Elliot Patching

I’ve been lucky enough to provide wedding photography at Rugby School on two occasions. Two pairs of couples have put their trust in my to shape their wedding day memories. This is always amazing. But when you add a wedding venue as beautiful as Rugby School, it really is a treat!

The first thing that strikes you about Rugby is the beautiful architecture. Dating back to the 18th century, it really is a sight to behold. To call this your school must be very special indeed. The Chapel where the weddings take place is simply breathtaking. I knew instantly that I wished to use this for an artistic image. Using a wide-angle lens, I could capture a stunning image of the lucky bride and groom and the picturesque backdrop.

During the ceremony, nothing can be posed. During this time I’m looking for anything that tells the story of a wedding. I was really pleased with one image in particular. It’s in the gallery below for you to see. I love to see wedding guests singing the hymns. I noticed one particular guest who was singing loud and proud. The way this photograph isolates him as if he’s the only one in the room makes for a pleasing photo!

I hope you like the photographs below! If you’d like to another beautiful wedding then you can here!

Most couples who book me, do so because of my relaxed wedding photography style. Which is great because that’s the sort of imagery I love to shoot!

When I first became a photographer ten years ago, wedding photography was always about posed formal family photos. Since then,,,,,,,,,

The Stanwick Hotel is the perfect place to create Northampton wedding photography. I have been there on a couple of occasions now and it was a pleasure to make my way back.

After a day of partying and champagne, the evening had arrived. Ghislaine and Marks’ day had been great fun. There was only the cake cutting and first dance left to come. I had been outside during the wedding breakfast because I wanted to find an image that would really stand out. I’ll do this for all of my couples if time will allow. I like to think that a bride and groom can enjoy a cool artistic image on their wall in a frame. Printing your wedding photography is so important in my opinion.

OFF CAMERA FLASH

I found a beautiful large tree in the car park. Surrounded by cars, you may think that this was an odd location to use! However, I knew that I would light the tree with an off camera flash, and the bride and groom with an LED light. Doing this meant that the cars would disappear into shadow. The resulting photograph is below.

I love trees, and this one worked beautifully. The idea behind it, was that they are at the beginning of their married life. The branches showing how they will grow together. What do you think? If you’d like you can leave a comment below. I’d love to hear your thoughts!

I’ve often been a fan of an artistic wedding portrait. There is always value to a standard portrait of a bride and groom. A photograph in your wedding dress or wedding suit is a must. But seeing yourself in a different light to ever before is truly special.

Here is an example, taken at a Mount Falcon Estate wedding back in 2019.  It is actually largely a documentary image. I noticed Fergle, the groom, stood in natural light. The photographer I was working with snapping a portrait of the bride. So, I took some frames without him knowing, and then went over and asked him to pose.

BLACK AND WHITE IMAGERY

After the big day I sat down to edit this image in Lightroom. I realised quickly that I actually preferred the unposed selection! I looked at this image in both colour and black and white and I certainly love the black and white option best! The combination of the strong shadows, crisp highlights and narrow light creates a striking and artistic image in my opinion. Most importantly of all, Fergle and Nas loved it!

What do you think? Your thoughts are important to me so please let me know what you think in the comments below!

This image is an example of pure documentary wedding photography. It was taken at the wedding of Matthew and Anna in the summer of 2019. A beautiful day in the heart of the lush Northamptonshire countryside. 

UNPOSED WEDDING IMAGES

Reportage imagery takes up most of my time on a wedding day. Some of what I do is lightly posed. The couple portraits and family photos have to be. But the rest of the time I’m looking for real happenings to tell the story of a wedding. It’s alway important to my couples. Most will commission me to be a part of their day because they love how relaxed my style is.

There was a degree of luck in capturing this moment. It was about being in the right place at the right time. I’ve shot over 400 big days now so I’m an experienced wedding photographer. The more weddings I shoot, the more lucky I seem to get! I was in the right place and the flower girl did the rest!

Anyway, I hope you love this image! Check out this link for more information on my photographic style!

This year I became a Sony wedding photographer. Since I first used a camera, I have used a Canon SLR. It was about time for a change. This image was taken from one of my first weddings with a Ar7 Mk3 . Along with the new camera body, I was also using new lenses. For this photograph, I used 35mm with an aperture of F1.4.

The colours at a spring wedding are always special. If you combine that with beautiful sunlight, then that’s just a dream for me. We had all this going for us during our couple shoot at Sarah and Thomas’ wedding. 

The image below was taken during the drinks reception. As you can see, there is a degree of posing. But once in the pose, it’s my job as an experienced wedding photographer to put the couple at ease. Getting to know a bride and grooms interests, how they met etc, is important here. This is all done at a pre-wedding shoot. After this was taken it was time for the speeches. We made our way back to the Leicestershire wedding venue and joined the guests for more champagne! 

Want to hear what my couples say about me? You can here!

We all love a summer wedding! Well back in August, I received a last minute booking to provide wedding photography in Berkshire! 

Before the day, I went to meet the Bride and Groom at the venue. We had chat about the wedding photography that I would produce for them on their special day. It was here that they told me that they had hired a boat! The venue was on the banks of The Thames river and they wanted to use it to take their guest for champagne fuelled trips! I knew straight away that we stood a good chance of some beautiful photographs and got thinking about what we could achieve.

Below is the resulting image. I love it! It really does sum up this stunning day perfectly. Composing the boat as a leading line into the frame works beautifully. It draws your eye to the great house wedding venue in the distance so there is an element of storytelling too. 

I really hope you love their image. If you’d like to chat about your day you can contact me here!