When I made it back to Bristol this morning the sun was already breaking through. I feel like a broken man after this epic wedding, but I just had to post this one: Rebecca and Joe from the gardens at Rudyard Kipling’s house just after the ceremony.
More to come soon I promise.
Alex
Update, Update, Update!
Ok well I’ve gone and done it. Think this might be a record for the number of photos. Those technophobes on dial up out there might want to steer clear of this one…
The Backstory:
So Joe is a pretty darned good photographer. He actually hangs out on a little American geeky photo forum I happen to be a member of. One rainy Autumn day the American announced in a post that he’d found a British girl to marry and was planning on doing it in East Essex. It later turned out Joe’s geography wasn’t too hot and East Essex was actually East Sussex… To cut a long story short, after a wee bit of chatting, Joe asked if I’d be willing to travel down and cover this funpacked Anglo-American wedding. Who am I to say no?
The Brief:
Joe, Becky and their possy are a touch crazy. I guess that’s why they hired me. Before the day we chatted quite a bit and they generously gave me carte blanche to do whatever I wanted as long as it was: 1. Fun and 2. Resulted in awesome photos. Hope I didn’t let you down guys!
Okay so I’m going to leave it there. Hit the jump or the photo above to see an awful lot more!
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So after Friday’s wedding in Camrbridge I headed down to Wokefield Park in Reading. Tom (my trusty second) and I finally made it to our room at Wokefield at 2am. As we drove through the grounds at night I called out to Tom on our walkie-talkies (we were driving in separate cars), “Wow, this place is going to be epic in the morning!” When we woke up bright and early we really weren’t disappointed. Set in 250 acres of landscaped garden Wokefield really is a photographer’s wet dream!
I first met Lydia and Matthew at Elaine and Jon’s wedding at Down Hall just over a year ago. I actually took a photo of them in the crazybooth without really realizing it. They’re a really great young couple who know how to rock out a crazybooth and you can totally see how in love they are. Fast forward a bit and I didn’t actually get another chance to meet up with them before they booked me for their wedding (guess they must have loved Elaine and Jon’s photos.. 
) instead we met up about a month ago at yet another golf course. If there was one thing I learned that day it was that Matt liked his golf and really wanted a picture of himself t-ing off. I think we pulled it off on the day but more on that later!
The bar at Wokefield has these really gorgeous red leather seats. Just after dinner I managed to snag this one of Lydia and Matt chatting about the day so far and what had happened in the morning. It’s just a complete coincidence that I had the flashes set up in that exact spot, honest
Back on the road tomorrow: Bristol -> Essex for Kirstin and Robbie’s wedding at Fennes Estate. Should be a blast, can’t wait!
More adventures to come,
Alex
Edit: Okay, okay, hit the jump for that golf shot. What do you guys all think? I have to admit I was a touch scared by Matt hitting balls in my direction!
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Girls and Guns apparently do mix (well BB guns anyway, not so sure about the real thing!). Just got back from 4 weddings in 7 days and have to confess I’m a touch behind on my blogging.
Leslie and Jason got married last Monday (yes the 4th of July — Leslie is American so they wanted to get Independence Day in there!) in Radnage, near High Wycombe. Just so happens that it was the same venue and village as Tracy and Andrew’s wedding last year. Radnage seems to breed some really fun couples…
I have a sneaking suspicion that Leslie and Jason were trying to test everybody’s stamina with their crazy schedule. They somehow managed to cram in:
- A rehearsal dinner on a boat at Henley on Thames until goodness knows what time in the morning
- A picturesque church ceremony at 10:30am
- A walk to Daws Hill Vineyard with lots of Champagne, toasts and signing of ‘the declaration of independence’
- A ride on a quad bike
- A trip to the Three Horseshoes on an old Routemaster Bus
- A delicious three course meal
- Cutting three cheesecakes
- Several first dances
- Pictures on an old tractor with the bridesmaids and groomsmen
- Chill out time with BB guns and little scooters back at their house
- A 4th of July party at the village hall
- A ceilidh
- A massive fireworks display choreographed to music
Phew I’m exhausted just writing that! Despite the manic day, we managed some really fun shots. Here’s a photo of the girls just to whet your appetite…
Edit: Okay, okay, I can’t just show the girls. Hit the jump for one of Leslie and Jason with the fireworks as well.
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Durham, well what can I say? It’s got to be one of my favorite cities in the world to photograph. Between the cloisters of the Cathedral (actually used as part of Hogwarts) and the narrow cobble streets, if you can’t get a good photo here it’s definitely time to hang up the camera. This one really did promise to be a mini adventure. On the drive up from Bristol we passed 5 car accidents before the guy behind me decided I was prime for number 6. No major damage done but we did have a mini heart attack until we’d checked all our cameras were still functioning a-ok).
Gemma and Matt tied the knot in St Chad’s college, where Gemma used to study – she even spent the morning of the wedding (and the night before) back in one of her old uni rooms. Very cool room on the 4th floor with a great view (not so good for carrying camera gear up though!). Very cool wedding and obviously with the pair both being officers there were uniforms aplenty. Gemma even had her own sword, how cool is that? (I really need to find an excuse to be able to wear a sword…)
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Anyway, contrary to the common convention I’m actually going to start at the end with this one of Gemma and Matt outside Durham Cathedral. After their first dance we decided to get some air and go for a wander. Seeing the magnificent cathedral lit up and casting amazing shadows over the nearby trees I just couldn’t resist.
Hit the jump to see more…
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Forty Models, Photographers and makeup artists, one amazing site, one amazing day.
Packing for Mongolia now. More adventures soon!
Alex
So for those of you that haven’t heard before, I’m organising a big photo pow wow/shootout for the 25th of April. The location is a derelict RAF base just North of Cambridge. The base is huge with plenty of space for us all to work and create some really unique photos. Just to whet your appetite, here’s one I took at the location before:
Sign up form and more details after the jump…
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Rain again? Damn. Well anyway come rain, thunder or snow, I don’t think it could have dented let alone spoiled this wedding. Andrew and Tracy got married in their local village hall at Radnage near High Wycombe on Saturday and you couldn’t have asked for a happier, funner day. Seriously I know weddings are nearly always happy and fun but this one took the cake.
From dancing down the aisle, fish and chip dinners, being shouted out by a lady who thought we were trespassing (we were taking photos down a little road which turned out to be her drive. As soon as she realised it was a newly wed couple though she was falling over herself to help us), topped off by a 16 piece swing band. Who could ask for more? And the details? the details! You can see later in the photos just how much love Tracy poured into all of the little details.
This time around I was assisted by Chris Beaumont: an extremely talented wedding photographer in his own right based in Lincolnshire. I highly recommend you check out his blog sometime. Chris, I hope you can join me for some more weddings later in the year.
Anyway on with the photos. This was taken on a straw seat outside at the end of the night…
Hit the jump to see more.
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So, Saturday saw this years Cambridge Lindy Hoppers, Hopathon. It’s a 12 hour sponsored dance held each year in aid of the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, and, it’s always a hoot. Personally I’ve never seen quite so many home baked goodies at once either (maybe with the exception of a particular school fate when I was 10…). Anyway, to do my bit I wheeled out the “Crazy Booth”, (a mini photo studio with lots of crazy costumes) and sold photos all day for CF. As you might be able to tell from the photos, it was possibly a *little* bit fun
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So, while drinking cocktails and watching the famous Colin Hazel play at the Snug last night it began to snow. and snow. and snow. For those of you reading this outside the UK (yes don’t try and hide I know you’re there ) we do often get some snow but this was about the first time in three years that we’ve had a decent covering. Not being one to miss an opportunity I quickly ran out of the door, camera in hand to get a few shots (in between getting hit by snowballs). Stay tuned for more, hopefully the snow will hang around for a while and I’ll get the chance to go out for a more organised explore!
So, Holly and I were scheduled for an engagement session this weekend with a wonderful couple getting married in June. Unfortunately however flu stuck and we’ve had to reschedule. So what do you do on a free Saturday in Cambridge? Well Holly and I decided to round up some of our friends for a little film/photo collaboration, Holly shooting the film and myself the stills.
Thanks to Gill, Caroline, Carl and Ben for helping out!
Videos hopefully to follow.
Alex 
