Featuring as the main editorial photographer – yours truly!

I’m super proud of this collaboration, which we shot over 3 days to complete it. It was an absolute honor to be asked to shoot for them again – especially when you consider just how many wedding photographers there are in UK these days. They went and picked little old me!

So massive thanks to team RMW – it’s always a pleasure to work with you guys. (and always very fun too!)

I will update this post with a few more pics at a later stage, but for now you can read Charlotte’s introduction post here or click the pic below to go directly to the magazine.

 “Thank you so much for the amazing photos and slideshow. WOW! They are really wonderful and it was so lovely to be able to relive the day!! We love the music choices too…Sam cried when we watched it for the first time….and it would seem everytime after that too!!!!”

Now I’ve shot weddings at the splendid Notley Abbey a fair few times, and each time I always try and push myself to create even better pics or find new locations / angles I may of missed previously.

Well Sam & Matt’s amazing wedding, seemed to all come together just so perfectly. It was completely raining down in the morning, but by the time the guests started arriving the sun came out to play and colours went pop! This delightful weather stayed with us, pretty much until they sat down for their wedding breakfast…. at which point the heavens open once again, but it didn’t matter… we had achieved everything we wanted to do, from capturing the confetti to the everyone enjoying the champagne & sunshine, to some funny group shots to capturing some fantastic portrait photos with a big round white balloon. It was all good.

The wedding breakfast began, after which all the speeches followed…. but what I wasn’t banking on, was the weather taking a twist again or rather the sunset being truly amazing… the weather was definitely spoiling me while keeping me on my toes, so out we popped again to capture some fab sunset shots, while some horses stood by and watched!

Then on to the evening dancing… oh WOW! their first dance could of been something out of strictly come dancing! Sam even had an outfit change for it – if I was a judge, the dance routine was definitely a 10/10! …this was followed by some moves & shakes on the dancefloor and then some wickedly colourful ticker tape (or confetti cannons – as they’re known in the UK)…. rounding off with a pretty sparkler exit.

Thanks again Sam & Matt….. the pleasure was all mine

x

I suppose… I’m mostly, what you would describe as a ‘people’ photographer… whether that be for wedding photography, fashion, beauty, portraits, PR or events,  as much as I can shoot ‘still life’ it’s not exactly what I mainly get hired for… I shoot people, illustrate a story or a look / feel. So I will show you the images where lighting the subject (the model) properly was paramount… and I suppose the end product as far as my preference is concerned.

The brief was… Hippie / Gypsy /  Boho / 70’s  ……Charlotte (blog queen of Rock My Wedding) already had a good idea of the styling & look she wanted, which is great when working with any art / styling director, so together (along with the team) we made it happen

I’ve also included a few extra b&w’s versions….. so you can see how it further adds a different feel & look to the images too.

Thanks to everyone involved on the shoot – you were all fab and I can highly recommend any of them if you’re perhaps looking for a… make-up artists, hairdresser, florist, cake-baker or even perhaps a cute vintage caravan etc.

MUA – Kylie McMichael
Hairdresser – Lucy Spary
Florist – Lilly & May
Cakes – Buttercream & Dreams
Caravan – Florence

And of course the lovely Rock My Wedding team… Charlotte, Adam, Lolly & Lauren …thanks for letting me be a part of it – big love to you guys xx

Emma & Ben were great, started out a little nervous… but that soon faded away as we spent an enjoyable Sunday morning exploring the city.

Having shot numerous times in the city… I always find it rather tranquil & peaceful to shoot on the weekends. You can wonder through all the back alleys and streets pretty much on your own unperturbed . What’s equally great about shooting in the city of London is that you always find  new & interesting perspectives, of course the light  (dependent on the time of day & the seasons)  is always going to be different etc… which makes all that more wonderful. I just love exploring and finding new & interesting scenes and that contrast between the old & new… the old cobbled streets & original shop fronts set against the new striking lines of the ever expanding sky scrappers, like the Gherkin & Tower 42 (aka – Natwest Tower).

So as you can see, we were certainly blessed with plenty of sunshine…… Oh and plenty of laughs & smiles too

x

……But hopefully all can be forgiven as I’ve got a veritable treasure chest of gorgeousness to show you lot 

So this is it folks ……finally some images to Oooohhhh & Arrrrggghhhh over from 2012…. what turned out to be yet another amazing year – filled with wonder & delight and lots of memories!

You better be ready, just like the 2011 wedding highlights  – it’s pretty mega!   Probably a little too big, actually it’s probably quite a lot BIG! …..but hey, it kind of makes up for the last 6 months or so.

I will try and get round to blogging some of these weddings individually in their own merit, they certainly deserve it – with their own unique stories to tell.

I just want to say a massive heartfelt THANKS to all my lovely couples who tied the knot too…… as without you – yes YOU!   ……none of this would be possible.

I’m humbled & honoured to have the job that I do; getting to meet all these lovely people in the world and be able to photograph their wedding day – is really special!  ……nothing gives me greater pleasure and for me my No 1 goal – is to have happy clients who LOVE their wedding photos… nothing else matters!

(hopefully that doesn’t sound too cliché or like I’m receiving an Oscar!)

So that’s why my wedding photography, as illustrated in this 2012 review, highlights, retrospective – whatever you want to call it!….. is never about trying to go all out crazy, jumping on the instagram-styley filter effect band wagon, subscribing to gimmicks or any other latest trends that will date faster than a having a Betamax video-tape cassette in your collection… as to how the photograph is produced & taken – No!……

……This is photography with Soul, Heart & Truth!

I doubt you will find a 2012 review with more happy & smiling faces, laughter & tears exhaled & shed, nervous gazes, and of course emotions & love in abundance – REAL moments that make up any wedding, ……not just a collection of fancy pants ‘portrait’ shots (though of course they’re present too – with a touch of soul ;)) ….that don’t actually show what the day was about!?   …whereas my criteria for choosing was approx 10-ish images from each wedding across the whole of the day!

I decided to place the images into some kind of chronological order too…… so just like a wedding day – you have a beginning and an end of the story.

…It’s like a big super duper wedding day rolled into one!

Hopefully for you – the viewer – it means you know where you are and what direction you’re travelling, so if one decides to jump to a section of sorts…. you can   …..loosely defined by – Getting Ready, Ceremony, Celebration, Portraits, Speeches, First Dance, Dancefloor Action, Last Dance & Finale.

Thanks…….. Enjoy xx

P.s Look out for the pre-shoot one soon, plus it will be far shorter too – I promise!

Yeah I know… I’ve only gone and disappeared off the blog radar again – it’s been a crazy busy season so far, and it’s only getting busier! ……which is great for me, but of course my blog takes a hit when I’ve got a mega backlog of editing to do, and a hundred and one other things to do.

Though things are in motion – to be able speed up everything, this will result in an even better service for my clients and being able to blog more regularly… which means you get to see more lovely photos, more often

Anyway – in amongst wedding summer madness!  ……you may or may not know, that I also run a commercial company – called simply – TOMLIN (though it’s currently being re-branded at present)

So I thought rather than post some wedding images today…. I thought you might like to see something a bit different, but hopefully just as interesting? ……Fashion photography! – certainly the skills gained over the years in this field – translates when I’m shooting the portrait shots of a couple at weddings & pre-shoots, of course not every wedding has 6″ something models, MUA, Stylists,…. and a plethora of Profoto studio lights, …though occasionally I have been known to get out a beauty dish, softbox or two in the past – if the time, light & situation all fall into place.

So here’s a selection of banner/headline images – I’ve been shooting for a new company called – VOUTIQUE…… if you love vintage clothing, homeware, bridal, basically anything vintage – you need to check this out – and then tell all your friends too

It’s the UK’s only online marketplace – dedicated to all that’s vintage… with some of the best independent shops & traders from around the country signed up… it’s the place to find that unique one off at the click of a mouse button… I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be BIG – though hopefully not too big

Oh and before I forget…… if you fancy winning £300 to spend at VOUTIQUE,  the lovely peeps over at ‘Control The Riot‘ …are offering their readers the chance to WIN £300.

The brief has been varied for the shoots so far… and the locations has of course dictated to some extent, the direction, styling and the lighting set-up used… plus the retouching orientation. The one thing I’ve always tried to keep in mind was that they needed to be visually strong as one-offs rather than a collection and they needed to work in the specified crop ratio for the banners… hence why they are all horizontal images.

So without further ado…

……how beautiful and soft is that evening light…

…just gorgeous is what it is!

So Sian & Ross got married last summer… on what was probably one of he hottest days of last year! …it was an amazing wedding with boat trips, beeches and a steel band – to name just a few highlights, but due to unexpected complications we had to forgo the portraits on the day.

So a couple of months later, Sian & Ross asked me to do another shoot around London. This time with no time constraints & complications of the wedding – we could spend as much as time as we wanted 

Below I’ve shared a few of my favourites from the day and written a few thoughts about my thinking behind the images etc.

Though before we get to the images a few notable mentions on the day were……

Sian’s wedding dress was by Sassi Holford – though don’t ask me which one it was?! ……update: the wedding dress is called ‘Maria’ – thanks Sassi Holford

Shoes were by Christain Dior

That amazing barnet was done by the talented Cassandra Rizzuto at… www.loveyourhaircassandra.com

…and make-up was done by the equally lovely Katy Messer at… www.makeupbykaty.com

So first up… we started at One Tree Hill in Greenwich Park… it was a spot that Sian & Ross used to visit… (they did live in nearby Blackheath but they’ve sinced moved to sunny Sydney!) …and have fond memories of.

This photo (above) has got to be one of my favs… strong, bold, and moody – just about to take on the world perhaps!?

Using additional lighting makes your subjects pop from the scene and gives a different feel to just using daylight. Here I’ve gone for a stark directional lighting set-up to give a distinct look. Bride with attitude!

I liked the crop and simplicity of this image, with the framing of the leaves… (above) a B&W version, (below) a desaturated fashion look.

(Above) the same image with different a re-touch applied… what do you prefer?

Note: My usual style of re-touching for weddings is either bright & colourful or a rich black & white with a complete grey-scale spectrum present… but always natural and not messed around too much.

I’m certainly not one for fads or gimmicks using lots of OTT effects – I often see wedding re-touching look like it’s had an iphone /instagram app filter applied to it – all very well for your camera phone images, but do you want that sort of style applied for your wedding images? I’ve got a sneaky suspicion it’s going to look rather dated in say 10 or 20 years time, becoming a fad of this generation. Anyway I’ve gone off on a tangent/rant!… So where was I? …Oh yes, as this wasn’t part of the actual wedding, I could obviously experiment with different styles and treatments. So rather than one whole set of cohesive images, I’ve gone for strong one-off compositional images & locations.

(Below) Next up… a different set-up, with more emphasis on the natural. The actual available light on the day was pretty flat and overcast to say the least… but that doesn’t mean the images can’t be bright & colourful – just careful fine tuning of some ambient fill in flash in soft boxes.

(Below) we found this lovely old tree… I just loved that bark, all old and gnarly, a great contrast against the softness of the dress and their skin.

(Below) Time for a coffee… but before we left, I couldn’t pass up that gorgeous chesterfield and window light.

Fond memories of Borough market… though pretty much closed on a Tuesday!

Next up we headed onto London Bridge… for a few experimental shots during the afternoon rush hour!!  Hats of to Sian & Ross for braving the crowds and numerous stares. There. was. just. so. many. people! – So many in fact that a bridesmaid from another wedding I shot recongised me and said hello!

As they were soon emigrating for sunnier climes over in Sydney – what better way sums up London; than that frantic afternoon commuters rush hour home from the city… (though I’m sure they have rush hour in Sydney too) …but London Bridge has that quintessentially London feel – In years gone by they would of been wearing bowler hats and walking sticks, now it’s rather more M&S and laptops.

(Geek Alert!) In terms of lighting and exposure – it’s at f/22 at around 1/4  …and my flash was at a it’s maximum power setting, I feel there’s certainly enough blur in the people to give the sense of what we were trying to achieve, but if I wanted to go for total blur and really over power the available light – I should of bought along the Profoto Acute B2 instead – that would of done the trick!

Next… some shinny marble for a clean & contrasting background.

Sian certainly looked like the queen of that walk!

A quick glance over to Ross… gives Sian a cute smile    (Below)

Looking down or closed eyes creates a sense of inner contemplation.

(Above & Below) – The same shot 4 different treatments… 4 different feels – which one do you like best?

Same again (above) 3 different treatments… fav?

Note: I actually personally really detest strong or even noticeable vignettes for wedding images (the black circle around the image) …usually it’s a sign of lazing re-touching by photographers, but used in a creative and meaningful way – it can add a sense of drama to a photo. One of these as a large fine-art print or canvass… would look stunning on any wall.

A little fun!

It’s in the eyes… though not quite visually perfect – I would of preferred more of a tilt on the head and a slightly different viewpoint… but it’s always a tad tricky while working on location.

Strong Architectural lines work well in portraits……

The same shot left & right (above) …changing the white balance / colour balance of part of an image can give a total different feel & look to a photo… viewed together I admit it does look a bit odd, but if it was viewed on it’s own – you probably wouldn’t even of noticed.

……as do reflections and mirrors.

By this time (Below) we had been out shooting literally all day & night!…

…so we headed back to their house, Sian & Ross got changed and we all went out for some well deserved food & vino…. in the shape of steak & malbec at a lovely restaurant in Blackheath called Buenos Aires.

A big thanks to Sian & Ross – you were both fab on the shoot and I had a really enjoyable day …and evening with you both. xx