Six in a Golf Cart

I met Terri and Andrew for the first time at Warwick castle. We toured round the grounds bouncing ideas off each other and generally goofing around. Both Terri and Andy work for large car dealerships, Terri as a Business Manager and Andy as a Sales Manager. I remember Terri smiling almost constantly and Andy coming out with some of the cheesyest ‘dad jokes’ I’ve ever heard, we got on great!

There are so many backdrops at Warwick Castle that we were more than spoiled for choice. Terri and Andy decided that a second shooter would be handy and so I got my friend and excellent photographer involved. We’d be pressed for time we realised as there wouldn’t be much light to play with so we hit on the use of a golf cart which was great on the day as we got to zip around the grounds at well not break neck speed, something more like six miles an hour but perhaps because there were actually six of us on it, myself and my second shooter Keagan, the videographer, Terri and Andy of course and the driver too. The day was packed full, with occasional surprises to keep the guests on their toes. I interviewed Terri about their day. Read on to hear all about it.

So, how did you guys meet, what’s the story?

“ We met at work seven years ago. The first time I saw Andy my comment was “He’s a bit of me he is!” We went for a couple of drinks but nothing ever happened and we then spent the next five years dancing the fine line between love and hate ... we argued like cat and dog! We worked closely together in the same office for years and despite all the falling out, we built a solid friendship. When I moved jobs, I’d call Andy for advice and we just eventually got even closer :-)”

A kind of Beatrice and Benedict situation then, that in mind what was the proposal like?

“Haha, we were in bed and I’ll leave it at that!”

Fair enough say no more, moving swiftly on to safe territory. How long were you engaged?

“About 14 months”

So you had a bit of time then, although planning a wedding can be a full time job, how did you find it?

“I found the planning quite rushed and stressful, we both work extremely long hours so it was hard trying to plan everything around work. I wish I could have taken a bit more time to explore things but then it all ended up so perfectly anyway, it didn’t really matter. ”

Yeah it was awesome, went without a hitch, well bar the jester having whiplash but not much you can do there. Did anything else ‘interesting’ happen along the way?

“Well, it’s true what they say, it’s the family that give you the biggest headaches! And finding out my best friend/bridesmaid would be eight and a half months pregnant on the day was a little nerve-racking haha! ”

True, I was secretly hoping for her water to break during the ceremony but no such luck. It would have been cool to have been born in Warwick Castle though! What made you choose it as a venue?

“We only actually looked at Warwick Castle. We were watching a program called ‘Great British Castles’ and I mentioned you could get married at Warwick... a visit was booked and that was it, all booked up very rapidly! It felt perfect for us.”

It sat very well with the whole theme, for those who weren’t there though; what did you wear and why?

“We went with a 20’s theme due to our love of Peaky Blinders. Andy and the Groomsman wore blue three piece suits with flat caps, champagne cravats and Andy also had his Grandfather’s pocket watch which was perfect. I had an ivory mermaid style fitted dress by Pronovias with a long train that I 20’d up with a Marabou wrap and an Art Deco headpiece and not forgetting my beautiful blue Manolo Blahnik shoes!”

Very cool. I loved it. Why 20’s though, a certain connection or does it just fit…?

“ We went with a 20’s theme mainly because I’d been struggling to find a style of wedding dress I liked. They were all too puffy or lacy or girly.
We were watching Peaky Blinders one night and it was an episode that contained a wedding. Out of nowhere, Andy piped up with ‘What about a 20’s style dress?’ I looked, quite liked them and so it went from there! We obviously then had to get a bit of Peaky Blinders into the wedding so we named the tables after the main characters. We decided to leave the decor as simple as possible - we were lucky that Warwick Castle is so beautiful and has so many lovely things to look at. We didn’t want to detract from that; so the only flowers we had were the bouquets and buttonholes. They were simple and pretty - white flowers and blue ribbon to match my shoes.
The invitations and table stationary we had in an Art Deco style and my friend who owns ‘The Little Cake Shop’ in Cannock made us a beautiful Art Deco four tier wedding cake. The Bridesmaids wore champagne coloured empire line dresses and also had fur wraps with gold Art Deco head pieces.”

Everyone got involved too. I walked into the ceremony room and it was all braces and peaked caps. Speaking of, tell me about the ceremony.

“It was beautiful, it goes by in a blur though! I remember feeling like I was queuing up for a roller coaster, then the music started and then we were walking back out! We had didn’t go for extra readings just the standard ones provided by the registrar, we didn’t feel we needed to add to it. My favorite bit was getting to Andy and then all the stress just melted away, I was so happy. Andy said there was no part he could say was his favorite, it was all good.”

Once the serious bit was out the way then what was the rest like, the party and reception?

“We had a DJ provided by the castle, a bar and hot pork baps. It was so hot, we kept disappearing outside for a cool down in between trying to get round to seeing everyone. It was brilliant though, I loved looking round and seeing people laughing and dancing and having a good time!
By the end of the night I’d pulled my hairpiece out and shoved my hair back in a bun, I’m pretty confident my makeup was halfway down my face and I’d given up with my heels so was in my trainers which meant I was standing all over my dress. I remember saying to my Mother-in-Law that I must look a right state and she replied with ‘Not at all, you look like a bride that’s had a bloody good day!’ and it was so true.”

You had some very unique entertainment, in face I’ve never seen anything like that done at a wedding. Can you tell me about it?

“We had a Knight on Horseback to lead our guests around and we had fighting Knights during the wedding breakfast.
One of the knights was the Master of Ceremonies and the other had been sat like a mannequin while the guests were being seated... He then sprang out and surprised everybody. Why did we choose these? We were in a castle, why not!”

Good point, I loved that actually, and for those reading at home, I laid in wait whilst a guest sat right next to the ‘suit of armour’ and settled herself in, it was about 10 minutes later that he roared to life and gave her a massive fright. Lovely. So they fought, then you ate and then it was first dance time. What did you choose and why?

“We had ‘Into the Mystic’ by Van Morrison. We are both fans of his music and we’d planned to get dance lessons to have our own special first dance. It was the right tempo to dance to and had the right meaning.”

Have you got any advice for couples getting married?

“Not to sweat the small stuff! There may be hiccups on the day - I promise you won’t even notice! And ultimately it’s committing to your partner and doing what makes you both happy is that’s important, not what everyone else thinks.”

Jolly good advice. Would you do anything differently?

“No, nothing.”

Good answer! A dicey question this one, did you stick to your budget?

“We didn’t really budget. Probably should have as we had a poor Christmas haha.”

So technically yes then! Perfect.

Feedback time for me; this question was done via email so as to get a more honest answer and more honest feedback; How would you describe my style of photography?

“Very natural and not obtrusive. We didn’t want a photographer who would take lots of ‘posey’ photos, and I don’t think I’m particularly photogenic when posing. We wanted a photographer who would capture not only the big moments but also the small moments that are easily missed and true expressions and that’s what we found!”

Well that’s a good start, but what was it like to work with me?

“Terrible! Kidding :-) Really easy, and you’re good company. You came up with some great ideas when you visited the Castle with us and kept everything calm and light hearted on the day - you definitely went above and beyond, a true professional! I think you ‘got’ mine and Andy’s sense of humour too which helped and that has come across in the pictures. You’ve also got a small fan base with my friends!”

Blimey! Good to know :) Thanks.

So Credit where Credit’s due, who did the following?

Hair - Lords & Ladies, Cheslyn Hay

Shoes. Manolo Blahnik

Flowers - Flowers by design Lichfield

Venue - Warwick Castle

Rings. - Diamond Dealers Direct - Jewellery Quarter Birmingham

Wedding clothing - Silk Brides of Lichfield, Warren James in Walsall, Davids Bridal in Birmingham (bridesmaids)

Cake - The Little Cake Shop, Bridgtown, Cannock

Make-up - Grace Lawless Make up Artist, Cannock

Be an Effective Street Photographer.

Street Photography

Street Photography makes up for some of the most iconic and moving photos of the last century. It essentially is photography for Art or Social Studies sake. Focusing on true random encounters in public spaces. There’s often no positioning of subjects here which is for me the true charm of it. Photos are often not quite right or involve an odd angle or strange perspective which make them so gloriously off kilter and not right that they are mesmerising and strikingly raw.

It can be daunting to start out. I tend to do it when I travel and find that at the very beginning putting a camera to my face can be embarrassing and at the very least conspicuous. So to get you going you could try shooting from the hip. This is an art-form in itself and is a real skill that few develop.

Shooting from the Hip

Essentially you take photos with your camera nowhere near your face and without the aid of a screen, shooting blind in a way. By doing this you end up with some truly interesting photos from angles that are usually the preserve of a child. There’s often movement in these photos as both you and your subject are frequently in motion, so considering camera speeds and apertures is important. Showing up the movement in the photo often gives it a real life so shooting below 1/100 of second is worth considering. But a word of caution. Surreptitiously taking photos although achieving great results can look suspicious so make sure not to take photos of things you shouldn’t be. Being caught taking photos of military police no matter how good the photo might not be looked on very favorably if done so secretly.

Picking the right camera

You may have a brand new Nikon 5 but as good as that is, for street photography it’s next to useless. It’s so conspicuous, so “Look at me I’m taking a photo” that people are bound to notice and subsequently alter their actions. Ideally you want to be using something capable, small, and with a reasonably wide angled prime lens. My preferred choice, having still to buy a Leica, is a Fuji. I use either an X100s or an XT2. Both very capable, both rather small. The X100s is probably my favorite though as it has a fixed 23mm F2 lens. The dials are all there on the camera body so I don’t have to play with the screen but can rather nonchalantly mess with the settings without drawing attention to myself.

Should you steal the shot?

This is up to you. When you steal a shot you catch a real moment without your involvement altering it at all. these photos are photojournalistic in a way as the subject is focused on whatever it is they’re doing and ideally you the photographer haven’t entered the periphery, but when you ask for permission you gain something else to counter that loss. You give the subject an opportunity to arrange themselves in the way they’d like to be seen. This could be a smile or puffing out a chest or maybe arranging themselves with the cards they’re dealing of the chickpeas they’re shucking. This is how they want to be seen and remembered and so you’ve caught that. You’ve caught not just the person or personality but without sounding too grandiose, some of their thoughts feelings and possibly insecurities too. That lends a whole new element to the photograph and creates a connection between subject and photographer. There’s often a brief conversation, I’ve chatted with old artisans and taken pictures of them working in dusty workshops through the entrance doors. I’ve met illegal loggers as they waited in line sometimes for days to be let over the border and shared thimble sized cups of tea with them. These for me were some of the most rewarding encounters because they forged memories that have stayed with me ever since.

So you have to make the call, about whether to steal a shot or ask for it.

The Interview

Perhaps the most interesting encounter I have had with street photography goes to show that the exception makes the rule. I was trying to surreptitiously take photos during the protests and riots in Thailand in 2013. Before I give the wrong impression, I arrived and had left before any outbreak of violence really took place and the atmosphere was reminiscent of a festival rather than the unease and electricity you feel around a violent outbreak. On this outing I had a big Nikon with me with large glass too as opposed to a little Olympus I’d left back at the hotel. So my stolen shots were noticed as was I. Again, there was no threat here but I was mistaken for a journalist and was offered an interview with the Sister-in-law of the leader of the coup. She was a political player in the party. I started to protest but then thought why not? and was sat down, fed, watered and soon enough She and her translator came over. She was well put together in large sunglasses and I had the surreal experience of plucking questions out of thin air to give to the translator whilst sat on a small red plastic stool in the mid-day heat surrounded by many interested Thais. It started as Street Photography and ended in one of the most unusual and interesting encounters of my life.