In our Blog you will find Wedding, Portrait, Commercial, Family and some oddball Photography. We have been asked several times to define our style of Wedding photography and of course there is a whole host of words out there to describe photographic styles, photojournalism, reportage, traditional, documentary, fine art and the list goes on. We have come to realise that our (Ruth and I work together) style is based primarily around intimate images. We do all the other schtuff mentioned before but a common theme that runs through our work is 'intimacy'. The wedding is about the couple and the rest of us are there to observe. But ultimately it is about the love that the couple have for each other. That is what we seek to represent in the photographs we produce. You are the best judge of whether we succeed.
It was Paul and Vikki’s eleventh Wedding Anniversary so they decided to try something different and I went along to record some of the event for them. This is the first time I have been able to experience Hot Air Ballooning and it turned out to be a great experience. I have tried gliding before and this was similar although you are more exposed to the elements and do not have the same sensation of movement. This journey was booked with Virgin and took off from the Rusland Pool Hotel near Haverthwaite, Cumbria. The weather had not been that good the days before the flight but on the Monday evening we arrived it was very near perfect. We met a couple who had booked eighteen months before and had the unfortunate experience of seeing every flight cancelled until this one, whereas this was Paul and Vikki’s first attempt. Preparation took around one hour and then we were off. It was amazing how fast the Balloon rises and how quickly the hour flight time goes. The Pilot informed us he normally goes up to 5ooo feet however the ash cloud from Iceland was still hanging around and once we were at 3500 feet very little could be seen. We drifted along on a 25 knot wind and were soon looking down on the Estuary of Arnside and Grange to one side and along the length of Windermere on the other. I had taken a full bag of lenses and filters thinking I would get some great shots of Paul & Vikki and the landscapes beyond. How wrong can you be! We were packed in like sardines in a can and I couldn’t even get down to change a lens. If there is a next time I will make sure everything is high up in pockets. For photography enthusiasts you definitely need an ND filter because the contrasts are so much higher between land and sky. So most of my sky’s were blown out! Anyway the three of us enjoyed it immensely and I can recommend the experience to anyone who enjoys peace and tranquility. We eventually landed at Levens allowing me to get a great aerial view of the Hall and topiary gardens. Here are some of the pictures.
