Good grief, I've won 'Bride of the Month'! 

Just when I thought it was all over for the year, I had a call from Essex Chronicle to say that Zara C has won their Bride of the Month competition! This has come as a great but wonderful surprise, and so the next edition of the Chronicle will be featuring my work in print! Well done Zara, the bubbliest bride of the year!

The 2007 wedding season is truly over, and many of the people you see on these pages will be settling down to enjoy their first Christmas together as husband and wife. This entry is just to thank everyone who booked me, trusted me to do the best possible job, and who helped to make 2007 the best year so far. Mind you it won't last long - bookings for 2008 already mean that next year is going to top it!

Every wedding is special, not just for the bride and groom and families, but for me. I've met lots of wonderful people this year and whilst my job is never easy, they've made it a pleasure. And so Bloke would just like to say 'Thank you!'

The first studio lighting set-up! Simple is good, but when it rains and you have to photograph a large group in a not-very-bright hotel reception, nature needs more help than even the finest Nikon flashgun. Time to bring out a boot-full of Elinchrom studio flash gear! Expert ushers Matt & Oliver cleared the furniture while I set up twin 400W heads with a radio trigger so there were no wires for guests to trip over. Result - we did it!

Bloke feels honoured today. Purely on a quality basis (no money has changed hands!), Otley Hall in Suffolk has added him to their list of recommended suppliers, and he looks forward to working with them in the future. Thanks Lucy!

The eyeball trick. Despite everything, sometimes I get back to Bloke HQ and discover that someone crucial has their eyes closed in an otherwise great shot. It can be possible (but I make no promises!) to fix this - see the crop below.

Civil Partnerships. Some photographers feel uncomfortable about civil partnerships and won't cover them. My view is: 'I photograph people.' So I'm free to get on with the business of doing what I do best - taking the photos. And the people I met on Nicky & Emma's big day at Quendon Hall were some of the nicest folk I've worked with!

'Can you make my wife into a moose?' This request could have provoked the shortest marriage in history, but it was actually the bride's idea - the moose is her favourite soft toy! Luckily 'moose' was at the wedding too, so I had a few shots of it in stock. I rather like the furry neck actually...

14 September 2007

Bloke goes West. All the way to Chingford in fact, and the big Catholic church there. For the journey to the reception I chose a more direct route than the wedding car, and so was rather surprised to see it looming up in my rear view mirror! Weighing up the chances of an unplanned 'fly-by' shot, I built up a decent lead, then parked and jumped out in time to grab a sequence as they drove past.

Now how many other 'togs' would do that?

20 August 2007

Mistley Church is great. Not just the architecture, but because of the Reverend Andy (he insisted on 'Andy'), who was without doubt the most helpful and camera-friendly vicar I've ever met. Much to my surprise I was even allowed into the choir area during the ceremony, which enabled me to capture the intimate moment you see below.

15 August 2007

'Uncle Phil'. I don't know where the phrase came from, but it's an affectionate term for the guests who love photography as much as me. I think they're great, and we often have nerdy discussions about lenses and f-stops!

A question of trust. The more I think about it, the more it staggers me. The couples who decide to book me for their wedding photography don't really know me from Adam. I parachute into their lives for a day, join their family and friends for the most special moment in their lives, then disappear into the mist. If I stopped to think about the responsibility on my shoulders, I'd scare myself!

I'm sitting here processing some photos from last weekend and thinking 'what fantastic people'. In three years of doing this I've never lost that feeling, and I hope I never do. If I ever start taking my clients or my work for granted, if I ever get complacent, that's when the magic ends.

The Portraits page gets redder today. I was called over to take some publicity photographs for one of my wackier friends, Rob Ford. As well as looking like Johnny Depp he's one of the country's most published artists, and the photos have certainly added a splash of colour to the page!

It's no good. I've finally to had to concede defeat and add a third page of photographs to the wedding gallery... Two weddings in two days and the resulting haul of over 1,000 new images means that I just can't cram them into the original two pages! See the new photos here.

It's tough but somebody has to do it... I found myself in a modest terraced house surrounded by ten attractive bridesmaids all busy getting ready. There was an anxious moment when some vital hook/fastener thingy broke, but by blending into the background (or to be more precise this time squashing myself into corners!) I emerged almost untrampled and with some great 'behind-the-scenes' photos.

Today I heard a phrase that struck home. I was at the registry office and checking the best place to put the tripod. The spot I wanted to be in was occupied by a table. I asked if I could move it a bit to the right, and got the reply 'All the other photographers do it from the other corner'.

I then realised the Bloke difference -I'm not 'all the other photographers'! I arrive at each venue with fresh eyes and use my best judgement to decide what's going to get the best photographs for the couple. Because I never forget who's paying the bill, and I still find it amazing that they like my work enough to pay it.

Last Saturday I was privileged to get my first 'repeat business' - unwittingly I'd met the couple at another wedding in 2005. And then about a year ago I had an e-mail: 'I was at  the Samantha/David wedding, and you seemed very friendly and I liked the photos I saw on the internet and I was wondering if it would be possible to get a quote from you to photograph our wedding next year.'

To cut a long story short, the completed photos went off today. This wedding was memorable not just for the friendliness of the couple, but the early start and Ditzy the Bear. Yes, yours truly had to stagger up at 7.20am to do this one, and by 5pm he was photographing soft toys. Well I'm a flexible fellow! Three sets of batteries and 6Gb of data later, I made it home. And as ever, it was worth it - they got no fewer than 479 photographs, including Ditzy, the bride's favourite mascot (thanks to the waiter who let me use his black shirt as a background!). Go Ditzy...

A few weeks ago my doorbell rang, and I opened the door to find my neighbours on the step. After the usual exchange of greetings, they said: 'We're getting married in May, we've seen your website and we'd like you to do the photos please'. Which was nice!

The wedding ceremony and reception were held at a pretty manor house in Suffolk called Yaxley Hall - the sort of place you could imagine yourself living in (if only you had that first million pounds). It's beautifully decorated inside and out, the food is home cooked, and to my surprise, for the first time ever I was allowed to use flash during the ceremony - so John and Jane got some excellent photographs.

Now this was an odd one. I had an e-mail asking me for details of my services. I duly replied and we agreed a price. The next stage is usually to meet up for a natter, either here at Bloke HQ or at the venue for a recce visit. However in this case the couple lived in Tyneside!

It turned out they didn't want to get married up there, and thought 'Essex' sounded nice...  so they settled on Leez Priory near Chelmsford. Then, of course, they had to find a photographer within striking distance - and you can work out the rest.

It felt a little strange turning up to a wedding having no idea of what the bride and groom looked like, but all was well and the day passed off without a hitch. So Craig and Su, thank you for signing me up on the strength of a few e-mails and this website!

Bloke was out of his comfort zone this time. Normally I load everything I need into the boot of the car and drive to the venue, where the car acts as a handy storage facility for the bits I'm not using. Except this wedding was in darkest London, where they crush cars if you get too close and you can't park anyway. So I had to travel light and take the train.

Ten minutes after getting on the train I got a text message. The jungle grapevine must have been working overtime because it was from a couple of wedding guests who were on the same train as me!

Logistics aside, the trip was memorable because the wedding was at Marylebone Registry Office. Not only is it a beautiful Georgian building inside, but it's famous for attracting the stars: Sir John Mills in 1941, then Paul McCartney, John Lennon, Ringo Starr and Mick Jagger. We can now add Ron and Heidi to that glittering list!