Tom Catchesides

Cambridge Film Festival highlights

Wed, 27 Feb 2013 08:31 +0000

Last week, someone asked me to dig out some pictures from last year's Cambridge Film Festival and I thought it was the perfect excuse to have a rummage around in the archive of film festival that I've built up. I've been working for the Cambridge Film Festival since 2005, so I thought it was about time that I put together a blog post showing some of the highlights over the years.

The Cambridge Film Festival is based at the Arts Picturehouse in Cambridge, where most of the screenings take place:

However, the festival also does a great line in using spectacular external venues, such as Grantchester Meadows…

… or the Institute of Astronomy for a screening of 2001: A Space Odyssey…

… closing off streets in Cambridge …

… and Ely Cathedral for an event with Michael Palin.

Then of course we've got all of the filmmakers and actors who come along to support their films at the festival. Here are a few of the guests who've been highlights for me over the years:

And of course we've got some of the staff & volunteers that it's been a pleasure to work with, starting off with festival director Tony Jones in the nerve centre at the top of the Arts Picturehouse:

Launching the new version of Light Blue at Apple's flagship store

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 11:00 +0000

This is one for all of the photographers who read my blog!

As well as running my wedding photography business, for the last four years I've been working for Light Blue Software, the company that I founded to market the business software that I wrote to run my photography business. The company's been going from strength to strength, and last week we announced the result of our biggest project yet.

We're going to be previewing the new version of Light Blue at Apple's flagship store on Regent St in London at 18:00 on Monday 26 November. I'll post more on this blog when the new version is available, but you can find out more about the new version on the Light Blue Software website or follow us on Twitter for all of our announcements.

It already sounds like there's going to be a fantastic turnout, but do please let me know if you're going to come along to the Apple store event and make sure that you come and say hello afterwards.

Suzie & Shaun's wedding in Stockbridge, Hampshire

Fri, 02 Nov 2012 09:00 +0000

Suzie & Shaun's wedding in Stockbridge, Hampshire, took place at a unique venue: Suzie's family restaurant, The Greyhound Inn in Stockbridge. The restaurant backs onto the River Test, which made for a great setting for the specially constructed gazebo and marquee.

Here's a selection of my favourite pictures from Suzie & Stuart's wedding in Stockbridge.

Bridal preparations at the Greyhound Inn, Stockbridge:

On to the church in the neighbouring village of Longstock:

A special guest was waiting for Suzie at the church: her dog, Stella.

Back to Stockbridge for the wedding reception:

The River Test in Stockbridge at night:

The Greyhound Inn's chef hard at work:

Hampsire weddings: Suzie & Shaun's wedding

Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00 +0100

Suzie & Shaun's wedding took me back down to Hampshire, to the lovely setting of Stockbridge. I'll be posting more photos from Suzie & Shaun's wedding in Hampshire next week, but for now here's one that caught my eye - Shaun's reaction during the best man's speech.

Queens' College Cambridge wedding photographs

Fri, 19 Oct 2012 09:00 +0100

I've photographed weddings at many of the colleges in Cambridge, but Becky & David's was the first full wedding that I've photographed at Queens' College. The college has a real mixture of different architectural styles, and the dense ornamentation inside both the college chapel and the dining hall make for a spectacular backdrop for a wedding.

Here's a selection of my favourite pictures from Becky & David's wedding at Queens' College, starting off with the bridal preparations:

A truly spectacular wedding cake from Choccy Woccy Doodah. Yes, those are cherubs:

Bride arriving at the church

Fri, 12 Oct 2012 09:00 +0100

I'll post more pictures from Becky & David's wedding next week, but in the meantime here's one that caught my eye - the moment when the bride arrived at the church.

Christ's College wedding photographs - Emily & David's wedding

Fri, 05 Oct 2012 09:00 +0100

Emily & David got married at Christ's College in Cambridge, which is one of the loveliest examples of Cambridge's wonderful college architecture. They got married in the college chapel before hosting a drinks reception in the college gardens.

Here's a selection of my favourite photos from Emily & David's wedding at Christ's College. I might have gone a bit overboard with the number of pictures here, but editing the selection down was even harder than usual!

Getting ready at the Varsity hotel in Cambridge:

Waiting for the wedding ceremony in the chapel at Christ's College:

Emily & David's wedding reception in the college gardens:

Dinner in Hall:

Cambridge college weddings

Fri, 28 Sep 2012 09:00 +0100

I love photographing weddings at Cambridge colleges, and Emily & David's wedding at Christ's College was no exception. As well as offering a beautiful setting, Cambridge college weddings offer another great advantage: simple logistics if the ceremony and wedding reception are taking place in the same location!

I'll post more pictures from Emily & David's wedding next week, but in the meantime here's one of my favourite photographs from their wedding at Christ's College as they walk towards their drinks reception.

Closing weekend of the 2012 Cambridge Film Festival

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 20:21 +0100

It's already been a busy day for Cambridge Film Festival blog posts from me, so I'm going to be brief with my final post from the festival. Here are a few highlights of the closing weekend to go with my earlier silent film post and Bill & Katie's wedding.

First up, we've got director Bryn Higgins, who brought Unconditional to the festival:

Next up, John Sweeney, who provided the live soundtrack to Hitchcock's Blackmail:

Next up, a couple of highlights from James Mackay's Microcinema strand. First, we've got filmmakers Daniel Fawcett and Clara Pail, who premiered Savage Witches at the Cambridge Film Festival:

And William Fowler of the BFI curating a set of films by William Lacey:

The closing weekend also played host to producer Isona Passola, who brought the amazingly popular Black Bread here as part of the festival's Catalan strand:

…and Dylan Richards, who directed Richard Burton: The Secret:

The regular highlight of the closing night is always the surprise movie. This year, the sense of occasion was highlighted by the security clampdown that saw everyone surrendering their phones on the way into the screening. Somehow, my little ol' camera (I'm good at this understatement thing, aren't I?) didn't count, so here's the sold-out crowd and festival director Tony Jones closing the festival:

Silent film at the Cambridge Film Festival with Neil Brand

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:23 +0100

Ever since I took a chance and decided to watch some of Dviga Vertov's work at the Cambridge Film Festival a good ten or so years ago, I've loved watching silent film with live music. The Cambridge Film Festival is always a great place to get my fix, especially because the amazing Neil Brand is often on hand.

I missed what by all accounts was an amazing soundtrack for The Ring, but here are a few of my favourite pictures from Neil accompanying Aelita, Queen of Mars (I'm keeping with the Soviet film theme in this blog post) and entertaining a cinema full of children with Not-So-Silent-Cinema, a Cambridge Children's Film Festival event that turned the smaller members of the audience into part of the orchestra.

Not-So-Silent-Cinema:

Ian Christie introducing Aelita, Queen of Mars:

Bill & Katie's wedding at… the Cambridge Film Festival?!?

Sun, 23 Sep 2012 12:14 +0100

No, I haven't accidentally mashed the titles of two separate blog posts together to create a mutant hybrid of my wedding photography work and the work that I do for the Cambridge Film Festival. Bill Thompson, a tireless bundle of creative energy who's been involved in the Cambridge Film Festival for much of the time that I've been working with it, got married yesterday and the wedding party came along to the Arts Picturehouse for a special screening put together by festival director Tony Jones.

The first picture is one I've wanted to take since watching the opening sequence of Amelie at an impressionable age: a screen full of happy people enjoying the cinema. In this case, it was a Buster Keaton clip, soundtracked by Neil Brand.

Congratulations to Bill & Katie!

2012 Cambridge Film Festival - opening weekend

Thu, 20 Sep 2012 09:56 +0100

I've been back in Cambridge for the 2012 Cambridge Film Festival, which is my eighth Cambridge Film Festival - I've covered every single one of them since 2005! Here's a selection of the highlights from the opening weekend.

Let's start with French director Robert Gu�diguian, who visited Cambridge to introduce his new film, The Snows of Kilimanjaro:

The opening night of the festival also saw director David Frankel presenting a preview screening of Hope Springs:

This is one of my favourite pictures from the opening weekend, from cinematic installations The Ice Book:

One again, the Cambridge Family Film Festival has been drawing the crowds, which made up with numbers what they lacked in size:

Here's a selection of the filmmakers who visited to present their films, starting with German filmmaker Monika Treut:

Stephen Horne, who was providing accompaniment to a screening of Hitchcock's The Pleasure Garden:

Cypriot director Stelios Kammitsis, presenting Jerks:

Cristophe Wagner with Blind Spot:

And Jesse Vile with Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet:

After bringing his film Cuckoo to the Cambridge Film Festival a few years ago, director Richard Bracewell returned to give a talk about Hitchcock:

Finally, here's a selection of pictures from the outdoor screenings that were held at Cambridge University Press:

Clare College, Cambridge, wedding photos

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 09:00 +0100

The hottest day of the summer saw me returning to Clare College in Cambridge to photograph Jenny & Adam's wedding. Clare College is one of the many Cambridge colleges that only let alumni get married there, so it's been a while since I've photographed a wedding there. However, it's one of the prettiest colleges in Cambridge, with lots of wonderful, warm sandstone and the most spectacular formal garden in Cambridge, so going back to Clare College to photograph weddings is always a treat.

Jenny got ready at her house in Cambridge…

… before driving over to Clare College for the wedding ceremony.

A swift exit after the wedding ceremony…

…before returning for the confetti:

The view from Clare College, up the River Cam to King's College:

Throwing the bouquet in near darkness - my cameras & lenses can see in the dark better than I can sometimes!

Cambridge college weddings - Jenny & Adam

Fri, 07 Sep 2012 09:00 +0100

I'll be posting more pictures from Jenny & Adam's wedding at Clare College in Cambridge next week but, in the meantime, here's a shot that caught my eye. Clare College has a wonderful, long path that leads from The Backs into the college itself, and this was taken a moment after I turned around to find Jenny & Adam following me back to the wedding reception after taking a few posed pictures for them in the college gardens.

Longstowe Hall wedding photos - Holly & Gavin's wedding

Fri, 31 Aug 2012 09:00 +0100

Longstowe Hall is one of my favourite wedding venues, so I was delighted to be asked to photograph Holly & Gavin's wedding there. While this summer's wet weather meant that the planned outdoor ceremony was replaced at the last minute with one inside the lovely hall itself, a few showers couldn't put a dampener on a wedding in such a great venue and with such a vibrant collection of guests.

Here's a selection of my favourite pictures from Holly & Gavin's wedding at Longstowe hall in Cambridgeshire, starting off with Holly's preparations in the bridal cottage in the grounds of the hall…

Holly & Gavin's wedding ceremony took place inside the main hall of Lonstowe Hall:

Here we find Gavin both calming his nerves and entertaining his guests on the piano at Longstowe Hall:

I do like a good marquee…

Giving the bride away

Fri, 24 Aug 2012 09:00 +0100

Wedding ceremonies are full of wonderful moments, and photographing them without distracting anyone makes them both challenging and rewarding. This is one of my favourite photographs from Holly & Gavin's wedding at Longstowe Hall - the moment when the father of the bride steps in to give away his daughter at the start of the wedding ceremony.

Essex wedding photographer - Caroline & Neil's wedding

Fri, 17 Aug 2012 09:00 +0100

Caroline & Neil's wedding took me back to Saffron Walden in Essex, which is very close to the village that I grew up in. They got married at the wonderful St Mary's Church in Saffron Walden, before heading to their wedding reception in a marquee in Essex.

Here's a selection of my favourite pictures from Caroline & Neil's wedding in Essex.

Arriving at the church in Saffron Walden, Essex:

…and then onto the reception near Clavering:

Confetti throwing at weddings

Fri, 10 Aug 2012 09:00 +0100

Weddings are full of moments that just couldn't be the same if they were scripted or posed, such as anything involving confetti. I can never predict where it's going to go (have you ever tried to throw the stuff yourself?), who it's going to hit, how they're going to react, etc, etc. It's moments like this confetti throwing photo from Caroline & Neil's wedding that make me love the stuff, even if I find myself picking bits out of my camera bag weeks later.

Cambridgeshire weddings - Claire & Peter

Fri, 03 Aug 2012 09:00 +0100

When you've photographed a lot of weddings, it's always interesting to think back to particular weddings and see what stands out in your memory - after all, it's the differences that stick in the memory. For Claire & Peter's wedding in Cambridgeshire, I'm willing to bet that it's going to be the fact that Claire's horse turned up as a surprise guest at the wedding reception.

Claire & Peter got married in Brampton in Cambridgeshire, with a church service in the village followed by a wedding reception in a marquee in their beautiful garden. Here's a selection of my favourite pictures from their wedding day.

Peter & his best man waiting at the church. I'm not sure who's more nervous…

Claire arriving at the church for her wedding:

Claire's father, having a quiet moment to himself…

…before a surprise guest arrived.

Arriving at the church

Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:00 +0100

This shot of Claire arriving at the church for her wedding ceremony is one of my favourite wedding car shots. I'll be posting more pictures from Claire & Peter's wedding next week but, for the meantime, here's one of the bride arriving at the church for her wedding.