A guest blog post by photographer Dave Thompson
You’ve chosen your wedding venue and all the suppliers are in place. You have already had a great time with your photographer on the pre wedding shoot and so you know that your photographs from the wedding are going to be great. But have you ever wondered how a photographer comes up with places that they think would be good for bride and groom portraits? It’s actually a mixture of many things. Experience, understanding light, being aware of the venue and even something as simple as knowing what the bride and groom like.
There are many wedding venues in the Cheshire area and Wedding Barn’s have become increasingly popular. As a Cheshire Wedding Photographer one of my favourites is Alcumlow Wedding Barn, near Congleton. I have a page on my website dedicated to this wedding venue, but here I will tell you about my 5 perfect spots for photographs at Alcumlow.
The Driveway
You cannot arrive at Alcumlow without making you way up the long driveway leading to the venue. I found during one August wedding, that the evening light there is fantastic. Make your way to the end of the driveway, near the car, for the most beautiful golden hour colours.
The Crop Fields
Either side of the driveway are fields, usually stacked with corn ready to be harvested. Always check with the venue first, but this is another great place to get your bride and groom portraits done. I always work with my couples to emphasise the importance of treading carefully here, for the sake of your lovely shoes if nothing else!
The Gates
When you walk into the barn you do so by arriving through a beautiful set of old Church gates. As a natural wedding photographer I like to put my couples on positons where I think a relaxed picture can happen. When Mike and Su made their way back into the venue, something made them laugh and it’s still one of my favourite photographs from their wedding day.
Outside The Barn
There are ways of subtly suggesting where your wedding took place. One of these, from a photographer point of view, is to use fixtures and fittings from around the wedding venue. Clearly, the wooden structure of Alcumlow tells people it is a barn venue. Once such fixture is the sliding doors that lead into the barn itself. With Laura and Darren, I wanted to include the letters from their dancefloor. Plus Laura wanted a way to show off her white Dr. Marten boots!
Inside the barn
What happens if it rains at Alcumlow? Well, inside the barn there are hundreds, if not thousands, of twinkly fairy lights. They are perfect for creating a creative wedding photograph. When Emma and Richard got married, it rained from start to finish. We were limited with the amount of outside access we could get for pictures. This meant I had to think of another idea and so used the lights in the ceiling as well as around the venue to create this portrait.
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