We’re always open to new ideas though and when Helen suggested we do their shoot on London’s South Bank I jumped at the idea. We did the shoot one evening and Helen and Doug came to the studio a few days later to see their pictures.

This kind of shoot really gets the creative juices flowing, especially as I already knew that Helen and Doug would love a set of edgy pictures with a twist. So armed with my portable lighting kit we set about making some cool pictures. We started at the skate park near the National Theatre and then walked half a mile or so down the embankment. Stopping off at the London Eye where a super zealous security guard moved us on (but not before we’d grabbed the funky picture with the Eye in the background you see below). Finally the setting sun gave us a chance to do a fab shadow shot before we headed off for a bite to eat. Great shoot, lovely couple. Hope you like the images.

As well as being a good looking couple Ruth and Mark were also great fun to be around. That’s usually a recipe for fab pictures and so it turned out. Here’s just a selection of favourites from the shoot.

Here’s a few of Hannah and Ollie’s favourites:

Lots of great pictures to share so there will probably be a gallery on Facebook sometime soon, but meanwhile here’s a few of the pictures Tory and Shane chose for their album.

It was  a typical December day for their shoot, cold miserable and damp turning to rain.  Not ideal you might think but I love working in those conditions.  If you can take pictures your clients love on a day like that you’re pretty set for anything that might happen on the wedding day.

Liv and Nick were great fun and didn’t mind the cold. In the space of an hour or so we made some cracking pictures.  Can’t wait to do it all over again on Saturday. Maybe we’ll even have some snow at Woburn for the reception

Pre-wedding shoots generally start off with couples a little nervous and as the shoot progresses they relax and get used to having their picture taken. Generally, though not always, we’ll use a rural setting for these shoots. We have a lot of fun and by the end of the shoot and the viewing we’re firm friends.  All that gives us a flying start on the wedding day and we get relaxed photos from the start of the day.

Because Sue and Nathan had already done a shoot with me this time we could be more adventurous.  I had an idea for a shoot with a cinematic feel with the theme being a couple on a glamorous night out in the city.  No jeans and T shirts on this shoot – I wanted Sue and Nathan dressed to the nines.  They didn’t disappoint.

I also knew that I expected most of the shots in the set to be lit by flash rather than daylight.  In early July that meant starting the shoot late in the evening.  Couldn’t be a weekday – too much to expect them to do after a full day in the office.  Not a Saturday – too much of an audience.  Which is how we ended up in Milton Keynes city centre at 8pm on a Sunday night.

As a final nod to the cinematic theme every shot in this set was taken in landscape orientation, and unusually for us, every shot is in colour.  The album of the shoot is going to be a panoramic with one picture per page.  Spectacular.  Big kudos to Sue and Nathan who were brilliant.  Uber cool in fact (private joke).

What do you think?   Please leave your comments by following the link below.  Do you know anyone who might like a shoot like this (they don’t have to be getting married)?  Please send them a link to this post

Normally I start a pre-wedding shoot with relaxed pictures and then as the shoot goes on I’ll mix in a few fashion-style elements to the images.  I call these Fusion Portraits™.  I’ve notice a trend recently that it’s these funkier-style pictures that couples are choosing for themselves.  Rosanna and James’ favourites were the last two pictures in this set.  They could have been lifted from the page of a glossy magazine and are going to look spectacular on the wall.

Thanks for a great shoot guys

Claire and Toby started the shoot feeling that way too, but as the shoot progressed they relaxed and started to enjoy themselves

This shoot in Northampton started off wet and then rained on and off throughout.  We hardly ever postpone pre-wedding shoots because of the weather – after all the wedding will go ahead come rain or shine.  I love a challenge and murky weather is no hindrance to getting great pictures.  You just need to work a bit harder and use a bit more imagination

I’m pleased to say that Claire and Toby loved their pictures as much as I enjoyed taking them.  Here’s a few of them: