Sometimes we think back to when we first started in wedding photography (back in 2006!) and what our initial impressions were of a wedding and what we (thought) we were expected to capture. The “getting ready” / preparations for the wedding, for example seemed to have a clear (and somewhat artistically limiting) story – people get dressed, hair and makeup are styled; get some pretty, soft focus close-ins of these moments, capture the bride getting into her dress in soft light and the job was pretty much done.
But, looking back, we can’t help but wonder about the opportunities we must have missed through that mindset. We worked hard, we delivered what our couples expected of us and always tried to create the best possible version of the photograph, but we rarely saw beyond the scope of expectation. What we failed to understand was that the story of a wedding is not really about what happened but who was there. What makes a wedding unique is rarely what appears on the schedule, it’s the small stories of personality and relationships that make the day unique.
When you strip away those hard-taught lessons about what beauty looks like and the vision of elegance entwined in the traditional fabric that makes up a wedding, a world of opportunity opens. Hair and makeup are not the story of the morning, they are a place-setting component in a rich tapestry of mini-stories and interactions. If we step back, combine moments and look beyond the photographic stereotypes of what constitutes “pretty” by varying aperture and focus, as well as incorporating humour and reality, we can find additional photographs that reveal so much more about the scene than simply what occurred.
Olivia and Phil’s Middleton Lodge wedding was beautiful in so many varied and wonderful ways. We’re so grateful that they, and all of our couples, place their trust in us to show all the different forms of that beauty in the photographs we capture.


















































































































