Smiles

Couples often say to me “your job must be so much fun” and they’re totally right. It’s brilliant. I get to work by capturing people enjoying one of the best days of their lives. I have the occasional weekend where I don’t have any weddings to photograph (Winter, for example, is often quieter than Summer as you might expect) and I genuinely miss being at weddings on those days.

Every wedding has a degree of emotion involved. Some are more emotional than others where the tears might keep coming back throughout the day – mostly tears of joy, but of course weddings can also be a reminder of sadness that may have been a part of the couple’s lives too. Genuine, heartful, teary-eyed pictures can make for some of my favourites as they really cut to the raw emotion and can often emphasise the importance of the day. But smiles make up the vast majority of most wedding days.

People often say that you smile with your eyes; I’ve seen thousands of pictures of the years and I can without doubt confirm that this is true. Pictures with a full ‘eye’ smile are what I’m always looking to capture; I hunt them down relentlessly throughout the day, because they’re the memories you’re going to want to look back on. They’re the moments when the guests have completely forgotten about me and my camera; they’re right in the middle of the fun and couldn’t give a toss about anything else.

A wedding would be a bit rubbish without a few smiles…and my job would be much harder! Here are just 20 of some of my favourites from 2016.

wedding confetti line at manor by the lake in cheltenham