Compton Acres Pre Wedding Photography, Tina and Dave

The first part of Dave and Tina's pre-wedding engagement session was at Compton Acres Italian Villa near Sandbanks. It was a good chance to look round and get their ideas on places within the wedding venue to use for their wedding in April this year.

We have photographed weddings at Dorset's Compton Acres many times and are one of their recommended wedding vendors so it's always a pleasure to visit there and photograph. The gardens and the flower borders at the Italian Villa are very well maintained, no matter what time of year there's always something in bloom and the venue always looks beautiful.

The second location we included as part of the engagement session was along the beach from Bournemouth, it's near to where Dave and Tina had their very first date and a special place for them.

The purple heather in the ornamental garden was in full bloom and made for a beautiful backdrop for some of the pre-wedding images, that was the image choosen by Dave and Tina for the signing image at their wedding reception.

Teri and I are looking forward to the wedding in April and hoping the cherry blossoms will be in full bloom for some of the more romantic wedding photographs!


Update: Tina and Dave's wedding photographs are now on the blog, click Wedding Photography at Compton Acres :)

Bournemouth Beach and Gardens, Pre-Wedding Sherri-Louise and Geoff

February is not everyones ideal time of year for a beach portrait session but that's what we did with Sherri-Louise and Geoff! Geoff proposed to Sherri-Louise near Swanage, in fact half way up the hill walking towards Old Harry Rocks! We knew we had to include Old Harry in the pre-wedding engagement session somehow :)

The session started off just across from Sandbanks near the Poole harbour chain ferry, that side of the harbour are sand dunes and one of our favourite places for beach photography sessions. Though much of the dunes are fenched off to protect them from erosion we found a section that was open to add a soft sea grass foreground with Old Harry Rocks behind.

The second location is also special to Sherri-Louise and Geoff, Bournemouth Gardens and Bournemouth Beach, after a quick game of Pooh Sticks (a tradition whenever they visit the gardens!) we made full use of the Chinese Lanterns they had up in the gardens to add some winter colour.

Teri and I are really looking forward to the wedding in April with wedding reception at the Royal Bath Hotel, Sherri-Louise and Geoff have requested wedding images on Bournemouth beach with the full wedding party! :)


UPDATE: Sherri-Louise and Geoff's Wedding photography at the Royal Bath and Bournemouth Beach :)

Rhinefield House New Forest Winter Wedding

Rhinefield House in the New Forest was the wedding venue Emma and Mark chose for their magical winter wedding. There's something special about Christmas even for big kids, so having a winter Christmas themed wedding worked perfectly within the setting of the oak panelled Grand Hall at Rhinefield Hotel in Hampshire.

Even though we have photographed many times at Rhinefield House, we always like to scope out wedding venues a little ahead of time if we are able. About 2 weeks before the wedding I popped down to see the wedding co-ordinator and have a good look round. At that time the large curtains were closed behind the Christmas tree in the Grand Hall and I asked if on the day they could be opened. This worked out perfectly for the ceremony images as from the back the Christmas tree was illuminated against the large window and from the front there was beautiful soft natural light for the couple throughout the wedding service.

We love photographing weddings and environmental portraits in the New Forest, Rhinefield Hotel is known as the "Jewel in the Forest" and though there are other great wedding venues in the New Forest the tree lined approach and romantic Gothic facade makes a beautiful backdrop for wedding images.

Emma and Mark picked the shortest day of the year for their wedding, the winter solstice (December 21st) the weather on the day could not have been better. Based on the rain through the summer we would recommend a lot more winter weddings! I think Mark was secretly wishing for a bit of snow but in the end it was very mild and we were able to use the outside for both the romantic alone shots and the semi-formal family images.

After the first dance we went outside with Emma and Mark to take some evening images with the hotel in the background and even then it didn't feel cold! A perfect finish to a magical day in the New Forest :)

Teri Gets Her 'L'!

Teri is now a Qualified Master Photographer as recognised by the Master Photographers Association. This achievement recognises Teri's ability to photograph weddings to an established level of skill and competence.

The Licentiate (LMPA) Wedding category award is gained by submitting a panel of images from recent weddings. The panel is then judged by respected members of the MPA and if of sufficiently high quality the award is given.

The gestation period on Teri's wedding panel was longer than most applicants, Teri first joined the MPA in 2006 but held off submitting her qualifying panel until this years Focus on Imaging. This patient approach reflects more than anything Teri's overriding passion to present only the very best work of which she is capable. Kudos to her for taking the plunge and putting up her images to be judged. I don't think the verdict was ever in doubt but me believing her panel is award worthy and her gaining the award itself are worlds apart!

It's not often I get the chance to write about Teri's work so I will take this opportunity to say what it is I find special about her images. I count myself as good with people (I'd be in the wrong job if it was otherwise!) having said that I count Teri as amazing with people. She has a rare ability to instantly connect with wedding guests, family of the couple and the wedding couple themselves that is very special and I would say pretty unique, it always shows in her images and I am very lucky to work with her.

Sandwiched somewhere between the details of the day, the story telling of the getting ready, the wedding ceremony, the formal group images, the cool portraits of the newlyweds, the evening reception and first dance are the relaxed intimate portraits of the couples family and close friends. It's this last type of image that are often overlooked in a lot of the wedding coverage we have seen and it is those very images that become more and more special over time. Beautiful informal portraits of the people that really matter, not just because they were there on the day of the wedding, they are valued as images in their own right and become treasured pictures of loved ones.

A small selection of Teri's successful panel below :)