4 Seasons in One Day…. well nearly.

What a weekend. The middle of July and the kind of unpredictable weather you’d expect in November or April. The brides were very matter of fact about the possibility of having a rainy wedding - there is really nothing you can do about it - but I had to feel for them because if you plan a wedding in July you can think it’s a strong possibility that it might be dry, and even sunny!
What the weekend did do for me was keep me on my toes in being able to constantly adapt to the changing weather conditions - it was like a three day workshop in shooting weddings in Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn. Rain, bright sunlight, dull and cloudy, showers and lots of gusty wind… and these conditions seemed to alternate every 30 minutes. But thankfully everything went smoothly on all the days and we didn’t miss a single shot, even if the timings and locations had to be in a constant state of flux.
Here are four seasons from a weekend in July.

Winter

Spring

Summer

Autumn

or sometimes you just have to stay indoors...

Contemporary Wedding Photography by Staffordshire based Andrew Billington

I recently put together a slideshow of images from the weddings I shot in June to show couples who made enquires. I think it's good not just to show my 'greatest hits' all the time but often more recent images are the ones I'm most enthusiastic about and can talk about with a vigour and relevancy.
Here it is....

Busy time for Wedding Photography

It's ramping up to a busy time on the old wedding photography front - obviously it's the key season for us contemporary wedding photographers and I'm finding that preparation is all. Every wedding day I want to give my best and serve couples with some exciting, interesting and original photography so putting in time doing the groundwork has proven invaluable.
Pre-wedding Venue Visits - Essential. I always offer to meet up before the day to discuss the timetable and get the opportunity to walk around the venue with the couple. This lets me know what is special about a place for the couple and to make plans in my head of where it is best to shoot things and what features look good (I'm always wanting to give a context to my wedding images and if I can know a place beforehand then I feel fully prepared). I'm thinking of making the pre-wedding meeting almost mandatory.
Lists of Formal Shots - again pretty mandatory. My style of shooting is less about spending lots of time lining groups up and more about capturing the day as it unfolds but it's inevitable that when certain people are gathered together you wouldn't want to formally put them as a group to capture the occasion. I shoot on average 6-10 'formal' group shots per wedding (which couples tend to agree is enough) and try to get this done in about 10 minutes so the day can flow. So having the list of groups before the day helps me to know what I'm shooting and put them in the most efficient order - plus I can give a copy to the Best Man and use him as a 'roper' to get everyone together.
Knowing the Style or Theme of the Day - this is part of all the discussion with the couple beforehand to know what sort of day they are looking to have (Casual, Vintage, Relaxed, Formal) and it really helps me to add that feeling to the photography on the day.
Anyway - this is all part of the pre-wedding day prep that I like to do which means that I feel much more free on the day to capture the essentials and then look for the unique, interesting and personal.
Here are some recent shots from weddings at Sandhole Oak Barn and Landmark Arts Centre