Documentary Wedding Photography at Orchardleigh Estate | Elizabeth & Tim

Elizabeth and Tim's relatively traditional wedding took place on Orchardleigh Estate on the outskirts of Frome in Somerset. Their ceremony was in a little chapel on the estate which is probably the darkest church I've ever worked in and at one stage during the service (this is probably much more interesting to the wedding photographers reading this post!) I was shooting at 16,000 ISO with a 1.4 aperture, and even then I was only getting an 80th of second shutter speed. Thankfully the cameras we use are very much up to the task as flash is most definitely not an option during a ceremony, it would be far too intrusive and in my opinion would completely ruin the wedding, let alone the ceremony.

Tim and Elizabeth's intimate ceremony was swiftly followed by a classy drinks reception at Orchardleigh House just a few minutes drive from the church and a venue I know very well.

The reception was great fun with some particularly memorable speeches, fireworks and dancing.

Below are just a few of my favourites from this fantastic Somerset wedding day.

Indian Wedding at Plaisterers' Hall, One London Wall - Part 2 | Rakesh & Nikki

Venue: Plaisterer's Hall Welcome to Part Two of Rakesh & Nikki's fabulous Indian wedding photography! In Part One I showed you my very favourite images from their engagement shoot, civil and Sikh ceremonies however, Part Two definitely features the bigger, more action-packed images from the two days.

I'd not worked at Plaisterer's Hall until now. It's a truly magnificent building both inside and out and the ideal place for a large Asian wedding party. We were the documentary wedding photographers for Rakesh and Nikki's colourful Hindu ceremony followed by a great wedding reception and an even greater evening party.

We have just looked through all the photos. Incredible. We both love them, especially the black and white wedding photography! Thank you so much for covering our special days. We enjoyed every minute and you really have captured the whole experience.

Thank you so much!

Nikki and Rakesh

Indian wedding photography is traditionally quite staged and let's face it, pretty stuffy. I know from experience that group photographs will always play a significant role at a wedding like this and it would be unfair if I refused to do group photographs. However, Asian weddings are also the perfect breeding ground for powerful documentary wedding photography - there is just so much going on, so much narrative to capture, so many characters and vibrancy, you simply cannot stop yourself becoming part of the chaos and have no choice but to embrace it!

I’ve been a professional wedding photographer in London and the UK, since 2004, photographing hundreds of weddings and portrait commissions each year since; my wedding photography style has developed into a distinct form of honest and natural wedding photography.

Here are a few of my favourites, I had the pleasure of working with Paul Williams at this wedding...enjoy!

Next steps:

Indian Wedding Photography at Clevedon Hall - Part 1| Rakesh & Nikki

Venue: Clevedon Hall Nikki and Rakesh's very memorable wedding celebrations will be featured as a two-part blog post. Compared to some of the Indian weddings we do it's actually relatively small in size but really packs a punch in terms of vibrant colours, tones and characters! Needless to say, it was a fantastic event to cover and I'm really pleased Rakesh and Nikki chose to commission us to photograph such a momentous occasion.

The first of the wedding days took place in Bristol where Nikki's family are based. The venue was Clevedon Hall and involved a small civil ceremony swiftly followed by a Sikh ceremony, out of all of the Asian faiths, we photograph Sikh weddings the most.

The service was followed by lunch before we ended the day with a Doli at Nikki's parent's house. This is often quite an emotional time of the day where the bride's parents are bidding their daughter goodbye and wishing her well in her new life.

The couple was amazing to work with, a genuine pleasure. Here are just a few of my favourites: