Best of 2021
Best of 2021
2021 has been an amazing year for my little photography business despite the craziness of a COVID pandemic!
50,000 photos captured
11000 photos delivered to couples
6000 miles travelled throughout the UK
31 amazing couples I had the pleasure of meeting
5 Proposal shoots
1 epic slideshow to put it all together!
2021 – what a truly incredible year! I absolutely love my job and 2020 really struck home how when you cant do something you love, capturing peoples amazing memories and moments, it hits hard. I love getting creative and not being able to do this for an entire year made me realise so much more why I am passionate about what I do!
This year has absolutely flown by (don’t they all as you get older)! At the start of the year, with restrictions still In full force, I was so uncertain how the year would pan out and so many of my couples were still not certain if their wedding days would go ahead. The uncertainly of not knowing must have been agony, not knowing how many guests who could attend, whether you could even have a first dance or let alone know if you could even get married.
However, when Boris started to talk positively about restrictions lifting, hope returned and my amazing couples could start to feel their day becoming a reality again. So many wanted to get the show on the road, and hats off to them all for keeping the faith and holding on. I am a massively positive person, finding positivity in everything I can and I kept the belief that we would have a summer of weddings, and boy did I ever!
The first time I picked my camera up again was in early June for a pre wedding shoot at Durdle Door with Laura and Matt, a place I had long wanted to photograph a couple at. Wow- it was so amazing to get back behind the camera again, although I felt a little rusty, being able to get creative and interact with a real couple again felt incredible, being able to breathe my passion for photography to create some epic portraits was the best feeling ever!
I had spent lockdown investing in myself with masses of online photography education, finally being able to put this into practice felt like I was being set free!
For the next month I managed to book in lots of pre wedding shoots plus a couple of epic proposal shoots before finally it was time to capture a wedding again. My first wedding back was with Danica and Joel at the stunning Stanton Manor not far from where I am based in Wiltshire. I will admit it hit me how tiring a long wedding day can be so I was content I had sorted my fitness out pre wedding season. I like many had been a bit lazy in lockdown at times so early 2021 I got myself back out running again to keep myself fit and the waistline slim!
Then came the busiest time of year-Summer. I fortunately managed to squeeze 2 years worth of weddings into the space of about 8 weeks! Capturing a wedding one day all the way up in Preston followed by a wedding the next day in Berkshire. Throughout this time there were a lot of late nights editing, always wanting to ensure I got photos to my couples as soon as possible so they could relive their amazing wedding days.
Fast forward to today, I have been absolutely honoured and privileged to have worked with every single one of my amazing couples this year. Being able to document and witness their wedding day, putting their trust in me to capture their memories by putting my absolute all into it! It’s a lot of pressure but I absolutely thrive on pressure and I totally believe its when I produce my best work.
When it came down to selecting my Best of 2021-it took some time for sure. 11000 delivered photos into 160 for this best of was a difficult job. I don’t see my photos as one is better than another. When I am looking through them, I am picking photos that have stuck with me for what ever reason, shots that best represent what I love doing and why I love being a wedding photographer. Some may not be technically perfect, but what they are for me is raw moments and memories. Although I love taking natural epic portraits, I also love the candid split second moments of the day, the joy, love and laughter, it is absolutely infectious and is the best part of my job.
To all of my couples from this past year- thank you so much for putting your trust in me and for being absolutely awesome! I have created some of my best work this year and that is all down to you! To my future couples, those booked and those who might stumble across this blog, I can’t wait to capture your phenomenal day!
Shoutouts and thank you’s
Firstly, my biggest thanks is to my wife, Catherine, my rock and soulmate who gives me so much support and love and is certainly my harshest critic! Love you Babs! My children Aiden and Caitlin for being the cutest and putting up with Dada not always being home!
Massive shoutout to Paul from Burton Media, my trusty videographer and great friend. Was a pleasure working on several weddings together with you this past year as always, your support both on wedding days and in between is hugely appreciated and I can’t wait to do it all again this year!
To all of the venues I have had the pleasure of working at, thanks to those who have shared my work on your feeds and thanks go to your teams on the day.
Shoutouts to some amazing communities I am part of. Neil Redfern for your awesome Patreon community, a place I have met new friends and learnt so much from others, it is a gift that keeps on giving!
Andy and Rahul from Ninedots another amazing community for wedding photographers. I had the pleasure of attending the Ninedots Gathering 2021 and it was truly an epic 3 days of inspiration and partying after a mega year!
Lanny and Erika from Two Mann for your sensational Two Mann U course, the education you provided was out of this world and has provided me with so much this year and my work has undoubtedly improved from what I took away from this course.
Some heart felt thankyou to finish off, Nigel Hepplewhite-thanks for your support and wisdom, Caroline Rushton for being an epic 2nd shooter on Sarah and Shane’s wedding day, Matt Trott for your advice and assistance with album design, Martin Cheung for your wisdom and pearls of knowledge and my random questions throughout the year. Lastly, Simon Hogben for your guidance and your SEO course which helped propel my website to where it is today.
2022 is going to be another amazing year- I’m ready to smash it!
