Wedding Photography at Simonstone Hall Hotel - Gida & Martin

I have been inspired to blog a wedding from two years ago, on the basis of a lovely comment I received from the bride on Facebook, just coming up to their second anniversary.

Several of my wedding couples have become friends on Facebook and it is a lovely way to keep in touch after the business side of things is over.

This was one of my favourite weddings, not least because it was the smallest wedding I have ever photographed, i.e. only 5 people at the wedding. They even asked to include a picture of me in the album that the groom's daughter had taken, as they considered me to have been a significant part of the day (not intentionally, as I shoot reportage wedding photography style).

Simonstone Hall Hotel is also one of my favourite wedding venues, having the character of an old shooting lodge, with it's associated history, the views of the Yorkshire Dales as a backdrop, and the many locations within the house and grounds for taking some lovely photographs. We love the place so much that I do not charge any extra for travelling there to shoot a wedding, and I now have had the pleasure of shooting several weddings at Simonstone, each one individual in its own way.  The hotel even paid me the honour of letting me do many of the photographs for their own website.

Two years on, Gida wrote me the following comment, in response to me letting her know I still remembered their wedding as one of my favourites...

"Ah that's lovely howard. We were so glad that we picked u as our photographer because u are unique and professional. You captured the moments that most would miss, we have stunning pictures to prove that. I just don't understand how quickly our lives pass, almost 2 years gone already howard. I hope that u continue taking great pictures like u do!! And thanks again x".

Here are some of the photos we produced on the day. It was a rainy day, but the hotel still provides enough scope to get lots of lovely pictures, even when you can't spend much time outside (hence the brolly shot!). 

The mirror picture is one of my favourites of all time, the well took a little courage to step out on, and the last shot below beautifully captures the love and emotion of the day which, from the tone of the Facebook posts, has not dwindled in the slightest.

Just some of the very special and lovely people that I have the pleasure of spending time with in my profession.

Ber-Cirque

Yet again, I had the pleasure of meeting the weird and wonderful, but very nice group of people calling themselves Ber-Cirque.

They describe themselves as: "A collective of entertainers, providing professional Fire and Glow shows, character performance on stilts etc...".

They were greeting guests as they arrived for the annual Kirkwood Hospice charity ball at The Venue Halifax. What a way to be greeted!

Here's a selection of pictures to show you what you can expect if you book them for your event.

Mountain Biking Photos at Yeadon BMX Track

I took my son and one of his friends for a bit of fun at Yeadon BMX track recently. Partly for them to unload some energy and have some fun, but also for me to practise some action sports photography.


Also on test was new lens, namely a 14mm F2.8 Samyang, a much cheaper alternative to the named L series lens. I wanted to see how it performed and get used to its manual operation, which was quite liberating, once I started to get used to it.

I have to say that I am very pleased with the resulting pictures, and so are the boys, for whom a "professional" biking photo shoot was a new experience for them.

Here are some of my favourites.

Social Networking Event

I was recently asked to cover the 1st birthday event for Social Solutions Academy, based in Innospace, Manchester.

They had a selection of guest speakers, who gave excellent talks on social networking, of interest to me, even as an "outsider". They included a man who is deaf, communicating through a sign language "interpreter", which was great to see, and an inspiration.

It was good to do some corporate photography, and to meet some lovely people.


The photo's were for publicity purposes and are already in use on their website. Here are a selection.

 

 

Rainy Day in Manchester

I had a day off yesterday and, as is my wont, I went for a walk around Manchester, with a stop off at the Lowry for the latest photo exhibition (Mr Sixties, photo's by Phil Townsend, well worth seeing).

Here are a selection of the snaps I took on my travels.

The froth on my moccaccino:

 

Self-portrait reflection with the Media City development in the background.

 Trying out my new 16mm F2.8 lens:

 Just for the bokeh:

 What a lovely sight, couple very much in love:

 Saw this from the tram. Unfortunatly didn't see Wayne Rooney, if he was there.

 Cool reflection on the Hilton Hotel Manchester, spot the window cleaners.

 Art for art's sake. Amused me slightly with the brolly up so close to fountains.

 I don't know, and I didn't ask....

 One use for the free newspaper.

 And again (two of many using the free Manchester Evening News papers for this purpose).