En route to my Highland wedding

Virtually all my blogging of recent weeks has been about weddings and photo shoots so just to mix things up a little I thought I’d post some landscapes that I photographed last Friday on my drive up to Torridon for Amy and Andy’s wedding. I’ll no doubt blog the wedding itself next week.

It’s been a while since I last worked this far north. I recall a few years ago I got the opportunity to take a new car for a drive around these parts of the Highlands for a magazine shoot. The car was a Vauxhall Vectra GSi, a limited edition road going version of the successful BTTC model. The photo brief was to portray this as a real drivers car so I utilised the twisting, sweeping Highland roads to try and produce that feel to the images. My personal favourite image from that shoot (and not just because it earned the most money! lol) was the second photo shown here with the narrowing wriggling road temptingly weaving it's way off into the hills and forests.

On Friday I set off nice and early from Edinburgh and stopped for my lunch in the exact same position where I’d taken the GSi image. At the time of taking the original photograph this was a very ill frequented and little known location, however, I noticed now that there are several large tourist sign boards advertising the famous "Kinlochewe View", hmmm, not sure if I’m to blame for this!

Anyway it’s quite interesting comparing the two photos and seeing the difference in the look of the landscape between the original which was taken in the month of August and the latest one taken on Friday. Of course mid day is not the best time in the world for taking landscape photos, in fact it’s the worst, but as I wasn’t getting paid to shoot these well 'beggars can’t be choosers' so they’ll just have to do! lol

For me the best landscapes in the world are to be found slightly to the south and west from here, the area around Loch Carron down to Eilean Donan Castle, but from Achnasheen across to the Torridon Hills comes fairly close. Once you pass Kinlochewe you are weaving through the mighty peaks of the Beinn Eighe Nature Reserve along the narrow single track roads where the passing places are a must not just for negotiating on coming traffic but more often for taking in the superb scenery. In truth you don’t get much traffic on the roads around these parts anyway - one of the reasons we took the car up here for the shoot a few years ago.

I was due to meet Amy and Andy at the Torridon Hotel later in the afternoon for a pre-wedding meeting. I’d never met them up until this time as they’d found me online after apparently typing "the best wedding photographers in Scotland" into google. So thanks google for that! Hopefully they will be kind enough to do likewise for phrases like "best wedding photographer in Edinburgh" and "totally, utterly awesome wedding photography in Edinburgh and throughout Scotland" ;)

It was an absolutely beautiful sunny day with temperatures getting into the late 20c's. I drove with all my windows wound down and frequently brandishing my camera out of them and towards the hilltops. The midgies very kindly left me alone too which was good of them!

Landscape photography is quite different from weddings and portrait photography as for virtually all of the images you are using very small apertures to give what we call good depth of field so that pretty much everything in the photo is sharp from front to back. With some wedding photographs this is needed too especially when you are wanting to showcase the setting in which the couple are in, but for most of the photographs you will normally be doing the exact opposite and using wide apertures to give limited depth of field. This has the affect of throwing the backgrounds out of focus and thus laying emphasis on the couple themselves. These images look particularly striking when used in conjunction with the fashion lighting. Anyway you’ll be able to see a good selection and variety when I blog the wedding for next week.

As well as meeting up with Andy and Amy I also carried out my usual recce of their venue which was the elegant Torridon House Hotel. I actually visited here on my previous trip so I was already fairly familiar and knew that they served good coffee! Ps…their cakes and pastries are quite nice too ;)

When I’d finished up I headed back to my digs in Kinlochewe, which is just 10 miles away, and a well deserved evening meal washed down with a wee dram of Clynelish. I was up early the next morning for a quick double check of all my equipment, a full Scottish breakfast, and then I was on the single track road back to Torridon. Check back next week for the wedding pics. (Remember you can click on any of the photos to open up a larger viewer so you can see the images at a bigger size)

An Oxenfoord Castle wedding

Firstly let me remind you that if you click on the first photo it will open up a large viewer so you can see all the photo spreads at a much bigger size and then scroll through them gallery style.

Well what a beautiful day it turned out to be for Sarah and James wedding at Oxenfoord Castle. This was my first time photographing a wedding here and I thoroughly enjoyed it! It is only a very short distance away from where I live so ideally suited for this happy Edinburgh wedding photographer! :)

Sarah and James booked me to photograph their wedding 18 months ago. Although living in Edinburgh themselves they didn’t feel a need to meet up with me beforehand as Sarah had spent considerable time studying and analysing the wedding photographers in Edinburgh online and simply booked me straight away once she had determined the best one for the job. Booking well in advance ensures you get the photographer you want before anyone else who has the same date as you attempts to book him. It also secures your price as my pricing is fixed at the time of booking.

Although I had previously popped across to Oxenfoord for a pre-wedding recce I still left early on the wedding morning as I like to just double check everything on the day. Sometimes little things can get changed, moved or altered at the last minute so it makes good sense. It also was to prove beneficial for Sarah, too, or more specifically Sarah’s dress.

The ceremony was to be held in Cranford church which is in the same grounds as the castle. The main entrance to the church lies off the main A68 road but there are also two other entrances at opposite corners. The wedding car was to bring Sarah to the main entrance but from experience I know that sometimes things can go wrong on wedding days so I had to prepare myself for the possibility of it going to one of the other two gates instead. I had checked out these entrances earlier on the off chance this may happen and noted that one gate was totally out of use whilst the other gate was very picturesque but there was a gap of about 4 to 5 feet between the road and the pathway which was rather muddy due to the overnight rain.

When Sarah and her father arrived at the church the wedding car stuck to the plan and arrived safe and sound at the main entrance. However, as they were disembarking it was suggested to them that they use the alternative gate for their departure after the ceremony. Everyone thought this a good idea but no one realised about the muddy ground which would have definitely soiled Sarah’s dress even with her taking the utmost of care. So fortunately my prior scout round helped avoid this from happening.

For the ceremony itself I had use of the upper gallery along one side which as you can see from the photos gave an excellent over head view of the proceedings. I got my usual good variety of ceremony photographs using a combination of wide angle and telephoto lenses and of course no flash (I mention that simply for the benefit of any wedding officiate who may be reading this as I consider the use of flash during the ceremony itself to be rather disrespectful and unprofessional, this is a marriage ceremony after all, and although I take it for granted other wedding photographers must think the same I gather from comments I get from many ministers and registrar’s that I am among the minority).

Following the ceremony and of course all the congratulations we headed across to Oxenfoord Castle. Sarah had asked me to do their group photographs in the Green Dining Room which you can see was a splendid room, very spacious with a magnificent ornate ceiling and lovely bay windows. I positioned all the groups in front of the elegant bay windows to give a pleasing backdrop in keeping with the Castle setting of the wedding.

Our bride and groom session centred firstly right in front of the castle for a couple of shots with the grand fortress as an arresting back ground. We then just walked around the grounds a little doing a few different combinations and set ups. Although with these photographs the newly weds are being directed I avoid going in for what is known in the business as 'over posing' as I like to keep things looking natural and relaxed which compliments the over all storybook style of photojournalistic photography. Creative use of my lighting ensures a stylish, striking look to the photographs, too.

We finished off with a requested photograph of "All the Kilts", a popular choice for weddings in Scotland. After which it was time for James and Sarah to go for their wedding breakfast. As everyone was heading into the dining room I completed my duties with a couple of shots of the wedding cake which had a miniature, and very lifelike, James and Sarah atop of it. I must say it looked Yummmmmm!

Million Dollar make-overs

First of all let me tell you that if you want to skip the reading and jump straight to the pictures you can click on the first picture and it will open up into a wee mini gallery where you can then scroll through all the photos without being bothered with having to read my ramblings. "Yay!" I here everyone cry! lol

Well things are still busy with me with all manner of different things going on just now. Most importantly of all are my weddings and if you enjoyed reading and looking at the sneak peek of Susan and Gordon’s wedding last week on the blog I can tell you that despite the fact that they are supposed to be on honeymoon they couldn’t wait to start selecting photographs for their album and so on Monday I received an email from the other side of the world with their list of chosen images. Yesterday I completed my first draft of their album pages and emailed across the proofs to them. They have ordered an absolutely gorgeous Bellissimo Storybook which is quite simply the finest wedding album in the world and the album of choice for Prince William and Kate Middleton. Sadly, for William and Kate theirs wasn’t designed by me so it won’t look quite as good as Susan and Gordon’s :O

I also photographed another beautiful wedding at Oxenfoord Castle on Saturday which I will blog next week. It really is a joy being an Edinburgh wedding photographer and doing what you love!

I’m also involved at the minute with putting together a very exciting Million Dollar Make-over photo experience. This is the perfect gift for some one you love! Pampered and a full make-over followed by a photo shoot. Not only does the recipient enjoy a million dollar experience but they look a million dollars and also get the photographs to remember it all including a beautiful A4 mounted print of their favourite. The images posted on the blog today are some promotional shots I did last week which you may spot around Edinburgh over the next few weeks as the promotion goes live. You can book a Million Dollar Make-over direct or purchase a Gift Voucher. Readers of my blog can get a 25% discount up until the end of the month.

I received an interesting email this week from a future bride who was on the internet researching for a wedding photographer in Edinburgh and she discovered another photographer’s website containing images from a wedding I had photographed. This is an occupational hazard for professional photographers posting images online and something I’ve had to deal with on numerous occasions over the years. When it first occurred I used to get rather annoyed and indignant but now I simply take the view that if another professional photographer is stealing my work then it must be pretty exceptional and I should be flattered. Anyway I think they may very well find that they have shot themselves in the foot as being in the same location as me there is a good chance they will be seen by someone locally who was actually at the wedding, knows the bride and groom and therefore knows who the photographer was. Usually the culprits have the sense to be working at opposite ends of the country to me! lol

One of Scotland’s leading wedding websites, Edinburgh Brides Wedding Guide, ran a competition last month for a free Engagement Shoot with Philip Hawkins Photography and the winner was drawn last week so keep an eye on the blog for some photographs from it in the next few weeks. I’ve also got several other Engagement shoots coming up too so delighted with that! This weekend I am off down to the Borders and the following weekend’s wedding is up in the Highlands. I really can’t decide which one I’m looking forward to most!

Susan and Gordon's wedding, Dirleton Kirk - Greywalls

In Edinburgh, during the last few days of April we had rain every single day. On the run up to Susan and Gordon’s wedding the weather forecast each day depressingly predicted a consistent regularity of rain all the way through to the end of the month. I recall when I first started photographing weddings several years ago I would regularly check the weather forecast each day on the approach to the wedding day. Now, however, I no longer bother as it is amazing just how many times the predicted forecast will be wrong. So it proved it to be on the last Saturday of April!

The day dawned bright and sunny with lovely blue skies and the feel of approaching summer. It would last for only a day as all us wedding photographers in Edinburgh awoke to the rain again on the Sunday. If you read last weeks blog you will know that I was working inside on the Sunday so I was quite happy!

As an Edinburgh wedding photographer I am ideally based for travelling anywhere in Scotland, and even down into England too if the price is right! ;) But for Gordon and Susan who were getting married at Dirleton Kirk it was only short trip along the A1. Their ceremony was scheduled for 4pm which meant we would catch some gorgeous late afternoon light which would be ideal for photography not just at the Kirk but also back at the elegant Greywalls Hotel later.

I’d done a recce of both venues a couple of weeks earlier, but nevertheless I still left early enough to pop into Greywalls to double check my earmarked locations and ascertain how the light was going to pan out for later in the afternoon. Things were looking good! So was the coffee!

I was booked for photography coverage from the ceremony arrivals through until the wedding breakfast, which was to be around 6.30pm. I arrived at the Kirk about 3pm which gave me time to unpack my camera’s, select vantage points for both myself and Diane for the wedding ceremony and then be stood on the drive to photograph Gordon and bestman as they arrived in the wedding car. Many folk ask me at weddings why I use two camera’s and the answer is simply that each one has a different lens allowing me to get a greater range and variety of shots within a short space of time. As soon as I spotted the wedding car descending the long winding road to the Kirk I took a few shots with the telephoto lens as it approached and then switched camera’s for a wider lens allowing me to photograph the guys as they disembarked.

There was plenty time for shots of the groom, bestman and ushers and also the piper and then I kept around the periphery to take some natural, unobtrusive pictures as guests arrived and greeted Gordon and the family. The Dirleton Kirk is very spacious and also has an upper gallery at the rear so Diane went up there whilst I was to remain photographing proceedings from the floor. The minister himself was happy to allow me uninhibited freedom to photograph during the proceedings although the church officers were a little concerned about this as during the last wedding in the Kirk the photographer had caused quite a distraction as he ran around all over the place blasting and flashing away and apparently at one point sprawled himself out on the floor below the altar to get some 'unique angle' shots! No wonder they thanked me afterwards for being so inconspicuous, lol.

Following the ceremony we had arranged to do all the group photographs back in the grounds of Greywalls so as the couple exited the Kirk and were soon surrounded by congratulatory family and friends I was able to work the perimeter photo-journalistically until the newly weds climbed in the car ready for the journey to Greywalls. I grabbed a quick photograph of them in the rear of the car before heading off myself for the hotel.

On arrival at Greywalls I asked the driver to position the wedding car right in front of the main entrance and shot a quick sequence of photographs with the hotel as a backdrop and then Susan and Gordon with their elegant wedding car. Champaign soon arrived and with that we set off with the family into a quiet corner of the grounds for the family photographs.

The grounds and gardens at Greywalls are absolutely gorgeous so following the family photography I took Susan and Gordon off for a relaxing walk around the gardens for their main bride and groom session. By now the sun was beginning to drop low in the sky and we had some great golden light sweeping across the gardens casting some lovely shadows and highlighting the attractive blooming flowers.

Speaking of flowers I must give a mention to Roseparks of Edinburgh. Roseparks are of course very well known to most Edinburgh wedding photographers as they are one of the top florists in Edinburgh Not only had they supplied the bridal and bridesmaids bouquets but they had also played a significant role in decorating the Greywalls dining room. I wasn’t actually scheduled to do any photography in the dining room as Susan and Gordon had booked me to conclude with their cake cutting in Library after we’d finished up in the gardens. However once we’d finished and said our good byes I was passing the dining room on my way out and my eyes were drawn to the striking table centres. Seeing how beautiful the room looked I couldn’t help but think how much Susan would want a photograph of the room set up amongst her wedding day memories so I couldn’t resists sneaking in and taking a couple!

Please note - If you would like to view any of the posted photographs at a larger size simply click on them and they should open up full screen.

Bridal Fashion Shoot

It’s been an exceptionally busy week this week so not sure what to talk about and which pictures to post. I’ve finished off two Storybook albums with the designs being approved by the couples just a few days ago and which will be ready for delivery at the weekend, finalised the photographs for my Real Life Wedding’s feature that will be in next months Best Scottish Weddings magazine, photographed a beautiful wedding on Saturday out at Dirleton and then did a fashion shoot on Sunday, the images of which I am busy editing right now. Well, not exactly right now as right now I’m writing this, but you know what I mean, lol!

Anyway as the last two blogs have been about weddings I think I’ll show you some images from the fashion shoot and save the wedding blogging for next week to coincide with the couple returning from their honeymoon. Now you may be thinking that Sunday is a strange day for a fashion shoot and of course it is! But I was fully booked throughout the week and with having the wedding for Saturday it was the only day I had available. The shoot was for a new make-up company and I was very honoured in that they insisted on wanting me to do the photography for them so everyone involved had to give up their Sunday to accommodate my busy schedule. No spare time for some of us Edinburgh wedding photographers!

I love doing fashion shoots! It’s great fun, exciting and often you get chance to explore and experiment with new creative idea’s and techniques. To stay with a wedding theme the shots I’m posting today are from the bridal session. The model is Jessica who was a delight to work with and I hope I get opportunity to work with her again in the future! With a fashion shoot the two main things I have to keep in mind is the purpose or objective we are trying to achieve and then the second thing is the actual usage of the images. For Sunday the purpose was to highlight the make-up itself and also the skill and expertise of the make-up artist’s work. The usage of the photographs would be for the make-up company in their portfolio, online web use and then advertising and promotion.

As this was for bridal make-up I decided for the majority of photographs to use a high key white background. This would give a nice clean backdrop suitable for wedding imagery. Everything I shot was done in colour, again keeping in mind the purpose of the shoot (although to add a little variety to my blog post I‘ve converted one of the images to black and white). The other advantage with doing this is it simplifies things for any graphic designer who may use the photographs in advert design where text will accompany the image. Everything is photographed at the highest quality and resolution (something that I also will do with every wedding, too) as you never know how large the photographs may be reproduced. I did a shoot for Debenhams once where the photographs went on to be used as big billboards in the shop windows reaching almost 10 feet high!

Although the majority of photography was against the high key backdrop I also wanted to get a few photographs simply utilising natural light. You can see these on the last two spreads where the background has changed colour. Although they are not quite as dramatically eye catching as a high key background the natural light really does emphasize and highlight the beautiful make-up and the skilled work of Hazel. Even with the different set up it is still important to leave breathing space around the images for promotional text or other graphics that may later be added to any advert or marketing materials. This is similar to when I’m doing a magazine shoot where it is very important to remember that for a front cover shot there must sufficient space and room for the mast head and then the cover lines, which often can be quite extensive. An example is the last image I’ve posted where I’ve done this on an advert for myself with a promotion I’m running this month. Maybe you’ll consider taking advantage of it if you are looking for a wedding photographer in Edinburgh or for any where in Scotland and the north of England.