Behind the scenes: scouting locations

Sometimes, when I'm at wedding fairs, I get asked by brides (and grooms) to be whether I've shot at a particular location before. I understand that for many couples their ideal situation is to hire someone who knows a venue well. However the reality is that I have yet to photograph the same venue twice.

I think this is partly due to modern changes in attitude towards where you can get married. For one thing, the possible options of venues now are endless; where it used to be common to have a church wedding followed by a hotel for the reception, people are now getting married in lots of different locations, whether it's a hotels, castles, or breweries. It's a lovely aspect of the diverse nature of weddings, but obviously, it does mean that photographing a venue more than once is a little less likely. However, I do make sure I know what to expect at a new venue, by having a recce where possible beforehand.

One of my upcoming weddings this year, is taking place on the Cafe Barge in Tarbert. I've never shot a wedding there before, so as I try to do with all my locations, I went to visit with my camera in hand.

The purpose of the recce is so that I can start to see the details of a place, I can get a feel for the lighting conditions, and the space around me. For this particular trip, I ought to say thanks to my brother for accompanying me and doing the driving - sometimes I quite enjoy having some company on these day trips.


It was an absolutely gorgeous day - while West Lothian and the central belt were freezing cold, once we were over the Erskine Bridge, the weather began to improve.

 

 

 

 

The top of the barge was gorgeous - the benches were decorated with little plant pots, and there were plant pots and a coffee cup tucked into a lobster net. There were also flowers in the lifebelt. There were multicoloured lights as well, draped from the masthead. You may also notice I was slightly obsessed with photographing the pretty pink bicycle which had its basket filled with blossoms and lilies!

The Cafe Barge has been listed in the Independent's Top 50 best Wedding Venues. The barge is originally Dutch, and it's still got lots of little details hinting at it's Dutch background. Inside the barge was equally lovely - warm and snug, it serves as a cafe during the daytime with a rich menu of good Scottish food, with vegetarian and fish options.

 

With many thanks to the Cafe Barge for their hospitality during my recce - really looking forward to revisiting the barge soon!

Cafe Barge:
http://www.cafebarge.co.uk/
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafebarge/190027291011578
https://twitter.com/CafebargeArgyll

Photos I love: Merchant City, Glasgow, April 2012

It was forecast to be sunshine but on the day I took this, it was overcast.

The day in question, was Chris and Jon's wedding at the Old Fruitmarket at Candleriggs in Glasgow.

The photograph shows the blossoms on the tree, partly obscuring the view of the Ramshorn Theatre. It's not the ideal angle, looking up at the sky. I imagine a lot of people might have pointed the camera down a bit more, and squared off the angles and perspectives. But it's a photo that I liked in my collection.

There's no detail in the sky, but then, when it's overcast with white cloud, there never is.

I think I love this photograph because of all the gentle tones in it. The soft tint of pink in the blossoms, and the soft fawn colour of the Ramshorn Theatre sandstone, coupled with the white cloud. It's a quintessentially natural scene of a Scottish spring time, it is as it is - simple, uncomplicated, clean.

All this in the middle of a city, a bustling, thriving city shaking off the shackles of a mean reputation. I think this shows Glasgow as it really is - not as it's perceived to be through stereotypes and fear.

New Moo!

One of the things about running a small business, is sometimes it involves buying new things. Not all the new things though are things I can show off, they're just necessary outgoings, such as external hard drives and memory cards and batteries.

However, every so often, I'm able to indulge in things that are exciting. This morning, I received a little package from Moo with all sorts of goodies in it!

I do like Moo products... it's the stationery nerd in me. I love their presentation, the options, and the promising possibilities for what I can do with them...

So I thought while I unwrapped my package, I'd photograph it as I did so.

This was a particularly hard part of the process - I love ripping things open and tucking in straight away!

It contains:

• a Moo business card holder;
• a Mini Moo card holder;
• 2 boxes of log in and password cards for guests at my upcoming weddings; and of course...
• new business cards (I opted for curvy edged ones).

I love the Moo branded parcel paper! The "yay" sticker on the back of the tissue paper was also a lovely little addition - I just love how everything is wrapped up and packaged... it makes the whole business expense experience a lot more fun!

Product Feature: Struve Photography Small Landscape album

I thought I'd write a post today, about my wedding albums.

I really do like my albums, if I'm honest. I buy them from a fantastic local album printer, and the photographs from the albums are printed directly onto the page. From a photographic perspective, this enables me to make the most of the photographs I take at weddings, as I can often incorporate detail shots into the background, which help to tie different photographs together as part of the story. I'm also able to print photographs over a double page spread quite easily, without vital parts of the image disappearing into the centre crease, as the album can be spread out so that the image lies perfectly flat. The overall look is very stylish and makes an absolutely fantastic way of showcasing wedding photographs to their best vantage.

I have four album sizes, and I plan to blog about each size of album.

The sizes I offer my couples are:

• 5x7 inch - small stylish landscape album;
• 6x6 inch - a super cute square little album; 
• 10 x 14 inch - Big and beautiful, classic large landscape album;
• 12x12 inch  - Stylish hip-to-be-square format album.

There are also a variety of album cover options for each album size, so that my couples can get a truly bespoke wedding album that reflects their wedding style, and complements their personality.

Today's focus, is on this neat little landscape, 5x7 inch album.
 

As with all the albums, it comes in its own lined presentation box, to keep it looking gorgeous and fantastic for a very long time. This particular album features photographs from Kerry and Stewart's wedding, in 2010. It has a gorgeous brushed aluminum cover, with the names of the couple and their wedding date engraved on the outside - giving it a stylish and classic feel.

The pages inside are really nice and thick - the album printer uses a high quality paper and ink to make sure that the images will last, which is exactly what you want as something you can pass down to future generations.

I adore this little album - the size is perfect for me to take to show to couples, so it would be the perfect size for you to carry and show to friends and family!

Engagement Shoot: Jon and Chris in Scone

Today I'm thrilled to showcase some photographs from an engagement shoot I did with Jon and Chris, in Scone, earlier this year.

Now, if when you think of the idea of pre-wedding or engagement shoots, you think of heavy posing, or formal attire, then think again. The photographs below embody exactly what I like to achieve during my engagement shoots.

As with all my engagement shoots, I like the couple to take me somewhere that's special to them. In this case, it was into their home. Jon and Chris met a few years ago, and relocated from Glasgow to Scone in Perthshire.

For this particular engagement shoot, we went for a walk round the woodlands, near their home. It was a gorgeous crisp early spring day, and going for a walk was the perfect setting for our shoot. Afterwards, we headed back to their home, where Chris and Jon did some baking together, before settling down on the sofa with a glass of wine and a guitar to sing along to, while they waited for the food to cook.

A big thank you to Chris and Jon for letting me share these engagement shoot photographs on my blog.