Chris Hanley Cherish the Dress Workshop

A couple of weeks ago, the amazing Jaz Ampaw-Farr who runs a Facebook group for photographers, had a competition. The competition was open to all members of the group, and the prize was a place on a workshop run by the amazing Chris Hanley who as well as being one of the top wedding photographers in the country, also brought to these shores a product known as Cherish the Dress. And guess what? I, along with ten other people, won a place on this course! Hurrah! It was a week later, in a lovely village on the outskirts of Manchester. I was pleased that my good friend, and fellow photographer Hannah Webster of Lifeline Photography in Nottingham had also won a place on this amazing course, as I hadn't seen her since 2007 which is frankly, a stupidly long time ago.

So off I went, south of the border for the second time in less than a month, to Chris' Cherish the Dress Workshop.

A few years ago, the trend for "trash the dress" came to the UK from America. The idea was it would feature the bride after her wedding, and it had a much more high fashion, editorial feel. Some photographers were doing amazing things with Trash the Dress - I remember seeing one photo of a bride appearing to be on fire, on a beach. (I should point out that she wasn't actually on fire - Photoshop has its uses and no actual brides were burned in the making of that shoot). The problem however, as Chris discovered, was that British women don't do trashing. You've spent a lot of money on a gorgeous dress, do you really want to destroy it? Many women recoiled in horror at the idea. So instead, Chris decided that this all had to go in a slightly different direction, and introduced Cherish the Dress.

The idea of Cherish the Dress, is that it's indoors (so no horrible, windy, rainy elements to contend with), and it's all about being gorgeous, elegant, and beautiful. It's about getting that editorial, high-fashion feel for the dress in a shoot that you might not have time to do on your actual wedding day. Wedding days can be fairly stressful, and are always busy and action packed, so this idea allows the bride to take some time out afterwards and indulge in a fantastic photoshoot.

Chris spent the morning talking us through the business aspect of Cherish the Dress, and how it came about. He talked about it's growing popularity and also what makes a good Cherish the Dress shoot work - not just in terms of the technical aspects but also importantly, how well he treats his brides during their Cherish shoots. He also talked to us about two other products of Cherish, a Vintage Cherish (which is set in a vintage era location), and Fantasy Cherish, where the imagination and amazing stories come to life.

In addition to Chris and his amazing wife, we also got advice from Claire from English Weddings Blog. Claire talked to us about how we as photographers can make the most of social networking, blogging, but also of course, talked about submitting photographs to wedding blogs. She also mentioned my friend Alison Tinlin, from Plans and Presents, and recommended photographers approach her with potential shoots. I wondered at the time if Alison's ears were twitching at the time.

In the afternoon, we went out with one of Chris' previous brides, Jayne, who kindly agreed to model for us while ten photographers swarmed round her photographing away. We headed to a disused mill, and Chris kindly set up the shots for us, explaining what angles would work, what settings would achieve what looks.

Some of the techniques were unbelievably simple, but like all good techniques, sometimes it's the simplest ones which end up being the most effective and most dramatic. And like all good techniques, it can be a case of "why didn't I think of that before?" (followed by a bit of a forehead slap). Plus the added advantage of simple techniques, was it doesn't end up being a time-consuming shoot involving more time spent playing with camera and lighting settings, than actual shooting.

So. Would I recommend a Chris Hanley workshop to other photographers wanting to further their skills? Absolutely. In his role on the day as a photography mentor and tutor, he's very down to earth, he knows what works, and he knows how to make it work and he shares that with others during the day. He's very good at explaining too, which is a rare talent that not all photographers possess and without that ability not all photographers are actually suited for running a course. It's not always enough to be a good photographer Chris however, is one of those exceptions who can teach, who can explain, and who can take stunning photographs.

Finally, I'd just like to say thanks to Chris and his wife for their hospitality and advice; to Jayne our amazing model for the day for being so patient and kindly letting us photograph her; and Claire from English-weddings.com for her words of wisdom. I'd also like to say a big thanks to Jaz, for selflessly putting the Shutterrock photographers group together, and making it the sort of place where big fish and little fish can swim around happily. It's the sort of photographer safe environment where amazing people like Chris can and do share their knowledge, and people like me can benefit and learn. Thanks folks!