Wedding at Quex Park

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

I've just republished the gallery of Marguerite and Anthony, whose wedding I photographed recently at Saints Austin & Gregory Roman Catholic Church, Margate and Quex Park, a 250-acre country park on the Isle of Thanet, near Birchington.

If you're using a non-Adobe flash compatible device then please check out this alternative gallery.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Vicky & Mike's Wedding

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

A selection of images from Vicky and Mike's wedding on Saturday at Lympne Castle and Vicky's family's estate, Bliby Willows. Please check out their wedding gallery.

HDR (-2, 0, +2), f/5.7, ISO 500, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Bliby Cottage. What a lovely name. In contrast, I live at number 35. Doesn't quite have the same ring about it, does it?

1/80, f/1.8, ISO 500, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

A real cool cat.

1/200, f/2.2, ISO 200, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/160, f/1.4, ISO 400, ‒ ⅓ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/500, f/2, ISO 320, ²⁄₃ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

The shooting environment was quite busy so I had to compose carefully. Notice the positive exposure compensation (EC) to keep some detail in the figures.

1/160, f/5.6, ISO 400, 0 EV, 35mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

A couple of quick groups were required. I placed them just at the interface between shadow and light and then turned off all lights. This gave a nice dark background and lost any clutter.

1/320, f/4.5, ISO 400, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 30mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

HDR (-2, 0, +2), f/5.7, ISO 400, 25mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Lympne Castle in HDR.

1/200, f/4, ISO 100, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

The boys, with the groom having his head buffed in preparation for the ceremony.

1/1250, f/1.8, ISO 100, ‒ 1 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/160, f/2, ISO 800, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

Guests tend to be skittish before the ceremony (before having an alcoholic drink, to be more accurate). I'm normally wearing plus fours at this stage.

1/100, f/4, ISO 200, ‒ ⅓ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/1600, f/2.8, ISO 50, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 200mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

We have a wardrobe malfunction. Veil-engineer required.

1/1600, f/2.8, ISO 50, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 120mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

Off to the workshop for running repairs.

1/1600, f/2.8, ISO 50, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 200mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

And action. Notice the negative EC.

1/125, f/3.5, ISO 1000, 0 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/200, f/2.8, ISO 1250, 1 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

I pulled the curtains behind them in advance of the ceremony.

1/125, f/2.5, ISO 1250, ⅓ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/250, f/2.8, ISO 1250, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

I took my shots when the groom was not casting a shadow on the bride's face. Our visual systems can easily deal with this (our in-built fill-light feature) but cameras can't.

1/400, f/1.8, ISO 1000, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 1600, ‒ 2 EV, 35mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/2000, f/1.8, ISO 200, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

The light was ferocious at this point but there's a reliably shady spot for groups.

1/640, f/1.6, ISO 400, ‒ ⅓ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/250, f/1.6, ISO 800, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

Venues like Lympne Castle have dark walls which means that there's very little reflected light around. In this situation there are very defined areas of light and shadow. You need to choose your shots very carefully and make the light work for you.

1/1250, f/1.2, ISO 400, ‒ 1 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/640, f/1.4, ISO 400, ‒ 1 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/200, f/18, ISO 200, 0 EV, 0 FEC, 24mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

The sun was still really strong at this point but I wanted some outdoor shots. Time for some off-camera flash (triggered with the PW miniTT1 and flexTT5). I put the camera in manual mode and set the shutter to the flash-sync speed - in the case of the 5D Mark II this is 1/200. This means that I can access full power on the flash unit (and not the 1/3 power that occurs when it switches to high speed sync, though the PWs do improve this slightly). It's then a case of adjusting ISO and aperture to balance flash and ambient light.

1/200, f/20, ISO 200, 0 EV, 0 FEC, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/200, f/2.2, ISO 160, ‒ ⅓ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/125, f/16, ISO 100, 0 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

I shot this knowing that I'd be using a graduated neutral-density filter effect in Lightroom during post-production.

1/250, f/4, ISO 320, ⅓ EV, 70mm, 70-200mm f/2.8L IS

1/400, f/4, ISO 320, 1 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

All the girls looking nervous just in case I could see up their skirts. Being a gentleman I would not, of course, have taken the shot if this were the case.

1/250, f/4, ISO 400, 0 EV, 35mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/160, f/4, ISO 400, ⅓ EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

Precision cake-cutting.

Comments and queries are always welcome.

My website: Kent wedding photographers

Megan & Joe's Wedding

My website: Wedding Photographers in Kent

A selection of images from Megan and Joe's recent wedding at St Giles the Abbot Church, Farnborough Village and The Bull's Head Hotel, Chislehurst. Please check out their wedding gallery.

HDR (-2, 0, +2), f/4, ISO 100, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 100, 0 EV, 34mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

I just don't take enough fungi shots at weddings. They're real story-tellers and look great in the album.

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 1600, ‒ ⅓ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/500, f/1.6, ISO 250, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/1000, f/1.4, ISO 100, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

I'd have preferred it without the transit van....

1/500, f/3.5, ISO 400, 0 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 2500, 0 EV, 35mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

As you can see from the EXIF data, it was quite dark in the church, plus there was some unpleasant tungsten lighting but, fortunately, window light was hitting Megan's face.

1/200, f/1.4, ISO 1250, ⅓ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/250, f/1.2, ISO 1000, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/400, f/1.2, ISO 1000, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/400, f/1.4, ISO 1000, 0 EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/250, f/2.5, ISO 2000, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/160, f/2.5, ISO 2000, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 2000, ²⁄₃ EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/320, f/2.5, ISO 800, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

1/250, f/1.6, ISO 200, ‒ ⅓ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

I asked them to look towards the light for this one.

1/160, f/8, ISO 100, ‒ ⅓ EV, 27mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/250, f/4, ISO 100, 0 EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/250, f/4, ISO 800, ⅓ EV, 16mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

The longest confetti line I've ever seen. Megan and Joe were starting to bruise by the end.

1/400, f/2.8, ISO 500, ‒ ⅓ EV, 35mm, 16-35mm f/2.8L II

1/320, f/1.4, ISO 400, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/160, f/2, ISO 400, ‒ ²⁄₃ EV, 35mm f/1.4L

1/200, f/4.5, ISO 800, 0 EV, 0 FEC, 35mm f/1.4L

The PocketWizards (miniTT1 & flexTT5) are great for situations with limited space. The flash unit was held in my left hand and bounced off the windscreen.

1/100, f/2, ISO 1600, 0 EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

Taxi for the comedian....

1/100, f/2.8, ISO 1600, 0 EV, o FEC, 35mm f/1.4L

What a smile! Flash bounced off area to my right.

1/200, f/1.8, ISO 100, ‒ ⅓ EV, 85mm f/1.2L II

Now that's what I call a moustache.

Comments and queries welcome as ever.

My website: Kent wedding photographers