Wedding Photographer in Berkshire

Now my holiday begins !

I did Teeks and Nick’s amazing wedding at the weekend – 12 hours on the saturday followed by a couple more on the sunday morning at their brunch party. And then it was back to Sydney to photograph Kate and Ben around the harbour area with the Opera House and Harbour bridge as backdrops. I’m hoping to show these soon if I get time. Tomorrow we’re off to Melbourne via the back roads and will be touring around a bit so may therefore be offline for a while. Anyhow I got some great shots of Kate and Ben despite the Opera House being cordoned off with cranes and barriers everywhere as well as a makeshift stage right in front of the main entrance. This was in preparation for the visit of the world’s most famous (and richest) woman – Oprah Winfrey !

This shot above is one of my favourites so far and sums up Australia very well. Photography is all about expecting the unexpected and being ready for it. This is when you get your best shots. I took this while waiting for Kate and Ben to arrive, saw the aborigine guy and waited for a passer by, ideally a typical looking Aussie, to fill the right hand side. Quite often strong, contrasty light can be a nightmare to work with but here it works very well.

That’s me done for now. I’ve just backed up Teeks and Nick’s photos to a portable hard drive, burnt everything to dvd and have even posted copies back to my studio. Nothing left to chance.

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In between my weddings I managed to squeeze in a short break to visit my good friends Dorota and Michal in Warsaw, who are also known as Whitesmoke

There is some amazing photography coming out of Poland and these 2 are at the cutting edge. The style is different to what we see here in the UK and USA – a bit more grittier, more real life, not as fluffed up.

Although I do like some fluffy photography (I’m a romantic at heart !) its good to see alternatives.

These were all shot on the D700 with one lens, the 50mm. I would have liked wider at times particularly when I was shooting the demo but when traveling I like to be as light as possible. Besides its good to practise with one lens and makes you work and look more.

Warsaw is an interesting city and not as bad as I was lead to believe. Lots of interesting buildings and architecture (some of the Soviet stuff was interesting in particular the Cultural Palace) as well as excellent restaurants and bars. And of course friendly, welcoming people. I couldn’t have had a better welcome, so thanks again Dorota and Michal and hope to see you in London next !

Below are some favourites

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Anyone who is seriously into photography and portraiture in particular must visit the Irving Penn exhibition at The National Portrait Gallery in Trafalgar square. I paid a visit yesterday with my colleagues from The Britpack and was not disappointed.

Penn has to be one of my favourite portrait photographers and has been a huge influence on me in the way he creates such graphic compositions (the Marlene Dietrich portrait springs to mind) and the strong use of directional light.Unlike many portrait photographers he did not necessarily have to flatter the subject which he quite often broad lit and shot from a low angle with a wide lens. A perfect recipe to make you look 3 stone heavier ! Anyhow the techniques and presentation he used are still very much relevant 40, 50 years on, even more so in an age of endemic digital mediocrity and gimmickry.

On my way home I noticed a busker under Waterloo Bridge and I took a few shots which are in some way, a nice reminder of what I had just seen.

documentary photographer London

I thought I’d show some images from a recent skiing trip to Austria. This will be my last break now until the late autumn as the wedding season for me starts in the 2nd half of April through to November more or less flat out. So it was great to fit in a short break and at the same time enjoy the most glorious weather (one day reached 26c !). It was also a chance to keep my eyes fresh by shooting some images on my i phone (hipstamatic again !) Below are some favourites, feel free to add any comments

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