When Carrie and Neil were looking for a photographer for their wedding at Sorn Castle, near Mauchline in Ayrshire, it was very important to them to find a wedding photographer who could capture the atmosphere of the day in a very relaxed and natural way.
This was actually an ‘elopement wedding’ which is very common now, where couples travel abroad to get married. Carrie and Neil are from the USA, although Neil grew up in Ayrshire, which is why the location was very important for them. One other unique feature of their wedding, was the size as there were only about 20 guests, so this made for a lovely informal atmosphere.
I started in the morning getting some shots of Carrie getting ready, which made for some great candid wedding photography. I’d done a recce beforehand and identified sources of natural light which were perfect for some natural photographs. This meant that artificial lighting was kept to a minimum. In fact myself and my assistant only used a reflector.
One particular challenge of the day was the fact that it rained all day, so any outdoor photographs were limited to breaks in the weather. Fortunately, we’d planned for this, so when it was raining we made use of the many atmospheric windows and skylights throughout the castle. When the rain stopped we were able to get some nice relaxed shot of them walking in the grounds.
For natural wedding photography, I believe it’s very important to encourage couples to be themselves. I therefore like to create little moments throughout the day, rather than go through a list of pre-rehearsed shots. In these moments I encourage couples to just enjoy the moment and pretend that we’re not there.