I had spent the vast majority of Deb and Kevan's wedding day with Deborah and her bridesmaids. I like to be with the bridal party from the start of their morning preparations as being a part of the wedding means that I get to tell the fullest possible story. Furthermore, being at a wedding really early means that by the time of the actual wedding ceremony, all of the people I've spent the morning with are fully accustomed to my presence and the fact that there's a camera or two clicking away in the background.
I knew what time Kevan and his best mad had planned to arrived at Birtsmorton court, and arranged to meet them at a pre-determined location for some photos. Kevan and his groomsmen had all got ready at home, and travelled to Birtsmorton Court together.
For the portrait of Kevan and his best man, I chose to use my favourite portrait lens, my 85mm lens, and used a very wide aperture of 1.4 to ensure that the background was as out of focus as possible. These images are always fun to take right before the wedding, as being so close and personal means that there's no hiding one's true emotions - the number of nervous looking grooms I've had to try and get to smile on the morning of their wedding day is amazing!
For the background of the left page, I used a test photo that was taken before I started photographing Kevan and the best man. Test photos allow me to ensure I have the correct camera settings dialled in before I start taking any photos that really matter. Sure, digital photography makes editing the photos a lot easier than it was when film was being used, but I still want to get things right in-camera. The less you edit the photo, the better the ultimate quality you receive from the file.
I really enjoy the right page of this spread, which shows Deborah and her bridesmaid looking at her wedding veil which was hanging from the four-post bed that's in the honeymoon suite. The images are set on top of a wide image of the bride's shoes sitting on top of one of the beautifully ornate mirrors that are in the suite. I particularly like the contrast between the rich golds and yellows on the right page, with the deep greens and browns of the left page.
That's most interesting about these images is perhaps the fact that the groom and groomsmen arrived at Birtsmorton Court long enough before the wedding ceremony that the bride still wasn't dressed.
Location: Birtsmorton Court, Worcestershire.
