Jo and Mark, St.Mary’s, Lavant and Farbridge, 2nd September 2011

Early September is a highly sought after time to get married and Jo and Mark’s pictures show why – it was a day of glorious sunshine with wonderful light staying through until the evening.

You have succeeded so well in capturing the relaxed, informal, fun mood we had on the day. We have looked at the pictures about a hundred times already and everyone we have shown them to has commented how beautiful they were.

I’m really pleased that such a happy day shines through the pictures and I have to say I enjoyed it enormously. Here’s what Jo and Mark have to say now:

“Henry, thanks so much for the amazing photos. You have succeeded so well in capturing the relaxed, informal, fun mood we had on the day. We have looked at the pictures about a hundred times already and everyone we have shown them to has commented how beautiful they were. You were absolutely perfect on the day – we never noticed you at all, but when we looked for you, somehow you managed to be there!”

Thanks for helping our day be so special and giving us so many great pictures.”

Thank you Jo and Mark, I wish you all the best in Hong Kong.

Sam and James, Farbridge, 5th August 2011

From the moment I met Sam and James it was clear their wedding would be different.

I often say each wedding reflects the style of those involved and it couldn’t be truer on this occasion. Above all this day was fun from beginning to end and you can see this in the pictures. The blue skies and the downs above Farbridge made for a fabulous backdrop to a memorable day – and this set of pictures also shows just what wedding photography at Farbridge can be about. What do Sam and James think ?

The blue skies and the downs above Farbridge made for a fabulous backdrop to a memorable day

“It’s taken me until now to decide what to write. I cannot tell you how much we love the photos. They are, without question, the best wedding photographs we have ever seen… perhaps we’re just biased because we’re in them! Whatever the reason, we are in absolute awe of your talent and feel so lucky to have such incredible shots.”

Thank you both.

Jo and DJ Mark, Farbridge, February 5th 2011

Photography is actually all about people, not about equipment as some would like to believe, and it’s because of that I enjoy it so much and have as much enthusiasm for it as ever.

One of the nicest people I have ever met amongst wedding professionals is DJ Mark – he is incredibly kind and devoted to giving his clients a wonderful evening, whatever it takes from him.

One of the nicest people I have ever met amongst wedding professionals is DJ Mark – he is incredibly kind and devoted to giving his clients a wonderful evening, whatever it takes from him.

And so I was very pleased and honoured when Mark asked me to take the pictures for his wedding to Jo at Farbridge. As always I wanted to do an outstanding job and wondered what an overcast day in early February would have allowed – but I needn’t have worried, there was enough light to photograph during the ceremony without flash, allowing me to do justice to the atmosphere and emotion of the day and the sheer size and airiness of the barn at Farbridge let me carry on taking natural light pictures into the evening.

I’m particularly pleased with the ceremony pictures and especially the black-and-white images – and contrary to what some might say it was great to work for two wonderful people I know who look so happy together. Jo is a great dancer, with a brilliant DJ scratching routine – there are some very happy dance shots here!

Thank you both – and if anyone wants to know more about Mark you can find him at www.thedj.co.uk/markparker/

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

After an unpromising week the sun shone for Matt and Georgina – a glorious day full of Autumn sunshine giving a warm light as the day progressed.

We started with the ceremony at All Saints, Denmead – a very big thank you to the Vicar and Verger for their help and co-operation – and the light meant I could capture the ceremony without distracting the congregation. Although the low level of the sun at this time of year needs handling with care the colours it gives are simply wonderful.

Farbridge, at the bottom of a valley, was bathed in sunshine and every single guest was outside – pretty good for October 10th. Georgina and Matt also had a magician to entertain their guests, in the form of Dominic Reyes. If you have read my earlier posts you’ll know I’ve been photographing weddings for 15 years. Have I seen it all before? After watching Dominic at work the answer was clearly no, he was just fantastic – and Georgina and Matt’s faces show the reactions he gets, a wonderful addition to a truly memorable day.

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.

Despite dire forecasts Hannah and Adam had a fine sunny day for their wedding.

We started at St.Mary’s Church in East Lavant, with a first glimpse of Adam and Hannah’s wedding car, their very own much loved Land Rover. The breeze added atmosphere to many of the shots, especially the confetti, giving great natural smiles. After the service we moved on to the reception venue, Farbridge.

Farbridge is a purpose built venue near Lavant, just outside Chichester. Because it was only completed recently it has been able to reflect what many brides and grooms are looking for – huge well lit inside space, with a separate dance area where civil ceremonies can also take place, whilst outside there’s plenty of greenery and views across the downs.

Hannah and Adam had a fabulous reception – the inside looked truly wonderful thanks to Hannah’s painstaking attention to decoration and detail, with beautiful displays from Debbie at Country Flowers. Hannah and Adam had always wanted Thai lanterns at their wedding and were looking forward to watching them drift slowly across the Sussex countryside in the night sky. But by this stage in the day the wind was very strong and it seemed like the lanterns might not happen. However the two best men, Munster and Stu, were not to be deterred and overcame the elements to give Hannah and Adam the display they wanted – a great conclusion to a highly memorable day.