Skip to main content

My Second Wedding

I am struggling to keep up with my blog, having been so busy and with the kids off on school holidays. So I am adding this entry a little late. I actually shot this wedding on July 5th, 2008. It is a policy of mine anyway to never use any photos from a wedding until the official viewing with my clients. I feel it is important that the first people to see the photos are the couple themselves and they should be seen in a formal setting where they can relive the experience of the day. This takes a little longer for me to prepare than perhaps some other photographers but so far I am 2 for 2 on producing tears. To me, that makes me a success. They were good tears by the way.


Anyway, back to the subject. I did my second wedding. This one being very different from the last. There was no church, no traditional wedding gown and very little in the way of formal, posed portraits. It took place in a converted knitwear factory, both inside and on the roof top which made for extreme changes to lighting requirements. But an interesting set up all the same.


The couple, Rosemarie Fitton and Tony Matters, own their own architectural design firm called Heterarchy, based in Leicester. I met Rosemarie through a breakfast networking group a while back. I had always respected her very much as she is an interior designer, an occupation I had often dreamt of entering in my youth but for several reasons had bypassed. A creative and contemporary mind such as hers had me very flattered that she choose me to shoot her wedding even though I had yet to shoot a wedding at the time of the booking. As such, I felt even more pressure to get this right. Luckily, it would appear, that I did.


The venue, their fascinating home, had huge windows, open space, lovely lighting and brick walls (which I love). Its just too bad that we couldn't have enjoyed the roof top more but at least the rain held off until after the blessing. Unbelievably the rain started just after the last guest left the rood top to get some food following the service.










I very much enjoyed the fly on the wall perspective. It was nice to be able to sit back with my large lense and see what I could get without being right in anyone's face. But unfortunately, even in a converted factory it was hard to remain unnoticed. It wasn't long before people started to photograph me. I am very glad that not everyone is like me when it comes to having their photograph taken or I would be out of a business. I stand behind the camera for a reason, that way I am hardly ever in pictures myself.


Comments

Rosemarie said…
My Second Wedding! How very apt of Christina to name this set of pictures on her blog. Not only is it my second marriage but was also the second day of ceremonies in a three day event!
I specifically wanted Christina to shoot the pictures of my wedding knowing full well that she wasn't a wedding photographer......... that was crucial! I don't like the usual wedding photos, with endless group shots getting bigger and bigger. I also know how boring it is for people to be waiting around for all of this to happen. I had seen Christina's work and loved it and knew she would do a good job.
We wanted candid shots, which we know are difficult and we also know how difficult our place is to take good photos in. We have masses of windows some overhead and then really quite dark spots.
I really don't know how Christina managed to get around and take the shots she did as the space although huge was packed to the hilt with furniture, guests a buffet, the dj's kit and a live band!
Although I was quite stressed on the day, having woken up in my beautiful hotel room in London the morning after the legal ceremony and then having to dash back to Leicester to organise the next event, I immediately felt relaxed with Christina around, no demanding 'Look this way' or 'Move your arm' etc etc.
Once the ceremony had started I barely realised she was there. I had given her a very hard task..."No formal pictures!' however my new husband and I actually spent so little time together during the course of the evening that we had to get together in a designated space. However this was good fun too and I still felt relaxed.
We were looking forward to seeing the proofs and had no idea what to expect. We had been given so many beautiful photos from our friends, some of whom are very good amateur photographers and we were thinking what a really hard task we had set.
On the viewing evening we went along and Christina set us up with the lap top and then left us to it.
Well I was absolutely blown away, I was actually sobbing!! The pictures were so beautiful and so much more and better than we could ever have imagined.
They not only captured the day but are a complete expression of how we felt on the day. We show the slide show with the background music to everyone who wants to see our wedding photos and they have all been amazed, they have never seen such beautiful photos and they are so different to what anybody has ever seen before. Mind you we like to be different and everybody has said 'Trust you to have such different and amazing wedding photos!'

Now when I hear one of the tracks that Christina chose to accompany the slide show, I get a lump in my throat, they are so evocative of the day and the photos.
I cannot thank Christina enough for what she has done with our wedding photos, they are simply beautiful.
20 February 2009 at 17:48
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I am Still Me: A Story about a Transgender Boy

  Meet Leo. Leo is 15 and currently going through an epic transformation that has momentarily turned the lives of himself and those around him upside down. A mum who once had the daughter she always longed for is now coping with the realisation that she will be living the rest of her life with a son instead. When your child is born you have certain expectations of the typical life they will lead but most of us know and accept that it won't necessarily end up the way we imagine. Not every person wants to marry, have kids or be involved with the opposite sex. Most of us have come to accept this and can adjust to whatever comes our way relatively easily. But few of us have expected to have to deal with a change in sex. Its not that we've hoped it won't happen, but just that it never occurred to us that it might. This is a new adjustment that we as a society are being presented with today, just like so many others that have come before. When I first heard that Phoebe
11 comments
Read more

Never Work With Children or Animals

Or so the saying goes. But I have to say that working with dogs has been so lovely. They have been almost entirely a dream to work with. I say almost entirely because we have had a few moments where a dog has needed to settle. And one moment where the dog had settled but one of my cats decided to have a look through the glass door which, as you can imagine, rather quickly unsettled the dog. Still, that didn't stop us from creating incredible work. In fact it was during that shoot with the cat instance when I created two of my favourite pieces, shown below. (It was while sitting on the couch here when he noticed the cat peering through the curtain) I don't know if I've just been lucky or all dogs are just easy to work with. I photographed a french bull dog puppy and I thought that would be tough as he hadn't had time to be properly trained yet. But he did everything we wanted in no time at all. And this included the props we used here (below), which to me
Post a Comment
Read more

My First London Fashion Shoot

Well I finally did it. I bit the bullet and faced my fears and headed to London with a good friend, Mr. Panikos Hajistilly to do my first location shoot. We chose our locations together and Panikos organised a model and brought so much of his gear which he kindly shared with me. And probably most importantly, he showed me how it's done. I was so surprised to see just how much wonderful light was there, just waiting to be used. I am a studio photographer and while I understand the use of studio flash very well, I am very much out of practice and out of my comfort zone with using available light. Its one thing to place lights and backdrops around my subject in the comfort of my studio. Its very different to find the right light and the right backdrop in unfamiliar territory and to place my subject in it. That may sound simple enough but honestly it is not, particularly on a day with no clouds in the sky. One of our planned locations just wasn't possible as a result of the
Post a Comment
Read more

London in Spring, Whats Not to Love?

Well I know there is still a lot not to love but I'm choosing to see the great things about London at the moment. I am having a ball this year visiting London as often as I can. Which is unusual for me since I usually prefer the comfort of my own home, in rural old Leicestershire. Staying home and avoiding people has always been the easy option. But this year, possibly due to the wonderful weather we keep having, has me longing for venturing out. Again, just like my last trip, I headed out with my good friend Panikos Hajistilly . Living in North London he finds it easy to meet up for our shoots. This time though I had more of an idea of the sights I wanted to use as the backdrops for my portraits. With it being spring I was in search of colour, preferably flowers. Admittedly. I didn't quite get what I was looking for. The white fronted terraced houses with pink magnolia trees we did not find unfortunately. But I did make it to Peggy Porchen's which was a must see on m
1 comment
Read more

Family Portraits with Fine Art Flair

I have a love and hate relationship with family portraits. I love the finished piece and creating something that is truly special to the family. I love that in years to come something I made is going to be a cherished and valueable memento for this family. What I struggle with, is getting all members of the group to look their best at exactly the same moment in time. You would be surprised at how difficult this actually is, particularly when it comes to 6 children. But I always get there in the end, whether it is the luck of a moment or with the aid of Photoshop. I ensure that everyone in the portrait is looking their best, even the dog. Seeing as this family is actually made up now of two families we also did portraits in their respective groups which I chose to do in different style to their main group. I love adding a bit of style for the overall main group and what you see above is something that is proving popular with my clients. I love adding props and giving a sort of Vani
Post a Comment
Read more