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Only three weeks ago I shot this simple frame at Hampton Court, on a windswept day full of dawn-to-dusk rain showers.
Zoe pulled up in the car (looking amazing), glanced at the deluge, then simply got on with her day. A brilliant approach; the only thing on her mind was getting married.
Seemed an apt first post for 2014. Happy New Year everybody!
You never know who’s watching. This is especially true of being a photographer at a wedding.
At a recent shoot where the bride was a close friend, Viktoriya was discreetly in the process of planning her own big day.
She was still to secure a photographer, and that day I appeared on her radar. She liked what she saw and so, after a quickly arranged chat at the Bluebird cafe in the Kings Road, we were in business.
This shoot was a crisp, stylish and as London-centric as it gets. A small, intimate ceremony at Chelsea Registry Office was followed by the drinks reception on a chartered boat. A couple of hours motoring down the Thames and we reached our our ultimate destination: The Bingham, Richmond. It’s a stunning boutique hotel perfectly in keeping with the feel of Viktoriya and Ryan’s day, and the ideal spot for a gorgeous wedding breakfast.
I love the opulence and that glorious sense of celebration you get with a Russian-London wedding. To my eyes, there’s an element of old-fashioned movie star about Viktoriya’s look. This is complimented by Ryan’s immaculate black tie - together, they make a classic, effortlessly photogenic pair.
Save for a small number of swift family shots just before the meal, I was left to play quietly in the background and pick off portraits and moments. This is an ideal brief for me, and I think this carte blanche approach shows in the many of the quiet shots of friends and family which are evident in their wider set.
There’s a good chance I’ll be back shooting at The Bingham very soon (fingers crossed), so it just shows how good work leads to good work, the mantra of my freelance career.
Below are just a few examples from a splendid day in town. Click any thumbnail to enlarge...
Credit for this idea sort of goes to my friend, Stacey Jackson, the irrepressible Canadian singer...
Over dinner one evening she berated me for not doing enough social media and self-promo... "you don't need a reason, man - just get them out there!". Doesn't do to disagree with the Stae.
So, here is the start of a series I'm going to call 'through the lens'. Basically a little corner of the site where I will regularly show shots which haven't been seen in blogs, and are possibly too left field or quiet for the portfolio. It's also a chance to lift the lid on some technical info for each featured image, something people ask me about a lot.
The first batch comes from commissions shot over the Christmas period, at weddings staged at The St Pancras Renaissance, Hampton Court and Kew Gardens.
Click on any photograph to enlarge....
A quiet moment during a drinks reception at Kew Gardens... (85mm lens, 125th/F2, 1600asa)
Morning preps with the flower girls, always a time for great shots... (28mm lens, 60th/F1.2, 2000asa)
The arrival of guests. I'm in the warm, they're in the cold - brrrr... (50mm lens, 250th/F2.8, 800asa)
Where would we all be without our smartphones! (28mm lens, 30th/F1.2, 2500asa)
A nervous giggle before the bridesmaids head for the ceremony... (50mm lens, 60th/F2, 2000asa)
Left: lovely moment with the bride reacting to a speech... (85mm lens, 90th/F1.8, 2500asa)
Right: a committed Liverpool fan... (200mm lens, 180th/F2.8, 1600asa)
If you have 30 mins to spare and you're at a loose end anywhere near London's Piccadilly, you could do a lot worse than spend them seeing some amazing portraits.
For over 25 years, Mark Seliger's work has adorned the pages of Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair and numerous other tip-top magazines. His work is clean, crisp and all about the subject.
It's also a chance to see wonderful photography up close. So forget surfing the web, go all retro and visit a gallery... Beetles + Huxley, 3-5 Swallow Street, London, W1B 4DE
I'll warn you right now, this is geeky blog post. If this doesn't scare you, read on...
Workflow. The backbone of any professional photographer's day. Many moons ago life consisted of shooting film, processing it, editing selections and then filing - all these tasks involved physical contact with material things (chemicals, cabinets and that funny little place called the Post Office).
Today's darkroom is lean and mean. It's about processing power and efficiency. Apps, plug-ins and passwords - and a cloud! In 2013 your darkroom is your Mac. And good luck if can keep it down to just one.
Everybody is different. No two photographers work in the same way. But I am frequently asked by clients how I manage the process from creation and delivery. So here's a brief production overview, whether the commission is a three-day foreign trip or an hour of studio portraits…
On the job...
Regardless of the shoot content, all the photography originates in RAW format, recorded to several CF cards (compact flash). At the end of the shoot, but while still on-site, I download everything to a Macbook Air, still leaving the data on the CF cards. Two copies now exist of that day's work. For me, this is vital and it's the minimum I hold at all times.
A quick check of the material in Photo Mechanic (an extremely powerful software package for browsing large files), and then we're done.
At the office...
My workhorse back at base is a 2013 spec, RAM-tastic 27" iMac, with a well used and trusty Mac Pro as backup. The laptop is plugged in to the Thunderbolt port of the iMac and the files upload. Once the transfer is complete I immediately back-up the folder to an external 2TB G-Tech hard drive.
At this point I can erase the CF cards and also remove the files from the laptop, still leaving two copies; the copy on the main iMac and one on the external drive.
The RAWs are then loaded in Apple's Aperture editing software. This allows me to work on the set and as I progress, create 'versions' of the original, after I’ve completed tasks like colour correction and cropping, etc..
The great thing about Aperture is that regardless of the work I do on a file, the master always exists, so if I wish I have the security of going back to the original and starting over - or create a different type of version.
Any extra or significant work/changes can be exported to Photoshop CS6, with these changes then saved back into Aperture for archiving. Once the whole set is edited, I can prep the batch of files in any format the client demands (.jpg, .tiff, . psd) ready for the distribution.
Post edit...
There are still choices to be made. Some clients want their shoot on a USB flash drive some need the selection transferring via Dropbox. I also use WeTransfer, Box, and a variety of other digital media. Amusingly, almost nothing is posted. If the media needs handing over I'll do that during a catch-up drink or lunch.
My role is to fit in with people's preferences and solve the problem. I don’t believe it's for the client to adapt to me. I am constantly amazed how many photographers don't get this is a service industry. The tail absolutely does not wag the dog…
If you got this far and you're still awake - bravo. Welcome to my day...
With the cold weather now kicking-in, it seems apt to feature something which looks freezing. And this shoot from last winter always sticks in my mind as being a cracker (ahem).
We all have favourite shoots. Sometimes it's because of a grand venue, or a brilliant couple. Maybe there was terrific detail. Then, every now and then there's a commission which has everything. Even Christmas. And what's better than Christmas at the glorious Somerset House.
The shoot was also notable as a day when snow blanketed town, turning the capital into a winter wonderland. Renee and Mark are from Chicago, but based here on short work contracts. They had commissioned the fantastic Penny Cullen of Tigerlily Weddings to style and orchestrate their wedding, and as usual it looked fabulous and flowed brilliantly. Below are just a few from the final set, because this lovely, young couple are very private, but still allowed me to show a few.
It was a simple late afternoon service followed by an intimate dinner for close family and friends, all overlooking the ice rink now so popular over the festive period. I enjoy all the weddings I shoot, but have a particular soft spot for Renee and Mark and their family. They are lovely people with a sense of style. What more can a photographer ask...
Certain shots simply fall into place right in front of you. You only have to press the button...
This shot was several years ago at a private residence; a gorgeous house near Liverpool. The shoot sticks in my mind because the original booking was to have been in Marbella - but we ended up on Merseyside - a long story.
Here you can see the Toastmaster, let's say 'urging' the little flower girl back to the reception after she had wandered away, no doubt looking for mischief. The shot really benefits from the walkway - a makeshift white tunnel which linked a chill-out lounge to the dining room.
The crisp simplicity of the surroundings and body language of the people in-frame tell you what's happening. I really like the playful feel to the shot and the way the vivid uplighting pulls the eye into the centre of the photograph.
More proof that the best photography is simple and without fuss...
1) I don’t agree with all Edward Snowden has said and done, but I agree with this: privacy is a sacred thing. We’re gradually losing it and we’ll be very sorry when Hurricane Social Media passes.
2) You'd think the best espresso would be in Italy. Nah, it’s a dead-heat between Paphos airport and a little kiosk on Seaford sea front.
3) I want to live like a chap called Benjamin Zidarich. And if you've never heard of him, that wouldn't bother him in the slightest.
4) You won't hear a writer rave about creating better stories because of a new laptop. So why do photographers think a new camera will improve their work? It won't. The secret: obtain more talent.
5) People who obviously think they're exciting and important, are boring. But those who work away quietly in the background and achieve are impressive…
6) I love the Seagate Hotel in Appledore, Devon
7) Trieste is much nicer than Rome.
8) I'm comfortable knowing JJ will do us Star Wars fans proud.
9) We now live in a world where even Ryanair admits Ryanair's service is poor. Better late than never.
10) Tech - the right balance is: an iPad for daily news, a proper computer for work and then just purchase mags and books like you did before the previous two were invented.
11) Macs with solid state drives are laugh-out-loud fast. I can now crunch a gigabyte like it was a megabyte - warp-speed computing.
12) Sir Chris Hoy's handshake is vice-like. I took portraits of him in January, circulation returned in my right hand around mid-March.
13) Comfort-eating is dipping fresh carrot sticks in tartar sauce. Scrumpsh.
14) I shall never, ever live in a house without a wood burning stove. We're the only household which looks forward to a severe winter.
15) Gather together most of the people you've ever met, and quite a few you don't speak to, then hold aloft a bluey/grey/yellow print of your cat. Sound absurd? I agree. But that's basically Instagram. Not everything needs to be photographed.
16) I fell asleep twice during 'The Hobbit: Desolation of whatever'. Each time I woke up the midgets where simply in another forrest. That book does not need nine hours of screen time.
17) I have never written an autobiography. This puts me five such books behind Katie Price.
18) If you photograph your child’s every move and bung it on Facebook, in 10 years time they will absolutely hate you.
19) I’m not ashamed to admit I have rediscovered my love of Lego. Calming and satisfying. It’s wasted on children.
20) Flexibility continues to be the key to freelancing.
… Happy New Year!
I’m a huge advocate of simple, clean photography. I don’t like fuss or endless set-ups. I love to try and search out little moments and do my best to capture something other people walk right past.
There is a lot going on here, but I have stepped-back from the chat and used the long Autumn evening shadows to illustrate a time of day and not really focused on any one guest in particular. The wonderfully relaxing outside space at Hedsor House provides the stage, and the lens of choice is a 28mm F1.8.
It always makes me smile to see it because it was a great wedding and a very pleasing little image which is gentle, non-specific and thoughtful...
One of the great things about shooting weddings is meeting people. This was never more evident than during Lauren and Tom's small, very family-orientated wedding earlier in the year.
So the saying goes, "it's all about the bride". However, in this case I think of the groom first whenever I come across their selection in the library. This is because Tom is a proud Paratrooper, a breed apart, quietly getting married hot on the heels of a recent tour of duty.
We're talking about a very, very impressive young man. One of those fellas us everyday chaps thoroughly respect, as he does a job very few could handle. I know for sure I couldn't. Therefore, I greatly looked forward to their day at the atmospheric Layer Marney Tower, near Colchester.
Everything had been made easy for me, mainly due to Lauren being possibly the planet's most considerate girl. Timings, the essential names, the 'must get' shots - all were listed and prepped with (dare I say) military precision.
Being involved in a relaxed, very laid-back day is always a lovely flip-side from some of the bigger, more imposing venues at which I often work. This certainly comes across in what I see as a 'people set' . An extremely rewarding day - what a wedding is all about.
Below are a few of my favourites from the wider selection. Click any thumbnail to enlarge...
Walk into this room - wow - you're rocked back on your heels by the opulence.
I had been asked to shoot a catwalk show in the ballroom of The Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Knightsbridge, organised by the market-leading magazine Brides. The client was Mirror Mirror Bridal, with whom I'm developing a terrific working relationship. The London Atelier would be showing some of their stunning couture designs.
On display were the best couture dresses from the country's leading designers - the cream of the cream. It was a terrific opportunity to really nail some atmosphere and record the wider scene.
I've picked this example from the set because it not only shows a gorgeous gown, but also the style of the room. And, I feel, you can really sense the anticipation of the audience as some truly beautiful dresses were unveiled.
A brilliant night. Perk of the job...
Wedding photography is all about creating a set of memories, which I try to construct brick-by-brick over the course of the day and spend hours painstakingly editing. Press photography is different. It is about getting the message out, reporting, being fast. It's about quick delivery. Luckily, I've done both which meant last week's eleventh hour request to release a picture of the happy couple to the world's media whilst simultaneously covering the day, was, if a little stressful, ultimately pretty straightforward.
The commission was to shoot the beautiful wedding of Olympic cycling star, Mark Cavendish, and his bride, model Peta Todd. Due to the high-profile nature of the couple, unwanted press intrusion was a real concern. Especially as the venue for the wedding was One Mayfair, in the heart of London.
So a plan was hatched: we would keep the media animal fed with one great shot and hopefully - with the help of a security contingent - head-off any gate-crashing Paps. I decided I would send a fairly simple shot during the early part of the evening. The timing had to catch the first editions of the Sunday papers (around 19.00), but also had to fit-in with my extensive list of wedding day 'must-gets'. My overriding brief for wedding clients is always to create photography which will last, something memorable. But I also needed to click into deadline mode and get something out.
On the technical side, I decided to take two MacBooks. One to download/back-up the rolling coverage as the day progressed, the other purely for the transmission of the picture. Around 17.45 I asked Peta & Mark to just spend a moment with me so I could grab the shot I thought would be appropriate. That done, they could relax and enjoy their wedding breakfast. Meanwhile, I raced off to the crew room and started to download... the clock was ticking.
Wedding planner, Lisa Walker, of Just Bespoke, had every element of the wedding covered to perfection and ensured I had a desk, wifi and the relevant contact from Mark's management to sign-off the shot for distribution.
I initially chose two pictures. A simple portrait and then something a little more creative, a wide shot from the actual ceremony. It was decided we'd send out the portrait. The picture duly signed off, the file was then slipped into a press release and immediately sent to PA, who, in turn made it accessible by all major news organisations. Phew. Box ticked.
And as the press quickly clicked into gear reporting on the Cavendish nuptials, it was time for me to get back to creativity and shoot the speeches and evening atmosphere.
I recall driving home from Amy and Duncan's wedding day thinking it was such a happy occasion full of great detail and laid-back personalities.
I'm not one to blog every wedding I shoot, but this was a commission to share. So when I was given the green light to use them it was such fun to go back into the day and pick the little moments I like best.
Being a very firm believer that weddings are about people, with detail there to simply to support, it was a delight to be welcomed in by a lovely crowd of folks and then allowed to do my thing quietly in the background.
The main building at Milden Hall is a 16th century tudor farmhouse, which attracts many different events, not just weddings. Having already covered a wedding there I knew the day would unfold to become a relaxed, fun occasion for all concerned - the venue seems to attract just such a clientele.
The staff also hits that balance between attentive but unseen, which for 100+ people is vital when partying in what is quite a cosy space. Each time I work there I'm looked-after and thoroughly enjoy the shoot. Roll-on the next visit.
As usual the shots below are just a handful from the set...
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"... We couldn't recommend Mark enough. We met him a couple of times before our wedding and it was always clear that he understood exactly the feel we wanted for our day and how to shoot it.
When the day itself came around he was very relaxed and low key but worked seamlessly with our best man to get all the shots we wanted. Lots of people have said how lovely the photos are (it'd be rude not to!) but also how they barely noticed Mark being there at all. His attitude was that the day was ours to enjoy and he worked around that rather than making us slaves to the lens..." Amy & Duncan, Oct 2nd, 2013
Ahead of a recent, stunning wedding at the gorgeous Cliveden House, I really enjoyed a quick portrait session with the bride and groom, Sasha and Artiom - a lovely, young Russian couple based in London.
A few examples from the shoot, but more importantly the story behind the relationship, are now live on lovescarlett, one of the hippest wedding resources around...
When new acquaintances ask me what I do, I simply say I photograph people. I don't see myself as any one thing or another because I shoot so many varied commissions, but they nearly always involve people in some way.
So imagine the hardship when lovely girls such as Melanie Helen at Cranberry Blue Weddings, or Mimi and Liesl at Zouch&Lamare ask if I could help out with some new site portraits.
Usually these sessions require a minimal lighting set-up and a quiet space. In Mel's case the amazing bar at The Rosewood, and in Z&L's case The Four Seasons, Mayfair. Hardly tough gigs to attend and always great to be involved.
In each case I've known the girls for a little while and the brief was simple; capture the person, make it look relaxed, go with it... I think in each case it's job done.
