More Melville Castle weddings

Now as you know Melville Castle is one of my favourite wedding venues and as I’ve photographed more weddings here than any other Edinburgh wedding photographer it does feature in my blog quite a lot. So this week, in an attempt to avoid boring you all, I am going to tell you something about Melville Castle that you will never find recorded on the blog of any other wedding photographer in Edinburgh. In fact, you will be hard pressed to find this little detail anywhere at all.

I came across this several years ago long before I had photographed any weddings at Melville Castle. I had been commissioned by a publishing house to do a series of magazine articles on historical castles in and around Edinburgh. This included not just the photography but also doing the writing as well. Although it’s the photography that I love above all else I was pretty cool about doing the writing too as it doubles up the fee ;) Anyway, I had started off with Tantallon Castle across on the coast and then worked back towards Edinburgh photographing and researching Craigmillar Castle, Crichton Castle, Craigcrook Castle, and Edinburgh Castle. The next two on my list were Lennoxlove House and Melville Castle.

When I was making the arrangements for the shoot at Lennoxlove House I was very surprised to get a phone call from the Duke of Hamilton himself. If you are not aware of it the Duke of Hamilton is Scotland’s highest ranked peer, and if Scotland were ever to become an independent sovereign it would be the Duke of Hamilton that becomes King. The Duke owns the Lennoxlove Estate and is a very keen photographer and said he would welcome the opportunity to give me a personal tour of Lennoxlove allowing him the opportunity to pick up some photography tips from me. Well, as you can imagine I felt very honoured, albeit a little nervous, too. Anyway, to cut a long story short, and because I realise I have strayed completely away from the subject of my wedding at Melville Castle, lol, I went through to Lennoxlove and spent a very nice afternoon with the Duke of Hamilton. The Duke is of course closely related to, or maybe to be more accurate, a family descendant of Mary Queen of Scots, and hence his home literally teems with items and details about Scotland’s most famous monarch. I have always loved history and so lapped up as much as I could possibly take in, and the Duke, after giving me a personal tour and answering all my questions, very kindly gave me free run of the house as well which allowed me to examine all of Queen Mary’s belongings that have been passed down through the family and many documents and personal items. I think I learnt more about Mary Queen of Scots in that one day than in all the subsequent days of research and reading. And (at last we come to the point of this extemporaneous ramble lol) amongst my findings was a little snippet of intriguing information relating to Melville Castle. I only noticed it because Melville Castle was the next historical place on my list.

Okay, I will now get back onto the wedding theme and slip in my Mary Queen of Scots tid bit. There are many, many reasons why I like Melville Castle weddings. Amongst them is the fact that it is the perfect distance from Kinnaird Park’s Costa Coffee. I can therefore pick up my coffee, pop it in my cars specially designed Costa Coffee cup holder, and by the time I arrive at Melville Castle it has cooled to the perfect temperature. (I bet you thought last weeks comment about me being the only Edinburgh wedding photographer who gets free coffee from Costa by giving them a name drop in my blog was a joke, eh? lol) As I always get to my weddings early I usually have time to enjoy my coffee before we start work. Now as I am a person who likes to visit Melville Castle regularly I am among good company because this was also a favourite occupation of Mary Queen of Scots!

In Mary’s day Melville Castle wasn’t quite as grand as it is today because back then there was no Costa Coffee near it and it only had hunting lodge status. However, Queen Mary used to ride through the Melville Castle grounds often, and she had an ill frequented little spot not too far from the river bank where she used to enjoy sitting quietly and savouring her surroundings. You can find it approximately half way between the gatehouse and the castle itself. If you know where to look you can push back the over grown foliage and still see the small indentation in the ground from her little royal bottom. It is here that I like to pause too and enjoy my coffee. As not many people know of its existence it is always nice and peaceful and very easy to imagine how it must have been very similar on the occasions Queen Mary sat here. It was here that Mary contemplated where exactly she should plant her tree. She picked a spot mid way between where she sat and the Castle, and her tree is still here down to this day.

A couple of centuries after Mary planted her tree Melville Castle passed to Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount of Melville who went on to become Duke of Lauderdale. It was around this time that the castle was demolished and subsequently rebuilt at the end of the 18th century. The new castle was designed by James Playfair and it is this building that you see today. The photos in todays blog are from Pauline and David’s wedding who married here a couple of weeks ago and are not long back from honeymoon. The beautiful floral decorations and bridal bouquets were done by Flowers by Rhona. I don’t have any new information on possible new ownership of the castle at the minute but I still have several weddings coming up between now and the end of autumn so will keep you informed. Maybe I should take it over myself, eh???

Morag and Alastair's wedding at Craighouse

Going to do something slightly different today. Usually every time I blog I choose which photographs I am going to publish to illustrate whatever wedding or topic I’m writing about. I have to tell you this is always a very hard process. I spend ages poring over a set of wedding photographs trying to decide on around 8 or 9 to use. Its doubly hard this week as at the same time I’ve been asked to select 5 weddings from all those I’ve photographed within the last 12 months to send through to a magazine Editor who's currently planning a future wedding article. Only one of these weddings will actually go on to be used in the magazine but by that stage it’s down to the editorial team not me, lol. Anyway, as I’ve just completed the album design for Morag and Alastair as well as the Parent Album, I’m going to use 8 of the main photographs they selected for their wedding album on this weeks blog.

It was a breezy and sunny day for Morag and Alastair’s wedding in Edinburgh. The ceremony was at the Greenbank church then we were back to Craighouse for the reception. I arrived at the church nice and early as I knew the narrow street can be difficult for parking. I had of course brought along my customary Costa coffee so I was quite content to sit and sip and enjoy the warm breeze. Did you know that I’m the only wedding photographer in Edinburgh who gets free coffee from Costa by giving them
a name drop in my blog? If Aston Martin are reading this I would just like to add that I’d be happy to come to a similar arrangement with them. ;)

Alastair arrived about half an hour prior to the ceremony and I did a few photographs
with him and his ushers and bestman before nipping inside for a quick word with the minister. The minister requested that we only work from the back of the church, which was fine as the church was incredibly spacious and also had a rear balcony that would be a great vantage point. I love the first shot here with Morag and her father proceeding up the aisle with the
bridesmaids in her trail. You will notice that Alastair has turned to look up the aisle thus catching his first sight of his bride. Immediately after I shot this image Diane handed me our second camera which has the telephoto lens and I also grabbed a close up of the expression of pleasure on Alastair’s face as he see’s Morag approaching.

Readings in a wedding ceremony are an important element and I always endeavour to get a photograph of the reader. Morag’s sister Rona carried out one of the readings. I shot a close up of her and also the image you see here which I like for the fact that it also shows Morag and Alastair listening and enjoying her reading. The second image of the set here was Alastair and Morag’s exchange of rings. The album they selected is an upright 8" x 6" Image Book and this photograph is one they chose to feature as a full page.
The following image too, signing the register has also been used as a full page. As you can see I had come down to the front of the church to get photographs of the register signing. Most ministers allow me to come forward and set up a couple of photos at this point which of course doesn’t take me long anyway.

We then exited the church, had a quick pause in the doorway for a photo and then I moved the fringes as the guests came out of the church and swarmed up
to offer their congratulations. There’s always a great buzz at this point in the day and I just move around capturing things quite informally. When the bridal party were ready to head off to Craighouse I jumped in the front of the wedding car for a second to get a shot of the newly weds in the back seat and then I was off back to my own car to scoot around to Craighouse.

The wedding car arrived at Craighouse before the coach with all the guests so I took advantage of the
situation by getting the driver to stop right at the entrance and got a few images of the bride and groom with their wedding car whilst the background was uncluttered. All Edinburgh wedding photographers and all wedding photographers in Newcastle and up and down the country love fancy cars! Cool cars, magnificent venues and gorgeous dresses...what more could one ask for?

The last three photographs here are from our bride and groom set a little later in the afternoon. I was especially pleased with all the photos from our half hour bride and groom session because Morag’s parents, Valerie and Duncan, when looking through the wedding photographs for their
Parent Album complimented me on capturing Morag and Alastair looking so natural and relaxed when in reality neither of them like having their photograph taken. My personal favourite from the wedding is the last one shown here in which not only do they look great but I think captures there personalities brilliantly!

More Harburn House Weddings

So blog post is early this week as I have weddings Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Yay! I love back to back weddings! Friday and Saturday I’m in the Newcastle area and then the Borders for Sunday. With blogging a couple of days early this week that allows me to be a little a late next week, ok? Of course it does! lol

Regular readers of my blog know how much I love weddings at Harburn House. It’s a popular venue for many wedding photographers in Edinburgh as it has such
gorgeous grounds and offers the entire Estate as exclusive use to couples for their wedding. I’ve been on Harburn House’s recommended wedding supplier list for a few years so photograph weddings here on a regular basis. Harburn House weddings are particularly enjoyable when the ceremony is at the Haymains as it means the bridal party will be travelling between the main house and the granary and then back again which affords numerous photo opportunities.
We were booked from noon through until the first dance for Joanna and Richard’s wedding. I arrived at about 11.30am as I wanted to just go round everywhere double checking all the photo locations. No matter whether its wedding photography in Edinburgh or wedding photography in Newcastle or anywhere in between I do this at every wedding day even though I will have already carried out a full venue check a couple of weeks earlier. It always proves beneficial especially when you have such spacious grounds at your disposal. It had been raining for a few days earlier in the week and a couple of spots I would normally include in the bride and groom session I found the ground to be a bit too wet and muddy so I wouldn’t be bringing Jo and Richard to these. With such a plethora of beautiful locations for photos this of course wasn’t a problem.

At noon we started with some details shots which included the wedding dress, veil, flowers, shoes etc. Also some getting ready photos as Jo had her hair and make up done. I also squeezed in some photos of the marquis being decorated and set up even though I planned on getting some more later in the day prior to the wedding breakfast. Sometimes as the day unfolds circumstances can change and if the proceedings start running behind time its good to know I already have some good shots of things already in the bag.

The ceremony was scheduled for 2pm and by 1.30 everyone was just about ready. This enabled me to get some nice posed photographs of Joanna and the bridesmaids at the house and then head up the Haymains where the guys would be ready. I did a few shots with Richard and his bestman and then brought in the ushers. The pyramid shot came after I’d finished and the guys started discussing whether they could do a pyramid in their kilts. They’d done one earlier in the morning when they were all attired in jeans but the thought of trying it again in kilts was more of a challenge. I think this is something they’ve perfected on the rugby training ground (Richard plays for Stewarts Melville RFC and has also played for Scotland) and it certainly worked in kilts! I took the shot laying on the ground so that I was slightly looking upwards which lent a bit more impact to the photo.

Joanna and Richard’s guest list was around 150 so it was a fairly tight squeeze in the Granary for the ceremony. Their was also a string quartet performing up on the top platform so it was impossible for me to get in behind the minister, so after shooting Joanna and her brother coming up the aisle I moved to the rear of the room and switched toa telephoto lens. The curtains of the Granary had been closed to prevent the guests seeing Joanna as she made her way from the car to the ceremony which meant very low lighting. I do not use flash during a ceremony as it kills the atmosphere and I also feel it is rather disrespectful of the occasion. When I used to do more commercial work I developed a reputation of being something of a low light specialist and I spent a year being sent around the country photographing many of our iconic building and landmarks including their interiors. Nowadays, with the majority of my work being weddings I find the skills and experience I learnt during that year to be invaluable particularly with weddings in old and historic buildings like Castles and Stately Homes.
Once the ceremony was over everyone was transported back to the main house for drinks and canapés on the front lawn. It was here I did Richard and Jo’s group photographs before taking them away for their bride and groom session. Prior to the ceremony there had been a small hiccup with the coach which had delayed things somewhat so Jo and Richard asked if we could just do a quick ten minutes as they felt they hadn’t much time with their guests. Although we had originally planned on doing a little longer than ten minutes I’ve photographed enough weddings to know that things rarely go 100% to plan and as my
style is predominantly reportage or photo-journalistic this is no problem whatsoever. You can also now see the importance of things like my pre-wedding venue recce and also the double check I carried out on my arrival. I can now use this to select the best locations that are in close proximity and that will provide the maximum amount of photographs within a short ten minute segment.

Following the bride and groom photos we were across to the marquis for the cake cutting, speeches and the wedding breakfast. After the meal we were back for the first dance, something I always enjoy photographing as it's great fun and very atmospheric.

The Talented Dancing Uncle - a Melville Castle Wedding production

I have to admit I just LOVE this opening shot! It makes me smile every time I look at it. It was taken at Kirsty and Simon’s wedding at Melville Castle following the wedding breakfast. I’d been moving around the edges of things looking for informal shots of everyone enjoying themselves and then worked my way round to the rear lawn to get a shot of all the guests sitting on the pavilion patio with the castle as a backdrop. Throughout the day Kirsty’s uncle had been kind enough to frequently impart his great photographic
advice, "get as many shots of me as you can", lol. That's one of the things I enjoy about my job, the banter and camaraderie you can enjoy. Anyway, as he spotted me moving through the trees he duly struck up a pose. I was happy enough to oblige and after taking the photograph I gave him a thumbs up of thanks and then walked away. However, I had a feeling it might be worthwhile keeping my eye upon him, and sure enough he began to dance around for his friends entertainment. As he did so I quickly spun round and framed up the shot and patiently waited for his dancing feet to twirl him about so that I’d catch him facing the camera. A couple of seconds later he pirouetted into the spot I’d hoped for and I fired the camera. I’m not too sure Kirsty will select it for her album but we’ll find out soon enough
as they’ll be back from honeymoon next week.

While I’m on the subject of reportage wedding photography I was delighted to pick up a Bronze award from the Society of Wedding & Portrait Photographers monthly contest last month (June) in the 'Weddings Photojournalism' category. I entered the photo of Gail that you saw on my blog four weeks ago from her wedding at Barony Castle. I also won a Bronze award in the monochrome category for the black and white image I posted in my Dalhousie Castle wedding blog three weeks ago. So far this year it means I’ve won awards in all six months of the SWPP monthly image contest,
so I’m pretty chuffed!

Sometimes I am asked about the difference between the SWPP wedding categories. Well, there are three separate categories, and of course we are only allowed to enter one image per category. They are - Weddings Contemporary, Weddings Photojournalism and Weddings Traditional. The Traditional category is posed shots or photographs that we have direct or set up. Weddings Photojournalism (also referred to in many bridal magazines as reportage) is the opposite in that it is a purely natural moment that has not been set up in any way at all. A photograph that tells a story. This is often the hardest category for wedding photographers as there is no intervention permitted. Its all down to skill and
timing. Personally, I love the strictness of this category as so many wedding photographers today claim to provide reportage style wedding photography because it is a buzz word, yet, in reality there is a great difference between true photojournalism photography and grabbing a couple of candid’s during the evening reception. So the stringency separates the men from the boys, lol. The Weddings Contemporary category is for modern, stylish images that show exceptional innovation.

Forgetting the dancing uncle shot for a minute, the following three photographs are examples of reportage/photojournalistic wedding photography.
The first two show Kirsty and her father descending the staircase on their way to the wedding ceremony in the Melville Castle Ballroom. I simply ran ahead of them and photographed them from as many different angles as I could fit in during the duration of their descent. I really like the wide shot which shows off the entire staircase and the wonderful light pouring in through the top floor window above them. Wedding photographers in Edinburgh are privileged to have so many superb wedding venues with such dramatic staircases. I always believe its important if the wedding is in a Castle or Stately Home to include a good set of photographs
that really show off the magnificence of the surroundings. Later this year I’m doing some wedding photography in Newcastle at very similar venues, so the same rule applies. The third image we are talking about here was taken during the ceremony itself. Of course I get many photographs like this one from the ceremony as the couple say their vows and declarations to each other and go through their exchange of rings. They are so engrossed in each other and the wedding proceedings that they do not even know they are being photographed, hence, they look completely relaxed and natural.

The next three photographs are examples of
Traditional wedding photography, where I have directed or placed Simon and Kirsty in a specific location or pose. A good knowledge of the venue is key here. With Kirsty and Simon I’ve photographed more weddings at Melville Castle than any other wedding photographer in Edinburgh so I know it intimately and affectionately, along with many other venues in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland and North East England. I also carry out a full venue check ahead of every wedding too so I know in advance of the day all the best locations and spots that we’ll use as well.

We photographed the speeches, the cake cutting and then the first dance with the superb Corra who are absolutely awesome! I took several full length photographs as Simon and Kirsty took to the dance floor and then I switched camera’s (I always work with two camera’s, each one having a different focal length lens) for some close ups. Again I like to get an all round mix of full length photos of the couple dancing, some wide shots showing off the whole setting and then the closer ones which are usually a little more warm and intimate. I’m also happy to shoot dancing uncles too!