Outdoor Wedding at Melville Castle

I love outdoor weddings! Especially when they are in the grounds of a magnificent Scottish Castle. And particularly when I have a wonderful couple who I know will make for great photographs. I did an engagement session at Melville Castle back in February with Karen and Daniel which was excellent so we were all ready to now get a set of superb photographs from their wedding. As a photographer it is always a delight to have a beautiful bride who you know is going to be wearing an absolutely stunning dress! But when you have a bride with two dazzling dresses lined up, well that’s just bliss! If only there was going to be two wedding cakes! ;)

We arrived at Melville Castle at 1pm and the first thing I did was have my usual walk around to check how everything was set up and arranged. The ceremony was going to be on the main lawn in front of the castle with the guests facing south which meant I could use the castle as a backdrop for some of the photos. I had a chat with the minister and the videographer about how we’d work during the ceremony and then I headed up to Karen’s room to start some pre-wedding preparation photographs.

Karen and her family were over from the USA whilst Daniel’s family were up from Reading, so I knew how hard they had all worked in arranging a Scottish Castle wedding from afar. Over the last year or so since they booked me for their photography Karen and myself have been keeping up-to-date with each others blogs so despite her living so far away we’d already got to know each other well. We’d also got some good photographs from the engagement session and planned to re-stage Karen and Daniel’s favourite image on the wedding day as a complement to the engagement print.

On the run up to the ceremony I was back and forth between Karen and Daniel’s room as well as recording some detail shots too such as the cake, flowers, rings, decorations, etc. Young Harrison, the page boy, was an absolute star! Wearing a kilt for the very first time he looked fantastic and whenever I pointed a camera at him throughout the day, no matter how tired he was, he instantly popped a beaming a smile on his face. He did take a couple of minutes for a time-out during the ceremony to re-charge his batteries as you can see from one of the images here, lol.

The ceremony went off beautifully with the piper, harpist and soloist all performing superbly! I had Diane situated up in one of the castle rooms to get a couple of high level shots, particularly of Karen going down the aisle. I’ve posted my favourite here. I have to confess, its probably my favourite because I’m in it! lol

As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh I’m privileged to photograph at many beautiful venue’s in the capital, and as you can see from the shot I’ve used to illustrate, Melville Castle really does make for a gorgeous backdrop to an outdoor wedding!

After drinks and canopes we had a Big Group photograph of all the guests taken from one of the upper windows. This was a shot Karen really wanted as she had seen it in one of my albums at Melville Castle and said you don’t get this type of photograph from weddings in the States. There was also another photograph I often do at Melville Castle which she’d requested, too and that is the one in front of the huge ornate window of the Ante Room with the dress splayed out before the gold drapes (we call them curtains here in Scotland lol).

The formal group photographs followed the Big Group and then I took the newly weds for a half hour bride and groom set. As most of the guests were enjoying the sunshine outside we went back inside the castle initially and took advantage of it being so quiet. I did a couple of images in the main lobby before re-creating the shot from the engagement session they had liked so much. I positioned one of the white leather chairs centrally in the lobby and then ran to the top of the staircase and photographed from above with a telephoto lens. I’ve put the two photos side by side so you can see them both.

Ten minutes inside the castle and then twenty minutes outside. I did my Melville Castle signature image with the bride and groom positioned on the south-east corner with the castle rising up behind them. First photograph I have them looking straight at me and then I ask them to kiss. The kissing version I’ve coloured touched.

Cutting of the cake (the first cake lol) was on the staircase just before all the guests go in for the wedding banquet which I always like to photograph live as it captures the mood and ambience much better than having this shot mocked up. Speeches came after the main course which we photographed with Diane using a long telephoto from the back of the room and myself working a little closer into the top table. After enjoying some wedding cake and grabbing some informal photos of the guests enjoying themselves and relaxing we were then into the first dance. Karen was still in dress number 1 as we wanted to utilize the cathedral train in the low light for some creative slow synch lighting images. And then afterwards she went off to change into dress number 2. By now the castle’s exterior lights were coming on so we did a quick ten minute shoot outside to get some night shots and then we were back into the Ballroom awaiting cake number two. You can tell I’m enjoying this wedding can’t you, lol!

Cake number two was a surprise for Daniel. As he’s a huge Liverpool fan Karen had had a special cake created and decorated with the Liverpool football club badge and a small Liverpool player sat on the top. It was brought out and presented to him on the dance floor after which the DJ launched "You’ll Never Walk Alone" to which everyone sang along. It was great fun! It also prompted a second cake cutting ceremony, too! :)

I concluded the evening with a few more dance shots. Some of the American visitors had never ceilidh danced before so Tom, of Technet101, had them up doing the Gaygordons which everyone loved! All in all this was an action packed, fun filled day, and it couldn’t have gone better! We ended up with over 500 photographs from the day which are now edited and on DVD awaiting Daniel and Karen’s return from honeymoon. Then they have the hard task of selecting 100-150 for their album.

Planning a Wedding Fair

Well there’s not too much in common between wedding fairs and cats, other than perhaps a catwalk lol, but that’s what most of my time has been taken up with last week. I’ve been doing some work for a small business that offers a cat sitting service in Edinburgh and also I’m in the initial stages of planning an exclusive Edinburgh Wedding Show which I hope will become a successful regular event. Let me tell you about the wedding fair first…


As a photographer wedding fairs play an important part in my life as they do for most wedding suppliers. There is quite an abundance of them and sometimes it can be difficult deciding which ones you will attend. Very often it’s a case of learning by trial and error as it’s not until you’ve actually exhibited at a fair that you can gauge its value. As a wedding photographer I’m in a rather unique position of being able to see a wedding fair through the eyes of both a wedding supplier and also those of future brides and grooms as this is often a popular subject we end up discussing when we meet together. So for some time now I’ve had this idea germinating at the back of my mind of organising a wedding fair myself which would be specifically suited to couples in the throes of planning a wedding and also wedding suppliers themselves.

Currently, virtually all wedding fairs are organised by either media companies or venue’s. Each of them, understandably, have their own agenda. The venue obviously wants to showcase itself and its objective is to get couples to book them for their wedding. And the media companies want to stage an event that will turn a financial profit. However, wouldn’t it be interesting to have a wedding fair organised by someone independent and impartial who could tailor the event specifically in the interests of the brides and grooms themselves? Well that’s my idea anyway.

Most wedding fairs fall into one of two categories. There are the very large shows, held in big arena’s with hundreds of exhibitors and that generate several thousand visitors, and then there are the smaller fairs generally held in a wedding venue such as an Hotel. The main complaint regarding the large shows, from both wedding suppliers and visiting brides, is that there are just far too many exhibitors! For the exhibitors it means they may very well be alongside dozens of other companies all operating in the same area. I constantly get sent invitations asking me if I’ll consider booking a stand at Murrayfield's "Thee Wedding Fayre" but if you look on their website you see they have fourteen photographers already! This is good for the organisers because every exhibitor is paying a fee, but not so good for the photographer. But its not good for the brides and grooms either. If they are looking for a wedding photographer in Edinburgh do they really have time to visit fourteen photographers? The same goes for all the other categories, too. Wouldn’t it be better to just have the best two or three suppliers in each category? And then you can end up with the opposite problem at the smaller weddings fairs of not having enough choice. The last show I attended there was twenty exhibitors in total with eight photographers and four videographers who also claimed to offer still photography! Additionally, no one is vetted at most of these events either. Its simply down to whoever is prepared to pay the exhibitors fee gets in.

So, in my opinion what is needed is something in between. A smaller event but with hand picked exhibitors across all categories. This means that only those operating at the very top are invited so there will be a genuine expert available in each wedding category. Much better for the couples visiting, and better for the suppliers themselves, too. Because many of us as suppliers are in such close contact with our wedding clients we will be able to incorporate unique features into the wedding fair that brides actually want and will find genuinely beneficial. So the show will include special offers, promotions, competitions and I also have some exciting surprises lined up, too! My intention is to put on a wedding show that’s something special and different and will become the number one wedding fair in town! Lets see if I can do it, lol.

The first show is planned for the beginning of October so I’ll give you more information as we get nearer. I’m looking at either October 10th or 17th but can’t give you the exact date right now until I hear back from Sean Connery. Oops, I’ve just given away one of my secret surprises. Now I’ll have to go back and delete that sentence ;)

Finally, coming back to the tenuous cat link, if you are a cat lover please check out this Cat Sitters Edinburgh website. This is the one I’ve been working on this week, including doing all the photography. It’s only just gone live so if you can take a couple of minutes to click the link and visit it will at least let google know its out there and start generating some traffic. Watch the Home page slideshow and see if you can avoid saying "Awww" at the cute cool cats. One of them is mine :)

Reportage to Documentary wedding photography

The word reportage has become something of a buzz word amongst wedding photographers over the last few years. It’s associated with the more modern, contemporary approach to wedding photography and because of its appeal it’s a word that has been adopted by virtually all wedding photographers regardless of their style, skills or experience. Amongst the genuine photojournalistic wedding photographers this is increasingly becoming a concern and hence why many of us are now dropping the usage of the word from our marketing and replacing it with the word documentary.

What’s the difference you may ask? Well these are simply words and the difference is in how various photographers apply the words to themselves. With most couples wanting to buy into reportage photography even the old fashioned traditional photographers will now shoot a few candid shots of guests laughing at the drinks reception and refer to it as reportage. Therefore you can see how wildly ambiguous and overused the word has become.

So what exactly is documentary wedding photography? Basically, it is story telling where we will tell the real story of your day in images. This of course requires its own set of skills in addition to the necessary technical and photographic proficiency required of all photographers. Crucial timing, anticipation and a constant vigilance have to be coupled with the ability to work quickly and quietly whilst continually adapting to the ever changing lighting and ambience. Away from the old fashioned, traditional form of wedding photography, documentary photography captures the real, genuine magic of the day. The emotions, the fun, the tears and the laughter to produce a unique timeless pictorial record of emotive narrative.

One of the advantages with documentary photography is that the bulk of the days images are completely natural. Which is exactly as they should be and why the true essence of the day is captured. So as I photograph a wedding day I do not boss people around or spend the day shouting orders or interrupting the proceedings in order to stage events and set shots up. In fact, one of the most frequent compliments I receive is not just how great the photographs are but also how unobtrusive I was on the day. This really does epitomise documentary photography which simply allows the day to unfold naturally with very little staging or direction. Of course, it doesn’t mean brandishing the camera about like a machine gun. For many periods of the day I may find myself looking through the camera lens for several minutes without firing the shutter if nothing is happening. But when it is time to press the shutter you need to know whether to be in close or pull back, zoom in or shoot wide, limit the depth of field or keep everything in tight focus. So its all about quality not quantity. I hope the images I’ve used help to illustrate this. I picked up a "Silver" award in the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers monthly competition in the wedding photojournalism category last month (fingers crossed that it will get upgraded to a Gold for the wedding photographer of year competition) for the first photograph you see here so at least that one should be a reasonable example, lol.

Although I am happy to photograph the day with no formals whatsoever if that is the request, I do feel that some time should be allocated to group shots as this is an important part of the day not just for the couple but all their families too. However, unlike traditional wedding photography I will not spend two or three hours on this. Generally, twenty minutes is sufficient which allows the newly weds to spend the majority of their time with their family and guests without worrying about the photography taking over the day.

Even my session with the bride and groom will be natural and relaxed in keeping with the overall style of the photography. Amid the hustle and bustle of such an energy packed day it’s nice for the newly weds to get a few minutes of alone time, and it is this that I will capitalise on in order to create a mix of fun, romantic and fashionable images. So if their venue has beautiful gardens then we’ll go for a stroll around them. If they are married in a castle we’ll seek out the quiet nooks and cranny’s. Every venue will have its own unique characteristics that can be utilised to great effect. I’ll encourage and direct the couple to do normal and natural things within each setting. I never ask anyone to do anything that is not natural or does not fit the location or occasion. So, if they want to go jumping around in a field or have all the ladies kicking their legs in the air I’ll happily photograph it, but you wont get me asking for it! lol.

If this is the style of wedding photography you are looking for then how to do you tell a genuine photojournalistic wedding photographer from some one bandying the reportage word? It’s important to see complete and recent weddings. The last couple who booked me for their wedding photography were looking for a wedding photographer in Edinburgh at a wedding show. There were around half a dozen photographers at the show but the couple had noted that the majority of their display albums were primarily made up of formal groups. In fact, they said that on one stand a couple of albums they browsed through contained nothing but group photographs. So, remember the key to look for is storytelling. That is real reportage wedding photography. Or documentary as its now called! lol.

Working for Television

Been a busy couple of weeks for me hence why I’m late with my blogging. Much of my time has been related with wedding photography and meetings and such like. But as I’m always talking about weddings, lol, I thought I’d tell you about something a little different. I’ve had a couple of meetings the past week with another television company looking to use me as photographic consultant. At this point things are very much still in the planning stage and I can’t tell you anything as I have been sworn to secrecy (and might not get paid if I do!!! lol) but I’ll tell you a bit about the last major television production I was involved with and you’ll get a glimpse of some of the things that go on behind the scenes as programs are being prepared.
ITV1 produced a program for mainstream television entitled Britain’s Favourite View. You may recall it, and you may even have voted in for the result. Basically, they divided the country up into about eight sections and showcased around half a dozen of the best viewpoints from each area, with the public then being encouraged to phone in and vote in order to find the most popular. For each viewpoint they had a well known celebrity who had connections with the area and presented their argument why their location should be given the viewers votes.
Scotland was divided up into two area’s. The Highlands and the Lowlands. At the time of the planning I was doing a lot of commercial and editorial work and ITV’s researchers spotted my name from my magazine articles and also the books A Photographers Guide to Scotland and In & Around Edinburgh, for which I’d done photography and also some writing. So, I was head hunted, lol, as consultant for the Lowlands program, although I ended up doing work on the Highland one too.
Now it sounds pretty glamorous when I say I’ve worked in television doesn’t it? lol. But most of my time I was sat around in hotels drinking coffee with the researchers and discussing locations and places for shoots. Not only did they want my views and opinions on the best vistas and panorama's, but more critically, once a viewpoint had been selected I had to provide the optimum time of day and the best vantage point for filming. This would be of great benefit to the film crew and assist in keeping the filming on schedule and under budget. So we spent a lot of time pouring over maps and street plans with me providing numerous diagrams and instructions.
A large chunk of the program was going to feature the comedian Rory Bremner who would be filmed walking and narrating primarily around Edinburgh. Again, not only did they need information regarding the most advantageous places I’d recommend filming the celebrity but also positions, timings and angles for when he would stop and speak into camera. This was one time where being a wedding photographer in Edinburgh was a great benefit as I frequently place people before many of the capitals striking backdrops, but you obviously can’t have them squinting into or being burnt out by hard sunlight. I also had to advise on tourist and public activity too as many folk when they see a TV camera suddenly get the urge to prance and dance around behind the presenter hoping to get into shot. Tourists even do this at weddings too believe it or not!
Once the programmers had everything in place I was given the boot and in came Sir Trevor MacDonald to host the series, followed a little later by Rory Bremner with the Edinburgh leg. It was quite interesting watching the program once it came onto television as the presenters made it all sound as if they’d personally discovered all the vista’s and information themselves! Oh, well. I guess that’s showbiz eh? lol. Anyway, I really enjoyed being involved and I’m looking forward to doing something similar again. Believe it or not, sometimes all this prep work is carried out and they end up deciding not to go ahead with the program after all. That can happen with magazine articles too. I’ve never had it occur at a wedding though, thank goodness!
The photos I’ve used here are some of the ones we used to illustrate aspects of the above program and also some recent shots from Melville Castle last week whilst I was there doing the photography for the scientist conference.

This afternoon I'm going round to see Julie and Allan (see the blog post below) who have just got back from honeymoon and we'll have a look through their wedding photos and chat about their album design. Then I’m off meeting with two couples planning their weddings this evening, one looking for an Edinburgh wedding photographer and the other getting married down in the Borders. Well, there’s a tenuous link to the Lowlands for you! lol