Earlier this week I spent another great day with the team at Aspire Photography Training. This time it was ‘I Do I Do I Do’ workshop which gives the chance for photographers to come up and spend some time building their portfolio for their wedding business. The first part of the day is spend with me going over how we approach a wedding and discuss the things that work really well for us. Then it was outside into the rain! Yes rain! It was supposed to be a nice warm day 25 degrees and blue sky. But we must have had a little micro climate of our own because it pretty much rained all day. But as with weddings you can’t say can we come back another day – so on we went. First it was shooting a pre-wed with the ace couple Rebecca & Scott then some wedding shots with Faye & Chris.

The afternoon session was built around the delegates having around 40 minutes with each of the couples. We were joined by a third couple Petra & James. So everyone spent 2 hours shooting 3 different couples. Then back for some coffee and to dry our feet ( my converses will never be the  same again ). We finished off with a bit of Q&A before heading back home.

It was a fab day with a great bunch of people. If you want to get involved with the same course – Aspire are running it again on the 1st of November 2011

Here’s a quick peek at a few images from Kat & David’s fab wedding on Saturday, first at St Josephs church in Harrogate then onto Ripley castle. Everything about the day was relaxed and fun – we had a gorgeous couple, a Vera Wang dress, very entertaining best man, routemaster bus and triplets for bridesmaids which got very confusing! Anyway the full post will come in a couple of weeks after Kat & David come back from honeymoon but for now here is a sneaky peek of the day.

Kat’s wedding present to David – tickets to the British Grand Prix – got a great reaction from the guys!

I did a great pre-wedding shoot last week at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park. This is a lovely location. We take the kids there a lot to have a good run about and get inspired by the great works of modern art on display.  I met up with Katie & Peter who are getting married at Aston Hall in July. The weather was fab as has been all April and May so far. Long may it continue into September. Anyway, it was great to get to know Katie & Peter a bit better – they were fantastic models and really good company. I’m really looking forward to their wedding which is in July.

Here are a few pictures from the other day.

I had the pleasure of spending a gorgeous Thursday morning in the village of Bradfield with Chris & Rhonda. We met outside the village hall where they are going to have their reception before going into the local cafe for a coffee. This was a great little cafe also acting as post office / gallery and shop. We had a look inside the hall before heading off to take some fun images around the village. The village is beautiful and nestles in Bradfield Dale and we got an amazing view from the pub we went to afterwards for a debrief. Below is a selection of the images we took on the day.

Over the last couple of days  I have been  back up in the Lakes with the lovely Aspire Photography Training. This time it was to spend time with one of their bespoke groups to talk about how we approach and photograph our weddings. Group 34 were amazing bunch of guys, really enthusiastic and keen to learn. On the first day I just joined the group to listen and observe whilst Catherine & Jane talked about the marketing side of the business. At the end of the day they were joined by Melissa Love who was a fantastic speaker. She is a whizz at creating amazing websites and developing clients brands.

On the second day I took the group through the whole process of photographing a wedding, from planning to execution.  We were joined on the shoot by a lovely couple, Christie & Jack. They acted as our models as I took the group through how to set up and shoot an engagement shot. Then in the afternoon we headed out into the village of Burton in Kendal for some wedding pictures, first to the lovely church and then off to a beautiful location to do the couple shots.

As ever the day was set up and organised by the fab Rachel. She is an ace stylist and always puts in a superb effort. Here are a few of my pictures from the day.

Back on a cold Saturday in January we did Emma & Steve’s pre-wedding shoot. Well this coming weekend is their big day so I thought I would share some of the images with you. We spent the morning at Pontefract race course and I felt like a naughty kid again by having to jump over fences to get into the race course. Needless to say it wasn’t a pretty sight me clambering over fences.

I was great walking round a deserted race course and we managed to avoid the cameras to get some fun shots. Emma & Steve’s reception is at the Wentbridge House Hotel which is a fab place – Lou & I should know as it is where we had our wedding reception 15 years ago! Look out for some images from the wedding next week (Emma and Steve’s , not ours!)

I spent the previous Saturday afternoon with Katie & Craig in  York doing their pre-wedding shoot.  We met at a fab little place called the Vanilla Cafe and sat outside in the early spring sunshine. After having a large espresso we headed out around the quiet streets of the Minster. This was to get away from the tourists who always seem to show an interest when a couple are being photographed. You can see it going through their minds thinking are they anybody famous! Katie & Craig are getting married at the fabulous Castle Howard in June and we are hoping for the same weather we have had this weekend.

After finishing up on the walls of York over looking the Minster we headed off to a bar to discuss the big day  – needless to say it sounds as if it’s going to be a great day and Lou & I are really looking forward to photographing their day at Castle Howard.

We had a fab time doing Salma & Richard’s engagement shoot last weekend and it appears so did Salma. She is a guest blogger on English Wedding Blog site. Have a read of her fantastic post. Also Claire from English Wedding blog left a lovely comment at the end the blog post we did. Thank you both for you kind words.We really can’t wait for the wedding now.

Last weekend we were down as family back to my home town of London. After a day of seeing the Dr Who exhibition  and going to the Wizard of Oz (and dodging the odd riot!) I spent the Sunday morning with Kat & David around Clapham Common whilst Lou took the kids to the British Museum. The weather was fab and instead of having a quite a peaceful common to do the shoot it seemed every family and their dog were out for the day. Kat & David are getting married and the gorgeous Ripley Castle back in Yorkshire and we love photographing weddings there.

Once we had finished the shoot we went to a fab little place just off the common called The Patisserie for coffee and hot chocolate. We chatted about their day and things that they planned – needless to say it sounds as if it’s going to be a great day and Lou & I are really looking forward to it.

I spent a blustery morning in Manchester with Salma & Richard for their pre wedding shoot. We met at the Museum of Science & Industry (free coffee because their card machines weren’t working – result!) before heading off round the canals to take some images. Salma & Richard were really up for a fun shoot and brought along a pink umbrella and guitar as props (they’re both musicians so the guitar was officially Allowed).  I try and look beyond the obvious for locations and we found some lovely waste ground where Richard started to serenade Salma.  This was not your normal morning shoot. Afterwards we headed to Pret for a hot chocolate and debrief where we discussed the plans for the wedding.

I had such a great time and I think Salma & Richard enjoyed it too – I can’t wait for their wedding now which is at Peckforton Castle in May.

On the way back we passed the ‘Fish Hut’ which looked amazing but alas closed! I think a battered sausage and chips would have been on the cards.