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2015 – A Visual Reflection

As we are just about to say goodbye to 2015, so here and now I couldn’t think of many better places to sit and write this end of year reflection and my thoughts on the year ahead. I guess sat on a dive boat in the middle of the Red Sea is the way its going to be this year! ;) It’s not count down time for a few days yet, but I couldn’t let this opportunnity for a little peace and reflection pass by without flicking through some 2015 images in a new environment and selecting a few to share here.

This year has yet again seen many firsts for me, from shooting my first wedding in central Oxford earlier in the year, to documenting my first wedding on the Greek island of Skiathos in the middle and then shooting my first wedding in Thailand just a few weeks ago. A few other photography firsts in 2015 have included; Shooting in New York City, visiting Stockholm and booking in a record number of international weddings for 2016 ! You can view more of my recent travel blog here.

Last year I was also delighted to of become a regional finalist in the wedding industry awards ‘best photographer’ category, and I’m thrilled to now of been given this honour two years running, I was also thrilled to of won my first fearless photographer award and winning an international wedding photography select award. (both of these images are featured below)

A few wedding repeats have included heading back to Italy and Lake Garda to shoot a very fun wedding in Malcseine, and I’m exciting to have 3 Italian lake weddings in the fray for next year, including a first time for me on Lake Como. I also returned several times this year to the wonderful spot not far from home to shoot weddings throughout the year at Trevenna Barns in Cornwall.

Moving away from weddings for a moment, me and Poppy have decided to trial living abroad in Spain for a few months at the beginning of 2016, which we are of course very excited about, we will be leaving in April shortly after I return from the WPPI photography conference in Vegas and shooting a wedding in Bali a few days later (its going to be a mad spring spent at 40,000 feet!) :) I will of course still be flying most weekends back to the UK or elsewhere in Europe for my weddings – something I’m very excited about trying out and I am already putting some things in motion to make productivity run high while flying.

People joke that I spend more time outside the UK than at home, this year that prophecy almost came true – and unintentionally really, next year it’s extremely likely that it will indeed become a fact.

Returning to this year, 2015 has revolved around shooting 28 weddings across 3 continents, passing through 16 airports, catching 29 flights and staying at a ridiculous number of hotel rooms – which to start to add up seems like a daunting task. In total I have been fortunate to visit 13 countries this year; France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Spain, USA, Greece, Italy, Sweden, Thailand, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, UAE, and here in Egypt. I have just one more wedding to document and 2 more to edit before 2015 will be officially winding down and the Christmas music can play all day long. :)

2015 has been a great year of new ideas, new challenges, spending time with some inspiring people and documenting some insanely enjoyable weddings, many of which I’m delighted have resulted in new friendships. I hope the new year will bring more of the same as well as plenty of time for some skiing with family and moving things forward once again for the spring of 2016 and beyond. I’m also looking forward to travelling more next year, mostly across Europe for weddings but also some trips to the USA, Bali and Australia in the pipe line. I probably wont be able to stay away from Thailand either, in fact I don’t think Poppy will allow it.

As I say every year around this time, a massive thanks goes out to all those couples whom intrust me to become apart of their lives for a brief amount of time, to document, to share, to create and to experience with them one of the most memorable and fun times in their lives. It is a real privilege to get to know each and every one of you as individuals and I truly consider myself lucky to be able to do this crazy thing I guess you could call my ‘job’.

Below you will find around 200 images that I really could’t narrow down any further to summarise what an awesome 2015 we have all had together. Enjoy having a glance over some of my favourite wedding moments from 2015 and I hope to see many of the faces below again in the near future.

I’m happy that we still have a week or two left of 2015, I will enjoy the time at home to push a few more ideas into reality, but ultimately I’m buzzing for January to begin so we can all go charging into 2016 together. :)

by Barney Walters

2014: A Visual Reflection

2014: A Visual Reflection by Barney Walters

We’ve just said goodbye to 2014 and after a few weeks in the Alps during January, ill be back in February throughly looking forward to the new year ahead. Before I look over the past I would like to say a HUGE thank you to those 68 brides and grooms whom have entrusted me with documenting their wedding days during 2014 and without whom I wouldn’t be able to do this crazy thing I call a ‘job’.

In my normal fashion for this time of year I have put together an end of year visual reflection on 2014 consisting of 100 wedding pictures from the 34 weddings I have been given the privilege to be apart over the past 12 months.

Also in my normal way, I made a false prediction last year that ‘I wouldn’t be moving about as much in 2014’ in fact I have ended up making it the year I have spent the least amount of time in the UK by spending nearly 15 weeks abroad including; a return trip to Denmark on the same weekend as last year for another wedding on Jutland and a shoot in Copenhagen. I also flew to Italy to photograph some wedding celebrations around Lake Garda in Malcesine. As well as visiting Morocco with some fellow photographers at the beginning of the year and then the single longest time outside the UK in South East Asia later in the year with Poppy (Thailand and Cambodia). I’ve also been lucky enough to travel and bump into one of my wedding couples in Dubai. In total visiting 10 countries, 16 airports and taking 17 flights across 3 continents, however I have managed to drive a little less this year, only 28,000 car miles ! More Travel Posts Here.

When not in the car I have spent some more time Home in Cornwall this year, with many weddings taking place in Devon & Cornwall but of course a few elsewhere totalling up the car miles including in Hampshire, Essex, London, Surrey, Wales, Leicestershire, Rutland, and two lovely weddings in The New Forest, an area very new to me but very much looking forward to exploring more. Throughout the year I have rarely visited the same venue twice, except on two occasions; one being the ‘Savile Club’ in London’s Mayfair and the other several times and only a few miles from Home in Cornwall being ‘Trevenna Barns’ which I’ve very excited to be visiting 5 times this coming year at various different stages of the seasons.

Travelling aside, its been great to spend so much time with such a wide range of people this year, not least family and friends but also fellow photographers, my couples and guests at weddings, many of whom I’m positive will remain firm friends for years to come. Its hard to quantify in words the rewarding nature of allowing me to become involved in such a personal and happy time in peoples lives and consequently being able to document and enrich lives for years to come. I love the nature of what ‘I do for work’ and have come across this quote by Simon Sinek recently that sums up my thoughts exactly, that is; ‘The goal is not simply to “work hard, play hard”’ … (which I most certainly believe in) but rather … ‘The goal is to make our work and our play indistinguishable.’ and I’m so happy to strongly believe this is happening.

Just a couples months ago I was honoured to receive so much positive feedback from my couples that had been gathered over the year and resulted in me being a regional finalist in the ‘Wedding Industry Awards’, a national awards event aimed at recognising and rewarding excellence in the UK wedding industry. Fingers are crossed for a similar result in the ‘Westcountry Wedding Awards‘ which are announced in a few weeks time.

Looking to the future and an almost full diary of weddings in 2015, I can only wish for a similar year as the last; Documenting days for those who appreciate the value of visual records for years to come and doing so in a way that generates mutual benefit and hopefully leading to some more friendships along the way. Whilst I have very little travel, other than weddings, planned for this year at the moment, I have no doubt I will find some time to explore the world a little more in 2015.

A massive thank you once again to everyone who has been apart of my 2014 and made it a throughly enjoyable ride on this rollercoaster of life. I wish you all a fabulous 2015 and hope you like these 100 pictures I have picked out from the weddings I’ve been apart of in 2014. Narrowing it down to just 100 frames has been hard but I hope your’ll like this section of moments of huge excitement and tender love from across the UK & Europe.

To all you amazing people throughout 2014, I raise a glass too you.

And to everyone that will build 2015: Lets Do This! ;)

Devon Wedding Photographers