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

Julie and Allan's wedding in Oban

The north west coast of Scotland is one of the most beautiful places in the world and it has been a favourite of mine since childhood. I was given my first camera at eight years of age and the first roll of film I ever exposed was on the Kintyre peninsula. Twelve years later I was travelling up and down the west coast of Scotland working within the Scottish tourism industry and shooting multiple rolls of film every day. Nowadays I usually pick up at least two or three commissions each year which gives me the chance to work regularly amid this stunning, dramatic landscape so I’ve been to Oban on many occasions. However, I’ve never actually photographed a wedding in Oban, so it was great to be back on Saturday for Julie-anne and Allan’s wedding!

I first met Julie and Allan back in February 2009, which sounds a long while ago, but the time seems to have flown over. I travelled across on the friday via Loch Lomond but this time driving up the opposite bank to which I’d photographed the monster last week, lol. This gave me ample time to carry out a recce of the church and the Argyllshire Gathering Hall where their reception would be held. The forecast for the weekend was sunshine and showers but as Allan and Julie had booked my 'sunny and dry' package I had to make sure there would be no rain after 3pm on the Saturday afternoon, which meant arising early on the wedding day morning and getting everything ready. Naturally this is a trade secret! ;)

The wedding was to be held in the Corran Esplanade Church. This is a prominent white building that sits atop a small hill dramatically overlooking the Oban Bay. It’s a gorgeous setting and so are the views, too, as you can see from the first couple of photos. The first photograph was taken before the ceremony as guests started arriving and the second was taken just after the ceremony as the newly weds were being greeted and congratulated on their marriage.

There are narrow lawns along the side of the church which I’d earmarked for the group shots. It would mean that not only would the groups be backlit (so no squinting because of the sun) but also they would have Oban Bay as a striking backdrop. The example I’ve used is the main bridal party (bestman, bridesmaids, both sets of parents) and as you can see the town is spread out behind the group and includes Oban’s legendary landmark, McCaigs Tower, up on the hillside above the Bay.

Julie and Allan are a wonderful couple, and as Julie almost never stops smiling I knew we’d have a great set of wedding photographs from their day. We’d planned to go down to a secluded little spot further up the esplanade and right on the waterfronts edge following the group shots. Amazingly, when we got there we had the whole spot to ourselves! Each time I’d visited it yesterday there had always been a few tourists using it. Anyway, at least that saved me having to chase them all away!

We had a superb time doing the photo session and lots of fun, too! We set up a few different shots, but all the while concentrating on very relaxed and natural looking images, which is not only my favoured style but suited the location beautifully. As we moved from one position to another I did my usual running ahead of the couple and photographing them informally as they walked across the grounds. This gets some totally natural photographs as well as showing off the setting.

Working as an Edinburgh wedding photographer I’m familiar with tourists cheering and waving at the bride and groom, taxi’s and buses honking and tooting them and even on the odd occasion coinciding with the firing of canons from Edinburgh Castle. But I’ve definitely never experienced a passing Calmac ferry sounding his foghorn at them! I was actually rummaging in my camera bag when I heard the blast of the horn. I looked up to see the ferry passing by with everyone on the decks shouting and waving at Allan and Julie. I quickly grabbed a camera and fired off a couple of shots before it passed out of frame. For those of you that read my blog from outwith Scotland, Caledonian MacBrayne is the leading ferry company in Scotland serving all the islands and peninsula’s off the Scottish coast and their ferries are something of an iconic sight around the country and are a highly popular photographic souvenir amongst residents and visitors alike.

I always like to get a couple of good individual portraits of the bride and groom along with all the photographs of them together as a newly married couple. My favourite two of Julie-anne and Allan are the two shown here. I asked Allan to sit on top of this craggy, rocky outcrop close to the waters edge. I then took Julie lower down the grassy bank and positioned her with Allan now up above her in the background. This was one of the shots I’d envisioned when I did my recce of the location the day before and I knew I could create several contemporary variations within just a couple of minutes, which proved to be the case. But as I finished up I quickly grabbed the camera with my telephoto lens on and zoomed in tight on Allan for the photo shown here. He looks so comfortable and relaxed I think it’s a good reflection on how much he’d enjoyed the day and how content he felt now being married to Julie.

My favourite portrait of Julie from the day is the one shown here after Allan’s. I must confess I was torn between this shot and another one I’d taken down by the water where Julie looked absolutely stunning. But the photo here was totally natural as Julie wasn’t aware of being photographed. It was taken not long after we’d got to the Argyllshire Gathering Hall. The original is in colour but I did a black and white conversion which in my opinion gives the image a timeless look that I like very much.

The Argyllshire Gathering Halls are a great venue for a wedding reception. And the food was divine! The main course was a choice between chicken with stuffed haggis and roast beef. I opted for the beef, not because I don’t like chicken and haggis, but just because I know its easier for the Highlanders to catch cattle than it is to catch the haggis as being much smaller, nimble animals they can run much faster around the hillside ;) Anyway, my dinner was roast beef, potato pie, cauliflower cheese, veg and gravy. And it was one of the most sublime meals I’ve ever had! So a big thank you to Julie and Allan and their families, and Amanda at the Argyllshire Hall for looking after me :)

Now one of the requests Julie had asked for was a Big Group photograph of all the guests on the dance floor. There are not too many venues in Scotland where you are able to do a Big Group on the dance floor, but the Argyllshire Halls have a small balcony that juts slightly out over the dance floor, so she’d asked me if this would be possible. Of course, pretty much anything is possible with me, lol! The real question though was not whether it would be possible for me to get the photograph, but whether or not it would be possible to fit all the guests on the dance floor! Anyway, we’d soon found out!

So while the room was being turned around for the dancing I went and set up a couple of lights on the balcony. When everything was ready Allan and the ushers started herding all of the 3,500 guests through to the main hall (okay there maybe wasn’t quite that many!). I positioned Julie and Allan at the front and central and then arranged everyone else around them and behind them. I got everyone to snuggle in nice and tight and there ended up being space left over for a few more if we’d wanted to! I took one photograph with everyone looking straight up at me. Then I asked for the bride and groom to kiss and shot off another. I then asked for ’everyone to kiss’ which gets people looking at each other in confusion wondering if I was being serious before they all burst out laughing.

We were then into the dancing and I went down onto the floor to photograph the first dance from dance floor level. After getting a good range of shots including closeups and full lengths of Allan and Julie and also some wide shots of the whole dance floor as other couples began to join them, I ran back up to the balcony and photographed them from overhead. I also shot a few images with slow synch lighting creating motion blur which really captures the atmosphere of a good Scottish ceilidh.

The last image posted here is from when we were finishing up at the water front earlier in the day. We’d had such a good time and enjoyed a few good laughs that I thought I’d finish off by trying something fun but unusual. I don’t think it’s worked out as good as it should have but I’m sure you get the idea, lol.

Anyway, I really hope I get to come back for another wedding in Oban sometime in the future. If you are reading this and planning a wedding somewhere over on the west coast please don’t be put off because I’m based in Edinburgh. I go all over Scotland photographing weddings and absolutely love my job! Julie and Allan are back off honeymoon at the end of the month and they’ll then begin the process of selecting photographs for their album, which I can assure you is a really hard job when they are all so good! I’m off to photograph a wedding in the north of England next weekend, which is actually nearer than Oban, and if the food is half as good I’ll be happy enough!

Shooting the Loch Ness monster

I had one of the funniest and most bizarre experiences this week. In fact I’m still laughing every time I think of it! lol

The first half of the week has been primarily taken up with wedding photography engagement sessions and meetings with potential brides and grooms looking to book an Edinburgh wedding photographer. I’ve also had two bookings this week for weddings in 2011 which mean the couples qualify for a free engagement session currently available as a special May promotional offer to anyone who books their wedding photography with me this month.

But then on Thursday I travelled through to Loch Lomond and the Trossachs for something a little different. I have a wedding here later in the summer and the bride and groom are wanting some Loch Lomond scenic landscapes to be used throughout their album as page back grounds and linking fillers. I’ve wrote previously how my wedding albums and books are exclusive and bespoke designs and this is an example of just how personal and unique we can make them. Almost anything is possible creatively!

I’m pretty familiar with the Loch Lomond area from magazine and commercial work I’ve done in the past so I had in mind some great locations that I wanted to shoot. With landscape photography the best hours are the first hour after sunrise and last hour of the day before sunset. The sun is low in the sky and creates beautiful textures and lighting which is why these times are referred to as the golden hours. So I had a really early start in order to get to Loch Lomond for sunrise.

I got their in plenty of time and headed up the less frequented eastern bank of the loch, which in my opinion is prettier and also better for photography being off the beaten track and close to three other lochs, a river and two waterfalls. Anyway at just after 5am I was in position ready for the sun to arise at around 5.30am.

As I’m sat there studying the light I hear this rustling in the surrounding undergrowth. Initially I thought it must be a fox or a feral goat but then it grew so intense and deliberate I knew it couldn’t be a small animal. I admit to being a touch apprehensive because I was in a little known location that was completely secluded and at that time of the morning you generally expect nothing but total peace and quiet. The noise became louder and louder and was definitely heading in my direction so I stood up and braced myself. Suddenly, bursting out from the bushes there appeared this Japanese tourist carrying a camera with the longest lens I have ever seen mounted onto an enormous tripod! “Ahh”, he exclaimed with delight when he saw me, “I have found you!” With a mixture of relief and adrenaline still surging through my body the most I could manage was a “Hi” by way of reply, lol.

Apparently, he was staying in the nearby Inversnaid Hotel and had seen me draw up in my car and then head off into the woods. He’d grabbed his gear, its a 600mm Canon lens for you techies that want to know, and ran after me in the hope of catching me up.

“You are after the monster”, he said. I wasn’t sure if this was a question or a statement, but whatever, I had no idea what he meant. He must have seen the confusion on my face and tried an explanation. “You are here for the monster?” Still a baffled look from me. “The Loch Ness monster. You here to photograph.”

Well I had to try my hardest not to burst out laughing. “No” I said, shaking my head. “No monster here. This is Loch Lomond”. Now it was his turn to wear a confused look. “This”, I said pointing out over the loch, “is Loch Lomond, not Loch Ness. No monster here!” He pointed at my camera making persistent hand movements as if to prove I was wrong. “The camera”, I said, “is for the sun. I’m here to photograph the sunrise”. Again this was met with a puzzled frown. “The sun”, I said, pointing at the sun to make things clearer. “I’m waiting for the sun”.

“Ahhhhhh, I see” he said elatedly as he finally got the point. “Of course”, he continued nodding his head triumphantly. “Son of Loch Ness monster!”

“Nooooooooooooooo” I managed to stutter out between feelings of hilarity and frustration. I was about to launch another attempt when he firmly planted his tripod into the ground and declared “I wait with you!” beaming me a radiant smile. It was pretty close to sunrise now, and I didn’t fancy my chances of success with any more explanations, so I decided to simply get on with the job.

We stood side by side and waited just a few minutes as the orange, purple glowing sky turned golden and the sun duly arose. I took quite a few different shots as the sun rose above the loch and mountain side. My new companion kept looking at me suspiciously every time I fired the shutter, straining to look out across the waters to see what I was photographing. After several shots I showed him the images on the back of my camera and explained “beautiful sunrise”. Which he somewhat reluctantly agreed with. “You take some”, I encouraged. After all he had got up at the crack of dawn and he sure as hell wasn’t going to get any monster photos so I figured at least he would have some nice landscapes for all his efforts, lol.

When I’d taken what I wanted I pointed to the great looming bulk of Ben Lomond and told the man I’m now climbing up there. I was thankful he didn’t decide to come with me. Not because I didn’t want his company but because it would probably have given him a heart attack if he’d tried to lug his huge, heavy gear all the way to the 3,200feet summit!

I spent the remainder of the morning on the slopes of Ben Lomond taking photographs at periodic intervals on the route up finally arriving on the summit around noon. There’s a few shots from the day here together with a couple from previous visits. The guy standing on the Ben Lomond summit enjoying the view is me by the way. Gotta luv camera self timers!

Weddings amongst the April showers

Well spring is in the air, the blossom is coming out and we’re just about into the main wedding season here in Scotland. May through to October is the peak time for weddings in Scotland so if you are planning a wedding for these months its always good to book your wedding photographer as soon as you can. As a wedding photographer in Edinburgh I’m ideally based for photographing weddings all over Scotland as well as the north of England. This coming month I have two weddings in Edinburgh, one in Newcastle and one over on the west coast of Scotland in Oban.

Most of the weddings I get booked to photograph seem to be in Castles, Stately Homes or the high end hotels. However, although this is the case I must stress that I am happy to photograph weddings wherever you are getting married and whatever your venue may be. The wedding photos shown here are from Laura and Johnny’s wedding. They got married in Laura’s family church in Edinburgh and then had their reception at the Edinburgh Bowling Club. Although the surroundings are not as glamorous or majestic as a castle that does not mean they wouldn’t get a set of beautiful photographs. A good professional photographer will come up with superb wedding photographs no matter where you are or whatever happens on your day.

Typically for an end of April wedding we had a day of April showers. I had carried out a recce of both the church and the Bowling Club previously and so had already decided if it should rain I would do the group photographs inside the church as there was more room and the setting was better than inside the Bowling Club house. The group photo here is the newly weds with both sets of parents and their bestman and best maid.

Diane had tipped me off that several wedding guests had confetti to throw. So, rather than having random amounts thrown by different people at sporadic times I suggested we do a co-ordinated confetti photograph which I set up at the top of church steps. It was still raining and so as I wasn’t sure how much time we’d get dodging the showers at the Bowling Club I made use of one of the church windows for a couple of quick bridal portraits and then half a dozen romantic and contemporary images of the newly weds.

On the short walk to the car we gave Laura and Johnny our white wedding umbrella which allowed me to shoot some informal images as they walked through the church gardens. I paused them under the canopy of a large tree which I’d earmarked from the recce and shot another half dozen photographs primarily using classic poses. I knew Laura’s father had spent a considerable amount of money hiring the vintage Rolls Royce so I made sure to include it in several photographs. The one shown here was just before we left the church. I converted it to black and white to give an oldy worldly feel that would match the classic car.

My wedding pricing is principally based upon the amount of time you wish me to attend your wedding and for this wedding I was booked through until the first dance. This meant they would be able to include their cake cutting ceremony, wedding speeches and of course a lot more informal, fun photographs from their evening reception. We also utilised the breaks in the showers two or three times too for some quick ten minute sessions around the bowling green and the clubhouse.

I have a few portrait sessions lined up for this week and also a couple of e-sessions (that’s wedding photographer lingo for engagement session, lol) and then my next big shoot is back at Melville castle next Monday. A group of 33 of Britain’s top scientists are at the Castle for an important function and I’m booked to do the photography for it. When I was first contacted about the job I had hopes of perhaps going up on an exciting trip into space or something but then I discovered that they are biologists so I suppose there’s more chance of me ending up on a dissecting table! Yikes!

I mentioned e-sessions a couple of paragraphs ago so I’ll finish this post by mentioning that I’m running a special offer of a free engagement session for all couples who book me for their wedding photography during the month of May. I can do a natural and relaxed ‘lifetsyle’ engagement session either at the venue itself or we can select from a few good locations around Edinburgh. Otherwise I can do a mini studio session at your home. We then have your favourite photograph printed up and set into a beautiful wedding signature mount and you can also have your own personalised Save the Date cards using one of the images from the session, too. Details of the offer are on my website, just click Edinburgh Wedding Photographer to read.