Best Wedding Photography Spring 2020

Best Wedding Photography Spring 2020

As a new wedding season begins, I thought I’d share a few of the awards I was fortunate enough to pick up over the last few weeks. Starting with the above image from Sabina and Fraser’s super Winter Wedding at Glenapp Castle in Scotland. This was taken in the gardens during the drinks reception between the end of the ceremony and the wedding breakfast. Guests had gathered in the glasshouses for drinks and canapes, and some of the teenagers and children were amusing themselves in the gardens as dusk fell. As a documentary wedding photographer, it’s moments like these that piece together what the day felt like. I watched as four of the children took it in turns to leap over a narrow stream. Knowing that children often repeat these kinds of antics over and over again, I moved position so I could be as square on to the action as possible. As a bonus, I can see all the grown-ups in the glasshouse behind, as this guest makes the leap for a second time.

Watchful Eye on a Selfie Mirror

This award was from the super This Is Reportage site, dedicated to the very best in unposed, natural photography at weddings. It was taken at Katherine and Jonathan’s Spring wedding at One Great George Street in London. The portrait behind completes the story here, but it’s the cascading flow of guests from the left hand edge of the frame that I love about this composition. The next award, below, is also from the Wedding Photojournalist Association, and shows Katie joining in with some summer garden games at her Outdoor Wedding at Swallows Oast with Aaron. This was such a great, relaxed wedding to photograph, there were hundreds of super moments to capture.

Three more winning photos fro the last round of the 2019 WPJA contest below. Starting with this black and white image from Kiki and Jonathan’s All Saints Greek Orthodox wedding. This was a really fun London wedding to photograph, with the Greek Orthodox cathedral and The Brewery being the main venues. I love this scene during the register signing – there’s plenty going on across the frame. I often look for layered images, placing elements in the foreground, middle distance and background, and then time the exposure for a confluence of interest throughout the frame. But equally interesting, is looking for this kind of horizontal layering, making sure you frame the scene well before watching and waiting for several points of interest to occur at the same moment.

This image is from Nic and James’ Wedding Photos at the Missing Sock, an eclectic venue near Cambridge. I’d been watching these two guests all day as they were having a lot of fun, so when the funky glasses made an appearence after the wedding breakfast, I knew where I needed to be! It was just a case of waiting for an interaction or focal point to make the image work.

Finally from the last WPJA round of the year, this touching moment between Kwesi and his best man as Cherelle arrives at church behind him. The tight grasp of Kwesi’s best man together with his concentrated stare conveys his tension and emotion at this key point.  A moment like this, for me, will always be delivered in black and white. It’s the emotional connection here that’s important, and I want the viewer to focus on that rather than any of the distractions that are present in the colour image. Check out more from their wedding and reception at Bistrotheque in London.

These last 5 winning photos in the WPJA contest brought my WPJA awards to 22 for all of 2019. The yearly contest finished with me being placed 3rd in the UK, and 24th in the whole world! A huge thank you to all of my clients who trust me with their wedding photography evert week, and the judges on all of the contests who have a tough job selecting winners.