I enjoyed a wedding photography meeting tonight with prospective clients for a civil partnership wedding later on this year. I use the word ‘enjoyed’ with purpose. Toward the end of the meeting and after showing the various style options available for printed product, I was asked; “But what about traditional albums with real prints?” Two thoughts struck. Firstly; “Why hadn’t I presumed to show my trad wedding album range?” Secondly; “Hallelujah, someone who appreciates that images on paper record something so special that a secreted disc, lost at the back of a cupboard, cannot match.” Digital thinking has drawn many photographers away from the joy of print. Thoughts on digital supply differ greatly in my industry, but I’m sure, at least I hope, one constant remains; the desire to present our work as photographic prints, be it wall or album presentation. In our kitchen on the entrance wall, we show two framed prints, and they’re above. I see these every day and although I know the photographs very well, I still stop and look at them in a little more detail every now and then. Our wedding was in 2006. I look at these images and feel the immediacy of the day. These could have been taken yesterday and yet they’re the home side of an approaching decade of marriage. Print is as important today as it was yesterday. It is an heirloom. It says; ‘I existed, this was me, I was here, this happened.’ I’m fortunate that the lion share of my clients appreciate why I opt not to prefer digital only services. The power of people in print is just too emotive and important. When my prospective clients left this evening, I cleared a space on my presentation table and removed all the traditional wedding albums from their protective boxes – arranging them on table. And whilst I appreciate Facebook Likes are a contemporary currency, I pray that the printed form remains the real gold reserve.

I could so easily have titled this 365; “But Mummy I’m nervous.” 74 days in to this and the feature is developing as indeed my documentary wedding photography style has, so it’s been a timely departure from more recent weddings to visit the 55th wedding I shot, which was back in August 2007, at Orchardleigh House in Somerset. I see the very raw and early stages of reportage developing from a more traditional style of work I presented at the time. What was happening? The bridesmaid is the bride’s daughter and just prior to departing for the ceremony, she was engaging in a little ‘but I’m too shy for this’ moments. Sensing the slight tension in the room I sidled over to capture the image. Two things occur as I revisit this wedding photograph from 2012. A wider shot may well have shown the size and majesty of the room, which would only go to reinforce why a child may feel slight apprehension over the size of her task ahead. The second factor is sound. As I develop my sound product where I record elements of the day as a ‘radio documentary’ to later sit beside stills of the day, the soft reassurance and nature of this moment would have been complimented with audio.

SOMERSET WEDDING VENUE: Orchardleigh House

SHOOTING DATA: Canon 5D, 24-105mm lens at 55mm, F4, 1/125, ISO 640

FURTHER FEATURE NOTES: Please click the comments link below. Happy to hear more about how you view the images within this daily catalogue feature.

ETHOS: From an open air Notley Abbey civil ceremony last year, it’s equally a timely reminder as we enter spring, that this kind of experience is not too far away again. If you’re trying to create a larger than life moment, say ‘supersizing’ one’s focus of attention, a low camera angle will do the trick just nicely. I’m equally keen on this photograph as I love the registrar’s reaction to the couple’s celebratory kiss. If Carlsberg made registrars, they would all be like Buckinghamshire’s ‘Julia.’

VENUE: Notley Abbey

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F4, 1/1250, ISO 200, under by a third.

ETHOS: As a wedding venue, Wasing Park is blessed on site with the most idyllic church; St Nicholas, a stone’s throw from the first glass of post service bubbly. With seating for eighty people, I’ve never photographed a wedding within this church that feels cold or empty, it’s certainly not cavernous. Belted out with gusto, Jerusalem really can ‘lift the roof’ in this church. Consequently many of the photographs I capture at St. Nicholas have a very tight feel, shot through the gaps between guests. Ideally I’d like the pictures to represent the cosy feel provided by this church.

VENUE: Wasing Park

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 135mm, F2.8, 1/1000, ISO 160, under by a third.

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 70-200 at 70mm, F2.8, 1/2000, ISO 800

VENUE: Silchester House

ETHOS: The more I photograph weddings, the more I appreciate the importance of being professionally brisk at some points, whilst maintaining a creative and instinctive eye for the craft. My own wedding passed in the blink of an eye and I often hear guests advising the bride and groom to; “Stop and savour the day every now and then, it’ll be late evening before you know it.” And so I return to the conversation of wedding photography portraits. Whilst championing the genre of documentary wedding photography, coverage that doesn’t require me to orchestrate too much, I also appreciate the opportunity to record key parties on the day and that clearly includes the bride and groom! The ‘portrait session’ whilst key to one documentary aspect, in my mind shouldn’t take the entire drinks reception. This time is often referred to, incorrectly, as the photography time. I like to think of it as a time where I may ‘borrow’ key players away for a few moments, and equally return them to the party as soon as creatively possible, so that I may continue to photograph in a more informal fashion. Of course every couple will have their own feelings about how long they wish to spend being photographed in a directed fashion, and for some couples, this time actually is ‘photo time.’ But for me, fifteen minutes of portraits seems appropriate and ample time in which to record them against the backdrop of the day. The example above develops the idea that other photographers around you can actually make an extremely positive contribution when trying to create a less contrived portrait too. I posed the couple then simply asked them not to look at me, but to the small bank of friends who were busily ‘snapping away.’ I stepped two to the right, composed so as to include other guests and the busy-ness of the day, then shot. A natural looking wedding portrait, I hope.

Simple image and a simple moment. This is what I would call a support or record image in a wedding album. My personal ethos behind wedding photographs of this type is to show the wedding in motion. A bride talking with  guests is one such solution. For sure I have more animated pictures, but this is a contextual photograph and shows bride in situ with best friends.

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/100, ISO 1600, over by a third.

VENUE: Cooling Castle, Kent

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 50mm, F1.2, 1/320, ISO 250, over by a third.

VENUE: Cain Manor

ETHOS: The cheeky eyes say it all. There’s a simplicity to the capture of this photograph that I’m pleased with. Whilst bride, groom, mother and father are concentrating upon a reading, the two bridesmaids cast their individual emotions upon proceedings. Which one would you image is the bride’s sister?

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – 365 days, 365 wedding images.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 50mm, F1.4, 1/640, ISO 1600, under by a stop.

VENUE: Cain Manor

ETHOS: A posting from one of this weekend’s weddings, this one from Cain Manor near Farnham. I have a feeling this will become one of my favourite documentary wedding photographs of the year. There’s a patience involved with photographing people. My ears are one of my primary reportage tools. I tune into sounds broadcasting impending ‘somethings.’ At face value sat on a sofa it’s no more than five wedding guests chatting, until this moment. I’d recorded a handful of photographs from this scene from my low camera angle, designed to hide myself in the room so as not to draw attention. The room is fairly dark. Low ceilings. Minimum light being sucked from a window camera right. And then this. Body shape connects the male conversation to the female one. There’s a sense of amusement between the two men and I’m left wondering if they are discussing their female companions at close quarters or exchanging an entirely unrelated tale. The girls share a similar pictorial interest. There’s a mirroring occurring. Are they arm wrestling? I don’t know. I simply love the soft humorous nature of this photograph.

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from The Forbury Hotel in Reading.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 24mm, F1.4, 1/160, ISO 1000, under by a stop and two thirds.

VENUE: The Forbury

ETHOS: Today’s 365 image doubles to launch one of my stills documentaries with sound from Sam and Jen’s wedding day. As far as the title photograph is concerned, it’s a simple and gently contrived portrait. I term myself a documentary wedding photographer and in purist terms this picture may not fulfill the criteria that that label demands. I’m not so much following the day, but orchestrating here, albeit in a subtle sense. As I’ve written before, a documentary of one’s wedding day sooner or later will involve family and bridal portraiture. At that stage I like to work in a reasonably gentle fashion; “Hold hands, walk toward me, walk away, look into the distance,” the kind of instruction that doesn’t involve anything too alien or uncomfortable to a bride and groom. This is also the perfect opportunity to provide a landscape from the day, a photograph that involves the venue, or the countryside around. The fact that the bride and groom are in it too, well that provides documentary context.

WEDDING 365 PROJECT – Daily choice of a documentary wedding photograph selected from my catalogue, collated from time spent documenting these unique events. This one from an outdoor ceremony at Notley Abbey.

SHOOTING DATA: 5DMk2, 35mm, F1.4, 1/2000, ISO 1000, over by two stops.

VENUE: Notley Abbey, Oxfordshire

ETHOS: I’ve just written a piece for a photography magazine on the subject of bad weather at weddings. It’ll be a month or two before that piece appears, so this will be long down the order by then. I thought it worth broaching the subject within 365. I don’t consciously use bad weather per sae in my photography as I follow the lead of a bride and groom; my work favouring a photojournalistic approach. If the couple are embracing adverse climatic conditions, so will I. Storms and snow covered vistas are fabulous environmental backdrops and offer me opportunities to record dramatic landscapes to accompany the final collection, but I generally don’t ask clients to go and stand outside. Let’s take snow as an example. As I write, I’ve just completed two weddings on bitterly cold days where snow fell and the valleys we frequented funnelled blasts of Siberian chills through them so bitter that cheeks would redden within seconds. Both brides suggested they would enjoy that. The reality was different and despite sporting Hunters bought particularly for the day, we retreated pretty quickly. So bad weather for me often results in more indoor photography where I don fast lenses, open up wide in photographic terms and go look for available light tungsten style. I prefer then to report the weather and show how it impacted in real terms on the day. This image from an outdoor ceremony at Notley Abbey near Thame is a perfect example. We’d not long commenced an outdoor service when a roll cloud brought a healthy delivery of heavy rain in seconds. It didn’t [sorry for this] dampen spirits, but it did tell a story of the day. I particularly love the image of the lady at the back rolling the carpet back with her foot.