Ja and Roger, Clandon Park, 8th May 2010

‘It’s like rain on your wedding day’ – so said Alanis many years ago, but she needn’t have worried if she’d chosen the right venue.

After so many weeks of sunshine it’s easy to forget it does sometimes rain in this country but at a venue like Clandon park near Guildford it’s far from the end of the world. Ja and Roger wanted informal reportage shots, starting with the bride getting ready.

The advantages of wedding photography in the digital age

One of the great gains of the digital era is low light photography without flash, making atmospheric shots possible whatever the weather. I’ve chosen the pictures for the blog to show what is achievable even when you can’t go outside and even when there’s no flash photography allowed during the ceremony.

The pictures also show that it’s people and their emotions that make the day, not the weather.

We were able to use the portico at Clandon for family shots during a lull in the weather – the bride, groom and their families stayed dry even if the photographer got soggy – and this should be an important consideration in venue choice if formal pictures are a priority. The pictures also show that it’s people and their emotions that make the day, not the weather.

Thank you to Ja and Roger for their reaction:  I have to thank you…everyone including myself looks amazing!

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

Ana Rosa and Chris booked me well over a year ago but time seems to have flown since they sat opposite me discussing what they would like from their wedding photography.

They had a very philosophical attitude to the weather – whatever will be will be and we’ll enjoy ourselves whatever the weather. In Clandon Park too they had a perfect venue for whatever the weather threw at them – loads of room inside, in elegant surroundings, with lots of possibilities outside if the weather allowed.

In the event it was dry but windy, so Ana Rosa and Chris decided to brave the elements for their group shots – with friends from Spain, Ireland, The U.S.A. and other parts of the globe these were important photographs for them – and for a very brief stroll in the grounds.

I congratulate on their serious preparation, their dancing was clearly thought out and rehearsed, whilst their performance of “We’ve only just begun” was seriously good – great stuff, thank you both.

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.