Engagement Wedding Photography

Wedding Photographer Cornwall, Devon, London

Dartmoor Wedding Engagement Photography

Dartmoor has been somewhere I have wanted to shoot some wedding engagement photography for a while, waiting for a couple located in the right part of the country, coupled with a good days weather and timings for a sunset have taken a few months but a few days back it all came together nicely as I went up on to Dartmoor with some friends of Poppy’s who’s wedding I am photographing in Greece later in the year, excited! :) Dartmoor is a vast open space of moorland and after dismissing my initial idea around Tavistock, we went further into Dartmoor towards Princetown and Two Bridges, however I soon realised that the ideas that I had for this shoot were more suited to the open space around Tavistock Golf Club than the rocky fields more towards the centre.

We ended up shooting this set of pictures just a few miles from Tavistock in a spot I had previously used briefly for a wedding in Tavistock a few weeks back in the middle of the day. The landscape changes completely an hour before sunset as the long shadows create nice pockets of orange light across the selection of opens spaces, alined trees and ‘bushes’ as the bride to be put it. :).

I don’t think I have been shooting many silhouette pictures for a while, its not something you really lean towards when their is flat light around (the normal in England), however with some of the recent bursts of beautiful evening and morning light and sunshine filled days, it turns out I like shooting a few silhouettes, just to add something else into the mix. Anyway if your looking through a few of my blogs, you may notice a few more creeping through than normal.

Anyway back to this couple, we had a good laugh shooting for just under an hour around this little spot of Dartmoor, and I am really looking forward to flying out with them to the island of Kos, Greece in just under 10 weeks to photograph their celebrations with a select few, and I will be honoured to be with them and documenting their moments and stories as they unfold. Hope you like. :)

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– by Barney Walters

Wedding Engagement Beach Photography

A Wedding Engagement or Pre Shoot is a vital part of the wedding coverage that I provide my couples with, and a wedding engagement photography session on a beach is always great! On the surface its a few pictures of the couple together, but the underling reason I always photograph an engagement shoot is the same reason I always plan with my couples before the wedding. The small shoot (sometime only half and hour), and the planning day result in better communication, trust and understanding between myself and the couple, as apposed to the alternative of just rocking up on the wedding day and say ‘so… what we doing?’. Such a terrible mistake in my mind!

Are my wedding pictures any less emotive or any less genuine because a few simple thoughts and plans have been taking into consideration? The complete opposite in my view – my constant aim is for genuine pictures! By insuring that the couple are comfortable with me, and my getting a feel from as early as the Engagement Shoot what they are comfortable with and how they react with me and each other, means on the wedding day itself, the couple are more than used to me being around and can simply get on and enjoy the Wedding!

After all… It is a wedding… not a photo shoot!

So here are a few pictures from my most recent Engagement shoot on Praa Sands beach near Penzance in Cornwall. And I am now very much looking forward to this couples wedding in the coming weeks. :)

If you want to read more of my thoughts on Engagement Shoots and the Planning Day then just click the links. Otherwise I would love for you to check out some more of my wedding photography on the Blog.

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– By Barney Walters

Wedding Photography Cornwall Engagement Shoot

Wedding Photography Cornwall Engagement Shoot as far South West as St Just was a new experience for me last week. I often shoot pre shoots around the coast of both Cornwall & Devon, normally going as far South West as Penzance, Mariazion and Long Rock area at the end of the A30. This couple, who live in the London area, who are coming down to and back to Cornwall in the case of the Groom to get married, decided that they would like to have their pre shoot around the area that the ceremony and reception would be taking place, I was obviously more than happy to agree to this. It was really great to use such a dramatic backdrop of the Cornish coast line in my pictures, and as I thought would be suitable I made the most of the vast space mixed with the achtectrial remains of the famous Cornish mining industry.

Due to the couple living some distance from Cornwall and not travelling down often, the pre shoot, which we also coupled as an advanced walk through of their wedding day, looking at venues and possible options for some bride and groom pics, was the first time I had met the couple in person, and as such their is always a little more pressure as you begin to photograph them only having met an hour earlier, none the less, using distance and space as the strength I was able to stand off the couple for a lot of the time, as I would on the wedding day itself anyway.

Here are a few pictures from the shoot around the St Just, Botallack, Trewellard & Pendeen area that the couple have received, In total their are around 70 pictures from just over half an hours shooting. What do you think…? Would love your thoughts below. – BW

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Looe Cornwall Engagament Family Photography

Engagement Shoots in Cornwall for Weddings

Engagement Shoots in Cornwall for Weddings was the subject for my last blog post, in this post I have also included some more Engagement shoot pics, however this time with the added aspect of children, becoming more like a family portrait shoot on the Beach, than a Pre Wedding Shoot. Kids always add a fun aspect to things, and often they don’t know how to pose, and therefore don’t try – which is amazing! – everything just comes natural with kids and as well as being a great subject themselves, couples/parents, can look to the kids for something to do and create more events naturally as a whole than they would if it was just a normal Engagement Shoot.

Whilst shooting though its also important for me to get across to the couple a few small techniques for subconsciously working with me on the wedding day, just a look over the shoulder, or a genuine embrace, phrases I use and things I do. Apart from making sure these small things happen, then kids can be a real positive on a Pre Shoot, as an event or task is created, as would be on the wedding day. You can read more about Pre Shoots here, Or more about Portrait Shoots here.

The pictures below were shot last weekend, towards the start of our week of british summer, around the Looe & Downderry area on the South Coast of Cornwall, although we didn’t get started until lunchtime, the coast held a lot of mist, which I used as a clean backdrop for a lot of the pics, after a while though the sun came out slightly and we had a slightly different look to work with. Hop you like this small selection of pics from around 60 that the couple have received.

-BW

Wedding Engagement Photography Cornwall

Wedding Engagement Photography Cornwall and Devon has filled most of my week and weekend this week, shooting several pre shoots or engagement shoots for upcoming weddings over the next month or so. On Friday I photographed two of my couples, one in the morning near Exeter, towards Budleigh Salterton for those who know the area. The second pre shoot took place towards the end of the day near Bude at Widemouth Bay in Cornwall. A was looking forward to it, nice range of driving for my new motor, shoot some pictures on two fabulous beaches and meet some of my couples once again, this was until I had a look at the weather forecast.

I adore going to beaches for pre shoots, the space is fabulous to have and normally the scenery is also super, especially around the Devon & Cornwall coats lines. However I was a little concerned going in to the day with the weather, but as it turned out it worked fine. My morning pre shoot went well without even a spot of a rain, it started to rain as I left. Phew! At Widemouth in the evening was a little bit wetter, ok, it was a lot wetter, BUT, we shot some great frames in the wet, using the strengths of the surrondings, and all credit to the couple who were sublime and happy with everything that the weather chucked at us. We were in for a treat though, just as we walked down the long stretch of beach towards the sea, the clouds moved and we had 10 minutes of some of the best moody sky with bright sunshine I have seen in a long while, just beautiful!

Engagement wedding photography is about a lot more than just the pictures, and I think many couples and even many other photographers, don’t understand the true value of spending this time with the couple, building a relationship, creating an environment where ideas can be made, walls can be broken and an understating and repertoire between myself and the couple can be built.

Anyway without any further rambling.. here are a few pictures fro both shoots on Friday.

-BW

Engagement Photography in Torquay | Cornwall & Devon Weddings

Its been a while since I have posted a blog solely on Pre Wedding or Engagement Photography, but after last weekends amazing evening light in Torquay, where I met up with one of my couples for a pre wedding shoot I simply couldn’t resist blogging. We were scheduled to meet in the late afternoon on Sunday, however in I knew early on that the evenings light had high chances of being super and because of this I had a discussion with the couple to meet an hour later in order to enter the golden hour of shooting (the hour before sunset or after sunrise). The light did not disappoint, and I had a throughly enjoyable evening photographing, planning and socialising with the couple.

Often couples are very keen for a pre shoot or engagement shoot and it is something I stress with the highest importance, however there are times when some of my couples have been a bit spectacle of having some pictures of the two of them in a normal situation, a wedding is natural but the engagement shoot isn’t often an event outside of its purpose. This leads me nicely on to explaining my three main reason for a pre shoot:

1. Allowing the couple to put confidence in me and my work. They will see the pictures from the pre shoot / engagement shoot several weeks before the wedding, and therefore will be able to see I can produce the pictures they want. So on the wedding day its one less thing for them to worry about and they are more likely to trust my decisions, ideas and judgement.

2. Allowing the couple to feel more comfortable with me around. Although my style is of a documentary nature for a large part of the wedding day, I often photograph the couple together in a combination of simple and ambitions ways that add to the narrative of their wedding pictures. To do this in the best possible way, the couple need to be relaxed and most importanatly act naturally as if I wasn’t around.

3. For me to get to know the couple personally and photographically. Not just their so called good side and bad side, but what they are comfortable doing and how they act together as a couple, are they the adventurous type, or just loving and affectionate? It gives me an insight and allows me to develop ideas of things like the level of documentary vs couple pics they might want on the wedding day itself. Although ultimately all I ever do at a wedding or on the planning day before is make suggestions and explain the advantages / disadvantages and let the couple decide. I just supply the options.

I can firmly say that after this pre shot and many others, I walk away feeling more like a friend of the couple than being employed by them. Initial meetings are for business and selling myself, a pre shoot is about having fun together, getting to know them and becoming more of a friend with them, so on the wedding day, all I have to do is take great pictures. :)

Below are a few of the pictures from my engagement shoot last week at Torquay – for those who follow my work you may notice more of a film look to the pictures and a bit more colour than normal, its an avenue and a development I am currently exploring – more on that soon.

So here are a few frames from the 95 pictures the couple will receive.