Another compilation post today, this time regarding Black and White wedding photography.  Firstly let me start by saying I love black and white photography, not just wedding photography but various other genres, for example landscape photography.  There are many Black and White wedding photographers out there which I drew a lot of inspiration when I was learning the basics, I won’t go into them all here as you might end up booking them for your wedding!  I love the timeless quality the black and whites have, not old fashioned as such just something that will never look dated, or not as dated as some of the sin city inspired colour isolation wedding photos out there.  I also enjoy the vintage style photos which are popular at the moment as they compliment the rusticy , DIY, type weddings which many couples are going for at the moment but I always come back to the black and whites and generally my favourite shot of a wedding will be in black and white (or monochrome).

Brides and grooms tend to like them as it gives the skin a more flattering tone and smooths out any imperfections or blotches.  The black and whites also work well with the informal documentary style of photography that we like to do.  Not that we are purely photo journalistic and have no interaction with the couple at all, far from it, but we do try and let the day unfold on it’s own and just get the photos as it happens.  The black and white style does take some tweaking and again is unique to each photographer, I always say it’s not a case of just clicking a B&W button.  Generally the quick black and whites come out as uninspiring, low contrast collections of grey pixels whereas I like to tinker a little and make the whites nice and punchy and the blacks deep and moody.
Another bonus with getting all your images on a DVD is we also include the colour versions of the black and whites if they aren’t quite to your tastes, or if you fancy an early marriage argument where one prefers the black and white and the other prefers the colour!  But as this isn’t an in depth photography post (one or two of those in the archives) I’ll just get onto posting some images and a slideshow and see what you think.  Thanks for looking folks.

We were at Bagden Hall in Denby Dale (between Wakefield and Huddersfield) at the end of last year for the wedding of Sheelin & Sean.  It was a lovely Christmas themed wedding with all the tables named after Santa’s reindeer.  Unfortunately instead of crisp clear snow we had endless grey rain!  I’m always an advocate of getting the couple outside under the umbrellas if possible for some wedding photographs but it was just torrential, so we stayed inside.  Luckily there were plenty of christmas trees and lights about and a lovely log fire so we did a lot of the shots around there.

Sheelin and Sean were lovely, I hadn’t met the couple before the day, this happens from time to time around busy periods but I had nothing to worry about.  There were a few nerves before the ceremony but once that was done everyone relaxed.  There were lots of children at this wedding, not to mention Sean & Sheelin’s kids making up the majority of the bridal party.  It’s always nice when there are kids about as they generally don’t hide from the cameras.  The couple didn’t let the rain dampen their spirits and seemed very relaxed when we went for a few photos.  A special mention must go to Hollie for providing one of the shortest wedding readings we’ve seen to date, emotions got the better of her but a friend stepped up to finish it.  All in all it was a lovely day and we were glad to be involved.  I’ll put up a few images here and on my facebook page.  I’ll have the slideshows up soon and get the disc off to Sean and Sheelin very soon.  Congratulations once again and all the best for 2012.

In my previous post I showed some of my favourite wedding photos of 2011, so I thought I would do another but concentrate on my favourite shots of just the bride.  I have had the pleasure to photograph the weddings of some stunningly beautiful brides in 2011 and I always try to get a couple of images of just the bride (usually they are more into the photos than the chaps) just to look back on a few years down the road and remember the day.

Most of these are just spur of the moment shots when the bride is just thinking to herself or laughing at something someone has said and you know the moment you take it that it will be a great shot.  As I’ve already mentioned a lot of these brides are very beautiful and with the additional work that go into the hair and make-up, not to mention the dress, they are very easy to take good photos of.  What I love about a lot of these images is you get a glimpse of how these brides are as people and, as I have mentioned on numerous occasions in the wedding posts, pretty much without exception, all the couples I have worked with have been lovely people and I always say it is a pleasure to be involved in taking there wedding photos on one of the happiest days of their lives.  So this is a bit of a thank you to anyone who has used us to take their wedding photos in 2011 and all the best for 2012.

We were at one of our favourite wedding venues a few weeks ago, the beautiful Hazlewood Castle for the equally beautiful wedding of Claire and Phil.  The weather was absolutely perfect for wedding photography.  It was a little bit chilly but the low winter sun was just fantastic.  There had been a bit of a mishap concerning the rings which we won’t go into but apart from that the day seemed to run without a hitch.  Phil had had a bit of a late night but seemed relaxed and ready for the day, Claire looked stunning and could possibly be a late entry for the stunning brides of 2011 list.  Their little daughter Niamh was a bit camera shy at the start but soon forgot we were there and pulled the odd cheesy grin!
There was a small intimate ceremony before the bride and groom headed to the chapel where all the rest of the friends and family were waiting for the blessing, both ceremony’s were lovely, and it’s always a bonus to get two shots of the father going down the aisle with his daughter.  Phil did an excellent job of keeping Claire warm whilst we wandered around getting a few couple shots then it was inside to get out of the cold and have some drinks.  We were asked to sit with the guests for the meal which is always nice so we could recharge a little before the speeches.  A special mention goes to the groom for making his entire speech into a fantastic poem.  I had a keen interest in the grooms speech as I shall be doing one in a few months!
Anyway it was a great day and we were thrilled to have provided the wedding photography.  As usual I’m putting a few shots up now and will get the discs out as soon as possible.  Congratulations once again from Carol and myself and all the best for the future.

I am going to be exhibiting a few examples of my landscape photography work at the light in Leeds.  The exhibition is called ‘A view from the North’ and comprises of landscape photos taken all over Northern Britain.  There will be photographs from local national parks such as the Yorkshire Dales and the North York Moors but also from the lake district and a few pieces from around Scotland.  The idea behind it is we have such natural landscape beauty in this part of the world, all relatively close by and hopefully these photos will encourage people to get out to these spots and check them out.

If you are into photography I’m hoping the images I’m exhibiting will act as a bit of inspiration.  All the shots are on the larger size and look so much more impressive when seeing them ‘in the flesh’ instead of just viewing them on the internet.  The exhibition is one day only but it is all day, I’m going to be there so you can always just pop by for a chat about photography.  Should be quite busy as people will be doing their Christmas shopping and the light is a fantastic location to hold such an exhibition.  Hopefully see you there!
If you could share this blog post on twitter or facebook or any social media you use with anyone who is into their photography it would be much appreciated.  If you need any more details about this exhibition please drop me an email at petebarnes100@gmail.com

I’m doing a post of some of my best wedding photos for 2011.  Yes, I know it’s only the end of November and I’m sure the weddings I have coming up next month will make it into this list but I thought as I have a bit of time free I would do a bit of a recap.  It’s been quite a busy year for us wedding photography wise, with wedding photos from far and wide, but mainly around the West Yorkshire area.  The summer was a bit crazy but I managed to get the shots back to my brides in my 2-4 week time frame which I was pretty happy about.  It has been a really wonderful year and we’ve met some great couples.  I always feel I am very fortunate with my clients as they are always relaxed, easy going and we tend to get on really well pretty much straight away.  I’ll have probably jinxed myself for next year now but I’ve met most of next years bookings and they all seem great so fingers crossed we will have more of the same.
When I was putting together my best wedding photos of 2011 I couldn’t believe how many shots we had taken but I still remember all the sights and surroundings when I look at them.  I only hope that the brides and grooms we have photographed this year have similar reactions to the photos when they look back at them years from now.  Thank you for all the kind words regarding the wedding photos, each one was special and different in it’s own way and we were glad to have played a part.  Our new facebook page makes interacting with brides really easy, we generally leave weddings feeling like we’ve made new friends and even if you don’t see the couple again it’s always good to stay in touch and see how they are getting on.
Anyway without further ado I’ll get on with posting some of my favourite wedding photos this year, congratulations once again from both Carol and I, who will be joining the wedded ranks next year! There are 50 wedding photos here but it’s not a Top 50 as such, the order is completely random.  Thanks for looking!

It’s been a while since I’ve done a landscape photography post as I’ve been busy with weddings most of the summer but now the days are drawing short I can get out and take a few landscapes.  It’s a bit crazy to think that this was taken at about 3.30 and there was only about 15 minutes of daylight left, and we are still a month away from the shortest day, if I didn’t know better I would swear the UK was drifting north!

Anyway I set out this evening as the sky was looking interesting and I headed up to get a view of Emley Moor Mast.  I like to feature the mast in a lot of my shots, not really as the main focal point but as an element somewhere in the shot.  In this case the mast is off in the distance behind the silhouetted trees but, as is the case for most of West Yorkshire, you can still see t if you look!  I had recently got a new circular polariser (a Hoya HD) I have a heliopan but not too keen as it isn’t the slimiest and the slim versions don’t let you screw in the filter rings.  So I was out to give that a try but didn’t have chance.  In fact a made a bit of an error in arriving, in less than appropriate footwear I might add, and proceeded to mess around trying to get a quick shot on the iPhone!  A glaring error as this was the best time to be shooting, it soon clouded over and the partially broken clouds that were being beautifully lit by the setting sun turned into ominous looking affairs that seemed intent on making my wet feet even wetter!
So after a relatively short outing I packed up and headed home to have a look at what I had captured, sure enough my favourite version was on my phone but I thought this one was quite usable.  The exif info for any photo enthusiasts still reading are as follows:  ISO100, 40mm, f/16, 1/5 sec.  I had a fairly severe 3 stop grad on which I probably didn’t need in hindsight but I do love dark clouds!  I’m always a big fan of including the sun as I like the star burst effect but in this case I got a bit of flare that needed a little work, in my haste to get out I hadn’t taken my lens cloth.  To be honest I was so unprepared I’m amazed I came back with anything at all.  Thanks for looking folks.

We were at the Grange Hotel in York a few weeks back to do the wedding photography for the beautiful wedding of Dawn & Paul.  The weather was fantastic so the umbrellas stayed in the car!  We were a bit nervous at the beginning as we got to the pub where guests were meeting and no one was about, luckily we had seen the mum of one of the brides we had done the photography for a while back who confirmed we were at the right place.  Paul arrived and managed to get a pint down him before heading off to get married!  Dawn looked fantastic and the registry office in York was packed out for her arrival.  Some good readings and after the official stuff was done we got outside for a few shots in the garden before heading up to the Grange hotel.
The bride and groom had two young sons and two daughters to make up the bulk of the wedding party which was nice to see, the youngsters kept their ties on a bit longer than usual which was nice, we have seen them come off before the end of the ceremony! The stroll up the street to the grange was nice, stopped for a few more photos en route with a few car beeps congratulating the couple which is always nice to hear.  The grange looked great with bags of classic styling all over.  The room where the wedding breakfast was to take place looked fantastic with the afternoon sun coming through the large windows.  The speeches were before the meal so we managed to get the photos of those, all very good with plenty of laughs.  All in all it was a great wedding and we were very happy to have taken the photos.  I’m putting up a few shots now and will get the DVDs out very soon.  Congratulations once again folks.

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We were at the beautiful Casa Hotel in Brighouse, West Yorkshire to take the wedding photographs for the lovely wedding of Affie & Lee.  I had been looking forward to taking the photographs for this wedding for some time now, I’d met Affie and Lee last year and liked them immediately, especially after they bought one of my landscape prints (although they haggled me down!).  Anyway Lee is originally from the North and Affie is Iranian so a lot of her family had flown in to sample the delightful weather only Northern England can offer!  Suffice to say it didn’t disappoint and umbrellas were mandatory at all times!  Nobody let the rain dampen their spirits and everyone had a great time.
I love doing these cross cultural weddings as there are always loads of new customs and traditions that really add to the day.  The big one I was looking forward to was the Iranian knife dance, which I’d never seen before.  Basically someone close to the couple dances with the cake cutting knife and must be paid by the couple for the knife.  Now I won’t be understating things when I say the two dancers really earned their money at this one, both really superb but a special mention must go to Affie’s brother, who seem quite quiet and reserved until a few Michael Jackson hits rolled of the decks!  He threw some serious shapes!  It was really great to watch and after a few notes had been dropped into his hat he gave up the cake knife, great stuff.  The releasing of the birds by the couple was also pretty cool, bit pot luck in terms of photos but we did ok!  We also got fed with the guests which is always nice, and made us really feel like part of the day.  The speeches were all good, lots of laughs.  The best man’s speech was a good one, topped off with a congratulatory note, from none other than Alan Partridge!
Both Affie and Lee were great to photograph, really friendly and relaxed and very much in love (and not scared of a bit of rain!).  I’ve just seen on facebook that they are back from the honeymoon so it would seem a good time to get some of the photographs up.  As always the photos can also be shared from my facebook page here.  The DVDs should be out soon
Congratulations once again from Carol and I and we wish you all the best for the future.  If you are up this way near Christmas try and catch my first solo Landscape Exhibition at the light in Leeds, details to follow!