As a wedding photographer covering Glasgow, Ayrshire and other parts of Scotland, I love capturing natural, informal images of the bride and groom, as you can’t beat a spontaneous smile.
Even when a shot has been set up, I like to convey the feeling that I just quickly turned my camera on them and captured the moment.
Stephanie and Graeme had booked me for the whole day to photograph their wedding at the New Lanark Mill Hotel, which is about 30 miles south of Glasgow. I always take candid shots, even for smaller weddings but a full day allows you a little more time in the evening after the dinner to get a few extra shots. It’s also a lovely time for light as the sun is little lower and softer than during the middle of the afternoon.
The extra time also allowed us time to go for a walk a little further away from the New Lanark Mill Hotel to a lovely park just at the edge of the village. It was the perfect setting for some natural, romantic shots of Stephanie and Graeme together. The light was so nice that I was just able to use natural light, while my assistant Willie held a reflector for a little extra fill.
One final touch which works very well for natural, candid wedding photography, is to render some of the images in black and white. People often ask me the difference between colour and black and white and when to use it. As a wedding photographer, I always think that the absence of colour makes you focus more on a person’s expression, as there is little else to distract you. It also gives that classic reportage look which we are familiar with from documentary photography.
