As a photographer, natural wedding photography is all about capturing the moment.
It’s the unpredictability of it which I love, as each wedding is unique, even if they tend to have the same sequence of events from pre-wedding bridal preparations though to the wedding ceremony, dinner and function.
When I started out as a wedding photographer over 20 years ago, wedding photography was a bit more formal. Couples tended to expect lots of arranged photos, especially family groups.
These were always fun to do but I always took a lot of candid shots during the ceremony, the speeches and the function and often found that the natural spontaneity of these shots was a better record of the wedding day and made for stronger photos. I therefore started to apply this approach to other parts of the wedding day.
It’s hard to describe to someone else how I approach this. Some people might see it as just taking snaps but anyone can do that. What I do, whist still natural and spontaneous, is also very precise. I know what I’m looking for, so I’m constantly on the lookout for special moments to capture.
The rest is down to years of experience, which means when I see something that will make for a great shot, I know exactly how to position myself so I can frame it in the best way and capture it using the most appropriate camera settings.
These days, I cover about 75% of the day in a natural, candid way. I still set up a few shots but rather than ‘arrange’ them as such, I see it more as creating an environment or scenario where people can be themselves rather than deliberately posing for the camera.
As a natural wedding photographer, my work has taken me all over Scotland from Ayrshire and Argyll to Glasgow, Lanarkshire, Edinburgh, Lothian, the Borders and Fife.