Wyck Hill House is a lovely venue. I’ve photographed there on a couple of occasions and have always enjoyed my day, not least of all because there are some lovely areas for pictures both inside and outside. I mostly shoot reportage wedding photography now and offer a ‘Reportage Bundle’, which is essentially no staged images at all. I do still also offer a ‘Main Package’ which includes the option to have these posed photographs. The reason for this is that I love genuine moments captured as naturally as possible. All of the ‘What it Means to Me’ posts so far fit into that category. This one is a little bit different.
This was taken back in February. There was a little bit of snow forecast but not much, so we weren’t really anticipating this. Midway through the afternoon it really started to come down. We were hoping to get out later for some sparkler pictures but given the conditions this wasn’t going to be possible, so instead we thought we’d give the snow a try. Conscious that Eve and Dan would freeze pretty quickly I went out first to set up, and after trying some shots out the front it wasn’t working out. I brought them back inside and we had one last try just outside at the back of Wyck Hill House. Huddled underneath my coat (more to keep my camera dry than myself!) with my camera on a tripod I must have looked like an old school photographer from the early 1900’s.
So here’s the thing with this picture – yes, I asked the couple to stand there. But honestly, it captures the essence of the day so well that it may just as well not have been posed, and for that reason I love this shot. It is a genuine moment, and it’s one I’m proud to have had the opportunity to capture at that.
