The Wedding of Lisa & Andrew 28th May 2011

With the threat of the usual British Bank Holiday weather being damp and horrible, we were lucky enough to find the weather predictions of rain were to be wrong.  Lisa and Andrew's wedding day was upon us and for myself and my co-photographer Simon, the first stop was at Lisa's parents house, Jennifer and David in Darwen for some images of the Bridal Preparations. On arrival we were met with an air of calm and tranquillity.  But we were soon to find that was because the Bridesmaids were all still at the hairdressers. Once Bridesmaids, Rachel, Cara, Gemma and Helen were back, the excitement escalated and it wasn't long before it was time for Lisa to get into her beautiful dress supplied by Wedding Belles of Blackburn. I then left them in the capable hands of Simon for their final pictures before leaving and I made my way to St Francis Church, Feniscliffe to meet the boys.

On arrival, Andrew admitted to his nerves by stating he was not his usual cock-sure self, but he was looking forward to the day ahead.  A few laughs and shots of Andrew and the Groomsmen and it was time for them to take their place in the church ready for the arrival of Lisa in the white Ford Beauford.  It was hard to work out who was most nervous, was it Andrew or was it Best Man, David.  Lisa's arrival was met with a look of love and pride from Andrew and they then went through the marriage ceremony without a hitch.  Whilst the formalities of the register signing was taking place, the congregation were treated to the wonderful operatic voice of Helen Jarmany which certainly brought out much emotion.

So with all the formalities of the Church finished, we all headed off the the lovely venue of Astley Bank Hotel in Darwen.  A lovely compact little venue, with excellent, helpful staff who are always willing to help and look after you.  This was our location for the rest of the day, from the fun group shots, a walk around the venue with Andrew and Lisa to give them chance to spend some time together, to the Wedding Breakfast and the speeches.  This is where it was obvious that Andrew was again full of his usual confidence. The evening, we set up a studio upstairs in the conference centre and we had a stream of people coming along and getting pictures of themselves having fun.

As always, myself and Simon had a great day with great people and the time just flew by.  We wish Andrew and Lisa all the very best for the future and here are just a few of the images from the day in the video below.

If you wish to view the online gallery, please contact Lisa and Andrew for the password issued on the day and follow this link.  Lisa and Andrews Wedding, Feniscliffe and Darwen

Three Golds

March, April and May saw me awarded Gold Awards for images with the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers.  March was in the pictorial category, April was in the Fine Art category and May was in the Monochrome Category.

Here are the links to see all the winners for each month.

March
April
May


Here are my three images.

Pictorial -March

Fine Art - April

Monochrome - May

Crown Eyeglass Video Goes Live

I have recently been involved with a project to produce a video for Blackburn eye glass manufacturers, Crown Eyeglass.  In conjunction with web developer IT-Brains, I produced the footage of the spectacles being manufactured, provided IT-Brains with the edited video which was then clipped to fit the audio script given by Crown.

The final result can be seen here. HOW YOUR GLASSES ARE MADE.  As a glass wearer myself it was a very interesting interesting project to be involved in and thanks to the staff at Crown Eyeglass and Duncan at IT-Brains for the help and support.

The Wedding Of Jordan & Janine, A Burnley Wedding Photographers Dream.

Right from the first time I met Jordan and Janine, I knew their day was to be fantastic and I wasn't disappointed. Their Wedding on 21st May.  Even at the wedding rehearsal the signs were good, lots of laughs and lots of trial runs.  On the day, the weather was not the forecast rain but a mixture of sunshine and cloud which of course had put everyone in the perfect mood for the Day.  Myself and Simon arrived at Janine's Mum's house at 8.30am to start getting a few shots of everyone getting ready and a few of the details of the day such as shoes, jewellery and the beautiful flowers from Kathleens Florist in Burnley.  Emma and Vicky were already busy with Make up and hair.

It wasn't long before Janine was ready to get into her dress, a creation from Lulu Browns and she looked stunning.  I then left Simon at the house with the Bridal party and went to St Matthews Church in Burnley to meet up with Jordan and the boys. Straight away it was clear, they were all excited about the day too, so a few shots, a few laughs and it was time for the Brides arrival.  A few deep breaths and a walk down the aisle.  Jordan took the opportunity for a quick look back and you could see his eyes light up with pride instantly.  It wasn't long before they became the new Mr and Mrs Savage and they walked back down the aisle dancing to Lovely Day by Bill Withers. A little bit of time for everyone to congratulate the happy couple and make a confetti tunnel to the beautiful vintage Rolls Royce from Classic Wedding Carriages.

Next stop was the lovely wedding venue of Dunkenhalgh Hotel, just off the M65 at Clayton-le-Moors, near Accrington.  Time for them to have a few drinks before we had the formal, but fun group shots.  My young, trainee photography assistants performed perfectly, although the look on Mum's face when she thought her son was whispering rude words to me was a picture.  Finally we took Jordan and Janine off for a few shots on their own. This is the perfect time for any Bride and Groom to relax, have time with each other and prepare for the wedding breakfast.  We got some fantastic photos and had some great laughs especially with Jordan's attempt to hide under the dress on the stairs.  We were then ready in perfect time for the wedding breakfast.  The room was set beautifully, enhanced by the lovely wedding cake from Specialized Cakes of Burnley. The speeches were before the meal, this has the huge benefit of allowing those who are speaking to enjoy the meal without worrying about speaking in public.   Janine's Dad David gave a wonderful speech that came from the heart as well as telling a few tales of Janine's childhood.  He was clearly a very proud Dad.  A great speech from Jordan was followed by a little traditional public humiliation from Best Men, Callum and Stephen.  Well done guys, I know how nervous you were about speaking.

Finally, the madness of the evening reception.  A few images were shown from the day, a studio was set up in the bar and everyone came in a got some great fun shots, dressed in various hats, glasses etc.  See the slideshow to see what I mean.  Music from Adam Chandler Jazz was fantastic and everyone had a brilliant night.  We finally finished at 11pm and although it had been a long shift of photography, we had a ball.  So from myself and Simon, we thank Janine, Jordan and family and friends for being great company on the day and we wish Jordan and Janine the perfect life together.

So please sit and take a look at Lancashire Wedding Photographer, Paul Brown's selection from the day.





Paul Brown is a high quality wedding photographer in Lancashire, Cheshire, Yorkshire and across the UK and is also a principal photographer with one of the countries busiest wedding photographers based in Yorkshire, Mark Pearson Photography.  So if you are getting married in the Yorkshire, Humberside, Lancashire and Cheshire regions, you want superb customer service, quality imagery, and photographers who are both passionate about there business and photographers who will ensure your day is a wonderful experience.  You will find yourself not needing to look further.

The Wedding of Jonny and Gemma at Bartle Hall, Preston

On 6th May 2011, We photographed the wedding of Jonny and Gemma at Bartle Hall near Preston and what a fantastic day it was.  The weather was fantastic, location superb and we knew we were in for a great day.  The day started with myself and partner Jan arriving early to put the Dress into the Bridal Suite along with the beautiful flowers from The Flower Shop By Morgan in Garstang.  Jan had made the dress for Gemma and we wanted it to be all ready for her arrival.  Gemma arrived along with Bridesmaids, Fran and Hayley and it was immediately clear that they were very excited about the day.  So myself and co-photographer for the day, Mac, got to work capturing a little of the preparations. It wasn't long before it was time to go down to meet the boys at the Balmoral suite.  They were running fashionably late so just a few photos and laugh and jokes with Jonny, Best Man Dave and Usher Stu.  

It was then back up to the Bridal suite to meet up with Gemma who was now in her dress and she looked absolutely beautiful as did the Bridesmaids Hayley and Fran.  So a couple of minutes of photographs and an attempt by Gemma's Dad to knock her out with a champagne cork and it was time to make our way down to the ceremony where a nervous Groom was waiting.  The ceremony went well with Jonny deliberately stuttering on a few words to make sure his friends had a giggle, but it wasn't long before we were in the presence of the new Mr and Mrs Whitehead.

The rest of the afternoon followed the format of a few formal group photos and a walk around the Bartle Hall grounds with Jonny and Gemma and a quick shot of the fantastic cake by The Cake Lady in Blackpool.  The speeches were at the beginning of the Wedding Breakfast and this is was when Jonny took the opportunity to lay down a few ground rules about toilet seats and football.  I wish you luck Jonny with that one.

Finally, the evening function was upon us with great music by Alltrack Promotions and we had the studio set up so the guests can come along and have some fun and get some memorable shots done.

As a wedding photographer in Lancashire and principal photographer with Leeds Wedding Photographer Mark Pearson Photography, we are is such a privileged position to be part of such fantastic days. On behalf of myself and co-photographer Mac, I would like to thank the guests for being great fun and all the staff at the superb Bartle Hall who helped us on the day to ensure the day was a wonderful success.

Now please take time to watch the videos below.  The first is of a few images from the wedding.  The second is of the evening frolics and the third shows Gemma's dress being made.

Photography Training and Development

As a Lancashire Wedding Photographer, I am always wary of the need to continual develop knowledge and skills to ensure that my clients get the best quality service and imagery.  So last week, I spent 4 nights on a residential photography training course in the Peak District with some highly acclaimed photographers, trainers and I have to say, it was an awesome few days.  Not a lot of sleep was to be had, we were either shooting images or up to the small hours talking about photography.  Even photographers who have been in the industry many years will always agree that there is always room to learn more.  I must thank the organisers and trainers for their efforts,  Paul Haley, Richie Crossley, Julie Oswin, Sean McCormack. Mark Pearson and of course the very patient models, Lelde, Faye and Maria.  I have come away inspired, have new friendships and I also know a little about wine.

Below are some images I took in the group sessions and the post production is my interpretation on the image.

Finally, whilst we were there, myself, Mark Pearson and Mac MacBride decided to give the models some time off by modelling the wedding dresses.  It was however all in the name of charity and £130 was added to my partner Jan's and Marks wife Mary's fund raising for Race For Life in aid of Cancer Research.  We would like to thank all those that kindly donated for such a worthwhile cause. To donate go to http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/mazandjan

Here is a couple of shots from the shoot courtesy of Alison Bailey Photography

Travel Photographer of the Year Award

On Sunday 16th of January I was delighted to be awarded The 2010 Travel Photographer of the Year Award by the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers (SWPP).  Every year in January the SWPP hold their week long annual conference, with hundreds of lectures and training events, a trade show which all ends with the Awards Dinner.  Throughout 2010 a monthly image competition was run where you can enter 1 image per category per month and over the course of the year thousands of entries are submitted and less than 2% are awarded 'Gold' awards, which then go to final judging for the annual awards.  Over the course of the year, as you will see in the previous post, I won 17 Gold awards across various categories of which the picture of the man in Marrakech was narrowed down to the final 3 of the Travel Category.  This image was taken when I was in Marrakech to photograph a wedding in May of which thanks must go to Siobhan Murphy Photography for passing the couple on to me in the first place. The Awards dinner was hosted by TV personality Philippa  Forrester, who's husband is an acclaimed wildlife photographer and videographer in his own right and I have to admit, I really never expected to win.  When I was named as winner, it was a very proud moment for me and although it may sound a bit Cliché, after my Grand Father who had given me my first camera to learn with, had passed away 2 weeks earlier, there is really only one person to dedicate the award to.

The judges comments about the image were as follows. 'Interesting and intriguing image of the man, cat robe and bike. A lot to see and gives the feeling that you want to know more'.

So, as a Wedding Photographer in Lancashire who is Travel Photographer of the Year, I can now offer a fantastic service to Bride and Grooms.  When you go on honeymoon, take me, I will go out and take all your photos of the local area and you will not need to leave your hotel room.  But in all seriousness, I hope you all enjoy looking at the images I take and if any invoke a smile or a good memory then it means everything to me.

Below, is the winning image and an image courtesy of the SWPP of me being presented with the award by Phil Jones, Societies CEO.

The Winning Image