Pre Wedding Bridal, Engagement and Hen Party Photoshoots

I’m delighted to report that in addition to wedding photography in Nottingham, Mirror Imaging is now offering portrait sessions for brides to be, pamper portrait days for hen parties and also engagement shoots in the exclusive and very beautiful location of Norwood Park in Southwell, Nottinghamshire.

Norwood Park has been home to the Starkey family for the last five generations (famed as fruit growers for their Bramley apple). They host wedding ceremonies and wedding receptions in their elegant Georgian Country House and grounds, and now portrait sessions with Mirror Imaging! The house itself is full of character, charm and style, with authentic Georgian architecture and interiors. This makes the perfect backdrop to create classically beautiful images with a touch of old-school glamour that I strive to make my trademark style.

Working with Pretty Flamingo makeup artist, the day comprises of a full makeup and photograph session, with both natural light and studio light. This is the perfect opportunity for a bride to be to experience having her photograph taken professionally before the big day, to learn poses and angles that compliment and flatter and, ultimately, to create stunning, timeless images for herself and her husband to treasure.

As hen parties go, it doesn’t get more classy than a pamper photograph day, complete with champagne, makeup session and photography shoot. Treat your girls to a fabulous experience together, which can be an amazing esteem booster and bonding experience. Be as brave as you like in your photo shoot, knowing it’s a totally supportive, non-judgmental environment and great fun too.

Finally we’ve put together an engagement portrait shoot for those couples booking the Classic or Elegance wedding packages (this is automatically included in the Luxury package), or even for couples who have already booked their wedding photographs with another photographer.

High quality, hand finished mounted and framed prints are available, with prices starting at £85 for and framed and mounted 8x12 print.

Further details of Norwood Park and our pre wedding photography, together with photographs of future photoshoots, will appear on the website in the coming months. In the meantime, if you are interested in booking or finding out more you can contact me on 07968 159465 or click on the contact page and submit your enquiry.

It’s all in the details

Weddings nowadays can be very expensive affairs, with the average wedding costing overall a shade under £20,000. As much of your day can pass by in a very happy blur, the job of the wedding photographer is to capture for a lifetime the details that you have invested in to make your day perfect for you and your guests.

Wedding details may include the flowers, your wedding tiara and accessories, the rings, wedding car, wedding favours and those ‘build up’ moments prior to the wedding that make the day even more special. This requires the wedding photographer to have an eye for arrangement, colour and composition. These detail photographs make your album even more personal to you and help create a story by giving context to your main photographs.

The magic of these details shows when they are arranged together in your album; in fact some of the best wedding photographers not only have strong images but also have the best album layouts. A good album will then reflect the theme of your wedding, which has no doubt taken a great deal of thought and planning by you.

The Art of Black & White

Over the last few years, black and white photography has been increasing in popularity for contemporary portraiture and wedding photography. Many people like the striking contrast and artistic quality of black and white and it is true to say that some of the best photographs in history have been in monochrome. From the photographer’s perspective, black and white simplifies fussy backgrounds and draws attention to the intended subject – it is therefore perfect for reportage style photography.

I am however a huge fan of colour; I like the vibrancy and ‘life’ of a colour print. Colour evokes mood as much as monochrome and looks amazing for wedding photography – from icy whites through to vivid carnival colours.

With the advent of digital came the option for photographers to choose how they presented their prints, however not all photographs are suitable for black and white and some are simply made for it!

Often the picture itself will dictate how it looks best. One good example of this is a photograph taken during Susan’s recent portrait session (details in my previous blog entry below). In black and white this particular shot becomes elegant, intense and evocative of another era. The eyes are all! I hope you like it.

More from the Studio

In addition to being a professional wedding photographer, I also offer a portrait photography service and I was back in the studio again last Thursday for a photoshoot with my friend Susan. Susan is a wedding planner in Derbyshire who coordinates dozens of weddings a year as well as organising the odd wedding fair or two! In her spare time she's an avid cyclist and the yellow jersey is a nod to the accolade given to the winner of the Tour De France.

The make up is by Susan Smith of Pretty Flamingo, whose bridal makeup services are available to book for your wedding day. As she's also my mum and has been working with me on several photography shoots, she understands from the photographer's perspective how the camera responds to different makeup and how to get the most flattering results for the different times of day and different light. This certainly makes my job a lot easier!

This type of photoshoot is a wonderful opportunity for brides-to-be to really gain some confidence in front of the camera before their wedding day, to understand how fabulous they look 'in print' and a framed photograph makes an amazing wedding gift to your new husband.

The photographs below are the first few from the collection. She looks simply stunning.

Weekend Wedding

I attended the wedding of Zoe and Martyn at the weekend, who were married in Grantham, Leicestershire on Saturday 28th June. It was the first time I’d met them both, although Martyn is a business associate of my partner and I was there as a guest. They thought at first that they wouldn’t bother with formal photographs, however a few days before the wedding they changed their minds and they decided to book me to take some professional wedding photographs, in addition to the candid snaps taken by friends and family. There was still plenty of time at the end of the evening to toast the bride and groom however!

Congratulations to Zoe and Martyn and wishing you all the best for the future.