First and foremost I spend my time behind the lens looking for special, natural moments. Engagement shoots are sometimes a little bit unusual because most couples I meet have come to me for their wedding photography because they like my candid approach. Engagement shoots typically require some guidance, so the amount of ‘candid’ photography can be a bit limited. This is most similar to the couple shoot portion of the wedding day (which is included if requested, but by no means obligatory). This lasts about 20-30 minutes and is a short session for the wedding couple to get some photographs together alone away from the rest of the guests. With the exception of this part of the day and any group shots the rest of my photography is almost entirely documentary in style (not posed, not staged, completely natural).
Perrygrove Railway | Documentary Family Session
I was really excited when Gemma and James booked me for their wedding and mentioned that instead of a traditional engagement shoot they’d like to spend a little bit of time at their wedding venue, Perrygrove Railway (more on that later), getting some family photographs.
But the best part? They were on board with the idea of completely candid, natural family photographs.
“Those little moments are so important”
We spent some time taking a train ride at the Railway with them enjoying themselves as a family and me coming along to capture a few memories along the way. This is basically what I do with my own family; we’ll go for a day out and I’ll grab my personal camera, shoot some memories and capture those wonderful ‘little’ moments. To me, those ‘little’ moments are so important. We might not remember every single one of them, but it’s the culmination of them all that builds our view of the past. With these kinds of pictures we get the opportunity to look through a window into that special day out a few years ago.
We don’t build reflect on memories by looking back on all those times we were told to say ‘cheese’ as kids.
This is the essence of what I try to do at every single wedding I shoot, every time I grab my camera with my family, or every session like this one at Perrygrove Railway.
I hope you enjoy this selection of photographs from this session. The pictures here are all completely natural with no intervention from myself. If you have any questions about my photography or would like to enquire about your own wedding or a documentary family session please don’t hesitate to write me a message on my Contact page.
Camera Notes
By this point I’d been shooting solely Fujifilm cameras for about 1 year. Having dabbled with the X-T1 alongside my old Canon 5D Mk III, I made the switch in 2016 and haven’t looked back since. The Fujifilm X-Pro 2 stole my heart with its rangefinder styling, tactile dial controls and hybrid viewfinder. At every wedding my bread and butter is built up from 3 Fujifilm X-Pro 2 bodies each sporting different lenses (16mm, 23mm and 56mm). For my personal family photography I now always use my X100F, but for client work I still stick with the X-Pro 2 largely due to its dual card slots. For this particular shoot I used the 23mm and 56mm, leaving the 16mm at home. To be totally honest, I would be happy using the 23mm for most work of this ilk, but there are occasions when the 56mm gives me that extra reach and background compression, which still earns it a place in my smaller, informal session kit bag. As always, if you’d like to know any more about my method with my cameras, or any other technical info please feel free to leave a comment or drop me a message.
Cameras: Fujifilm X-Pro 2 (2 bodies)
Lenses: 23mm f/1.4 | 56mm f/1.2
Flash: Not used
