MPA so far...

I am currently working on my MPA and selecting images is hard! Harder than I thought it would be, however yesterday with the help of my fantastic mentor Kevin Pengelly, I have created a shortlist. I have to select the images myself so no need to tell me your favourites I just wanted to share some of my favourite images with you. Once I make my final selection I will show you all...


















I decided to make the whole panel black and white, as I love dense blacks and think it sits together beautifully. Enjoy!

WEDDING WEDNESDAY - One Take Media

I must admit when we were getting married, we were undecided on whether to have a videographer. Our first thoughts were, we love photos but we'll never watch the video. How wrong we were! I can't quite remember how I discovered One take media, but on having a search for videographers I stumbled across them. They are fairly new to the wedding industry but I was impressed with what they had to offer.

In the end they created a fantastically edited video with a great short version to share with all our friends. Everything about it summed the day up and I am not sure how many times we have watched it... definitely into the hundreds now!

Anyway for this week's wedding wednesday I will let James tell you a bit more about One Take Media... and for any of my clients they are offering a fantastic discount. And the great news is the offer has no expiry date, so whenever you are getting hitched, if you book me you can take advantage of the fab offer.

Over to James...

Hello! Thanks for reading and considering wedding videography. A video, like your wedding photos, will last more than a lifetime. It will be watched and enjoyed by you and your family and friends for years. The best wedding videos are those that you can put on at any time, sit back, relax and enjoy in exactly the same way as your favourite Hollywood blockbuster. Below are a few tips to help you on your way to finding a wedding videographer that can provide you with that unique memory of your wedding day. I hope it helps!

Decide on the style you are after – Documentary or Cinematic

A documentary style (often referred to as reportage) will be a natural story of the day, generally without any special effects. A cinematic style involves the use of many effects such as music, transitions, slow motion and often provides a more convoluted film structure to enhance the storytelling. Inevitably this style is generally the most expensive as it involves much more time in post production.

For our videos we tend to have a mixture of both styles. The ceremony & speeches we shoot and edit in a documentary style, but all the other bits (opening titles, arrival of guests, reception dancing etc) are all edited in a more creative cinematic style.

Ask Your Friends

Try and get recommendations from you friends. If possible ask if you can watch their DVD! Also ask your photographer as they will have probably worked with numerous videographers and will be able to give you some suggestions depending on the style you are after and your budget.

Don’t go for ‘budget’ companies

Don't go for a company just because they're cheap. There are some out there who will charge just a couple of hundred pounds, but there is of course a reason for this, whether it is because they use very basic equipment, or due to the fact that they offer little in the way of post production.

If your budget is limited then I would suggest going for a better company, but just get the cheaper package option - for example go for a package that will just capture the ceremony

Go for a two camera package

A movie that cuts between different angles will always make for a more stimulating viewing experience.

Make sure they have a good audio set up

Good audio quality is essential for a wedding video. Most videographers will use a mix of both directional shotgun mics (used for background noise & messages from guests) and personal mics (used during the ceremony, & sometimes during speeches). Without a personal mic on you and the other key people speaking throughout the day, the audio quality is guaranteed to suffer.

One take media is run by myself, James and my partner Mark. We offer a very natural style of videography, with no staged shots and as little interference as possible. We think this is the best method of shooting, as it makes for an authentic finished movie. In order to enhance the viewing experience, we do put a lot of work into the post production of all our videos, with creative cinematic elements in the form of tasteful special effects, music and suitable transitions between scenes. Our ultimate aim is to create films that are emotional, authentic and above all extremely enjoyable to watch!

Julia & Ian Highlights from James Bishop on Vimeo.

Some of my favourites - the service

This is the time of year I like to look back at my favourite shots so I can create new sample albums. So each week I'm going to bring you a collection of wedding photography. This week it's "the service"...

The light in Mel and Charlie's church was stunning. This shot has been been entered into a recent photography competition so fingers crossed everyone else loves it as much as we do!

Lewis chose his own spot to watch the proceedings.

Martin waits for Anita to arrive. I love old churches, this one was tiny, set in the countryside of Yorkshire.

This shot is one of my all time favourites and came 3rd a photography of the year competition last year. The Barn were Melissa and Anthony got married had the most amazing lighting system, meaning the low light was easy to manipulate and highlight the two of them. No photoshop required tricks, just careful camera exposure

I adore this moment, Jenny looks over the moon


Nervous moment, waiting for his stunning wife Ellie to make her entrance

Lee and Lucy were so natural in the church, holding hands or with their arms around each other for most of the service. The great news is we will be shooting Lee's sister Emma's wedding there later this year

Lee did get quite emotional

Lucy's sister sang as a surprise at the end of their wedding... which was very emotional and she truly has the most amazing voice.

Kirsty and her hubby Stephen got married in the tiniest treehouse in Scotland overlooking Loch Goil. It was stunning...

But when Kirsty got emotional during her vows, there wasn't a dry eye in the treehouse

In reality that is just a tiny selection of my favourite shots. I hope you enjoyed them so far!

A week of blogs...

This week has been mental... we have literally been everywhere!

We started the week on WEDDING IDEAS blog with the lovely Danielle and James (with William) engagement shoot with a difference - click here to see it!

Then Rock my Wedding blogged about our actual wedding over four days along with our video too! It started with the sneak peek last saturday then followed up on Wednesday and Thursday, with the video on Friday. We had so many wonderful comments, so thank you to Rebecca, Charlotte and Adam again!

ALSO on Wednesday the super cute Louise of Whimsical wonderland weddings blogged about Mel and Charlie's wedding. Her words were so lovely, she's bookmarked the wedding for future reference- its certainly a bright lovely wedding! Read what she said and the huge selection of photos she blogged here

Then yesterday US blog WEDBITS written in association with DESSY blogged about our fabulous Dominion Theatre wedding - see more here

Last but not least Louise of Whimsical wonderland weddings named Mel (from the Welsh wedding) as part of her beautiful brides.

I have no doubt there will be more great press to come...


(Mel "beautiful bride" featured on Whimsical wonderland weddings)!

WEDDING WEDNESDAY- Bow Occasions

The second in our weekly Wedding Wednesday shout outs today. This one is very special, as its from the wonderful planner Louise, at Bow Occasions, whose wedding Ian and I will be shooting next year. Louise is actually offering a great discount on future bookings too!

Louise is giving her tip on planning your big day- over to Louise:

Firstly congratulations on your engagement. This is an extremely fun and exciting time and one which should be enjoyed and cherished. Unfortunately, the wedding planning process can easily be overshadowed with stress, be it from family pressures, finances or not knowing where to start.

So to help you along the way, I have put together some tips for those at the very early stages of the wedding planning process.

1. Budget

There are so many fun parts of planning a wedding, from choosing the dress to cake tastings but there’s no point starting these without having an idea of the budget. After all, you don’t want to find your dream venue or dress only to then realise it doesn’t work financially.

I can tell you that this is probably going to be one of the toughest parts of planning your wedding so it’s worth getting it out of the way early. Then the fun begins…

2. Guest list

Establishing a rough guest list works hand in hand with establishing your budget… after all, the more guests, the more you may need to budget. This is also a good thing to have when venue searching… You don’t want to find your dream venue and then realise that it won’t be big enough to accommodate your guests.

3. Research

Research, research, research! Find out what YOU love. Find out what your FIANCE loves. Write down what is important to you and what isn’t. Look though magazines and blogs and save the ideas you love. Put them in a safe place, be it a scrapbook or a folder on your computer. It is so important to remember that this wedding is about you and your fiancé. Your friends and family will have opinions but be true to yourself, if you don’t want a wedding cake, don’t have one. Don’t want a three course meal then don’t have one.

Optional: Hire a wedding planner

You may be under the impression that wedding planners are only for the rich and famous – wrong. Of course, wedding planners aren’t for everyone but hiring a wedding planner to assist with the whole planning process or even particular areas, is becoming more and more common. For example, Wedding Day Coordination is a great package that enables the bride and groom to relax on their wedding day. Your Wedding Planner will be there putting the finishing touches into place and will be the first port of call for suppliers, ensuring you can enjoy the day without any stress or worry.

About Bow Occasions

Bow Occasions is the brand name for Louise Angus, a wedding planner and event planner based in Kent. Bow Occasions specialises in creating unique and individual weddings and events. Louise loves weddings that are a little bit different, a bit quirky and fun.

From Full Wedding Planning & Design to Partial Planning to Wedding Day Coordination, Bow Occasions provides a wide range of wedding planning services. Bow Occasions is here to provide you with as much or as little help as you require by tailoring our wedding and event planning services to meet your needs.

Although based in Kent, Bow Occasions also covers London, Essex, Sussex and Surrey and is more than happy to travel further afield.

Special Offer

Bow Occasions is offering 10% off any wedding planning packages between now and 30^th April. Just quote ‘modernphotographic’ when enquiring.

Contact details

Website: www.bow-occasions.co.uk

Blog: www.bow-occasions.co.uk/blog

Email: hello@ bow-occasions.co.uk

Twitter: twitter.com/bowoccasions

Facebook: facebook.com/bowoccasions

The lovely Louise wrote a blog about us last year... click here to see it!

IN THE PRESS! WEDDING IDEAS BLOG

The lovely engagment shoot of Danielle and James (with William) appeared on WEDDING IDEAS BLOG today!

Thanks to the lovely Charlotte who got in contact and hopefully palns to blog about lots more modernphotographic shoots in the future!

Go to their blog to see more http://blog.weddingideasmag.com/

WEDDING WEDNESDAY - Jon Keith Diamonds

Anyone who is on twitter will understand the phrase (or tag) #WeddingWednesday often shortened to #ww. It's a chance to share other great wedding suppliers with your followers and hopefully they will share you too with their followers.

So from this Wednesday I am going to share one supplier in particular on modernphotographic's blog, let them tell you a bit about themselves.

As its the beginning of the year it seemed apt to start with a diamond supplier for all the recently engaged who haven't got their rings, or just for couples who are still looking for the perfect wedding bands

JON KEITH DIAMONDS

I am Jon Keith, of Jon Keith Diamonds. I am a Diamond Dealer based in Londons Hatton Garden, who specialises in bespoke Engagement rings and Wedding bands. I am the second generation of the business, with over 45 years experience in rough and polished Diamonds.

I have offices in Hatton Garden, the heart of the UKs Jewellery Trade. I offer an appointment only service, giving one on one time to my clients specific needs and finding the best design that works for them, giving advice along the way. It is a very personal experience. I can be contacted on jon@jonkeithdiamonds.co.uk or 07904123297. You can also find my work on my Facebook page and blog.

My products are bespoke, therefore no two pieces of jewellery are the same. We use the finest craftsmen to achieve spectacular pieces of one off jewellery. I offer a CAD design service (computer aided design), allowing our clients to see the jewellery from all angles in 3D before work is started, giving ultimate piece of mind. Every budget is catered for and receives the same level of service. As i am 'Trade' based, we are able to offer individuals trade prices. Not only do we offer in house appointments, we also visit our clients in the comfort of there own home, within the London and Essex area. For those based out of these areas, we are able to do the whole process via telephone and email. So no-one misses out!

HOW TO: PICK WEDDING RINGS

This is an integeral part of the Wedding planning process, these rings are something you plan to wear for life and should be given careful time and consideration when making a purchase. You need to give some thought towards the 'bride to bes' engagement ring, as ultimately these are going to be a set which need to look right together. For instance, if you have a Princess cut (square) engagament ring, you should be looking for a Wedding Band encorporating the same stones and steer clear of other shapes of Diamonds. This is, of course, if you plan to go for a Diamond set wedding band.

We recommend you keep it simple, and classic. Remember, this is a piece a jewellery you will wear everyday, to every occasion. So it needs to be versatile, and stand the test of time. You dont want a ring that looks dated in 5 years time.

The same applys with regards to the Mens Wedding Band.

Once you have decided on the kind of ring you would like to go with, use a reliable and trusted Jeweller to create a piece of jewellery you will love forever.

Thank you for sharing all that with us.
Last year Jon Keith wrote a great blog post on us click here to view it

You will possibly recognise the first shot, which I published on the blog on New year's eve, but it was the perfect shot to illustrate the feature! The rest of the photographs are courtesy of Jon Keith Diamonds and were not shot by modernphotographic

Danielle and James engagement shoot (with William!)

I met Danielle and James earlier this year when we met up to chat about their wedding, I was delighted when they booked me for their Spring 2011 wedding. We had a chat about their engagement shoot shortly after and I suggested we could do a family shoot pre-christmas as their engagement shoot.

So before the snow fell Danielle, James and William joined me and we took a walk around a local woods and playground. William is clearly a natural and I can't wait to see him in his little page boy outfit later this year!