Sopley Mill near Christchurch, Dorset is one of the areas most popular Wedding venues and for good reason, its rustic charm wins over hundreds of couple’s every year without fail. My 2016 wedding review continues with this wedding and to start with a very unique bridal prep image that is shot from above with off camera lighting and a high art pass filter to really take down the contrast to concentrate the eye on the application of the bridal makeup. I have left a int of the makeup artist hand and hair to give placement instead of just having a head in blackness. I have left lots of dark in the image to almost frame the main subject matter, the makeup artist’s hand and the bride’s eye. A really effective and simple shot.

TOP Ten Tips FOR A Perfect Wedding DAYI love this shot because of the tenderness of it, with the bride’s hand gently touching her father’s face and father of the bride looking with love in his eye and recognition of the special moment. I have given the image a high art filter that has more rendered the shot in high key.

TOP TEN TIPS FOR A PERFECT WEDDING DAYA lovely fun shot this one with a bit of dance as the bride had done allot of dancing in the past and that dress really suits adding some movement into the image as it shows the folds off really well. I also love the look of glee in the bride’s face as she is spinning round. The background should never be under estimated in wedding photography as it is key to an awesome photo. The bride and groom are occupying the whole frame but the inclusion of the beautiful countryside behind them is key to making this image awesome, from just ordinary with a bush or a wall behind them. The couple are paying for a wonderful wedding venue and deserve to see it represented in most of their images. In this shot the river is there as is the countryside and horses and wonderful sky all making that almost studio formatted backdrop image!

TOP TEN TIPS FOR A PERFECT WEDDING DAYAnother cracker of an image, I had been watching the sun going down from up on the third second floor in the Mill waiting to see if there would be a colourful sunset or not, so at the last moment I let bride and groom know and they jumped at the chance to get down the stairs leaving their evening reception briefly to capture this stunning sunset romantic shot. There is off camera lighting involved which is doing a great job of lighting the couple and the background is awesome with the sunset sky reflected in the river and the small details like the Swan and that sky! I am always just so chuffed to get a unique image like this for a bride and groom, it is very rare to get such a good sunset, and I am glad they made the most of it. The free air brushing came in handy for this shot as well, because when we zoomed in we could see so many tiny black dots on the bride’s dress which turned out to be midges/flies from the river!

TOP TEN TIPS FOR A PERFECT WEDDING DAYAnother truly spectacular wedding image which I know this couple loved. The river obviously plays a massive part at this wedding venue and so it should be included in some of the days photos and what better way to include it than at night with the garden lights some off camera lighting and making use of the wonderful reflective nature of water!

TOP TEN TIPS FOR A PERFECT WEDDING DAY