Ben & Annie a Snapshot

I thought I would just upload another video, this time just a few photo's from Ben & Annie's wedding day.
I will do this more often to show consistency in my work.
Its all well and good showing my favourite photo's but if there is no consistency to all the photo's taken on someones wedding day, then it would be a failure.
The images must capture what was happening on the day almost as a story.
It is wedding photojournalism after all.

Wedding Photography at Dale Lodge Hotel Video

I thought it may be nice to show you a wedding I did at Dale Lodge Hotel in Grasmere.
As you know, I love Dale Lodge Hotel for Wedding Photography.
This isnt the full wedding as the video would be far too long, but it is about 50% of what I did that day.
It will also be nice for clients to see the consistency in my work, rather than me just posting my favourite shots. It also gives an idea of the full story of the day and the relaxed nature

What on earth is the world coming to?

There was an article just recently in our local paper. Basicly about yet another guy who has decided photography is going to be an easy career path for him.
He has been the victim of the many redundancy's that seem to be an every day occurance at the moment.
What annoys me is since we went digital everyone thinks they can have a successful photography career.
This guy actually said that he was on a winner because cost of photography has gone down due to digital yet the prices photographers charge have not!
So this is why he wants a career in photography???? I know I wont be the only photographer that would be unhappy with comments like his.
When someone goes to a hair stylist are they thinking of the price of the scissors he uses and the cost of the perm mixture.
The cost of tools and materials are irelevant!!! What an idiot!!!!
I dont want to sound like a dinosaur but I honestly think that you have to have used film and printed your own stuff in a darkroom before you know what you are trying to achieve in the digital darkroom.
The new guys who have only ever used digital should get themselves in a darkroom and start from scratch! They will soon see that their wishy washy grey digital photo's need a lot more work!
I'm sorry to sound so hard, but its the clients that I worry about. If they hire one of these new photographers for their wedding, it will be a disaster!
Its took me 15 years to get as good as I am and its been hard work! So Uncle Norman with your new digital slr, go and get another job that you actually have a passion for!!!!

A Random Selection of my Wedding Photo's

I thought I would upload this little video of a selection of wedding photo's I have done.
The video is powered by animoto which is super cool!

Wedding Slideshows Coming Soon

Over the next few weeks I will be posting some Video Slideshows of some recent weddings I have done.
This is to go along side my current look at the various Venues in Cumbria and the Lake District I have been reviewing.
I will also post on here a little Paul Reid Photography promo video maybe this evening.
I have a recieved a lot of good feedback from the hotel reviews and also a number of bookings which I did not anticipate. I still cant get my head round how people actually find this blog.
Thanks to everyone that reads it, and your lovely emails.

Dalston Hall A Wedding Photographers view

Here are my views and observations of another of my favourite wedding venues.

Dalston Hall A Wedding Photographers Dream

Dalston Hall is a fantastic wedding venue. The great thing for anyone living in Carlisle is that its only a stones throw away from the border city. Even though it is not far from Carlisle, as soon as you step into the grounds, you could be a million miles away.

I have always found it to be an amazing building, but it wasnt until it was taken over a few years ago by what I presume to be a family that this fantastic place came into its own.

Ever since then, the place has been transformed in every way. They have obviously invested heavily in this lovely old building.

The Grade 2 listed castle has a great history to it also and any renovations that have been done have not spoiled this.

There is an amazing contrast to this venue which any photographer who knows what they are doing will take full advantage.

If the weather is good couples can have their ceremony outside in the lovely surroundings.

See below:-

This is the contrast I was talking about. Outside can be bright and sunny, while inside is dark and atmospheric.

As I have said before, most wedding photographers can deal with everything as long as there is plenty of light. Very few can capture the atmosphere at a wedding in a dark castle.

Fortunately I have done many low light weddings and this venue has never posed any problems for me.

Once again, if you are a wedding photographer wanting to capture nice images in dark places like this, you will need at least a 1.8 lense with at least a high quality 1600 iso mode on your camera.

This is if you are an available light shooter like myself. I can never really understand photographers using flash in places like this. It completely kills the atmosphere in the photographs.

I recently did a shoot of an evening wedding at there and I still never resorted to flash.

I can honestly say I believe there would be no other photographer in Cumbria that could have achieved this. There maybe a select few throughout the uk who would have coped with the darkest atmosphere I have ever encountered.

A Dark Romantic Atmosphere which suits the building! The couples that book here do so for this atmosphere.

It is therefore my job to capture this without spoiling it by using a flash or switching lights on.

I always love seeing how they set the tables out at dalston hall. It looks straight out of a mideival banquet!

These guys have just got everything right and the table layout goes well in this kind of environment.

The bedrooms are very well lit, I find and taking the getting ready shots are easy!

See below:-

Another thing I have always been impressed with is their sound system here. So many times at other venues, I have witnessed a tape recorder or small cd player controlled by someone who doesnt really know how to control the volume. Everyone waits for the bride only for the bride to be still waiting outside the room because she cant hear that the music has started.

The sound system is superb and controlled by somebody who knows exactly the correct volume.

Its a big place and anything less than this just wouldnt work. As I have said the guys there have thought of everything to make everything run smoothly without a hitch.

The food I have also been told by many couples is superb!

If you are thinking of getting hitched at Dalston Hall, you really cant go wrong.

Once again, it is very important to choose the right photographer for somewhere like this or your memories of that lovely dark atmosphere will not be captured in the the photography.

Wedding Photography at Dalston hall is like a dream for myself and I just love being booked to capture anyones day here.

Five stars from me!!!

For some video's of this venue follow the links below:-

http://paulreidphotography.blogspot.com/2009/04/garrie-lisa-highlights-dalston-hall.html

http://paulreidphotography.blogspot.com/2009/04/garrie-lisa-highlights-dalston-hall_19.html

Dalston Hall's Website http://www.dalston-hall-hotel.co.uk/celebrations.html

The Crown Hotel Wetheral. A Wedding Photographers View

The second of my Favourite Hotels for Wedding Photography is The Crown Hotel in Wetheral, Cumbria.

Wetheral is somewhere I always used to go when I was a young lad on walks along the river. This was in the Hot Summers we used to have before the Greenhouse effect changed our summers forever. The Crown Hotel has some lovely grounds with lots of sheltered areas. If you want to know why sheltered areas are important, take a look at my earlier look at Dale Lodge.

There are plenty of different backdrops you can use for varied posed shots without even leaving the grounds.

If you fancy a change, you can still venture out of the grounds and down to the river which is lovely.

Or to the old train station which is also close by.The staff are very helpful and the food is great also. No worries there then! In fact I cant think of anything negative to say about the Crown Hotel. For a Wedding couple who are thinking of having their wedding there, you cant really go wrong with the hotel or surroundings.

There are also a number of doorways to shelter

Now here's something that could make or break your wedding memories!

You must get a wedding photographer fairly experienced in low light wedding photography to do your wedding here.

I dont find any problems at all as I have done many weddings at the crown hotel in very bad weather. But I have spent years perfecting the art of low light wedding photography. If your after a very traditional wedding photographer who will be using flash a lot then also make sure he is experienced so he will balance the flash with the ambient lighting. If you want a wedding photojournalist like myself, they must be pretty good.

The reasons for this are fairly simple! I have found that the places the wedding party tend to relax and drink when indoors are where there is very little window light. Even when they are somewhere near a window they tend to position themselves with their backs to the windows which can make things very tricky for someone who doesn't know what they are doing.

For myself the lighting in the Crown gives a nice contrasty look which I love anyway and its very much my style.

My advice to any wedding photographer who is already booked to do a wedding here is this:-

Invest in at least a 1.8 50mm lense and a camera that can be used at iso 1600 without an unusable amount of grain.

And with any venue if your not confident you can capture weddings in low light yet, pass the work on to another photographer who has the experience and ask to shoot along side them so next time you can be confident.

Doing a wedding in low light without the proper experience is wedding photography suicide!

If you screw it up, they will tell everyone and it will take you years to gain trust again.

Seriously, you may not even make any money if you screw a wedding up! And you will lose so much future business its unreal!

I have seen it happen. Photographers who have been lucky to have good weather for a good few weddings, and then when the weather is bad, they crumble.

All this is not a reflection on the Hotel I must add! The Crown Hotel is amazing for wedding photography. Wedding couples must choose the right wedding photographer is all I am trying to get accross.

This is by far not the darkest venue indoors believe me. As I have said, I love the lighting in the crown hotel, as it creates a lovely warm atmosphere and goes well with my style of photography.

So to wind it up!

The Crown Hotel is a great venue for wedding photography. Lovely surroundings, lovely grounds and a nice warm atmosphere inside.

You can look at their website for The Crown Hotel in Wetheral by clicking the link below.

http://www.crownhotelwetheral.co.uk/weddings/index.htm