Over the years that we’ve been photographing weddings, we’ve often been asked if we can suggest a “good place” for taking photographs. It’s a reasonable enough question, obviously. It’s also a trickier question than it might first appear, since it brings into play a number of factors that have little if anything to do with photography. Travel time, accessibilty, conditions underfoot, peoples comfort, the weather (obviously), all sorts of elements have to be taken into account.
The driving force behind the question is pretty clear, most people have in mind an idea of a ‘picturesque’ setting as being needed, while from our perspective we’re as concerned with the practical issues as we are with the visual ones.
More than once in the past, we’ve had requests to take pictures in particularly remote or dramatic settings – well given where we are in the world, the drama of the landscape can really add to the work we produce. Sometimes though, it pays to take a step back and remember that we’re there to photograph a wedding after all, and that all the other parts of the day have a significance too.
Our first sight of the Bride-to-be on the day, Alison. Yes, she just moved the tractor so we could park up beside the house. It’s pretty clear from the start that ‘The Land’ is more to Alison and Graham than a pretty backdrop for pictures. It’s an integral part of who and what they are, it’s not just scenery.
For a late Autumn wedding, the weather was kinder than we might have hoped for or expected. There’s a clarity about that low, angled light that picks out detail and texture like at no other time of the year.
The wedding took place in the cool, dark of the Church.
Then, back into the clear wintry light.
Oh, yes, that’s where this blog started . . . We were talking about locations, weren’t we?
Well, we could have gone to the woods by the river in Rathmelton, The Town Park in Letterkenny or maybe we could have found a spectacular garden someplace. Or, we could just go home.
This isn’t just a ‘place for pictures’ This is their place, their life, their wedding day.
It feels right, it feels like home.
MEMORYFACTORY 