Rhinefield House Wedding Photography

I felt very privileged to be chosen as Emma & Andy’s Rhinefield House wedding photographer. It was a very small intimate wedding for close friends and family. They booked me for only a few hours coverage with no bridal prep or dancing. So my task was to create a story from the start of the ceremony through to the speeches, which were held during a high tea for the guests, in the gardens at Rhinefield. Of course I also took some relaxed couple portraits and group photos for them. But as always, I keep these very simple and don’t drag my couples away from their guests for too long. I’d rather they were enjoying their wedding day rather than being with me having their picture taken in any kind of posed way.

The weather was amazing. After solid rain for the last few days, this day the sun was shining brightly and it was really hot and sunny. Made it a bit of a challenge for the cameras during the ceremony, as the couple are in full shade, whereas the guests and scenery are in full sunshine. One of those days where I wished I had a Nikon D750 to hand, rather than my trusty Canon 5D3’s. But, I love the Canon’s, they’ve served me very well and are so quiet to use, they don’t disturb the ceremony at all. Meaning I can remain as unobtrusive as possible as I shoot. (Update – Since January 2019 I’ve been shooting with Sony A9 cameras, which are 100% silent and have a far better dynamic range so shooting in such harsh conditions is far easier to control nowadays. I’m looking forward to returning to Rhinefield this year with the A9’s in hand).

I particularly love the couple portraits I took of Emma & Andy. I wanted to get them out of the harsh sunlight and away from the guests for a bit of privacy for 5 minutes, so took advantage of the covered walkway to the side of the gardens. The light worked perfectly. I still can’t make up my mind which of the portraits I prefer – they are all great. It felt strange leaving the wedding after the speeches, but luckily I managed to get a few shots of the couple and their guests enjoying games in the gardens. They were clearly having fun and that’s essentially what a wedding should all be about. I can live without a first dance if I have a good story.

Paul