Fashion is an important word in wedding photography. A lot of photographers mis use the word “Fashion” where they mean “Random”. The pictures are completely inappropriate often and the word has been abused by creating something that is just horrible and self indulgent from the photographer.

This picture is not trashing the dress but getting it a little bit wet. The bride is stood on a box that is pinned to the seabed or rather estuary in Budleigh Salterton in east Devon. There are several people around. Two people around to help the bride and a lighting assistant holding an extendable pole with an SB800 and a soft box with a pocket wizard set to trigger it so we were wireless. It was a really fun shoot with the hair and makeup all being done in the car park on sunny evening.

After the shoot the dress was fine and she got some pics she loved. I have seen some terrible trash the dress sessions before including paintball guns, fire and mud. I have never been a fan of gimics and hope this picture sits nicely between such disasters : ) hope you like – AG

Photographically it has lovely rural backdrops, interesting knooks and crannies and good variety and light.

Rill is a beautifully restored 80 acre dairy farm nestling in the Dart valley, providing a fully licensed wedding venue that combines a stunning setting with adaptable space.

If you book Rill you will have exclusive use of the facilities & grounds to use as you wish, including wedding night accommodation for your guests.

They can cater for any type of wedding, offering real flexibility to make your day work for you. There are 3 options to choose from: Venue Hire only; a Traditional Wedding package; or a Marquee Site with panoramic views over the rolling Devon hills.

Simone and Joe did great at their pre shoot. They are both loads of fun and are great together. I did not have to give hardly any direction and they just enjoyed themselves. Below is one of the pics from the 80+ I gave them after the shoot. I like this frame as it just reminds me how hapy they are and how much fun their wedding is going to be in 6 weeks. Very much looking forward.

It was a great day, they have a really fun bunch of friends and family, the speeches were really funny and a great party after. Hope you like the pics, I photographed the wedding with the help of Barney as always and between us shot over 600 pics for the couple, below is a selection of 30ish of my favs – AG

Grouped around Prussia Cove there are a number of unspoiled houses and cottages offered for furnished lettings to provide traditional family holiday accommodation at all times of the year within unexploited cliff country and shore. There are no cafes or ice cream kiosks and the general public have access to some of the coves over footpaths only, leaving their cars in a small car park some distance from the sea, resulting in peace and privacy for the residents. Porth-en-Alls can also be used for wedding receptions, parties, conferences and courses with Porth-en-Alls House as a focus having a suitable kitchen and several large rooms, including a refectory seating at least 80 people, 25 may be accommodated there and more in other houses and cottages as available and required.

A great venue in a unique place, a real cornish venue.

I often get the opportunity to shoot for the magazine. I normally shoot for the Devon edition but this time I was asked to shoot for the Cornwall edition which was great. The shoot took place at Fowey Hall in Cornwall ( a beautiful venue ).

Each shoot is different but it is important to think of the shoot as a set of pictures instead of individual ideas. A big part of the process is deciding which camera and lens to shoot on, an idea of the post production, framing and which light you will use to keep the consistency running through the pictures. For this shoot I worked with photographer Barney Walters and we shot between us. We both used Nikon D3 ‘s with a 50mm 1.4 lens. It is a great set up as there is no messing about. Natural light and a couple of reflectors and we shot 6 dresses in about 4 hours which is really good going compared to some shoots which it takes 2 hours a dress if we are using lights with complicated hair and make up changes.

So below are a set of me of the pictures from the shoot. The pictures are in the magazine now on shelves in Cornwall and available nationally through post.

To see the magazine please visit   http://www.wedmagazine.co.uk/wed-cornwall-issue-20-out-now.html

To visit the venue more info here      www.foweyhallhotel.co.uk

Harrera Photographer Barney Walters helped shoot these pictures. http://www.barneywalters.co.uk/

Hope you like the pics, it was a great day and a fun, quick combo of 50mm1.4 and natural light.

-AG

The majority of the day was spent with a combination of my 80-200mm and a fixed 50mm 1.4 on two different cameras – a Nikon D2x (of which I love the high contrast sensor) and a D3. On the 80-200mm and D2x I set a pocket wizard which was attached to an SB800 speedlite which is great because in the morning it was very overcast and I didn’t have to fight the sun. The speedlite set-up was put on a monopod and an assistant operated it. It works really well and is a fast, effective way to get really dynamic results. It is a technique I use a lot in weddings to make the light interesting.  If it had of been sunny I would have used a reflector instead and used a fast F stop to throw out the background with the rich reflected light.

In the afternoon I set up a backdrop in the offices above and used a combination of a couple different lights and some natural light to provide the pair of winners with the start of a porfolio for them to begin a modelling career. I enjoy shooting studio sometimes and we did have a great time working with the winners for their portfolios.

The studio lights we used were a Bowerns 1000w studio flash and a 300w constant daylight balanced light with an unbrella. On the Bowerns we used a 4ft softbox and the background was a Dove Grey which is nice as it has quite a tonal range depending on which light is being used.

A great job of the hair and make-up was done by  http://www.spacehairandbeauty.co.uk/  was a great day and great company.

Here is a small selection of some of the pics we shot, a bit of a combination of a few styles, lights and locations we used on the day.

Hope you like -AG