Sneaky Peak - Rachael & Paul, Washbourne Court, Gloucestershire

December weddings don't come much more perfect weather-wise than this one at Wasbourne Court in the lovely village of Lower Slaughter, Gloucestershire. It's always a challenge for wedding photographers shooting winter weddings, with the rapidly fading light from mid afternoon, but the trade off is the most beautiful quality of light which is what Rachael & Paul had on their wedding day. With the mulled wine flowing and the fireplaces roaring it got me very much into the Xmas spirit. The happy couple jetted off to Borneo for their honeymoon so I hope they get time between watching the Orangutans to see a glimpse of some of the lovely shots we got here and I will of course be posting a few more once the edit is done!

Gold and Silver Awards in the November SWPP International Awards for Weddings & Travel Photography

I was absolutely delighted and very honoured to find that not only had one of my Wedding Photojournalism images from earlier this year (which originally was awarded Silver in the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers) July International Monthly Competition) been upgraded to a Gold Award (this is the highest accolade as they are judged against several hundred monthly entries from all over the world).

Also one of my Travel Photography images from Madagascar was awarded Gold in November too!

Both of these Gold: Awards will now go forward to the annual judging and are deemed to be images of the highest standard and will be published in Professional Imagemaker next month.

In addition I was really happy to get a Silver Award for another Photojournalist Reportage Image shot at a summer wedding. The best man had daubed HELP on the bottom of the grooms shoes which caused much giggling from the wedding guests in the church and the bride wondering what was up couldn't resist taking a look!, luckily I was totally on the ball and waited for the perfect moment to press the shutter. What makes this particularly nice is that it is one of Darren & Therea's favourite images and is laid out as a full bleed page in their gorgeous 15x15 inch Queensberry DUO wedding album that arrived yesterday, can't wait for them to see it,: Silver: Awards are for images that are deemed by the judges to be above standard.

Silver images are reviewed every three months and have the potential of being reclassified as Gold as my image of the little blonde boy peaking out of the pew was (above)

I was also really pleased to get a further 5 Bronze: Awards for November in the Wildlife, Wedding Traditional, Pictoral, Children and Landscape categories so all in all a fabulous month, especially I as also got 4 Bronze Awards in October!!

You can view the images and scores by clicking the links here (below):

Gold Upgrade: Wedding Photojournalism

Gold: November Travel (November)

Silver: Wedding Photojournalism (November)

Bronze: Wedding Traditional (November)

Bronze Pictorial (November)

Bronze: Wildlife (November)

Bronze: Landscape (November)

Bronze: Children (November)

Also here were my Bronze SWPP Awards from October (click on the links to view)

Bronze: Wedding Contemporary

Bronze: Wedding Traditional

Bronze: Bridal Portraiture

Bronze: Wedding Photojournalism

Wedding of The Year competition Finalists - please vote!!!

I am delightd that another of the fantastic couples I have been excited to photograph in the last few months have been nominated for the coverted Wedding of The Year 2009 feature in Your Berks & Bucks Wedding Magazine this month you can view their entries by clicking here Your Berks & Bucks Wedding of the Year Competition

The Prize!!
The lucky overall winners will not only be crowned with the Wedding of the Year 2009 title, they’ll also win a romantic night away for two at Mansion House in Reading, worth £300. The prize includes an overnight stay in one of the hotel’s luxurious rooms with dinner and breakfast.
This fabulous prize is provided by De Vere, who operates a large chain of luxury hotels and coveted wedding venues throughout the UK.

The lovely couple in questions are Richard Hood and Lisa McCann who were married on 1st August 2009 at Holy Trinity Church, Ardington with their reception at the beautiful Ardington House.

"One of our bridesmaids made our four-tier wedding cake," says Lisa. "Something must have happened while the cake was being transported to the venue, because by the time we reached the reception only three layers remained. "When it came to taking photos of the cutting of the cake, the photographer had to take shots very quickly as the cake started to resemble the leaning tower of Pisa! All you can see in the photos is us laughing as the cake slowly collapses. Fortunately, the venue staff were very close to hand to catch the falling layers so it could be cut and served up later. By the end of the night there was no chocolate cake left at all - every last bit was eaten. It was so delicious and moist, which might have had something to do with why it collapsed."The best surprise was the one we actually gave our guests at the end of the night. Just before people started to leave we invited everyone outside and gave each couple a Chinese lantern to light and make a wish as they let them float off into the night. It was absolutely beautiful and so poignant, and many of our guests were moved to tears. It was so nice to be able to do something surprising for them, as the day so far had just been about us."

Photography by David Bostock, http://www.thebridalphotographer.co.uk/

REMEMBER THIS COUPLE NEEDS YOUR VOTE!

To vote for Richard & Lisa's classic countryside wedding CLICK & VOTE HERE then click on the "I want Richard & Lisa McCan to win wedding of the year 2009" BUTTON at the bottom of the page.

Terms and conditionsOnly one vote can be submitted per user.

Multiple votes from the same person will be void.

Deadline for entries 13/12/2009

Pre-wedding shoot with Rachael & Paul at Wasbourne Court, Cotswolds

I had the most beautiful drive down to Lower Slaughter in Gloucestershire and the Cotswolds a few weeks ago to meet Rachael & Paul again for their pre-wedding shoot on the most gorgeous Autumn day in October. The trees were at their most fiery with golds, reds and orange bursts all around us. We found some lovely Virginia creeper growing on the side of the hotel that added a burst of colour to some of the shots which we took in and around the lovely venue for their December 12th wedding Wasbourne Court Hotel. I always love December weddings even though they can be a challenge if the couple are getting married later due to the light disappearing early but roaring logs fires and the smell of mulled wine always tell me that Christmas is just a few days away, reminds me I must order my turkey!!

For more of my wedding images visit my main website, click here The Bridal Photographer

Come and Visit our stand at Taplow House Hotel Wedding Fayre Sunday 8th November 2009

I will be exhibiting at the Taplow House Hotel Wedding Fair in Taplow, Buckinghamshire this coming Sunday 8th November and would love to see anyone who is currently looking to choose their wedding photographer for 2010 or 2011.

I will have a wide selection of albums on display from Booked Images (coffee table books), GF Smith and of course the legendary Queensberry albums from New Zealand.

the show is organised by: Bucks Free Press

Essential Information:

Taplow House Hotel
Berry Hill
Taplow
Buckinghamshire
SL6 0DA

T: +44(0)1628 670056
www.taplowhouse.com

Shows starts 11am and runs until 3pm

Free Admission

Fashion show at 12.30 pm

A stunning Georgian retreat situated on the border between Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Taplow House Hotel is a peaceful haven only 15 minutes from London Heathrow Airport and 10 minutes from historic Windsor.
Set in 6 acres of beautiful gardens and boasting Europe's largest tulip trees Taplow House Hotel is the perfect setting for a meeting, private event, wedding or relaxing overnight stay.

Some of the images above are from weddings I have shot in the past year at Taplow for more galleries and images visit my website The Bridal Photographer

Hope to see you there!

Wedding Photography Showreel 2009

I have compiled a short slideshow/video of my most recent wedding photography the majority of which has been shot at weddings in the past 12 months across Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Surrey you can view the video here:

Wedding of Megan & Jon Batty, Notley Abbey, 21st August 2009

I will over the coming weeks be featuring images from lots of the weddings I have photographed this year but never posted on the Blog starting with some more images from the lovely wedding of Megan & Jon Batty at Notley Abbey. When I arrived the sun was shining and by the time I had started to do the bridal preparations shots with Megan and her bridesmaids the mother of all rainstorms was raging outside the window. This did not bode well as at Notley you have the opportunity to get married outside (weather permitting) but they make this final call about an hour before the ceremony. Suddenly the rain stopped and the sun came out so it was thumbs up for the outside ceremony. All went well until the heavens clouded over again and we had a downpour again halfway through the ceremony. Jon's ushers and best man were at the ready with the brolly's for the happy couple whilst the guests grabbed what they could to shield themselves from the rain. At Notley there is a sort of hole in the wall where you do the contacting words and vows so at least Jon and Megan didn't have to get too wet and the benefit is that they did the signing of the register inside Notley itself. Jon was in for a surprise when Megan picked up a violin and serenaded his with her bridesmaid on lead vocals and the other bridesmaid on keyboards (talented bunch!). When we went off to do the signature shots of Jon & Megan it was beautiful, so much so we even managed to do some sitting down shots on the lawns (I take my trusty sheet of polythene for this so bride doesn't get wet sitting down!). The rest of the wedding went really smoothly and we got some really super shots. I am really looking forward to designing their album which is the beautiful 15x12 inch Queensberry so the wedding will look totally stunning presented in one of the best albums in the world (I just LOVE my Queensberry albums!). Jon and Megan jetted off to a Safari in Tanzania and then a week relaxing on Zanzibar and had a totally relaxed time. Lovely wedding, super couple, lovely venue. For more of my wedding photography visit my site here at The Bridal Photographer

To view a video of some of the wedding featured here then click below: