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

In the gardens

It's been a while since my last blog post, on the basis I've actually been very busy lately! In the past fortnight, I've had three separate shoots, which means three lots of editing of photographs afterwards. 

This particular post is about a personal project I've recently completed. The reason I'm writing about these photographs is basically because I really like them, and also because I like to keep working on all sorts of photographic projects whenever I can. Sometimes the influences from a shoot like this can end up being used for a bridal or portraiture shoot. I like to keep working at my photography, whether someone else plans the shoot, or its one I create myself. At any rate, personal projects keep me out of mischief. 

This photoshoot has been on the cards for a while now - it's something I've wanted to do, and as with all my most successful shoots, took a fair amount of organising, planning, and researching before I could even click the button and take the first photograph. I must admit, I was hugely nervous about this shoot. Why? Because of all the people involved, the planning, and organising, and even the weather, absolutely everything had gone perfectly right. When everything else goes right it does leave me to get on with the photographic side, and I always reserve a little nervousness for something going wrong during the shoot. I think it's simply because I care about what I do - I want to get it right, I want to exceed my own expectations, and I want to deliver success back to everyone else involved in the shoot.

 Outdoor photoshoots in Scotland can be hit or miss, in terms of the weather. Autumnal photoshoots are never a certain thing, and I spent the best part of ten days leading up to the shoot watching the weather forecast online, much like watching the lottery to see if your numbers appear. As it happened, we were exceptionately lucky. The entire week was blighted by bad weather on and off, but our shoot happened on the one day in weeks when we had unusually good weather. Being in Scotland, I do have to come prepared for a shoot. So I had some lovely colourful brollies in the event of a shower, and some nice fleecy blankets to keep the girls snug between shots.

The dresses and all the clothes used in the photoshoot were provided by Wendy from Flossy and Dossy. I was keen to work with Wendy when I saw her clothes, as I had a particular shot in mind that I wanted to create. I thought that they would be perfect in this setting.

As with any shoot I work on, I usually end up with more props than I end up using - but mostly tools and props that I can and do end up using again.

I was working with Kathryn Hughes the make up artist. I've worked with Kathryn quite a few times previously. I must admit, when I find a great make up artist, I make a point of working with them again. Kathryn and I started by comparing ideas and research as to the look we wanted for the shoot. I'm inclined to leave more of it in her hands, mostly because I know she delivers a good quality service and I trust her. But also perhaps because I occasionally have a tendency to see every idea and think "yeah! lets do that!", and if we actually went with every idea, the girls' faces would end up looking like they'd been dragged through a make-up counter backwards. 

My assistant for the day was Laura Hughes (no relation to Kathryn), who I know from my student days as a fellow photographer. Working with other photographers enables me to have someone to bounce ideas off, and someone who understands how the kit works, and can see the things I'm trying to create. 

The lovely models are Lainey Virginia Brown, and Melanie Long. Although this was my first time working with them, they were both very professional in their work, despite the long day! 

Without a committed team, I don't think the shoot would have gone as well as it did. I felt afterwards that the photographs produced met exactly to the original plan, and if I'm honest, I feel they've exceeded my own expectations. 

These photographs are currently featured (alongside more photographs) on my commercial photography website: 

http://www.kristinmitchell.co.uk in the fashion section.

Viewpark Gardens was a fantastic venue for this shoot - although now closed to the public for the winter, it's still available for bridal parties throughout the year. I think it makes a wonderful wedding photography backdrop particularly where the budget might not match the cost of a country mansion with beautiful grounds to wander round in.

Previewing locations

So this week, I had a portrait photoshoot with the wonderful wedding and event planner, Alison from Plans and Presents.


Alison was one of the first wedding suppliers to make contact with me and that's something I hold in high regard - friendliness is what you practice.

The downside with any shoot in Scotland is our weather climate. Arranging a photoshoot in advance by more than a few days is a bit like a photographic roulette. A week prior to the shoot, I was constantly checking the BBC online weather, which predicted heavy showers throughout the day. This meant that I needed a plan B, with potential indoor locations sourced.

I managed to find a couple of fall-back locations, who were willing to help out.

Normally when I'm organising a shoot, I have an idea of where I want to go, and start sourcing potential venues and locations almost immediately. Reccie's are an important part of my photography - making sure that a location is usable. I usually try to go a few days before, but no more than a week in advance. In the space of a week, anything can happen, including building works, scaffolding, repairs, which can transform a gorgeous location into a less photogenic building site.

Indoor locations are occasionally harder than outdoor ones - simply for seeking permission to use premises, and trying to fit around any busy periods. Some locations might request something in exchange, money, photos, services. Others might allow a photographer to work there, but forbid flash photography, or the use of tripods. Depending on the location, I might forgo flash, but in those circumstances it's near impossible to work without a tripod. 

In the end, I didn't use them, as it turned out the BBC weather forecast, even on the day of the shoot, had been hopelessly wrong about the weather. No rain, those high winds were little less than a gentle breeze, and a blue sky just glowing with sunshine and small fluffy candyfloss clouds.

The above photograph is taken from the reccie in the cloisters at Glasgow University. This location is very popular with wedding photographers, the combination of those lovely arches and pillars and vaulted ceiling with a bride in a white dress and floaty veil usually works beautifully, creating a gorgeous classic combination, worthy of canvases on lounge walls.

This was one of the locations we used during Alison's portrait shoot - it works well in any weather and any season. The sunshine poured between the arches, creating large pools of light across the floor, adding to the drama of the location.

Within a small area, the west end of Glasgow is a rich oasis of photographic locations, which is mostly why I chose it for this particular shoot. Want a wild countryside look? Head to the river Kelvin and walk along the banks under trees. Want something a little more tame? Botanic Gardens is a perfect location with its manicured lawns. For an urban setting, wandering around Byres Road and Great Western Road offers a wealth of options; for cobbled streets and artisan craft shops, Cranworth Lane is an outstanding location.

I'll post some of the photos from Alison's shoot later in the week when she's had a chance to view them (and hopefully she'll like them).