Looking back on 2018….

Personal Highlights from Weddings & Engagement Sessions

Every year I tell myself I’ll do an end of the year blog post that’s ready right at the end of the year, or at least at the very beginning of the next one. But here we are, about to go into March and I’m only just finding the time to share my thoughts on 2018!

What a year 2018 was, I think it must have been my busiest year so far, not only with weddings but also with commercial photography and lots going on in my personal life at the same time. 

For several years I’ve been splitting my life been two countries, the UK and Amsterdam. Wonderful as that has been I’m now living permanently in the UK and feeling a more grounded and settled. And I’m very excited so see what lies ahead for 2019.

Although I say I’m much more grounded I’m still travelling lots, a commercial shoot in 2018 took me to 36 different locations around the UK and was a great adventure. I do love to be heading off to new places and exploring and doubt that I’ll ever lose my excitement for travel. 

In 2018 I met and photographed so many wonderful couples around the UK, mainly London, Surrey, Hampshire and Dorset, but I also headed up to Nottingham and Lincolnshire as well as a little further north. I finally got to visit Scotland where I photographed Kirsty and Andrew’s wedding at Loch Ard.

Last year also saw me visiting Italy twice for amazingly beautiful weddings first in Udine and then Florence and the Tuscan hills. Udine was a hidden gem, so quiet and seemingly undiscovered. I had a couple of days there before the wedding and afterwards I headed to two of the most romantic cities in Italy by train – Verona and Venice. In Tuscany I ate all the ice cream, and got to photograph the beautiful wedding of Eliza and Ash. Their pre-wedding shoot was also fantastic, set in the hills with the city of Florence as a backdrop. 

I also managed to fit in a trip to Spain where I was second shooting for the very talented Ralf Czogallik. It was such a fun experience, Ralf is full of energy and an inspiration to work with. 

Back in the UK my weddings have mainly been country affairs, beautiful laid back celebrations in back gardens with marquees, gorgeous countryside and quaint little churches. 

There have also been barns, country estates, London hotels, registry offices, outdoor ceremonies, epic parties, royal guests, muddy shoes and dresses, tears, laughter, lots of crowd surfing, cats and dogs, but mainly so many lovely amazing couples who trusted me to photograph their day. I love the variety of this job and the gorgeous people I get to meet and spend the day with, I can’t imagine doing anything else. 

I took on the challenge of photographing my best friend’s wedding and being a bridesmaid at the same time! Not any easy task but I also wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. I use my camera to feel comfortable in social situations, as a guest without a camera I would have felt awkward and my friend knows this well. My camera is also a perfect screen to hide emotions behind during speeches!

For this round up of the year I’ve selected several images from every wedding but it’s so very hard to choose, (it’s like choosing previews in the days after a wedding, there are so many I want to share but I know I need to keep the selection short and sweet).

I love the images I’ve chosen for different reasons. Some it’s for the connection that can clearly be seen between the couple, the joy and happiness. Sometimes it’s an epic intriguing backdrop such as the neon signs from God’s Own Junkyard, or the bold colours of shipping containers, or simply a beautiful scene with rolling countryside. I hope it is clear that the one thing all these images have in common is the happiness and love that can be seen between my couples and their family and friends who were there to share their happy day. 

It’s also taken me much longer to select the images this year, I had planned to be ready to post this in January but I chose far too many photos. My initial selection was over 600, far too many for someone to have a quick look through! So I’ve been really tough on myself and cut them down even further, no easy task when you love them all. Even so I still have 125 for this end of year post. I need to get up to date with my blogging so I can share more of my favourite images from each wedding but hopefully this is a lovely taster of all the weddings I am yet to blog.  

I am so grateful to all the couples who choose me as their photographer, there are so many amazing photographers out there and it always blows my mind when I’m chosen to capture the memories that they will enjoy looking at for many years. I really love my job and the wonderful people I meet along the way. I’m especially grateful when I receive lovely kind words and thank you’s after the day and when the photos have been delivered. Each year when I create this looking back post I’m reminded of how very lucky I am.

I need to say a great big thank you to the amazing second shooters I’ve worked with this year – Rich Howman, Charlie Campney, Soven Amatya, Carine Bea, Emmie Scott and Jamie Dunn, all of them running busy photography businesses themselves. 

And another big thank you to my photographer friends who have invited me to second shoot with them this year – Andy Tyler, Charlie Campney, Soven Amatya and Ralf Czogallik.

Here goes…