The party had a German theme (complete with steins and sauerkraut canapes) and a great time was had by all. I’m told the celebrations went on till six in the morning – needless to say I was tucked up in bed long before then.

The German theme was reflected in the entertainment …

followed by something a little more contemporary for the dancing:

We’ll start with some non-candid Bride & Groom shots. I’m not a fan of dragging the B&G off for an hour mid-wedding and posing them to death – photography isn’t the most important part of a wedding – spending time with your family & friends is what it’s all about. It’s the photographer’s job to record this – hopefully with a large slice of flair and elegance.

That said, you’ve just got married, you probably look as good as you ever will do and you’re feeling pretty loved up, so it would be churlish not to try to capture some of this.  So I aim for two things with my B&G shoots – do them quickly (so the B&G can get back to the party rather than hanging out with a relative stranger) and produce images with a natural feel. Here are a few examples, see what you think.

Sarah & Dave were married in Burley-in-Wharfedale; their wedding reception was in a marquee in their garden. Their house is more or less at the edge of the moors, so we took a quick walk into the countryside to shoot some B&G stuff. The sun was just on its way down and this is my favourite from a brief but very successful shoot. Who said shooting into the sun was a bad idea?

Anna & Andrew’s wedding was at the stunning Glen Tanar Estate in Aberdeenshire. The estate has its own loch where this shot was taken. This is pretty much exactly what I mean when I say I’m trying to create natural-looking shots.

This next shot was a seriously rushed job. Rachel & Simon were married in Sheriff Hutton and we literally had about two minutes to get some B&G shots before heading off to the reception at the Merchant Adventurers Hall in York. Still, a pretty old church as a backdrop, some nice, soft, overcast light, the extraordinary Nikkor 85mm f1.4 and finally a serendipitous gust of wind to add some dramatic shape to the dress and you’re away.

This is a slightly more staged shot. Fiona & Ross’s wedding was at Bolton Priory (surely one of Yorkshire’s grandest locations for a religious ceremony) and their reception was at The Red Lion in Burnsall.  Though they were living in the Dales when they got engaged, they had since moved to Dubai so they were keen to record the landscape of the area in their photographs. My assistant was called upon to do some heavy lifting with a nearby bench then I pretty much left Fiona & Ross to their own devices. This is just one of many great shots we got.

Hope you’ve enjoyed this small sample of B&G shots – I’ll post some candid B&G stuff in the next week or so.

It was my first wedding at the Feversham Arms – seems like a fantastic venue, especially for intimate winter weddings. Here are a few shots from the day:

He’s also very photogenic (though don’t tell him that) and has done a bit of modelling in the past. The purpose of this quick shoot was to add a few new shots to his portfolio, so we were trying to produce a number of shots with different looks – here’s how we got on:

He doesn’t like this last one, but it’s probably my favourite for three reasons: I think the colour of the brickwork is great, I like the separation created by the rim light from the end of the tunnel behind Dom and I like the frontal wrap-around light projected by the end of tunnel behind me.

Anyway – check out Dom’s radio show. I understand it’s a big hit in Texas …

I look forward to family holidays for all kinds of reasons, but not least because they represent an unrestricted chance to get out the camera for pure enjoyment. I get a huge kick out of photographing family members, so to kick off my blog, I’m going to do a couple of posts showing a sample of my favourites from a couple of family holidays this year (and some family days out).

This isn’t pure self-indulgence though – the style of these is essentially identical to my lifestyle portraiture. So if you’d like shots like these of you and your family, get in touch.

We’ll start with some kid shots:

This is my little boy Charlie on Bolton Abbey Steam Railway (which is great for kids if you live around Ilkley or Skipton). Despite his expression in these photos, he’s usually a very happy soul (except when it’s time for bed). I love this shot.

With his idol, Uncle Andrew at Fewston Reservoir.

Felix my nephew – cute but rather naughty.

Frank – another nephew. Just as cute and equally naughty.

And finally, another nephew – Sam:

There’ll be some future posts on how to take better pictures with regular cameras, but just a quick one on the above shot of Sam – notice how his eyes are lit up? He’s staring into a large window and it’s the reflection of this big light source (technically known as the catchlight) which produces this effect. So, when you’re trying to add a bit of pop to a portrait of someone, try taking it when they’re looking into a big window or similar directional light source.

Look out for my favourite grown-up shots of last year in one of my next posts.