Category Archives: Weddings

Save the Date!

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Save the Date! Book now for 2014!

So 2013 is not a hot year to get married?  Whether you are superstitious or not, waiting another year makes sense to a lot of couples, not just superstitious ones!  That extra year will give you extra time to plan and fine tune your wedding day.

If you are planning a 2014 wedding in the north of Cumbria, including Carlisle, Brampton, Longtown or even slightly further afield such as Penrith, Keswick, Haltwhistle, Hexham then take that first step and make an enquiry. We’ll get together for a chat – the only obligation is that I buy you a latte – and discuss your wedding day and how you want your special day remembered.

Of course, I still have dates for 2013 so if you are not superstitious…

Wedding Albums

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The wedding album is a traditional heirloom in most families, handed down through the generations so that the younger ones can express their amusement at the fashions of the day. The first wedding albums started to appear in the 1880s and like almost everything else, the rate of change in their design was slow until the digital revolution kicked in.

In the video below, Skip Cohen explains the importance of the album in today’s society and whilst a CD/DVD might represent excellent value for money, they won’t last forever; the technology used to read them may well be obsolete – yes you can back them up and transfer them to an alternative media, but that too will become obsolete, as may the jpg image! An album that is professionally produced and looked after should stand the test of time and won’t require new technology to view it in 20 years time!


No Video? Click here to see it on Vimeo

I offer three designs of wedding album, each of which has a custom layout to tell the story of your day and each can have a number of personalisations added.  As the design process is digital, many of them can be downsized to make parent albums which the Bride and Groom can give as gifts.

Perfetto Wedding Album

Perfetto Wedding Album

Apertura Wedding Album

Apertura Wedding Album

Classico Wedding Album

Classico Wedding Album

If these wedding albums are too traditional for you, then perhaps the coffee table book would appeal to you.  These come in two distinct styles, a traditional binding or the more contemporary style with lay flat pages which enable your pictures to seamlessly stretch across two pages.

Infinity Lay Flat Coffee Table Book

Infinity Lay Flat Coffee Table Book

Ami and Chris : Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel : Paphos

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Ami and Chris had a delightful ceremony overlooking the Mediterranean Sea at the popular Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel in Paphos. Crowds gathered as the beautiful Ami walked down to the beach to marry Chris. The ceremony was typically short but sweet and in no time tears of joy were flowing – as well as champagne!

Thanks once again to Geoff of Paphos Wedding Photography as this will be the last time we shoot together before I head back to the UK.
Amy and Chris : Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel : Paphos

Amy and Chris : Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel : Paphos

Amy and Chris : Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel : Paphos

Amy and Chris : Louis Phaethon Beach Hotel : Paphos

Weddings in Cumbria

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So its almost time to leave Cyprus and head for the hills of Cumbria. It sounds mad but that’s the way it is, changing the sunny Mediterranean shores for the perma-cloud of Cumbria.

Cyprus has many challenges for a photographer and thats not just because of the weather. Its a popular destination wedding venue, with hotels from Paphos in the west to Ayia Napa in the east playing host to some 3000 or so weddings every year. The strong sunshine can be an issue, especially when the wedding is at noon. Mid-afternoon is the better option, more attractive light ceding quickly to the lovely warm tones at sunset.

Cumbria. Having lived there before I know what its all about. Hadrian’s Wall and the Lake District for starters, then there’s Gretna Green just up the road and fabulous scenery all around. Shooting at midday will be a lot cooler and will provide better light than Cyprus. The sunset portraits will be an issue though. Firstly the beach is a way off, but then there are plenty of lakes and tarns that could make great scenes. And if the sun is out to play, even better.

2011 in Review

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Wow, what a year! I’ve gone from thinking about it to doing it in the last twelve months. Not that I am where I want to be, far from it, but I have made more progress this year than any other.

So what’s happened? To start off with, I contacted several photographers who were producing great wedding photography asking if they needed a second shooter/assistant. All but one replied, declining saying that they either had someone or didn’t feel they were ready to take on a second shooter. Only one agreed, so we met up and had a chat. Geoff, thanks!

Geoff took me under his wing and the first wedding I second shot was Katie and Kai’s at the fabulous Amathus Beach Hotel in Paphos. The last wedding I’d been to was a full Catholic service at Aphrodite Hills, so I wasn’t really ready for what was about to happen.

To say the ceremony was over in a flash (pun intended) is no exaggeration. The couple took longer to walk to the gazebo in view of the beach than it did for the registrar to pronounce them man and wife. As if that wasn’t enough, we then had a generous ten minutes to take photos before the hotel staff were wanting us to move on to the reception.

Since then I have upgraded my kit to include the Canon EOS 7D
and the sumptious Canon EF 24-105mm f/4.0 L IS USM Lens
lens to complement my Canon EF 17-40 mm f/4.0 L USM Lens
and the weddings Geoff and I have covered have been varied too including Anglican and Greek Orthodox – the latter being another eye opener!


Throughout the year I have continued to support local charities, not least SPACE Theatre who produce some great productions with limited resources and ageing infrastructure. Their vibrance and professionalism is second to none and its a pleasure to be associated with them.


Photographers often say you don’t need great gear to make great photographs and I agree, except in dark places such as the theatre. The 7D has made such an impact, auto focusing in low light is fantastic and working at high ISOs knowing that the images would be useable is a great plus. This combination alone has made the 7D worth its weight in gold!

I have no idea what 2012 will bring, but if it brings just half of what I’ve done this year, then I will consider that a success.

So my goals are to shoot more weddings, learning at the same time and refining my technique so that I am able to deliver a high quality result when I need to deliver. As I have had no formal photographic training, I’d like to gain external accreditation from one of the key photographic socities such as the SWPP. I feel 2012 will be the year to do that.

If you’re getting married in Cyprus next year, give Geoff a call and tell him you want me to be his second shooter at your wedding :)

All the best for 2012.

Yianna and Jay, Paphos

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Married in the beautiful Ay Theodoros Church in Paphos, Yianna and Jay’s was a traditional Greek wedding.

One of the traditions with Greek weddings is the groom meets the bride outside the Church and hands her bouquet to her before they enter the Church together.

With PWP shooting at the front of the Church with two videographers, the altar would have been cramped if I was in the mix there too, so I opted to shoot from the balcony at the back to give me a unique viewpoint.

It’s all in the detail

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Details. Little things aren’t they? But it’s the sum of these little things that make the details important. That sugar crafted rose on the cake; the bow on the bride’s shoes; the rings on the pillow.

A lot of thought has gone into these so it’s important that these become images that add to the memory of the day so it is essential, imperative even, that the photographer includes the details.

The detail shots are a chance for the photographer to show off their skills, wedding photography is not all about people. The right lens choice, composition, focal point, aperture all count towards the end result.

The lens. Details are just that, details, normally small in size but they mean so much. A macro lens is ideal for isolating such details.

Composition. When the photographer takes a photograph, more than likely they are composing it to fit in the album. The same applies to the detail shots. They can either stand on their own or can be used as a background to a page in the album.

Focal Point. Take the wedding bouquet. If you could isolate one element of it in the photograph, what would you focus on? The ribbon, the prettiest flower, or the flower nearest the lens? This really depends on the composition but as a general rule, I try and get the focal point nearest to the camera. If there is a larger out of focus object in front of the focal point, it competes for attention, ruining the aesthetic of the image.

Aperture. Aperture is one of the factors that not only determines the correct exposure of a photograph, but also determines how much of an image appears in focus. Knowing how to control the aperture results in fantastic detail shots, assuming of course the lens, the composition and the focal point have been well chosen.

Maria and Mark, Yeroskipou, Cyprus

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Maria and Mark’s wedding was at the beatiful Yeroskipou Town Hall. It’s an open air venue just around the corner from the Town Hall and it’s clear a lot of thought has gone in to it. A massive awning provides ample shade to help keep the Bride and Groom and their guests cool while long gently sloping steps provide great focal points for group photographs.

The wedding ceremony took place at 2pm, the hottest part of the day and it was hot day, 37c! Their Cyrpus destination wedding had been in the planning for over a year, the day went smoothly and everyone enjoyed the day.

Donna and Nick, Cyprus

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Donna and Nick’s wedding was a pleasure to photograph. The church wedding was a much more relaxed environment compared to the fast pace of the hotel weddings! We chose to use a local archaelogical site to take photos after the wedding. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but 33C heat and Nick’s dark coloured jacket meant he felt the heat very quickly so we called it a day, but not until we got some shots in the bank.