After an afternoon at HyperJapan and not taking many photos, I was itching to use all this camera equipment I’d unpacked.  Fortunately, Danni was all done up in a cute outfit and willing to be my lovely model.

It was the nicest day so far this year so we opened up the patio to take advantage of the cherry blossoms erupting from the trees in the park.  Our patio worked out to be the perfect height to give us some lovely (if not a little busy) backdrops.

This is exactly the sort of thing I’ve been hoping to do more of this year, but haven’t really gotten around to doing.  We’ve been busy with house hunting and that, coupled with a pair of photo shoots I’ve had fall through I haven’t done nearly as much portrait photography as I’d like.

Thanks to my lovely wife for being such a good sport, and to Pepsi for always getting involved whenever the lights and cameras come out!  There’s a couple more images in the gallery.

How do you write a blog post about the happiest day of your life?  I’ve never been much of a wordsmith (which is part of the reason I started writing on this public forum) so I’ll struggle to find the appropriate words and metaphors to describe the events of October 18th, 2011.

I awoke in our London flat early in the morning with my family present and already buzzing about.  The day was about as perfect a day you could ask for on such a special occasion.  White, puffy clouds and sunny skies don’t come every day in the UK so we couldn’t have timed it any better.

Danni, her father and her brides maid Ping had spent the evening prior at a hotel in Thornbury near our venue, so all that remained was to load up my family and make the 2 hour journey.  The trip was uneventful, but in hindsight stopping for a coffee was probably a bad idea as the caffeine wasn’t helping my prenuptial jitters.

Our venue for the day was the amazing Thornbury Castle, which just so happened to be location of our engagement 7 months earlier.  We had actually looked at quite a few other options, but we had such a special time at Thornbury that it just felt right to go back and exchange our vows within it’s walls.  There’s also something to be said for getting married in a castle.

My brother and best friend Robert had agreed to a shared role of best man, so the three of us got ready together in a nearby hotel where most of our guests would be staying.  It wasn’t until we started to get dressed that my nerves really kicked in.  Not so much because I was worried about getting married, but because I was worried that something might go wrong with our carefully laid plans.  It seems like so much hangs on other people (most of whom you’ve never met) getting things just right, and the control freak in my was not happy about this at all.  I think this was very likely the first time I’ve ever paced in my life, it was impossible for me to sit still.

The previously mentioned coffee was certainly not enhancing my calm either.

Our brilliant photographers (the ones who’ve taken all of the images in this post) where on hand to capture the getting ready stages of the day.  I was lucky enough to have a London based wedding photographer (and my good friend) Ian Schofield with his assistant Richard Swaffield (also a good friend) covering our day.  We couldn’t have asked for more professional coverage and the images, as you can see here, were simply stunning.

We were both required by UK law to be interviewed by the registrars before the wedding, presumably to ensure that neither of us were being married under duress.  Great care was taken to prevent Danni and I from accidentally bumping into each other while our separate statements were being given, and we must have answered to their satisfaction as they allowed us to proceed.

I don’t remember much of the waiting period while I chatted with friends and family waiting for the event to begin and Danni to finally arrive.  There were a lot of nervous jokes, more pacing and an awful lot of watch checking.  It wasn’t long before Glinis, the registration officer conducting our ceremony, began to organize the wedding party and give us a run down of what was about to happen.  Before I knew it, we were all lined up, the music had started and Danni was entering the room with her father and bridesmaid.

I remember turning towards the door in time to witness her enter, and then quickly turning back and facing away.  I can’t say for certain why I looked away.  I think part of me didn’t believe I was getting married to someone so amazing, someone so stunning that I was afraid my eyes were actually playing tricks on me.  I didn’t want to look back for fear that it had all been just a wonderful illusion, that maybe none of this was actually real.

It only lasted a second or two before I couldn’t stop myself from glancing back to watch my lovely wife-to-be walk down the aisle in her breathtaking dress.

Glinis was eloquent and warm as she read through our vows and guided us through the ceremony.  She spoke with the slow, even pace and confidence of someone who’d done this a thousand times.  We were made to feel as though she was talking directly to us while still projecting for everyone else in attendance.  My mom also gave a lovely reading which she modified and personalized to more closely reflect our life in the big city of London.  It’s always nice to have that personal touch.

Repeating our customized vows whet smoothly despite our mutual nerves and with no one objecting to our union, we exchanged rings first, and then a kiss.  I even managed to remove Danni’s veil without disrupting her carefully arranged hair and makeup, something I’d been fretting about for most of the morning.  Describing the feeling of actually getting married to the person you love is difficult as for me, there doesn’t seem to be an equivalent and descriptive terms like amazing or incredible just don’t cover it. Everyone says it’s their best day ever, which is vague and accurate all at the same time.

I think the goofy grin that never left my face describes it best.

After the ceremony we chatted for a bit in the lobby, exchanging hugs and receiving congratulations from our family and friends before heading outside for the formal photos.  The October weather was chilly enough force a few people back in, but not before we’d taken several large group shots.  Immediate family and the wedding party got to stay behind for some additional photos before they were allowed back inside to the bar, but we didn’t keep them long.  Once again the photographers were great and moved things along to make sure we got all of the images we wanted.

Our afternoon tea was served at 4 during which a few speeches were given (Danni’s fathers speech being the highlight for me), thanks were offered and scones were slathered in cream and scoffed.   The intimate dining room we were provided with was perfect for the occasion, complete with a roaring, crackling fire to help set the mood.  If there is a better setting for a proper English tea, I haven’t found it yet.

In keeping with the English feel of our wedding, we then set off to a traditional local pub in the town centre for food and a few drinks.  We stayed and chatted till late in the evening before saying farewell to some of our heartier drinking relations and heading back to the castle for a night in the glorious Henry VIII room.  A perfect end to a day that couldn’t have been more ideal.

We want to thank all of our friends and family who made the journey (however long) to be with us on our day.  Thanks to the fine folks at Thornbury Castle for a perfect venue, amazing food and exemplary service.  We really feel that everything we asked for was taken care of to the letter.  The clerks from South Gloucestershire were helpful throughout the process and nothing short of professional on the day. Our two photographers were brilliant as you can see from the photos included, and I can’t recommend their services enough.

And finally, thanks to my lovely new wife for being everything I’ve ever wanted.

Whiney xxx

There are a load of additional photos in the gallery.

So, this year was my second attempt (first attempt here) at an all night photo shoot throughout the streets of London.  The plan was to all meet up on one of the shortest nights of the year, stay up all night and end up at Westminster bridge to try and recreate a few of the iconic images seen in the opening sequences of the film 28 Days Later.

We all met up around 7:30 (baring a few stragglers) on the south side of Tower Bridge for a few sunset photo opportunities.  As I have about 200 images of Tower Bridge already, I took a couple of snaps and then spent most of my time chatting with the other folks.

After everyone arrived, I set up a couple of lights and made everyone pose for a big group photo before we started our slow trek to Westminster.

The POTN Gang
L to R: Matt, Steve, Brett, Paul, Neal, Angus, Bonnie, Scott, Me

Our walk took us from Tower Bridge to Westminster Bridge via the Gherkin, Bank, St. Pauls, Smithfields and Holburn before finally catching a bus from the Strand for our final leg of the journey.  We were running short on time to catch sunrise at Westminster, so we’ll plan a bit better next year I think.

While the sunrise we had wasn’t brilliant, it did provide some terrific light at Westminster which enabled me to get the photo I’d had in my head for a few days prior to the outing.

We were expecting the area to be completely quiet, but London being the city is it there was still a fair amount of traffic and quite a few people heading home from a long night out at 4:30 in the morning.  Still, there were few enough people that we got the shots we wanted without having to photoshop anyone out of the scene.

Definitely a great night out and worth the red bull shakes I had the following day.

As always, there are a few more shots in the gallery.

There are very few landmarks in London that I don’t already have a proverbial ‘butt load’ of photos of, but the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey definitely fall into that category.  To be fair, I have quite a few shots of the HoP but most of them are from across the river in your standard tourist visiting the Thames style.  I wanted something different.

I met up with Dennis shortly after work and we wasted no time setting up and peppering Big Ben’s clock tower with shots.  Generally, shooting things with a tilt-shift lens gives me a unique twist on some oft-photographed subjects, but it’s not always a guarantee.  That being said, I was pretty happy with the set of photos I ended up with.

From there it was on to the Abbey for a few more shots while the rest of the days light faded.  This church will be the location for the upcoming royal wedding in April, so it was a fairly topical spot to shoot.  I’m certainly not going to try to come down here and get a few photos on the day, as organizers are expecting several hundred thousand people to turn up and try to catch a glimpse.  I suspect I’ll stay home and watch it on TV…

Before calling it a night and heading to the nearest pub, we wandered past the south end of Westminster Palace for a few more shots of the building as well as the required portrait shots.

Check out my sweet camera (and note the camera envy on my face)

There are a few more photos of our excursion here.

I think I’m going to have to create an album just for shots of London, as my new project has me out quite often shooting scenes within the city. This past Saturday had me out with Lord Crawley again shooting the oft-photographed south bank including Westminster, the eye and even the Banksy Tunnel.

I’ve shot the tunnel in the past, but this time I dragged along some lighting kit to do a portrait shot or two.  Lee was kind enough to be my model for the evening, which made things much easier!

We also managed to spin a couple of orbs on the south bank, much to the surprise of the passersby out for a quiet stroll.  At one point I was worried about collecting tips as a street performer while I stood on a raised dais whirling my LED’s around.  Still, I think it was worth it and I wouldn’t have said no to a few quids worth of coins.

Sunday was spent with my friend Su Kim doing some portrait head shots for her London relocations website.  It was fun to do something in a psudo-professional capacity and getting a free, yummy lunch out of the deal just made my day!  We’re still in the selection process, but there should be one or two processed photos online shortly.  If not here than at the very least on my 365 site as I didn’t take any other photos that day.

A few more shots from the weekend are available in the gallery.