Gone are the days of the bride and groom sitting in front of a camera with boring flat wedding photography backgrounds.
Over the past few years, we have seen a shift in the desire to have something more interesting like on – location wedding portrait sessions, outdoor sessions and the increasingly popular ‘urban session’. An urban session is one where city streets and urban landscapes enhance the session, resulting in images which are different than those of your friends. Alleys, vacant buildings, city streets, under bridges, coffee shops and commercial signage are the rage. We have taken that one step further, to the urban western portrait session.
Recently, Gary Ridgewell from Bespoke Photography took a bride and groom for a walk in Hackney in London. We discovered a whole new world of alleys, bricked streets, and eclectic London architecture which has provided us with one of a kind images for our clients. We meet at the town hall in Hackney and started our portrait session there. Painted on the south side of the radio station is the famous western mural. Many times, we photograph the bride and groom with a 15mm lens fisheye to capture an unusual effect and western feel to the image. Here, we photograph the bride with the groom standing behind her, slightly out of focus. Then we reverse the couple.
As we walk throughout City, we find beautiful light in the shadows of existing buildings. A casual stroll with our clients in front of the camera, usually result in a lot of hugging and kissing pictures. Many times our clients get so into it, they are forgetful of our presence and really relax. This is where our best images come from. Their laughing, smiling, and natural expressions are the more popular ones our clients prefer. As we head north and east toward Main Street, images of the groom picking up his bride and twirling her around are popular with the Hackney Empire as the backdrop. Some of our grooms have even proposed to their bride on the steps of that Town Hall.
Next, we travel across the Thames River to Greewich. Also famous for the London Eye and home to many famous restaurants and bars. The Cattleman’s Steakhouse, Joe T Garcia’s, Lonesome Dove Restaurant, The Cadillac Bar and Billy Bob’s are just to name a few. We like to wander around Main and Exchange Streets for a more western feel to the portrait session. Our brides ask for permission to change into their wedding dress in the Stockyards Hotel in the Quanah Parker room.
Murals and wooden split rail fences add to the desire for western charm. By stepping off into the alleys and back roads, we can find that more rustic feel, which makes the session more enjoyable and the final images more dynamic.
If you would like to know more about Urban Wedding Shoots, Please get in touch with us…
Bespoke Photography… Capturing your memories forever…
Tags: london wedding photographer, urban wedding photography, Wedding Photographers, Wedding photographers in Essex, wedding photography
