RAC Club Wedding Photography | Vicky and Adam

I was lucky enough to photograph a rather cool London wedding recently. Vicky and Adam approached me in February looking for a photographer after an old uni rugby friend sent them in my direction. Little did any of us know that a few months later they would have some very exciting news: they would be expecting their first baby in October

In fact, on the day, Vicky was the most calm, relaxed bride I've ever seen and she carried her 'bump' with grace and poise in a beautifully flowing dress. The ceremony was held in The Grand Chamber at Wandsworth Town Hall. It is a striking room with oak panelling and an impressive skylight. Guests were then taken by classic red Routemasters across the city to The Royal Automobile Club, Pall Mall where they were spoiled with a top notch service in decadent surroundings. Meanwhile Bride, Groom and myself went by car to get some portraits with a London theme. Battersea Power Station was our first stop and then we risked our lives crossing Westminster Bridge, but boy was it worth it. We got some awesome shots with stunned tourists looking on and backdrops included Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and the London Eye. 

The wedding reception was held beneath the stunning chandeliers of the wonderful Mountbatten Room and with the impeccable service, it provided a first class experience for all. There were some embarrassing moments for Adam during the speeches, although nothing less should be expected from a best man! The partying went long into the night and the band made sure there were plenty of people on the dancefloor. A pink feather boa somehow found it's way into the mix and this entertained the crowd when it was put to good use for an impromptu limbo competition! Overall it was A fantastic wedding for a fantastic couple. Congratulations Vicky and Adam and best of luck with your new addition later this month!

If you'd like to find out more about my wedding photography please head to my website or email me, I'd love to hear from you!

Top 10 Wedding Photographer

Back in August I entered the Wedding Industry Experts Awards. This was the first year that this particular awards has been run. It was a worldwide competition open to everyone that supplies the wedding industry. Voting was for two weeks and votes came from anyone who wanted to show their support to their chosen supplier. 

I had great support from friend's and past couples and am very pleased to say that I achieved some quite nice results...

Pretty stoked that I came 7th in England because 'Top 10' certainly has a nice ring to it! But hey, I won't shy away from Top 50 Worldwide either!

Thank you to all those who supported me, it really means a lot.

The next awards I've entered are the similarly named, but very differently formatted, Wedding Industry Awards which is based purely on clients scores and feedback from this year only. It is highly regarded and I would love to take on the big boys here. I will let you know in November how it goes!

So, to finish with...

If you would like an award winning wedding photographer to take awesome pictures at your wedding head over to Simon Biffen Photography and find out more ;)

Sorrento Wedding Photography | Lucy & Joe

The beautiful and historic town of Sorrento, Italy was the destination for Lucy and Joe's intimate wedding back in August. The sun was out in all it's glory and even with a 4pm ceremony, it was still over 32 degrees! The civil ceremony was held in the stunning Saint Francis Cloisters followed by a short walk through the cobbled Italian streets took us to the Hotel Bellevue, which had incredible views from the terraces towards Mt Vesuvius. Strangely enough the famous catastrophic eruption was on the the very same day back in 79 AD, fortunately there was no sign of a repeat event! Really delightful to photograph a couple so in love and obviously so very perfect for one another, and fantastic to have captured them making their very own history in such a striking and memorable location. Congratulations Lucy and Joe...

Are you getting married in the UK or abroad and looking for fresh, stylish wedding photography? Well look no further! Please do get in touch via my website if you'd like to find out more.

Family Portrait Photography Somerset | Anna & Pete

I had the pleasure last week of photographing Anna and Pete, whose wedding I shot a few years ago on the Dorset coast, this time doing a family portrait shoot for them. This was a rather unique shoot because it wasn't just Mum and Dad, but also their 6 month old adorable baby girl (who behaved beautifully it has to be said!), Welly (the 18 month old black labrador, behaved well most of the time!) and Sammy (Anna's palomino horse). Getting great shots of all of them was the aim, before the clouds opened up! We kept things very relaxed, nothing very formal. They have a lovely cottage in the countryside and we used the garden and fields to get some outdoor shots while we could. Here are the results...

If you've enjoyed looking at these photographs and would like your own family shoot, then feel free to get in touch with me by clicking here.

Wedding Industry Experts 2012 Awards

I have been nominated for The 2012 Wedding Industry Awards and need your help! This is a chance for anyone who quite likes, loves or adores my photography to cast your vote. 

The way this works is on the number of total votes in a category, and here's the thing: you can vote once per day. This means for the two weeks you can vote everyday if you're really feeling the love! And do feel free to spread the word to family, friends and co-workers if you think I'm worthy. With all the other competition I will need all the help I can get to compete with the big fish. 

This will be Simon Biffen Photography's first year as a full time business and I would love to kick things off with some bling! Seriously though, it would be awesome. Since leaving teaching to take my passion for pictures to the next level I can safely say it has been a roller coaster ride, but I am absolutely loving it. 

There we go, I'm done :) Don't forget to cast your vote each day you lovely people... 

Voting commences on the 13th August and runs till the 31st August.

A Thousand to One

How many photographs do you need to tell the story of your wedding? 

 

A thousand? 

A hundred? 

Ten? 

...One?

Could you pick just one picture? Is that even possible?

And what sort of picture would it be? Would you choose a person? A moment? A detail?

Can you imagine if wedding photographers didn't give you hundreds of images, but instead had to chose just one? 

That one image would have to be mindbogglingly good wouldn't it?!

You bet.

So, where am I going with this?

Well, I think the old saying 'less is more' is fitting here. Think about this: would you rather see ten OK pictures of you having your hair done, or one exceptional picture? Six average pictures of you walking down the aisle, or one that's spectacular?

Quality not quantity, in other words.

The world is full of average-to-appalling digital photographs, and you certainly don't want to receive any like this from your wedding photographer.

You don't walk into an Apple store and see old tatty iPods and iPhones, packaging on the floor or day-glo sale signs. That is because a sense of quality resounds through everything they do, from the chirpy, 'How are you today?' to the last play with the latest iPad before you leave. You are happy in the knowledge that you are being provided for, looked after and that the product is completely worth investing in.

I think that wedding photography should be the same: you should love the photographer's work, have a good connection with them and be shown that they care about you and your day.

Every wedding I shoot has my complete and utter attention. I want the end result to be genuine happiness from the Bride and Groom at seeing their day captured just how they envisaged, and sometimes a little better.  I want my couples to value each and every photograph I give them. Each will have it's place.

Deciding on what makes the final disc is a long process for me. I need time to consider and think carefully about the story of the day and including relevant pictures and culling the chaff. But it is completely worth it. This is obviously all pointless if you don't have great photographs to choose from to start with! 

The title of this blog is 'a thousand to one'.

These are odds that you could bet on and retire happy but if i rejig it a little and swap a word... you get 'one in a thousand'. This saying could relate to your photographer, your dress, your other half... but essentially it means that you've chosen something or someone so special that it isn't going to be matched easily. 

I'm aware of how many thousands of photographers there are to chose from, but I'm safe in the knowledge that none of them are exactly like me, or have my unique passion for wedding photography, and of course none can beat me at welly wanging - and if you think you can then head to the World Welly Boot Throwing in my home town of Wellington in and challenge me!

If you would like to find out more about what makes me stand out pay me a visit at Somerset wedding photographer.

Dorset Wedding Photography | Polly & Andy

The weather held (just!) and Polly and Andy got the wedding they dreamed of: a classy, country affair in delightful Dorset. Things started with a bang with the boys in the morning on their clay pigeon shoot with Justin at On The Peg. There was serious competition between the boys and no one was going to let the groom have it easy. Andy did in fact come second, after upping his game.

The church was in the enormous grounds of Bryanston School where Polly was a former student. The Rev'd Andrew Haviland captivated the congregation with his delightful positivity during the ceremony. One word: "Wow!" :)

The reception was held at another of Polly's old schools, this time at Hanford. The gorgeous box gardens allowed us the perfect escape for half an hour to get some stunning portraits. We were interrupted at one point by the Headmaster's dog who came and gave his personal congratulations to the happy couple!  

I wanted to try a few shots using the quite spectacular tree in the grounds and the boys were keen to do a bit of climbing to get into position. Only thing is that full stretch lunges aren't really what these suits were designed for and there was one 'accident' in the nether regions of one unnamed usher ;). 

Having spent five years as teachers at The Banda School in Kenya, Polly and Andy wanted to bring an element of their time in Africa to their wedding. There were Masai rugs, carved animal favours and their favourite places in Kenya were designated as table names on a huge map. The marquee was set in the grounds of the house and had what seemed like hundreds of metres of bunting decorating the inside. This, alongside lanterns and fairylights, gave it a wonderfully bright and colouful feel inside.

Croquet was available for those who were feeling competitive. I'm not sure what it is with croquet, but it seems men just can't play it without turning into monsters! The nicest guys suddenly become possessed once they realise they can knock their mate's ball into the next postcode! 

The food was delicious: fresh country produce that fitted in perfectly with the day and was presented beautifully.

Ah, the speeches! One of my favourite parts of the day, everyone is relaxed, and the only one stressing is the best man. Or in this case, men. These two chaps paired up better than Batman and Robin and delivered a fantastic speech which had the Groom squirming just the right amount. Talking of which, poor Andy. Not only did the heavens open for your speech, but that thunder couldn't have come at a more inappropriate moment! Nevertheless, you moved us all with your heartfelt words.

Not a fan of traditional wedding cakes, Polly and Andy opted for a cheese cake, yes real cheese! It was truly a sight to behold especially when cut with a massive sword!

Jim Etherington and his band got the dancefloor filled and feet moving. Their version of Zorba the Greek was unbelievable. I have never in all my days seen a crowd respond quite so well to it!

So... that was the wedding of the lovely Polly and Andy!

 I hope you have enjoyed this sample of their wedding. If you like what you see and would like to know more about my wedding photography head over to my website or contact me.