Category Archive: The Olde Bell
Grooms at alters | Wedding 365#107
I know that at some stage just pre the service, be it civil or church, a groom is likely to respond to the forthcoming emotional journey in this style. It’s a wait and watch period, but as the processional theme kicks in, this is the kind of emotion I am hoping to capture. I often use this as an emotional barometer to how the service photographs may look, and it’s pretty accurate. It’s this simple knowledge, this unconscious awareness of the process of a wedding that clients are investing in when they hire a professional wedding photographer. As for the technical data, the light was dancing, hence the pretty high ISO and shutter speed. The Olde Bell in Hurley’s reception barn has a large window to my right at quite some height, but little else in the way of natural available illumination. Combined with some harsh directional spots, there is certainly a chance that your subjects can go from fabulous to very low illumination. Riding the exposure compensation is vital and the groom stepped from darkness into the light just as this frame was captured.
BERKSHIRE WEDDING VENUE: The Olde Bell, Hurley
SHOOTING DATA: Canon 5D Mk2, 24mm lens, F1.4, 1/1000, ISO 3200, under exposed by a stop.
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, Documentary wedding photography, Reportage wedding photographer, Reportage wedding photography, The Olde Bell, Wedding 365, Wedding photojournalist
Tagged Grooms, Professional wedding photographer
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Wedding photojournalist | Wedding 365#95
Now our boys Jack and Thomas spend their lives crawling across the floor at home chasing Lego that’s nipped underneath furniture, so this one as a reportage wedding photograph appeals to me. I read an interesting article recently by a renowned wedding photojournalist in the UK who was discussing what a wedding photograph actually is. See, this wouldn’t win any awards; there’s no bride, no groom, no wedding cake, yet it is from a wedding, and forms part of the fabric of the documentary that day. It’s one of those ‘what’s Henry doing’ photos. In that my books are designed to unfurl a narrative to the day, this works on that level alone and that’s why it’s been included as a 365. It won’t win an award, but it may provide a clue as to why the hotel’s Hoover is suddenly clogged up with Lego.
BERKSHIRE WEDDING VENUE: The Olde Bell
SHOOTING DATA: Canon 5D Mk2, 24mm lens, F1.4, 1/200, ISO 1250, under exposed by a third.
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, Documentary wedding photography, The Olde Bell, Wedding 365, Wedding Photographer
Tagged 365 wedding project, Berks wedding photographer, Hurley wedding photographer, Wedding photographer, Wedding photographer Royal Berkshire
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Reportage wedding context | Wedding 365#88
As my wedding photography took a ‘turn for the documentary’ I was given a very simple piece of advice; your photographs should not simply be frames of things, but frames of reference, give the images context. I’m not so far away from the decade mark shooting weddings and I notice one major difference between early wedding photographs I captured and the documentary wedding photographs I now return to clients; they’re wider scenes, usually landscape orientation (as that’s the way I see things naturally) and where possible, I try to include something that tells the viewer we’re at a wedding. I may go tight on the piano here for a detail shot, but seeing the bride talking with friends in the corner ties the musician and bride into the same event. Reportage is described as the portrayal of a story through the medium of images, and I think this delivers on various levels. It’s a gentle wedding reception, friends mingle and talk casually, the room is filled with the sound of a mini grand. When the bride and groom see their pictures, that’s one memory I’d like them to recall.
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, Reportage wedding photographer, Reportage wedding photography, The Olde Bell, Wedding 365, Wedding Photographer
Tagged 365 wedding project, Wedding photographer Berkshire, Wedding photojournalist Berkshire
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Reportage wedding photography | Wedding 365#84
In composition terms this image wouldn’t win a heap of wedding photography print competitions. Geometrically it breaks several rules on that count. But if there were a ‘grab shot’ category, well, maybe it would fair a little better. This is a photograph that describes my photographic approach to reception shooting, which in colder months can often be quite a cosy affair. The grand vistas that frequent the summer catalogue are replaced by nooks and low lit saloons. These are the times I opt for shorter focal length lenses, such as my workhorse kit glass; the 24mm prime F1.4. I can get in tighter, move around in space that can be cramp as guests mingle in rooms that were not necessarily designed for that many people all at one time. Ears are as useful as eyes at this point and mine are tuned to listen for excited chatter, laughter, conversation; expression that gathers what I refer to as character shots. This is an example of that. Their faces are lit by pin spots in the bar and perhaps a faint dab of the back screen illumination from the camera they’re looking at. The girl has noticed my presence, but I don’t think that steals away the focal point of this photograph; the amusement they are receiving from whatever it is they’re looking at. It’s a grabbed moment, though there is a little injustice in that description. It’s grabbed from an awareness of my surroundings and understanding of light (there’s no flash deployment).
BERKSHIRE WEDDING VENUE: The Olde Bell, Hurley
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, The Olde Bell, Wedding 365, Wedding Photographer
Tagged 365 wedding project, Berkshire wedding photographer, Documentary wedding photography, Low light wedding photography, Reportage wedding photographer
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The Olde Bell | Wedding 365#82
It’s the delicate anticipation of a wedding that draws me into reportage style coverage. I’m intrigued by emotion, genuinely excited at the prospect that only raw sentiment can unfold. I’ve witnessed this scene in many guises and in terms of photographic experience it underlines such an important facet of my interest in wedding photography; people watching. Privilege is a word often used in prosaic fashion by ‘tog blogs,’ but if ever there is a moment where documentary wedding shooters could honestly pinpoint a reason for their fascination in this genre, it must surely be times like this. To witness and share the excitement as it builds is as much as a draw today as it was the day I shot my first nuptials.
BERKSHIRE WEDDING VENUE: The Olde Bell, Hurley
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, The Olde Bell, Wedding 365, Wedding Photographer
Tagged 365 wedding project, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venue, Documentary wedding photographer
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The Olde Bell wedding photography | Berkshire wedding
Rescue remedy, now there’s a tipple that was invented for wedding days. It occurs to me that during this concentration upon the Wedding 365 feature, that I’ve been neglecting the opportunity to showcase a run of images from individual weddings. So, to put that right, please click the ‘more’ button below to enjoy a taste of the event that was, Stuart and Katherine’s wedding day at The Olde Bell in Hurley.
Posted in Berks wedding photographer, Berks wedding venues, Berkshire wedding photographer, Berkshire wedding venues, Documentary wedding photographer, Documentary wedding photography, The Olde Bell, Wedding Photographer, Wedding photojournalist
Tagged Available light wedding photographer, Documentary wedding photographer, The Olde Bell, Wedding photographer Berkshire, Wedding photographer Hurley
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Reportage wedding photographer | WEDDING 365#29
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a doc’ wedding image selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. Ethos provided for prospective brides and grooms, shooting data for the togs intrigued by that kind of information. Please comment, it makes a World of difference.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm lens, F1.4, 1/200, ISO 800 plus third of a stop.
ETHOS: End of the week. I’m signing off the last seven days with another from yesterday’s Olde Bell wedding. Some special reserve to hand; a tot of single malt from Glenfiddich, it’s a romantic artisan nightcap moment following a cracking week at ‘Breathe Towers.’ This is a photograph captured within the first dozen or so frames from yesterday. When I first arrive at a wedding, I usually record a set of ‘snaps,’ just to hear the shutter depressed, just to find my feet, sense my location. I say snaps, because they’re a kind of introduction to those around me of a camera’s presence or sound in the room. Sooner I can do that, then the sooner everyone forgets about it and me. Click. Click. Click. Click. Click. Then I stop for five minutes or so. And just look. This was probably the first of the ‘looking’ images. In a perfect World, I would like that the pictures I present say something about the actions or story of the day, then equally something about composition; perhaps light humour, where you do a double take every now and then because it may just be, in some small way, a break from the old routine. I hope this is one such picture. I was drawn to it, because I liked the way that even though a wall divided the parties, it was almost like a reflection. It’s quite a gentle shot. Are they looking in mirrors, or at each other?
The Olde Bell wedding photographs | WEDDING 365#28
WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a wedding photojournalist image selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. Ethos provided for prospective brides and grooms, shooting data for the togs intrigued by that kind of information. Please comment, it makes a World of difference.
SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm lens, F1.4, 1/800, ISO 3200 + a stop and two thirds
VENUE: The Olde Bell, Hurley
ETHOS: From today’s wedding. There is life without flash. You may need to ride your settings a little more, even in aperture priority mode which is how this one is collated, but complete with harsh back lighting from the window clearly visable, there’s still no requirement for supplementary illumination. I’m at a reasonably high ISO which at a shutter speed of 1/800 may be considered slightly unnecessary, but since every new position can make the difference of several stops of light, I’m going high to anticipate what may happen next. Besides the 5DMk2 can take it! The ceremony barn where this is taken is quite a low light opportunity. I purposely chose the low camera position, because I wanted to embrace the candle feature, a strong theme of the ceremony. Initially the registrar kept purposely moving out of shot, thinking he was doing me a photographic favour. What he couldn’t see was that he was framing the composition, and that he, the bride and groom plus bridesmaids could be featured together. Fortunately he needed to concentrate on his ‘script,’ so after a short while moved back to position and forgot all about me.
The Olde Bell wedding photography – Garry and Natalie
Ah, a new venue. For me. The Olde Bell in Hurley has been actually around a fair while in all it’s various guises. When an inn takes roots from foundations first laid in the 1100s, you’d expect there to be a colourful past. Benedictine monks provided room service which comprised of song, food and a personal wench. It was the drinking hole from which a plot to overthrow the monarchy was hatched, Churchill and Eisenhower met to discuss war tactics, Elizabeth Taylor escaped the press here. Oh, and Garry and Natalie, celebrated their wedding here.
