It is an absolute pleasure to photograph Weddings for a living and none more so than that of Natalie and Richard. Lovely couple, whose family and friends were totally thrilled to be there for them on their Wedding Day. Natalie’s grandmother was even well enough to attend the church ceremony and you could tell that was the icing on the Wedding Cake! The sun was shining and spirits were high as the girls got ready at home and awaited the arrival of that special car from Legends Wedding Services.
From the night of the rehearsal you could tell there was a great warmth emanating around Natalie and Richard, I think it has extra meaning when the officiant on the day has known the Bride from being a little girl. The ceremony flew by and we were soon on our way to Hellaby Hall for the Wedding Breakfast. There were games laid out on the lawn across from the impromptu bar of Budweiser and fruit filled sparkly. All lovely touches to refresh the guests as they arrived. Flowers were by Millie’s Flowers and Hair by Emma.
Monday the 18th of July saw a Wedding that we had really been looking forward to. While we love covering Weddings for all our couples, there is nothing more special than when the happy couple are close friends of many years. Sue and Derek asked us to not only capture the images of their special day but to be full Wedding guests as well. I met up with Sue at her fathers house and Deborah greeted Derek and his best man John at Wortley Hall. The sun shone down in spectacular style as the wonderful couple exchanged vows and their family and friends enjoyed champagne on the lawn as guests spilled out into the grounds. Speeches followed the Wedding breakfast and the happy couple mingled with their guests on the terrace at Wortley Hall as evening fell – a wonderful day!
Wortley Hall – a magnificent Yorkshire Wedding venue
We posted a brief look at this Engagement session a few weeks back but now that Natalie and Richard are married (images of their Wedding coming soon) we thought we would share some more images from their Engagement photography session. We had a total failure trying to take some images at Roach Abbey, English Heritage wanted to charge us £150 for us to take their photos there, we didn’t bother and won’t be visiting the place, ever, £150 to take a few photos we could have kept quite about and sneaked in and done anyway is ridiculous. The folks at Hellaby Hall could not have been more helpful and accommodating so we went there instead, Wedding Day images to follow soon!
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Engagement Photography session at Hellaby Hall Hotel, Hellaby South Yorkshire
Another instalment of our holiday epic, this time in the form of Red Kites. These are some of the most amazing birds I’ve ever had chance to see flying, massive creatures with an almost a six-foot wingspan but so graceful. These were photographed at the Red Kite feeding station at Bellymack Farm, Laurieston near Castle Douglas, well worth the five pound entry fee, they must have eaten a ton of meat! They seem well trained, when the farmer appears with the bucket of food at 2pm the sky goes black with birds, superb, can’t wait to go back again. Sad to think these magnificent birds were persecuted to the point of extinction but fortunately they are on the rise again.
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Red kites flying near Loch Ken in the Galloway Forrest Park
Following on from the red deer post yesterday here is some more Scottish wildlife. This time red squirrels which we sadly never see in Sheffield anymore. These were taken at the Kirroughtree Visitors Centre near Newton Stewart in the Galloway Forest Park. These are tremendous little creatures so full of life and character it is so nice to see them bouncing about in the trees. The South West of Scotland is so close to Sheffield (on a good day) we can be over the border in less than 4 hours, there are some tremendous places to go and some amazing things to see. Some Wedding related posts coming soon, I promise!
Wonderful little characters
And balance cat like on the thinnest twig
They bounce from branch to branch with extraordinary ability
Inspecting what is on offer next…
Amazing agility
Not beyond a bit of self service from the counter
They happily climb all over the bird feeders to get their fill
Fun to watch them work on a nut
We don’t have any pf these left now in Sheffield so a real treat to see them in the wild
They almost seem to pose for the camera
Red squirrels seem even more agile than their grey cousins
They clear-up much of the food dropped by the feeding birds…
Red squirrel meets vole
Incredibly adept at getting what they want
Seems no type of bird feeder is beyond them, there is plenty of food for all of them
We had a nice gap between photographing weddings and it being the summer holidays decided to have a week in one of our favourite parts of the world, Dumfries and Galloway. It is a simply stunning part of the UK, we all love it (including the dogs), have had some fantastic walks, see some amazing animals, stunning scenery and many beautiful birds. I’ll be posting some images over the next few days, red deer today followed by red squirrels and then some birds. The deer shown here were photographed on the Red Deer Range in the Galloway Forest Park, this is on the A712 between Newton Stewart and New Galloway, not too far from the Kirroughtree Visitors Centre. On certain days it is possible to hand feed the deer for a very small and reasonable fee, and to listen to an interesting talk and some stories of the deer in the park.
These are not very Wedding themed but we all have to have a hobby! There are 3 weddings in the pipeline, one to blog about now, I’m in the middle of uploading another to a clients gallery as I sit here plus another in post production which should see the blog soon time allowing.
All these were taken with the D3s, most of the longer distance shots with my new Sigma 150-600mm sport (I’ve still got the Tammy, just trying to decide which one to keep, decisions, decisions…) and the closer-in photos with the Nikkor 70-200mm f/4. Hope you enjoy looking at these as much as I did taking them.
Red deer are the UK largest natural inhabitant and a sight to behold, I love photographing them
I beleive this stag is called Spike
A very tame but potentially dangerous animal when they start waving those antlers about
Too close for the new Sigma sport, quick change to the 70-200mm F4 Nikkor for these close-in images
Spike having a good old look through the window at the tourists!
Beautiful big brown eyes
Inquisitive creatures with no natural predators
Sure this is the same chap I photographed last year but he has been around a few years now, and hopefully a few more to come
The boggy ground didn’t seem to present much of an issue even with tiny feet
A truly magnificent creature
Amazing how big their eye are but it seem they are very active at night so need such big eyes to gather any light they can
Very nice bit of grass this…
Master of all I survey…
Might go over there in a bit, they might have apples…
Keeping an eye out for the ranger with a bucket of deer nuts
Red deer on the red deer range on the A712 between Newton Stewart and New Galloway, Scotland
This years babies mixed in with some older young
Very social animals, even the males, until the rut starts!
