at such magnificent places and locations. However, this week I’m showing you a few photos from Lucie and Ryan’s bride and groom session that were taken in nothing more than a boring old grey corridor just to illustrate that no matter where you may be getting married, be it grand or humble, you can still get a set of stunning photographs from your special day.

Lucie and Ryan actually held their wedding in a very fashionable hotel in the middle of Edinburgh and we used several of it’s idyllic nooks and crannies for their photographs. However, I was particularly drawn to this grey, long corridor as I just felt it had great potential and as a modern photographer posed an interesting creative challenge. The corridor itself was rather dark having only two low lights at either end.

I think it was probably this that attracted me so much. A great many wedding photographers in Edinburgh and around the country do not like low light but I must confess it is something I have always been quite fond of and found it a unique opportunity for utilising the circumstances to produce very dramatic and atmospheric images. You can see from the opening photo the possibilities that attracted me. Here I positioned the couple with the glowing orangey, yellowish light right behind them, using it almost as a backdrop. Whilst this pose and photograph is quite nice I took it really just to settle them into position for the image I was really wanting and had conjured in my mind. Instead of 'image' I should really say 'series of images' three of which you can see on the next spread. After settling Ryan and Lucie into the opening shot I quickly switched to my camera with the telephoto lens.

A telephoto lens compresses your backgrounds and I knew it would produce quite a dramatic backdrop which would be very eye catching but at the same time not over powering. I went through four quick successive shots here firstly asking Lucie to look at Ryan whilst he looked into camera, then asking Ryan to look at Lucie whilst she looked back to me, then looking at each other and finally a kiss. The spread here is actually from their wedding album and you can see how three of the selected images sit so well together on the page and harmonise with the overall Storybook. The third photo was taken from the same spot but looking back towards the opposite end of the corridor. You can see some pink illumination creeping over the side wall from the low lighting in use at this side. This gave me the idea for the following two photographs where I’ve simply placed Lucie at a nice angle to the lighting to give a slightly more fashionable feel to the images. Again I did two different shots one with the bouquet and one without.

I shot both of these at three quarter length which was the only way the images would work as full length would mean including more of the carpet area which would result in losing the pinkness of the light and thus spoiling the whole effect and whilst the lighting was modern and fashionable for a three quarter length image it wasn’t flattering enough here for a head and shoulders close up. The second to last shot was simply taken upon exiting the corridor to take the stairs. I positioned them on the staircase and did the shot with their album in mind giving it a deliberate tilt with the idea of using the image later in their album in the illustrated diamond shape. The final photo is another one from Lucie and Ryan’s wedding album. These photographs were taken half way along the corridor looking back towards the ‘pink’ end. I placed Lucie as the main focal point of the shot (sorry guys but the bride is a touch more important than you! lol) but asked Ryan to lean up casually in the background which gives the shot much more interest, particularly as I positioned him where he appears to be wrapped in the arch of pink light. The photo across from it I did again at three quarter length. Without Ryan in the background this time at three quarter length it would sit perfectly with the other shot whilst still retaining the overall ambience of the corridor - which doesn’t look so grey and boring now! lol

A couple of other photos from Lucie and Ryan’s wedding are now in my wedding gallery on my website. If you’re looking for a wedding photographer in Edinburghor anywhere else in Scotland please check it out and then get in touch me if you like what you see :)