New wedding photographs

I have today updated my main website www.neilredfern.com with my favourite photographs from a wedding I covered in Staffordshire in April.

The bride & groom, Louise & Jonathan, were a lovely couple to work with and I had a great time capturing their day. Although the weather wasn't too cold it was extremely windy but we made sure that didn't stop us from going outside and getting some lovely photographs. In fact, my favourite photograph from the day, of Louise & Jonathan outside together (below) was made all the better for the wind blowing through Louise's hair!

Congratulations again Louise & Jonathan, I wish you both the very best for your future together.

Below are some of my favourite photographs from the day:

Podcasts - a great free source of information and inspiration

The concept of Podcasting has been around around 18 months now but it is only in the past 6 months that I have really become aware of the sheer number and variety of podcasts available on a wide range of popular subject areas - including photography.

As a method of learning and keeping up-to-date with technology in a given subject area, in my case photography, podcasts are great for a number of reasons;

1. They are free! I can't think of any other medium, other than trawling the internet, which enables you to keep updated on the latest news for free. Books, magazines, DVDs, professional societies etc. are all great as educational resources but can be relatively expensive if bought regularly. I subscribe to a number of podcasts using iTunes, all of which are downloaded automatically for free.

2. You can listen to them anywhere. Whether you are walking down the street, driving, travelling etc. you can listen. As much as books can be helpful and informative it's not generally considered safe to ready a book whilst driving down the motorway!

3. They are regular and bang up-to-date. Again, as an educational tool, I find that podcasts are far better at keeping me up-to-date with the latest photography news than other mediums such as magazines. As good as magazines are, most are only published monthly whereas some podcasts are weekly so you can often hear of new develpoments earlier.

4. A better range of opinions. Again, if you are considering buying a new piece of equipment or software you may find that it receives a great review in one magazine but not in another - which makes it hard to form an opinion and make a decision. However on most podcasts you may hear a number of photographers talking about that piece of equipment and discussing the pros and cons, which personally I find this much more helpful and enlightening. In the past few months I have purchased two great pieces of software this way: Photomatix (amazing for HDR photography) and Adobe Lightroom (has dramitically speeded up my workflow).

Should you be interested in listening to any photography related podcasts there are three that I would particularly recommened, although there are lots out there which I'm sure will be good but I just haven't got round to listening to them all! The three I subscribe to on iTunes and would recommened are: TWIP (This Week In Photography), Pro Photography Show and The Digital Photography Show.

Happy listening!

The ultimate example act of photographic dedication - or sheer lunacy?

The link below takes you to an article about a photographer apparently risking his life by jumping over a one kilometre drop in order to get the perfect shot of a sunset. I'll let you decide if this man is simply a perfectionist who won't let anything get in the way of him getting the perfect shot ...or a madman.

http://www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?in_article_id=149057&in_page_id=34

Apparently since I first came across this story rumours have started to appear on the internet that the story is actually a fake and the drop involved was only a matter of feet rather than over one kilometre. Even if this were the case though I don't think I'd fancy making the jump whilst hand holding my camera ...and tripod ...after drinking six beers ...whilst wearing flip flops.

I wonder if he is also a wedding photographer? If so I wonder how many brides would be willing to take the "leap of faith" themselves in order to get that perfect shot...?

I think a few may need some persuading. As would I.

First Destination Wedding

Firstly, I apologise for not posting for a while. I have only just returned from a holiday in Cyprus and also covered a wedding the day before we flew out so things have been very hectic recently!

It was during this holiday however that I covered my first full day wedding outside the UK, which was a great experience.

The wedding itself was at a hotel called Adams Beach in Ayia Napa, a busy but laid back resort in the south of the island. Adams Beach is located on Nessi Beach, renowned for being one of the best beaches in Cyprus.

It was a lovely day and everything ran very smoothly, although from a wedding photographer's point of view there were a few differences to the day when compared to covering a wedding in the UK, some of which I have listed below:

1. The most obvious difference was the weather! Even though we are still a few weeks away from the height of the summer in Cyprus the weather was very hot, around 30 degrees during the day. Luckily for me the ceremony itself did not take place until 5pm, by which time the weather had cooled slightly, otherwise the heat would have made running around taking photographs quite uncomfortable. As it was I spent the majority of the day taking photographs of the bride and groom getting ready (separately) in lovely air-conditioned rooms!

It was very nice however to wake up not having to worry about the weather (not always the case in the sunny North West!). Having said that when I met the wedding coordinator earlier in the week she told me that during the previous week 3 weddings at the same hotel had to take place indoors due to rain so unfortunately even if you book a wedding abroad there are no guarantees of good weather.

2. Due to the fact the registrar didn't arrive until just before the ceremony, and I was with the bride at the time, I didn't get chance to introduce myself to her beforehand (although I had already checked with the coordinator that she wouldn't have problems with me taking photos etc.) This wasn't a problem in itself but it did mean that I wasn't aware of when the ceremony would actually end. As it turned out, once the couple signed the register the registrar didn't take any more part so the couple would have been allowed to walk back up the aisle at this point. Instead of this however I asked the bride and groom's parents, bridesmaids and best man, to join the bride and groom at the front for some traditional shots. In the UK I would normally be invited to do this by the registrar/minister but this was not the case so worth noting as otherwise these shots would have been missed!

3. More of a general point; being abroad in a different climate gave me the opportunity to try our some shots that would not be possible in England. For example after the ceremony the bride and groom and I went to a place called Cape Greco, around 15 minutes from Ayia Napa, for some amazing sunset shots. The location itself, which was on a cliff edge overlooking the sea, was recommended to us by the wedding coordinator and is used often by local wedding photographers.

The type of shot we managed to take here would not have been possible for me usually because a) I rarely cover weddings near the coast in the UK and b) it is relatively rare in the North West to get such dramatic, clear sunsets!

Having said that during the wedding I covered the day before Cyprus, I took the bride and groom to some lovely private gardens for their shots together and I was very pleased with the results. The point is wherever the wedding you are covereing is taking place it is important to research the local area and if you can find photogrenic locations, suggest to the bride and groom that you take some time to go there as it will usually be worthwhile. Even if they choose not I'm sure they will appreciate the offer.

However, just as there were differences the essence of the day was the same. As with all weddings the key to successful pictures is down to careful planning, and it was no different in Cyprus. I made sure I met the couple's wedding coordinator earlier in the week and was aware of exactly what time everything would be taking place. I also visited the hotel a couple of times throughout the week to scout out locations for photographs so I had a plan before the day for the shots I wanted and knew where I would be standing, where we'd take group shots, when the sun would set etc.

Overall it was a lovely day and very enjoyable so I would certainly be open to offers of covering destination weddings again in the future!

Assuming the bride and groom are happy for me to do so I will post some photographs from the day shortly.