WEDDING TIP #2 – HIRING A PROFESSIONAL
Each year I’m usually approached at least once or twice by brides who ask me if anything can be done to ‘fix’ their wedding photos. I always have to say no because once the moment has gone there’s not much that can be done really.

The worst set of photographs I’ve ever seen came from an unfortunate bride who had entrusted a friend to take pictures at the wedding. What she got was every single photograph being a simple cheesy ‘look into the camera and smile’ snap. Oh and all photographed with direct on-camera flash.

Naturally the groom didn’t want to have anything to do with the whole affair and he spent the whole day avoiding the ‘photographer’. So her other big regret was that she had no photos of her groom either.

The thought occurred to her that she could put her dress on again and pose for some professional photographs but she knew that even that just wouldn’t be the real thing either. Alas, nothing could be done.

Personally, I find it amazing that some people think that just because their friend has a ‘good camera’ that that somehow means they’ll be able to handle the pressures of taking photographs on a wedding day, let alone do it with any artistic thought.

The International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP) have a great (& slightly humourous) article on why you don’t let Uncle Bob take photos on your big day.

You can click here to read that.

In other news – I’ve recently joined the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association (AGWPJA). This from the AGWPJA website:

AG|WPJA is comprised of outstanding wedding photographers, who are at the forefront of the wedding photography industry when it comes to enhancing images. The chief objective of the AG|WPJA is to provide members with a platform where the finest enhanced, manipulated and/or artistic wedding photojournalism in the world is spotlighted and promoted for the bride and groom.

To read more about the AG|WPJA you may click here.

Marj and David married amongst friends and family in Marj’s hometown of Whitehead before heading down the road to the beautiful Larchfield Estate outside Lisburn for their wedding reception later in the day. We had a great time, even with a few heavy rain showers. No matter what, there are always great moments with great people. Here are some of my favourites.

Oh and Marj sent me these lovely words after seeing her pictures:
“Dear Dylan,
I just wanted to pop you a note saying thank you so so much for our photos! We really are so delighted with them.
I love the way you captured the energy and emotion of the day so beautifully. How you got some of those shots is beyond me….as Dave’s mum said, she didn’t even know her photo had been taken!”

I seek out a lot of photographic art books as my sources of inspiration and I simply adore looking at great photographs that are beautifully printed and presented in books by the best art publishers of our times.

Most of the books in my collection are from the classic photojournalists of the last century. I own ten or so Henri Cartier-Bresson volumes, three or four by Elliott Erwitt (including a signed copy of ‘Snaps’) and all of Garry Winogrand’s recent editions – including ‘Figments from the Real World’ – now worth almost 20 times what I paid in a London bookstore back in 2003.

The latest addition to the McBurney collection is Richard Avedon’s ‘Woman in the Mirror’.

The book is a fabulous look back at the women he photographed for over fifty years – a fascinating series of fashion photography from the fifties onwards and includes many great portraits of the women he encountered throughout his life.

Norma Stevens, executive director of the Avedon foundation, wrote in the book’s foreword about it’s title:
“It goes to the heart of what I believe intrigued Dick about photography – its ambiguity. Who is reflected in the mirror: the seer, the seen, or the unseen?”

Avedon burst onto the fashion scene in the 1940s, infusing his photographs with touches of realism and the fantastic. His images were among the first to replace the stiff poses of the past with energetic action scenes that commanded the pages of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue magazines from the mid-’40s through to the 1980s.

Whilst he did work with professional models, his photographs were never boring, never static. His images were absolutely full of movement and I think that that’s what draws me to his work. Regular readers of this blog will know that I’m no lover of static images – a good photograph must have feeling, vitality and life. It absolutely should have movement.

Speaking of movement Avedon once said that:
“One of the most powerful things about photography is that it is a constant surprise. You don’t know what the fabric is going to do, what the hair is going to do and also you have to remember that when I photograph movement I have to anticipate – that by the time it’s happened it’s too late to photograph it. So there’s this terrific interchange between the moving figure and myself, that is like dancing.”

I love the idea of that – that even Avedon, the great constructor of the ‘stage managed’ photograph, still had to anticipate what was about to happen within the frame.

Anticipation obviously plays a big part in the capture of great photojournalistic wedding images. In fact, you could say that shooting journalistically at a wedding is one of the hardest things to do because you have to deal with changing lighting conditions, moving subject(s) and changing compositional challenges all without the benefit of pinning everything down in a controlled studio environment. And you have to do it all with split second timing.

‘Woman in the Mirror’ is fabulous to look at and I know I’ll spend many hours poring over it’s pages in the future. The black and white images are exquisitely printed and of course all of the women within the book are beautiful.

The best photographs in life should be just like Avedon’s – an intimate triangle – between subject, photographer and viewer.

It’s always a pleasure to work in Larchfield Estate outside Lisburn. The gardens are stunning and the barn has a real rich authentic feel.

Before the wedding day Rachel bought Ben a beautiful bass guitar as a surprise gift and on the morning of the wedding her brother David and I sneaked round and left it sitting on the porch, rang the doorbell and then run off to hide behind the bushes. Oh the fun!

After seeing his reaction I’m sure he couldn’t wait to see her at the church. Needless to say, Rachel looked stunning and their day was just full of lovely moments. Amongst the highlights for me was Rachel’s Father’s speech – really heartfelt and it set Ben up for a lovely follow act!

After seeing their photographs online Rachel sent me these lovely words:
“There was so much love all around us on the day of the wedding and you worked really hard at trying to include everyone in our special moments – thank you for that!
…Thank you for all those moments, some that we didn’t even notice, that you have frozen in time for us to look at often; for that we can’t thank you enough.”

Here’s just a few of my personal favourites from their day.

At the beginning of the month I had the pleasure of covering Cathy and Connor’s wedding at the Clandeboye Lodge Hotel outside Bangor in County Down.

Cathy and Connor were wonderful to work with and really understood what it is I do with my photography. As Cartier Bresson once remarked “To photograph is hold one’s breath, when all faculties converge to capture fleeting reality.”

Cathy senty me a lovely email after seeing her photographs online:
“We are overwhelmed with the photos Dylan, they are beautiful! Honestly we are over the moon with them; you are amazing at capturing the moment and there are so many of the photos that among all the excitement & bustle….you have caught us in our own little world celebrating! These are my absolute favourites!”

After Donegal I was back at the beautiful setting of Phantom House and the Great Hall in Galgorm Manor Resort and Spa for Gary and Emma Jane’s wedding.

It was lovely to see many of Laura and Colin‘s friends also at this wedding and of course Margaret and Conor whose wedding I had the pleasure of photographing almost two years ago up at Belfast Castle.

EJ and Gary were an absolute pleasure to photograph and I’m very lucky to have such wonderful clients. The ceremony was very emotional with the registrar’s voice almost breaking at the end – what a joy to be there and make photographs. I received a lovely message from them just a couple of days ago.

“Just another thank you for taking such great pictures. We really wanted someone who would capture the day and all those small moments that go by so quickly especially those that we missed. It was fantastic to be able to look at the pictures when we were on our honeymoon and remember what a fantastic day we had with our friends and family. Emma Jane cries when she watches the slideshow and my hayfever flares up something terrible…”

Donegal is such a beautiful place to shoot a wedding. Based in Belfast, I am very fortunate to get to cover pretty much the whole of the North of Ireland as a wedding photographer.

Karen and Steven’s wedding was in the beautiful village of Urris. Afterwards they held a fabulous marquee event on Doagh Isle where friends and family relaxed amongst the stunning Donegal landscape, before heading back up the road to the very welcoming Ballyliffin Lodge Hotel for speeches and dinner.

What a pleasure it was to cover this wedding – on the road home I reflected on what had been a great day. Here are some of my personal favourites from the wedding.