Last week found me back at one of my favourite venues, undertaking one of my favourite activities: wedding photography at Hargate Hall in Derbyshire. This was a proper team effort, with fantastic dresses from Village Bride in Marple Bridge, Stockport; hair and makeup by the wonderful Andrea Horton and assistance provided by my friend and co-conspirator Thomas Demol.
Watch the video to see how we created this series of pictures. It was a team effort!
Bridal Fashion Photography
I’d been asked by Julie from Village Bride in Marple to do some bridal fashion style photographs featuring her dresses. She wanted some pictures to show off her designs, with a view to using them on her website, in brochures and so on. We put a team together – Andrea Horton on hair and makeup, Julie on dresses, Thomas on assisting duties, Kelly the model, Hargate Hall as the location and me on camera.
It’s interesting, I think, to see how much goes in to a shoot like this. We were busy all day making this collection of photographs, and it shows what can be achieved when we work together to a common aim. To illustrate this I thought it would be nice to make a Fusion Movie about the shoot.
If you haven’t encountered fusion movies before, they’re a combination of still photographs and short video clips “fused” together to tell a story. They’re all the rage in America, so are bound to catch on here in little ol’ England before long. I’m pleased with how this turned out, and I hope you enjoy watching it. Turn the sound up too, as music is provided by an unreleased instrumental from Dub Pistols, lovingly crafted by my clever brother.
Wedding Photography at Hargate Hall
Hargate Hall is just outside Buxton in Derbyshire, and features my all-time favourite window (sorry other windows, but just look at it…)
The outside of Hargate Hall is just as impressive, especially if you can turn day into night at will and control the elements….
The weather had turned somewhat misty and cold by the time we moved on to shooting outside. I had to lend Kelly my jacket while we fiddled about with lights and so on, and while of course a nice blue sky day might appear on the face of it to be preferable, there are advantages to a day like this.Â
I think the mist added a bit of atmosphere, and the lack of strong sunlight meant I could control the light exactly how I wanted to – with a little help from the team!
Bridal Portraiture in Derbyshire
Back inside, we wanted to make use of the impressive staircase. I thought shooting into the mirror would add an extra sense of depth to the photographs.
Hargate Hall, Derbyshire – Wedding Photography
That’s all folks! Hope you enjoyed the post, and have gained something of an insight into the anatomy of a bridal fashion shoot. What’s that? You didn’t watch the Fusion Movie? Well scroll back up and watch it, or find it on YouTube, here!
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Thanks for looking
–Tim