Bridal Preparation - Down Hall Hotel

- A final glance before the ceremony –

A favourite photo

One of my favourites from Helen and Tess’ wedding a Down Hall Hotel and Spa. This is a great shot of the lovely Helen just taking one last look after bridal preparation before heading down to the wedding ceremony.

There’s none of the ‘perfect’ sharpness here of modern digital cameras. The soft blur was intentional, to catch the feeling and moment of bridal preparation – something that looks a little like the way we remember and gives room for the imagination.

I do love this approach to wedding photography. I’ll often set up my camera to work on a tightrope between perfect sharpness and complete blur, often opting to manually focus too. I find the resulting pictures more evocative and powerful – there seems to be more of the story and the moment recorded.

The shot kind of reminds me of 1940s and 1950s celebrity photography. Back then photographers worked within the tight constraints offered by film and manual cameras yet produced amazing pictures that are strong on poignancy and a sense of being there.

Call me old fashioned, but this seems like a great way to photograph a wedding!

P.S. Click to read all about Helen and Tess’ Down Hall wedding.