Allison and Simon, July 30^th, St.Paul’s, Haywards Heath, and Jeremy’s Restaurant, Borde Hill

Summer seems a long way away at the moment so here’s a wedding to remind you of what it’s like.

This combination of church and venue is one that works very well – Jeremy’s is only just outside Hayward’s Heath – and appeals to many. The church with its high levels of natural light makes for great pictures during the ceremony. Jeremy’s at Borde Hill is full of great photographic opportunities and at the top of the list is the famous vine tunnel.

Jeremy’s at Borde Hill is full of great photographic opportunities and at the top of the list is the famous vine tunnel.

Regular readers will know reportage photography is dear to my heart, but some locations in some venues cry out to be used as a backdrop and the vine is a classic example of this – and more importantly Allison asked for some shots with it. The attached pictures are a blend of reportage and more camera aware shots – but Allison and Simon’s happiness gives them all a feel of spontaneous joy . Looking back at them again after over six months the happiness comes flooding back.

For me that’s the hallmark of good wedding photography – the pictures should take you back to all the emotions of the day for years to come.

12^th December, Claire and Brian, Preston Park, Brighton and Pangdean

I photographed Claire’s sister’s wedding on a sunny July Saturday and as a result of my work on that day Claire asked me to photograph her wedding – as I’ve said earlier in the blog 2009 was a wonderful year for the weddings of sisters of previous brides and I always enjoy meeting the family again.

Claire and Brian’s wedding had that wonderful warm winter light that gives photographs that ‘Christmas wedding’ feel – the shots outside the church were stunning, whilst the venue, Pangdean, allowed us to go into the gardens just as the sun was setting.

The main barn had a beautifully decked out Christmas tree which set the scene well and made a good backdrop for the handful of family shots Claire and Brian chose. After a glorious summer wedding for her sister what would Claire make of her pictures in December?

Thank you so much for the beautiful photos – they are absolutely perfect and exactly what we wanted. You have captured the day so beautifully!

“Thank you so much for the beautiful photos – they are absolutely perfect and exactly what we wanted. You have captured the day so beautifully! I am driving Brian mad as I have not stopped looking at them since we got the link, although he secretly loves looking at them too! It brings a smile to my face every time I see them as I think you can see how happy we are and how much fun everyone is having. All our family are thrilled with them….”

Which pretty much encapsulates what I hoped to achieve when I set out to be a different wedding photographer – thank you, Brian and Claire.

Henry has worked closely with a number of the pre-eminent wedding venues in southern England over a number of years, and is delighted to be recommended by them in recognition of the quality of his photographic images and professional, unobtrusive approach to each and every wedding covered.

As a way of helping future brides and grooms choose the perfect venue for their day, Henry has compiled an overview of each of these based on his extensive experience – visitors can learn more about their settings, and what makes each so unique. All of the guides are of course liberally illustrated with a range of favourite images that truly capture the essence of these most special of places.

Read the guides

• Amberley Castle
• Clandon Park
• Farbridge
• Gate Street Barn
• Jeremy’s Restaurant
• Ramster
• Upwaltham Barns

This is a special 15th anniversary blog – it’s fifteen years to the day that I left a well paid job and the company car behind to follow my dream of becoming a photographer.

Appropriately enough I had a wedding at Amberley Castle to celebrate with and Rachael and Peter’s wedding was everything I enjoy, relaxed, fun, unstuffy and very spontaneous – it had been all of five weeks in the planning! Thank you both for a great day and for your comments on the day and now you’ve seen the pictures: “they’re fantastic. You really captured the day …Many people commented on how nice and relaxed you were, thank you for adding to our day”.

They’re fantastic. You really captured the day …Many people commented on how nice and relaxed you were. Thank you for adding to our day!

It’s amazing how much has changed – I started working with Hasselblads and quickly left them behind in favour of 35mm autofocus SLRs – the reaction of other professionals at the time was “you can’t photograph a wedding on 35mm”.

In my training I shot a wedding for another photographer – I was given four rolls of 220 film (24 shots a roll, 96 in total) to cover the whole wedding. Today in the digital era it’s easy to shoot over 1000 frames at a wedding – and you may have noticed there seems to be a guest at every wedding who is determined to shoot even more.

A massive “thank you” to my clients and wedding venue partners

I’ve had many fabulous days with very happy brides and grooms and received lots of wonderful and treasured comments like those above. For me, around 800 weddings later, the adrenalin still flows and every wedding generates a huge buzz – so a big thank you to all my clients, past and present, and to those booking for the future.

And a massive thank you to the venues who have recommended me over the years – Ramster, Clandon Park, Amberley Castle, Upwaltham Barns, Farbridge and Jeremy’s Restaurant, your help has been and remains greatly valued.

New website. New kit. New opportunities for outstanding wedding photographs.

This summer saw the launch of the new website and the new blog – a big thank you to Alex for such a great result in a very short time, if anyone ever lived up to their company name it’s you – 247 Creative.

Next week a new Canon EOS7D arrives, which is hugely exciting – anything that helps to capture the moment is great news. In fifteen years the equipment may have changed, but the aim remains the same, outstanding photographs of genuine, uncontrived and spontaneous moments that truly reflect the day and will be treasured for years to come.

Sunday the 30th saw a very welcome return to Jeremy’s Restaurant in Borde Hill for the wedding of Iain and Marite.

Jeremy’s is a venue I’ve grown very fond of in a short space of time. The day started with a very intimate ceremony at The Holy Trinity Church, Cuckfield, with all the guest being seated in the choir stalls. As well as being a very beautiful church, it’s also very subtly lit which helped to reinforce the closeness of all involved – and made for very evocative pictures. After the service we all moved on to Jeremy’s, Iain and Marite in a fabulous Mark VII Jaguar.

Jeremy’s itself has wonderfully spacious grounds – and the option of going into Borde Hill Gardens themselves. Whilst the vine ‘tunnel’ lends itself to set piece shots, there’s loads of space for photography outdoors and the interior decor gives a gentle warmth to any indoor shots. Iain and Marite had a truly memorable day – thank you both for letting me be part of it.’