Here are my best wedding photos I have taken since I started Moment Photography. They are a mixture of beautiful venues, cute children, beautiful decorations and gorgeous sunny days. I’ve taken so many thousands of wedding photos over the years that there are probably actually many many more that I could post here.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
This first photo was taken under the dappled light of a tree at Sheldon Manor on a sunny day. I love how the groom is wearing a white suit as it means it doesn’t jar with the light and airy background. I managed to find a spot where I didn’t get bright hotspots on the face. I think I did however have to try and remove some of the green reflection from the surroundings on their face. The shot was taken at around f2 and I think it just looks magical. I remember getting excited at the time I took it.
Somerset County Ground
This is the wedding of a good friend of mine. He loves his cricket, so as the wedding was at the Country Ground in Taunton, we had to get some fun shots with a cricket themed background and some props like a cricket bat and ball. I think the way he is holding the bat and how his bride is leaning in gives a nice shape to their stance. They were both great in front of the camera and we were all pleased with the shots we got.
White Post Nursery – Langford Budville
You pretty much can’t go wrong with kids and bubbles. children just love to chase bubbles and splat them between their hands. The fact the bubbles fly around randomly means you get all sorts of funny and engaged expressions, and the camera is no longer a distraction. A little bit of back lighting really makes this little boy stand out and the lady behind blowing the bubbles gives the photo context. Again a shallow depth of field gives a beautiful look.
Although set up, I tried to make this photo of Will & Nicole look a little like I was watching from afar at an intimate romantic moment. I was lucky that the wind caught the veil and the dark hedge background behind it makes it stand out. I have a colour version of this photo too, but I think the black and white removes some distractions and gives it a very classic look. I try not to rely on filters to make photos look good. A photo should be able to look good before you apply anything extra to it.
With this shot I had added the red and blue light you can see on each side of people’s heads. I also had a flash on the camera. I remember having a lot of trouble that day though as the flash triggers for the red and blue lights were being temperamental. I’ve since upgraded the flashes to something more reliable, but I was really pleased to get this shot and a few similar to it that capture the fun and excitement of the dancing. This was a particularly carefree crowd, everyone seemed to be really enjoying themselves and dancing seemingly without a care in the world.
Huntstile Organic farm
This was a quiet moment shortly before the bride was to walk up the aisle and be married. I like this intimate moment with her Dad, and the old style decor of the room they are standing in at Huntstile Organic Farm. She was a really fun bride too, very charismatic. Here are her wedding photos.
I almost missed this shot. One of the relatives with me brought it to my attention so I deliberately took it with a bit of foliage in the foreground as a kind of looking into a world of a where a wedding and horses collide. Definitely not your regular wedding photo, which is why I like it.
How many weddings do you see the bride and groom ride to the wedding reception on the back of a horse? The combination of beautiful light, beautiful horses and the setting make this a winner of a wedding photo.
Huntstile Organic farm – Goathurst
This bride and groom had a fun idea they wanted to try out. They had brought with them a large rope to be used for a tug-of-war. I just needed to then position them and make sure that the sun was behind them. This meant that the sun would not be shining in their eyes. I did make a little adjustment to the photo, but I’m very pleased with the result. Sorry, I can’t remember who won 🙂
Sometimes there is a certain degree of luck with the photos that I get. I am always keeping an eye on events as they unfold in front of me, but even when doing this it can be very challenging to get the exact moment which shows the emotions that you want to capture. I just love the way she is holding his face and how he is closing his eyes. There just seems to be so much passion in this photo. More photos here.
You can usually count on some of the children at weddings to have some spirit about them. These two young boys were fine examples. I like the fact that these two boys are wearing the same clothes. The braces really add to their character, and their expressions just help to give the photo humour and a sense of mischief.
I really love to take photos of the bride and groom away from all of the guests. I like to find a nice natural location, and this particular location has a wild feel about it. The texture of the foreground and the background just frames them beautifully. I added a little vignette, but I don’t like to overdo it. I think the interaction between them is also quite beautiful.
Some photos just lend themselves to black-and-white. I think the fact that they are sitting on a horse and carriage means this photo needs no colour. In another photo and before the wedding ceremony, the groom was driving a brightly coloured tractor, so this is an interesting alternative.
The parasol in this photo acts both as a prop and also as a way of controlling the light on this girl’s face. As you can see it is a bright sunny day, and without the parasol there would be hard shadows on her face (as you can see on her arm). Having this shade from the direct sun means it is more comfortable for her to look at the camera without her face grimacing by squinting. More photos here.
By this time of the day, mid evening, the light was fading and I had already got most of the important photos of the day. I had the opportunity to try and get a more interesting photo as I had some extra time. With this photo I wanted the marquee to be in sharp focus, but show the movement of the people as they moved around and enjoyed the evening.
There are a number of things I like about this photo. The one thing you can’t go far wrong with, are some pretty blonde young ladies. But also the bright vivid pink and the natural smiles really add to feel of the image. I also took the photo in an area where there was diffused light, so this meant that the light was very flattering to the bride and bridesmaids. More photos here.
Body language tells you a lot about photo, and I think in this photo, both the bride and groom are totally immersed as they listen to the speeches and really enjoy themselves. I love how their friends and family are a background to their expressive faces in this photo. More photos here.
St Audries Park – West Quantoxhead
Whilst maybe the positioning of this photo is not as I would like, what I do like is the expression on this bridesmaid’s face and the colour and the light behind them. More photos here.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
I remember taking this photo quite late in the night, it was around that time of the longest night of the year. It was at a point in the evening after I had got the most important photos (and I think I was actually due to leave by this point), but I could see this opportunity unfolding in front of me, and I wanted to make sure that I got this photo before I left. If I had left at the agreed time it wouldn’t have been dark enough to capture this photo.
This is quite a standard photo, but I like the blurred background, the boy’s glasses that match with his waistcoat, and he just looks very smart; it’s a nice portrait of him.
This photo was taken at the Bakersfield Museum of Art in California. A very glamorous bride with her glamorous sisters as bridesmaids, and wearing colourful dresses against the colourful background, make for a very pleasing photo. This is simple photo, but all of these elements together make it a success.
Another groom wearing white, and I love the bright red colour of the roses in the brides bouquet. I deliberately positioned the bride and groom under the shade of the tree so that there wasn’t harsh sunlight on their faces, and it reduced a little the need to squint. Your eye is led from the bride and groom, along the fence and across the field and into the distance. More photos here.
It can be quite difficult to get a pleasing and flattering photo of the bride as she exits the wedding car. So on this occasion I did actually set up this shot, But I think it works perfectly and she looks totally natural. I think I remember I did need to warm up this photo a little, and as a result I’ve beautiful rich colours, nice skintones and lovely vivid reflections in the glass of the car. I seem to remember at the time that the camera I was using had quite a poor focusing system. Technology has now moved on and improved, but I remember it being quite a challenge to keep her in focus as she moved out of the car. More photos here.
Again a very simple shot. The shade of a a tree created a very flattering light on this couple, and the green of the grass really brings out the whole photo. I remember though when I first looked at the photo it didn’t look very impressive. A little extra warmth and attention when editing the photo really made it standout.
I think this photo was one that I’d wanted to do for a long time. But how many times can you drag a bride and groom into the field of corn? As it happens, at this wedding, the marquee was positioned right next to this field of corn. As the wedding reception was being held at the family home, it meant I had access to borrowing a ladder to get an elevated view looking down at the bride and groom. The only thing that disappoints me about this photo is that I can see the bride’s dress is caught a little on the corn, and if I spotted this at the time I would have corrected it. More photos here.
I think I’d seen a photo similar to this and it was something I wanted to try. It really is such a simple idea and that the result is so effective. It’s very important however to communicate clearly with all those in the photo and make sure everyone has your attention so that you get a flattering and pleasing result.
This couple had just been married at Porlock Weir, and their guests had gone on to the wedding reception, leaving us to have some photos on the beach. The way they are sitting casually on the pebbles against this very rustic organic background I think makes the photo very interesting. And I’ve positioned them in a shady spot so that the light is flattering on their faces and upper body.
Unfortunately for the bride, later in the day she had an allergic reaction to some food at the wedding reception, but this was only temporary and she was better after a while.
Some couples, well most couples actually I find, are very easy going and great to work with; maybe it’s because the wedding is such a happy day. I had fun with this couple taking some creative photos underneath the canopy of the trees near the church at West Monkton. I think what really adds to this photo, apart from their expressions and veil over them, is the beautiful dappled orbs of light behind them. More photos here.
If you can get the camera settings right, backlighting really makes photo come alive, and in this photo you can see it is illuminating the grass, and the outline of the bridesmaids as they walk away from me arm in arm. The fact that the dresses are more of an organic pink, means they blend nicely into the setting they are in.
Here’s that cheeky young fellow from earlier. I never did see the photo he got of me, but I would be intrigued to see the result.
Looking down from Haldon Belevedere Castle
This can be quite a challenging photo to pull off. I remember taking this from maybe the first or the second floor of Haldon Belvedere Castle in Exeter. Trying to manage a large group of people who can be distracted and excitable on a wedding day can certainly be a challenge. And you need to do it quickly and with a smile on your face, and before the smiling expressions of the guests fade. Fortunately on this occasion I had the assistance of the videographer, who was down on the ground. I gave most of the instructions, but he was able to fine-tune the positioning of the guests standing below me. The combination of the right amount of people, the right amount of space, and the correct height from which to take a photo, meant this image was probably my biggest success out of all the times I’ve used this idea.
Hestercombe Gardens – Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton
I don’t always have the luxury of a pleasing background as well as space. But on this occasion I had all of these things, and I asked the driver of the vintage wedding car to position it on the grass. I then just needed to move the bride and groom, and also positioned myself in the right place to get the right arrangement of elements.
I’m not sure every bride would want to lay her beautiful wedding dress on the grass, but this wasn’t your conventional bride. The bright pink and the feet waving in the air give this photo a sense of fun.
You don’t necessarily need anything very complicated for a background. All that I needed for this photo was some shade on the bride and groom, so that it removed any chance of harsh shadows, and an illuminated dappled light background.
I took a few photos of this scene, but I wanted to include the driver of the vintage wedding car in one of them. You meet some really interesting characters who drive these old cars and I thought he was all part of the story. A Wide angle lens gave a sense of scale and a little drama.
Halswell House
I have plenty of people who take any photos over my shoulder at weddings, but sometimes I do the same and take a photo over the shoulder of one of the bride or the groom’s friends. You are sure to get some natural beaming smiles as I have in this photo. I wouldn’t rely on this as a way to get smiles in my photos, but sometimes it’s just nice to have something a little alternative. More photos here.
At most weddings you have a posh wedding car, but at this wedding they had an old Land Rover Defender. The Land Rover fits perfectly into its country surroundings and I think this makes for a really fun and alternative wedding photo. I could have had the bride and groom stand on the ground, but I thought having them on the back of the Land Rover just added more to the image. I actually don’t mind that it’s an overcast day because it means that there aren’t harsh shadows and I think it gives more an earthy feel to the photo.
If there is an opportunity to do something differently, you definitely need to take it! It’s clear that this couple have a farming background and I guess this is an example of old meets new technology when it comes to farming. If anything, simply the size of the horse is impressive! At this same wedding they had a tractor with a bucket on the front, and this was used to raise me up in the air for one of the group photos. I guess it sure beats using a ladder!
In some respects this seemed like a fairytale wedding to me because it had a beautiful horse and carriage and a beautiful bride. This photo was taken shortly before the bride and her groom left after the wedding ceremony.
Not all the most successful wedding photos have to contain the bride and the groom. Many of the best wedding photos depict that guests at the wedding. I love how the guests are really engaged and listening to the speeches in the marquee at this Somerset wedding. I really like the reaction of the lady in the foreground, but also the lady that is hugging her husband in the background. Now if the man on the left could only open his eyes haha.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
Not only did this passageway between the hedges at the wedding venue Sheldon Manor provide some privacy for the bride and groom, it also provided some shade from the direct sun, and I wanted to use the space available to create depth in the photo. I did another photo like this too, but I swapped the places of the bride and groom. More photos here.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
This Indian marquee is certainly a departure from the regular sort of marquee that you would see at most weddings. The extra decorative details and colour, and the fact that the sides are open, creates something quite beautiful. And if that wasn’t enough you have to stunning historic garden background of the venue where the wedding is held.
Gants Mill – Bruton
Along with photos of the bride and groom, I also of course take photos of the details that the bride and groom have created, like bunting, table decorations, and bows on the chairs at the wedding reception. But nature also provides its own decorations, especially if you’re photographing a wedding in the Gardens of Gants Mill in Somerset. I particularly liked the detail and the colour of these small pink flowers, and I thought this was a nice addition to the rest of the wedding photos.
I took a number of photos of this drummer as he played outside Shapwick House. This is my favourite photo though because I liked his expression, and I also liked his dramatic, black thick rimmed glasses. Making it black-and-white emphasises that all the more.
St Audries Park – West Quantoxhead
A smiling interaction, some backlighting and some colourful colourful wedding attire, as well as colourful cocktails, makes for a pleasing image at St Audries Park.
Another tractor photo and I wanted to use the tractor as a prop rather than have the bride and groom simply stand in front of it. I used a slightly wider angle lens for this photo to give a little more drama. You do have to be careful though because in my early years of wedding photography, I used my wide angle lens in the wrong way and it can distort people in the photo and be rather unflattering.
I am always on the lookout for moving images, but at a wedding there is so much going on and there are many opportunities you can easily miss. So I was very pleased that I managed to capture this tender moment between these two ladies.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
Although there is nothing complicated about how I’ve positioned this bride and groom, I think the setting they’re in is what makes this a successful photo. But I also really like their Labrador dog because he has his own bow tie, and was even given the title of “Best Dog!” More photos here.
When I’m taking photos of people I try make them laugh and make them smile, but it can be difficult to get a natural smile from someone if they are not usually keen being in front of the camera. However with this couple this really is a genuine moment of joy between them; I was fortunate I got it just at the right time.
St Audries Park – West Quantoxhead
As well as photos of the bride and groom, and the details that you see at a wedding; I like to get some photos that are taken from afar, that tell the story, which show the setting, and put things into context.
I do wonder to myself what this little girl was thinking. She looks slightly sad, but she wasn’t. But I just love those big glassy innocent looking eyes.
Sheldon Manor – Chippenham
This probably isn’t the sort of photo I would normally take, but seeing the guests clapping the bride and groom, the beautiful light, and the beautiful setting; I could not let this opportunity pass, even though it is a photo of the back of the bride and groom. More photos here.
This image of this man dancing on the dance-floor always makes me laugh a little. Clearly he was rather drunk by this point, but what really tells the story is that you can see on the bottom of his tie there was a little wine he’d spilt from his carefree energetic dancing. He really got into the music and enjoyed himself, and why not?
If I can make the time, it’s good to get a close-up photo of the wedding rings. Sometimes it’s hard to find a good background for such a photo. In this instance I admit I was struggling a little to find a suitable place because there was a certain amount of clutter and boxes amidst all that was going on that morning. But for this photo all I used was a glass table top that was in the corner of a busy kitchen. As it turned out that was all that I needed.
I took a number of photos of this horse and carriage at Cossington Park, and most of them were on the road, but this one time, the carriage crossed a field and I think this added so much more to the photo. The trees in the background and the texture of the foreground holds it all together. Of course I had to add a little sepia to make it look more authentic.
Gants Mill – Bruton
Guests were arriving for this wedding at Gants Mill, and these children were ready to play immediately. They had their plastic swords, and the fact that one of the children was in a pushchair didn’t seem to hinder his enthusiasm for having a play. It’s the expression of the boy on the left, and the angle that the boy on the right is standing that I think makes it a fun photo.
Gants Mill – Bruton
More tea vicar? More used to seeing a couple holding glasses of champagne, this newlywed couple were holding cups of tea. How very English. More photos here.
With this fairytale bride, white horse-drawn carriage, and dashing husband, this photo looks like it’s straight from a Disney film.
Hestercombe Gardens – Cheddon Fitzpaine, Taunton
I could have taken this photo a lot closer to the bride and groom as they walked up the steps at Hestercombe Gardens, But I loved the texture of the steps and small plants that were growing from between the cracks.
Gants Mill – Bruton
Again nature provided its own decorations at this wedding at Gants Mill, with this bumblebee as it hovered near this is pretty purple flower.
Useful wedding photography links
If you would like me to photograph your wedding, contact me by dropping me an email. You can find more information about my wedding photography on my weddings home page and you can find wedding photography prices here. You can read here why it is is important to hire a professional photographer, and also my 25 tips for getting the best wedding photography. There’s also a photography slideshow on my wedding photography home page.