Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography - Blog

Claire & Steven // Pre-Wedding Photography @ Bagden Hall, Scissett [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Wed, 16 May 2012 07:00:41 +0000

Last Monday I headed down Denby Dale to visit Bagden Hall.

I was there to meet these cool kids, Claire & Steve, whose wedding I’ll have the pleasure of shooting in June!

Though as it happens I papped them already, at the wedding of Jo & Stephen last weekend, as they’re all pals!

After chatting through their big day battle plan, we were headed out into the beautiful evening sunlight for their practice photoshoot…

…and these two were total naturals!

Though after a little smooch, Steve was a little surprised to find he ended up with a mouthful of lip gloss!

I find these shoots really useful to get couples used to being in front of my lens!

I understand that it can feel a bit weird having a borderline stranger photographing you cuddling and smooching!

But to these two, I wasn’t really a stranger!

They confessed to being ‘stalkers’ of this blog (as did their buddies Jo & Stephen), and have closely following my doings over the past year! It’s so great meeting couples who’ve kept track of my work & life in the run up to their wedding. Not only do they know what to expect, but end up coming to the pre-wed and wedding shoot with so much enthusiasm. We always get better images as a consequence.

This was one of my faves from the day. The back light was absolutely perfect, and the new Canon 5DmkIII handled it beautifully. We had a good explore around the grounds, and since I was there last they’ve revamped the tiny Folly in the lake, surrounded by a wee moat. It’s since been sanctioned for marriage and in the small room the wedding couple and registrars can conduct a marriage and broadcast it to guests outside and over the bridge via speakers!

Random eh?

But it looked to me like a fun spot for a smooch!Clare loves her sparkly shoes!

Also on the little island was this cheeky seat.

By this time I could see they’d visibly relaxed into the shoot…

…and we caught this ace natural portrait of Claire & Steve staring down the middle distance and no doubt laughing at one of my bad jokes!Steve made a gag out me me photoshopping some hair onto him.

I said I was a photographer, not a magician.

But Clare saw a way she could help!

BrilliantHeaded back to the house…

…we headed down into the amazing wooded valley leading up to Bagden Hall…

…and did another round of snuggles & smooches.

“Say, which way is the beach?” I asked, as tickets for the gun show went on sale.

I love how the sun is bouncing off Clare’s jumper into Steve’s face.

I love to use white wedding dresses this way, as a giant reflector!

The woods were so beautiful, bursting with bright green, fresh Spring leaves…

…and a sea of bluebells.

Awww!

I can’t wait to join these guys for their big day at the Bagden Hall! They’ve some brilliant ideas in store to make the day fun (one of the group shots is gonna be MINT!) and they were so easy to shoot!

Bring it on!

Jo & Stephen’s Wedding Slideshow // Aston Hall, Sheffield [by Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Sun, 13 May 2012 09:56:16 +0000

Yesterday I joined the lovely Jo & cheeky Steve to photograph their wedding at Aston Hall, in Sheffield.

Aston Hall is such a brilliant place to photograph a wedding, especially when the sun was out all day long!

While everyone enjoyed their wedding breakfast we backed up pictures and made a quick slideshow to show at the evening reception. Even though they’re only quickly ‘processed’ and aren’t up to the scratch of the final images, after the wedding I like to set the slideshow to their first dance track and turn it into a video to blog, so the couple and their pals can see the images literally a few days after the wedding.

So here’s Jo Steve’s On-The-Day Slideshow set to their first dance ‘Let’s Stay Together’ by Al Green (which can be downloaded as MP3s from amazon’s MP3 store here).

If you can’t see the slideshow, are viewing this in facebook or would like to see it in HD, click here to watch it on Vimeo.com

As they slide through the slideshow so fast, I always like to share a bit of insight into my personal highlights from the day, so here goes:

I joined the girls having their hair & makeup done in Jo’s mum’s airy conservatory in Sandal.

Here’s the girl of the hour, bringing in the celebrations with a bottle of bubbles!

Little Tyler, was keeping clear of the chaos, potentially a little anxious about his duties bearing…

…these rings!

Jo’s dress was a thing of beauty, from the Ian Stewart Bride collection.

I’m no connoisseur of wedding couture, but simply love Ian Stewart’s gowns

Here are Jo’s wedding ‘flats’, sixpence affixed for luck!

I like this one of Jo having her hair finished

Jo’s beautiful flora was created by my good pal Lynne at Stem’s Design

The chaps were getting ready at Steve & Jo’s home in Netherton

When Clare arrived to pap the boys, Steve was quietly writing up his speech

The tails were hanging in wait

When the chaps arrived, the party started.

Groomsman Lee, a chef, volunteered to cook them a hearty English breakfast to set everyone up for the day.

I like this one of the goings on.

I always like this shots of the chaps helping each other into cufflinks and cravats

Team groomOver at Jo’s I spotted this little note on the bed…

Jo had booked a surprise vintage split-screen campervan as transport for the chaps! Meanwhile, back with the girls Jo was being helped into her dress by her ladies in wait!

Mum was on button crochet duties

A radiant bride if ever I saw one!

Clearly her girls thought so too!

AwwwJo’s father sadly passed away some years ago, but he was definitely invited along to the wedding.

Jo’d had a button hole made for Dad and placed it with a lit candle in a lantern, that joined them throughout the day.

It was very moving, and they were going to place his button hole on his grave the following day.

Team bride, in the sunshine!

Jo positively beamed.

More flora details

Mum, Amelia & Jo all ready to roll in the back of their matching navy Royale Windsor wedding car!

Mum looked brilliant too, also in Ian Stewart!

Over at the church, literally on the edge of Aston Hall, the guys arrived to check everything was ship shape.

It was a beautiful old church.Steve didn’t seem nervous at all

and neither did Jo, having a laugh with her girls on the way up to the church

I like this one Clare caught as the girls went in…

…while inside, I caught this one.

Possibly my favourite shot of the day.

Could a bride look any better than this?!

Down the aisleA little cheeky flower girl!

Sealed with a kiss…

and back down the aisle as man & wife!

As they left the church I followed the procession and was lucky to catch them have a little celebratory smooch

At the gates we (literally) squeezed in a quick shot of everyone…

…before bombing the happy couple with confetti!

I was pleased to put my new Canon 5DmkIII to the test, which can happily shoot 6 frames per second in moments like this!

While I’m stood on a chair above the action, Clare generally stands in the crowd to capture another angle on the blast!

I love that in this one Jo looks like she’s about to be battered by someone’s handbag!

While guests walked across to Aston Hall, Jo, Steve & I did a few quick portraits on the walk over, in front of the Royale…

…the camper

and on the red carpet at Aston Hall!

We then left them to mingle in the sunshine on the Aston Hall veranda (while the kids burnt off some energy!)

Jo had put loads of thought into placing fun details all around the grounds, including lots of hearts hanging from trees and bushes!

We then turned around a few family group and wedding party team shots!The girls!

The guys!

You’ll have to see their pre-wedding blog post I wrote here for why the chaps are competing for the lowest lean!

Afterwards, we did another quick round of laid back portraits around the front of the house.

A nice quiet moment.And another little snog

In the pre-wed we found a rusty fence that they both climbed up and sat on.

Steve was game, but I thought I’d let Jo stay standing!They’d taken a novel approach to their table plan – naming lavender plant pots containing individually named lolly sticks!

(This was one of Steve’s duties and apparently it was impressively time consuming!)The wedding breakfast room looked amazing too, full of fun details (the tables were named after retro sweets – fizzy cherries, rosy apples, jelly babies, jelly tots, etc – and every table setting had a mini jam jar full of their respective sweets!)

Speeches from the mother of the bride brought a tear to the eye, while Steve and ‘Kenny’ took a more shock and awe tactic!

Kenny and the boys had a bunch of excellently humiliating props created!

It’s all about the reactions!

As evening set in, the cake was cut…

…and we ran our wedding photobooth!

Click on the image above to begin the flash slideshow – unfortunately this won’t show on apple iDevices ;-(

It’s always a cracking laugh seeing the happy couple and their buddies let loose a little on the ‘booth!

The first dance

The song choice was Steve’s secret surprise, and he chose the brilliant Al Green’s ‘Lets Stay Together’, refreshed into popularly in Pulp Fiction. Their wedding band ‘Rhythmatic‘ did a brilliant job covering it live…

Then kept the floor dancing late into the night!

Before we bid our farewells, we had a little play with drawing a sparkler heart!

Then we left Jo & Steve to enjoy the party in peace!

Thank you so much guys for making us feel so welcome and part of the party! We had such a brilliant day and you guys rule!

Here’s to a wonderful honeymoon in Singapore, Sydney and Fiji!

As the kids are saying: ‘totes jel’

B&C

Sparky & Strong // Portraits, Branding and Graphic Design [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Fri, 11 May 2012 09:00:13 +0000

My younger brother, Murray, is a recently qualified electrician. Although he gets work, it’s a sporadic line of work in these tough economic times.

So, he and my mum came up with an idea that he and his good pal Greg (an all round handyman and gardener) should set up a business together offering their electrical and gardening skills out around the neighbourhood and beyond.

My mum came up with the idea of calling the business ‘Sparky & Strong’.

I said I’d help them get it on the road by photographing them and branding the business up, and thought it might be a bit of a laugh!

I had an idea to give it a bit of a 1950′s vibe, so got them round to my house for a photoshoot, and made the lounge into a bit of a studio, with Kyra taking guard dog duties, protecting my lenses!

For the shutterbugs out there interested in studio lighting, I was using my Elinchrom Ranger Quadra portable flash kits (very useful at wedding, such as on my photobooth, because they don’t need to run off mains power). When you wire two flash heads into a Quadra battery pack, the A channel is automatically given 2/3rds the power and the B channel is given the remaining 1/3 power. They’re triggered with the included ‘Skyport’ radio trigger, that sits in the DSLR hotshoe.

In this case I put the A channel in a Westcott Apollo umbrella soft box, which are ace because they’re so quick to put up and take down and as light modifiers go, the soft box always shapes the hard flash into a lovely soft light.

I used a Manfrotto super clamp to clamp the back quadra light on the Lastolite background stand (in this case covered with a bed sheet, cos I couldn’t find anything else!), and attached a larger reflector to it so I could clip in a grid light modifier, to again shape the light into a pool of hard light onto the hair.

To complete the high key studio vibe, I required a third light to just over expose the background, without interfering with the lighting setup. So I added in a Canon 580EX speedlite on a Skyport receiver (which is triggered by the same Skyport transmitter that triggers the Quadras), set to a manual flash power to avoid variations in brightness. It was clipped onto the door with a super useful hotshot clamp I bought from Speed Graphic years ago, and wrapped the edge in black foil, to avoid light spilling out onto the boys.

The finished look! The main light, cast from the right was soft and flattering, and a bit of harder light on the hair and shoulders lifts Murray from the background.

(When you next watch Mad Men/Downton Abbey/Game of Thrones, watch out for their brilliant use of soft key and hard hair lighting)

I took a whole bunch of options of images of Greg & Murray, looking ‘gardeny’ and ‘electriciany’ – to give me options to comp together later on.

And after a bit of a play in Photoshop, I came up with this as their final logo!

I’ve always loved tinkering with graphic design and these days only really get to flex my DTP skills in wedding album design.

But for Sparky & Strong, I wanted a bit of a vintage vibe, with an almost ironic pride, looking out into the middle distance with their tools on show!

I made them an A4 posted to print and drop round the neighbourhood, did them some business cards, Facebook logos / banners & a pack of MS word stationary, and now they seem to getting all kinds of jobs from clearing gardens, mowing lawns, fitting lights and fixing electrics!

If you’re in the Leeds area and can think of anything you’d like them to do, do drop them a line!

But the highlight of the entire project for me, was capturing Murray doing this beautiful pose!

Though don’t let this looker put you off getting them round to do you a quote…

Duncan’s Birthday Walk // Round the Butchers Arms, Hepworth [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Wed, 09 May 2012 09:00:16 +0000

In our family, birthday meals generally revolve around going for a short walk and a long lunch at a nice gastropub in the countryside.

My mum has an encyclopaedic knowledge of great pubs in the most obscure corners of Yorkshire, generally called The ‘Something’ at ‘Somewhere’.

For my older brother Duncan’s 34th Birthday recently, we visited the brilliant Butchers Arms at Hepworth.

As is usually the case, it rained on & off throughout, and most of us would rather have skipped the walk and dragged out the lunch!

But our pooch Kyra didn’t seem too bothered about the rain, and lunch tastes all the nicer when it’s been earned.

So off we strolled across rolling Yorkshire fields…Clambering over many drystone wall styles. Kyra inspected the drainage in the lower field. Ted’s had trouble with this one for years.

The walk had two causes for celebration too, because my bro Duncan & his girlfriend Fiona had also just recently got engaged!

This was our first outing as a family since the big news!

They’d had Fi’s engagement ring specially made with a stone from my dear Nana’s wedding ring!

Here are the happy couple (and birthday boy!) as I turned the lens on them!

They’re really very sweet together, and I’m majorly excited about their wedding!

You’d think I see enough weddings, but I am giddy as a kipper about seeing my big brother tie the knot!

(…or at least being off duty and having a few scoops and hitting the dance floor…)

Heading back down into the valley

A little snap of a distracted pooch and her mum!

One of the reasons for Kyra’s distraction!

She really doesn’t understand why these fields of horned white dogs don’t wanna play.
These walks are a nice opportunity to catch up with everyone before lunch
We walked through a wood with some impressively knotty branches.This would’ve made a top spot for a portrait shoot!So instead we did a self timer groupshotAnother ace patch of Woodland on the way back to the pub
Back at The Butchers Arms, ready for lunch!

It’s run by an amazing chef called Tim Bilton (read more about him & it here), who used to be head chef of the enormous Bibi’s restaurant in Leeds. When I worked with the Leeds Guide I did a brilliant shoot with Tim at a farm, where I bloodied his chef whites up and took his portrait in a meat locker with a huge knife, carrying massive chunks of cow! He’s a top bloke.I like the vibe of the Butchers arms!

Celebratory bubbles for both another year on the clock and to a happy engagement!

Here’s a casual pic of my Dad, shot across the table!The menu!The grub!The chatThe desert

The me (looking unusually serious, as I was probably explaining how to use my camera!)

…and the brother, looking awkward as the traditional birthday desert comes out and we all sing!

Fun times!

Laura & James Wedding Slideshow // Woodlands Hotel, Leeds [by Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Mon, 07 May 2012 09:52:59 +0000

Yesterday I joined Laura & James to photograph their wedding at Woodlands Hotel in Leeds.

Woodlands is such an ace place to photograph a wedding. Laura & James & all their guests seemed to have a fantastic time.

So here’s Laura & James’ On-The-Day Slideshow set to their first dance ‘Next to Me’ by Emeli Sande (The BBC Live Lounge version).

If you can’t see the slideshow, are viewing this in facebook or would like to see it in HD, click here to watch it on Vimeo.com

As they slide through the slideshow so fast, I always like to share a bit of insight into my personal highlights from the day, so here goes:

We joined the girls at Laura’s parents absolutely beautiful house, bathed in glorious low Spring sunshine.Laura was having her makeup done under the watchful eye of one of her bridesmaids Kat.Hanging in her mothers bright and airy room was the most beautiful gown!After an initially weird period stalking the gang around the house, the girls soon started to ignore me and I caught some lovely moments like this…

…and this.

I love being able to capture these things.

On an amazing chest upstairs, I set Laura’s fab pair of fab Kirk Geiger wedding shoes!Dad was upstairs in his study, quietly writing out his speechThe fantastic floristry was supplied by the amazing Fiona at Firenza Floral Design.

I believe Laura met Fiona on my advice, and they clicked right away. Laura said when they met, she just splurged out what she had in mind and Fiona understood her straight away and created exactly what she’d hoped for. She was so pleased with the final result.

The bridesmaid’s dresses looked absolutely stunning.

Anyone familiar with the colour…?The bridesmaids shoes!The girls were having fun in the kitchen, and on the shopping list was a Bride and Groom.

Bride had a tick!Love this one.

Mum looked fab in her dress.

Cheers!Meanwhile, over at the chaps, Clare joined James & the boys for their preparations.A spot of ironing……collars and cuffs…

…and a quick check from one of the best men for the rings.Suiting up!

A relaxed portrait of the groom!
A quick teamshot in the garden before hitting the road

Back at the girls’, mum & Laura readied the dress!The bridesmaids slipped into their aquamarine frocks…

…before joining mum to help Laura into her gown.

Love this this one.About to don the veil.

The resplendent finished result!

Mum & Dad were thrilled to bits!Their beautiful church was St. John the Evangelist in MirfieldInside, the church was bursting with wonderful flowers!

Guests filled the church ahead of the arrival of…

…the lovely bride!A quick shot of the girls……before hitting the road!A final few tweaks outside the church!An expectant crowd (& groom)!The vicar spoke with us before the wedding and was quite strict about not taking any photographs apart from the official signing of the register. But as a friend of the family, she kindly let us talk her round to letting us take a few from the back of the church.

Both we and the happy couple so appreciate images like these.

Making things official

Then back down the aisle as man & wife!This may be my favourite image of the dayWell wishing outside the church…

…and a fun runway confetti shot!

I’d met Laura & James for their pre-wed at their church a month or so back and they really liked the practice images we did in the church grounds (check out the post here), so as guests headed off to Woodlands, we did a few pics in the spring trees!

I like this natural one.Aww.Meanwhile, over at Woodlands, guests mingled on the verandah in the glorious sunshine!

To think we’d been forecast rain for this day!

Mum had booked a little surprise for them, and hired in a bagpiper to pipe them into the reception!We did a quick shot of everyone

and a bunch of fun groupshots with the wedding party!

Especially with the chaps, working their best catalogue poses

The girls wanted to get all Charlie’s Angel’s with groomsman ‘Shag’

(apparently so called because of his resemblance to Shaggy from Scooby Doo!)Afterwards, Laura & James & I did another quick round of causal portraits round the beautiful grounds of Woodlands Hotel.

I like to do a separate set of individual shots

This is also one of my faves from yesterday, smooching in front of the blossom!

The wedding breakfast had New York themed table namesAnd I FINALLY clicked why the aquamarine colour theming was so familiar!

It’s the colour of the Tiffany’s & Co. New York jewellery store (which was also the name of the top table!)

The colours even made their way to the beautiful cake!

Speeches were brilliant all round. Each one hilarious and brilliantly delivered. The two best men had me in stitches!

As evening settled over the grand house… Richard Daniels sang some brilliant lounge songs in the bar, another rooms was turned into a Casino as a surprise for James! He’d always wanted a casino at the wedding but Laura said it was tacky, secretly planning to do it all along!

Love itAs evening guests settled into the marquee…

…Laura’s bridesmaids kindly embarrassed her with a big projection of a hen performance them doing a routine of ‘Fame’ at the hen do!

We then cut the cake…

…and dived straight into the first dance!Then the floor opened up for some real partying!Awww

It was a brilliant day all round, and we thank James & Laura for asking us to join them to document their fantastic big day!

We hope you have a brilliant honeymoon in the Bahamas!

Barnaby & Clare

Lisa & Steve Wedding Slideshow // The Old Swan, Harrogate [by Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Sun, 06 May 2012 07:35:34 +0000

Yesterday I joined Lisa & Steve to photograph their wedding at The Old Swan in Harrogate.

The blossom was out and apart from a few spots of rain, it was a beautiful, crisp spring day. Lisa & Steve’s friends and family seemed to have a fantastic time.

So here’s Lisa & Steve’s On-The-Day Slideshow set to their first dance ‘Chasing Cars’ by Snow Patrol (which can be downloaded as MP3s from amazon’s MP3 store here).

https://vimeo.com/41628336

If you can’t see the slideshow, are viewing this in facebook or would like to see it in HD, click here to watch it on Vimeo.com

As they slide through the slideshow so fast, I always like to share a bit of insight into my personal highlights from the day, so here goes:

I joined Lisa and the girls at mum’s house in Copmanthorpe, near York, and opened with a shot of Lisa’s beautiful gown from The Bridal Lounge. of York

Here’s Lisa, and a very sweet card from her husband to be!

Who also gave her this cute placard

Lisa’s wedding shoes were ready and waitingAnd the bridesmaids were dolling themselves up & practising their speeches.The bridesmaids dresses were an ace colour! There were lots of flashes of purple through this Scottish-themed weddingMum was in the lounge having her makeup done by their dear friend StephThe flora looked brilliant, bursting with thistles and purples!

Meanwhile, Clare joined the boys at Steve’s parents place in Riccall.Steve was already getting into his kilt!

I love the traditional Scottish dress, in this case, with the Spirit of Scotland kilt!

There are so many brilliant details, such as Steve’s family crest belt.Here’s the man himself, ready to party!

The best man was also practising his speech.The chaps mingling outside in their ’Pride of Scotland’ KiltsTeam groomFlowered up & good to go.

Lisa’s dad Alan is an avid Lotus fan & a bit of a car nut, and as well as having owned a bunch of ace Lotuses, runs a car club…

…and has a good pal called Richard Thompson who is also an avid car collector. He kindly let them have the pick of his extensive car collection and as well as a spanking new Rolls Royce Phantom for the girls, Lisa chose this simply beautiful American Pontiac Chieftain Eight car.

It might be the best wedding car I have ever seen!

Mum popped a few celebratory bubbles…

…as the girls helped Lisa into her dress.A little shot of Lisa’s dress details and engagement ringUnusually, Lisa had her makeup done after getting into the dress!

But Steph did a beautiful job and Lisa looked wonderful.I love this shot!

A quick snap with Dad before hitting the road!
Passing the queue of cream tea fans at Betty’s as we arrived into Harrogate, following the Phantom.

It’s always nice to have a long drive to calm the nerves and jangles and Alan, Richard, Lisa & I had a great laugh on the way over.

I love The Old Swan – it’s got that grand Victorian Regal scale to it!Steve’s boys checked he was shipshape!The chairs also had that purple touch!Guests arrived in and found their seatsAnd the cars pulled up by the doorsA glowing bride!Getting out under the day’s few spots of rain!

And down the aisle to a slightly nervous Groom!

Aww.

Gail’s reading went off without a hitch

On went the ringsAnd a kiss sealed the deal!

The register and witnessesAnd back down the aisle as man & wife!A quick shot of everyoneAnd a blast of confettiThen we rattled through family groups

And did a few fun shots with the wedding partyThe boys were always gonna look cool in their kilts!

Loving the detailsThis is another of my faves of the day, not just because it’s got that ace Pontiac in it!

Then we slipped off for a few bridal portraits of the newly weds.

A nice relaxed portraitAnd a bit of a laugh in front of the blossom

Another fave of mine.

Guests mingled in the White Swan lounge…

…as Lisa and Steve circulated and chatted to their near and dear

The Conservatory looked brilliant, and tables were named after their favourite albums (top table being Snow Patrol!)Speeches were lots of fun

Cutting the cake!A quick shot of their rings

After dinner it was quite moving to see Lisa and her brother toast an obviously dearly missed member of their family.As evening set in over the Old Swan…

…lisa and Steve did their first dance…

Then the 9-piece band ‘HUGE‘ really got the party started!

Everyone had a good ol’ jig

The lead singer ’Big Ian’ got down on the floor and played a few musical games with team bride and team groom!

And we took that as our time to head off and leave them to the party!

Thank you Lisa & Steve for asking us to be part of your wonderful wedding! We had a cracking day and hope you have a wonderful honeymoon in Las Vegas and San Diago!

Barnaby & Clare

May The Fourth Be With You! // Happy Star Wars Day from KyraWok [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Fri, 04 May 2012 15:40:08 +0000

Happy Star Wars Day everybody! May the fourth be with you!

Some of you may know today is the semi-official Star Wars Day, but most of you won’t know that it’s also my little dog Kyra’s birthday!

So, as one does, every year I dress her up as a Star Wars character!

This year, for her 2nd Birthday, she’s Kyra the Ewok!

I made this outfit out of a fake suede skirt & a teddy I found in a charity shop

While I was cutting out the hood, Kyra looked an awful lot like a Jedi, so I added a bit of light sabre action…

Kyrobi Wan Kenobi!

For her birthday last year, she was Darth Kyra!Kyra’s not entirely convinced this dressing up is a good idea, but she certainly enjoys the mountain of treats (read: bribes) required to keep her still!

It’s not just disilusioned dogs who like dressing up! Here’s me at Clare’s 30th on our photo booth as bounty hunter, Boba Fett.

Happy Star Wars Day folks!

Stomping in Borrowdale // The Lake District [by Barnaby Aldrick]

Barnaby Aldrick — Tue, 01 May 2012 07:00:04 +0000

Last weekend Clare & I were back in the Lakes to join her Bottle Green workmates for another company ‘challenge’!

I remember once being told that the word ‘challenge’ is just a synonym for ‘problem’…

All the same, it was great joining a cheerful mix of workmates and their near & dear in their ‘technical gear’ for the bi-annual, always-slightly-harder-than-you’d-like Lakeland clamber. Essentially, the whole adventure is so financial director Steve can tick off a few more of his top 100 peaks, but for most of us, it’s just an opportunity to go out for a nice dinner!

It had been an ominous week weather-wise, and hitting the road across the Borrowdale valley bottom around 8am (!), the forecast looked clear yet ominous.It wasn’t long before we were gaining altitude and bothering sheep.The sun and gloom played games with our minds

But often looked splendid blasting rays through gaps in cloud down the dramatic landscape.We were super lucky that the preceding rainfall hadn’t stoked the bogs, and the ground was generally dry.

Before long we wandered up to this badboy, which Steve’s guide described as a ‘gentle scramble’.

Looks an awful lot like a wall to me…

‘Challenge’ is another word for ‘problem’.

But there’s always a sense of accomplishment after such a climb!Before we knew it we’d ‘bagged’ our first peak – Glaramara!

Steve always seemed to stomp on ahead.

Legend has it, Steve was once in the Lakes, massively drunk and lost a special gold watch, and this top 100 peak bagging story is simply a ruse for him to charge ahead in the vain hope that one day he’ll recover said watch and all will be well.

Or at least that’s what Nick told me…

But would you trust this man?Here’s peak two: Allen Crags.

It might be me, but there’s marginally less excitement in the faces of the explorers…Although cold, it was mainly sunny, but clouds were heavy and at one point we got snowed on.

You’ve gotta love the Lakeland climate.A year previous, we’d done the Great Gable/Pillar 11-mile stomp (check out similarly dramatic images on the blog post I posted about it here), and we’d stopped for a pic at this same ‘stretcher box’; so it seemed wrong not to do another quick teamshot! As mentioned in that previous blog post, the problem with climbing peaks, is that the word itself is plural. And between each aren’t enough bridges, so you end up coming down one peak, only to have to go up another. At the bottom of the next big climb, there was a secret meeting about the option for taking the ‘escape route’ down the valley back to the YHA; where tea, beer and warm were waiting to soothe tired walkers…

…and on conducting a meeting with the map reader leaders…

…most of the ladies decided to take the escape route (note how happy they look about it!) …

…while we fools steeled up & set our minds to strong!Check out the scree-slope we clambered up!

But we were rewarded with this dramatic Ansel Adams style view on the way up to the top of the next peak, Green GableHere are ‘Team Strong Mind’ working their most explorery poses atop Green Gable.And across the tops and a few more peaks, we headed back down again…

I rather liked this view of a windy road up to a slate quart in the hill.

I love the flat-edged, traditional slate buildings in Lake District towns.

Insert ‘No Fear’ poster slogan here.As we lowered off the barren peak-tops, the valleys became more green and wooded; looking particularly lovely when bright sunlight passed over.

Though arguably, Clare was a little pooped to appreciate it!It seemed wrong not to get a snap of me in my top-to-toe ‘technical wear’ (+ South American crap llama hat)

Sadly, the Sony HX9v compact camera, brilliant though it is, couldn’t quite capture the moss-filled, backlit magic of this woodland we wandered through.Arriving back at the hostel, after approximately 15miles stomping was a beautiful thing indeed…

…almost as lovely as these 7.4% apples!
Which went straight to me ‘edCheers to a fantastic adventure all round (and to not being drowned in mist and send down the wrong side of a slope like last time!)

I rather like this these images I’d caught over Derwent water at dusk!

In this day and age, we forget there’s such beautiful landscape in the UK, literally on our doorstep, ignored in place of cheap flight destinations.

The more weddings I do around the Dales and Lakes, and the more exhilaratingly painful stomps I do with Clare’s fantastic workmates, the more I realise what a fantastic country it is in which we live!

Get out, and enjoy it!

Beckie & Joe’s Wedding Slideshow // Wortley Hall, Sheffield [by Barnaby Aldrick Wedding Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 09:33:18 +0000

Yesterday I joined Beckie & Joe for their wedding at Wortley Hall in Sheffield.

I don’t usually check forecasts until the day of the wedding, but yesterday we were predicted a day filled with that ominous ‘Sunny Intervals’ icon!

It turned out they lied to us! We had summery sun literally all day long, and basking in it on the veranda with a glass of bubbles was simply a perfect way for Beckie, Joe & their guests to enjoy the wedding.

So here’s Beckie & Joe’s On-The-Day Slideshow set to an ace live performance of ‘Yellow’ by Chris Martin of Coldplay. Beckie & Joe’s first dance was performed to this by their live band The Acosutic Angels along with a few of their good pals on vocals & guitar (download the video version from Amazon here).

If you can’t see the slideshow, are viewing this in facebook or would like to see it in HD, click here to watch it on Vimeo.com

As they slide through the slideshow so fast, I always like to share a bit of insight into my personal highlights from the day, so here goes:

I joined Beckie & the girls at Wortley Hall setting the celebrations rolling with a cheeky bucks fizz or two!

While the lovely Beckie had some curls put in…

…I took her dress for a walk and rather liked this spot of it hanging in one of the many Wortley stairwells!

[Wortley Hall is HUGE and suspiciously maze-like, so after about 8 corridor turns you either find yourself back at the start or completely lost!]

I also took the wonderful, colourful flora for a stroll and found this nice North-facing window to frame them up in.

Beckie’s prize and joy were her sparkly Manolo Blahnik kicks!

[An avid shoe 'collector', Beckie told me that apparently these pups cost almost as much as the dress]

Meanwhile, over at Mum & Dad’s house in Grenoside (a lovely area of North Sheffield, that is far nicer than it sounds), the Groom Joe was getting his threads on

I love this unusual crop Clare caught of a relaxed Joe.

A wedding is the first time most people have ever had to negotiate a cravat, but Joe nailed his first time!
In the speeches, we were told Joe was so bad at making decisions, he ended up with 3 best men!
Here’s Dave, responsible for the rings!

Once they were ready the chaps went for a few scoops near the church.

I love that Joe was the only one with a top hat.
Clare caught a few relaxed portraits of Joe outside the church.Which was all set for the service

Back with the girls at Wortley Hall, the exterior reminds me a lot of Oulton Hall in Leeds.

Beckie was being helped into her beautiful Essence of Australia gown by her bridesmaids…

…and Dad joined the fun and looked very proud indeed of his daughter, all grown up and ready to get married!

At the top of the stairs the girls decided to blow me a Marilyn Monroe kiss!

It was so nice being ready as early as the gang were, and rather than diving in the car in a final mad rush, we had about half an hour spare to shoot some lovely sunny shots of Dad and the girls!

I love the colour scheming with the dark blues and bright colourful flora.

There was some excellent footwear indeed on show!

As Beckie & Joe live in London, they’d booked Hackney Carriage cabs to run the gang to the church!

They’d even managed to secure a white one for Dad and Beckie.

I adore the length of Beckie’s dress!

[Super mobile for portrait shoots around the grounds!]

At the church the wedding party awaited …

Here comes the bride!

Their vicar was lovely, and delivered a special service indeed and kindly showed me the best spot to photograph from!

…you may kiss the bride!
A lovely moment just after the kiss.While the newlyweds and witnesses signed the register…

…a close friend played a piece on her Violin.Then down the aisle as man & wifeAww.

Love this one.The paparazzi!I literally stood on a chair in the middle of a high street to catch this shot of everyone.Then we did a quick bomb of confetti!A friend of the family supplied the wedding car……which wasn’t entirely built for a full-size human in the rear!Back at the sunny hall as guests arrived…

…we headed into the Wortley Hall’s 26 acres of formal garden and peaceful woodland for the portrait shoot.

It’s all about the relaxed portraits

(Still got confetti in the hair!)

We’d had a good practice around the Wortley Hall grounds at their pre-wedding shoot a few months back (check out the images here).

I like Beckie’s little kick here!
Love this one.The woods offered the perfect shade for a chilled out portrait and a detail of the ring!

I couldn’t believe the sun we got!On the pre-wed we’d found an interesting gnarly bush that we climbed inside.

Beckie was game to climb in again and we got a cracking set of images under the windy branchesI think Joe looks ace in this one.
We even had a minute to do some fun shots on the way back to the partyWe left the gang to mingle with their guests

And before dinner we did a few group fun shotsIncluding Beckie & the Birkby boys!A funky shot of the wedding partyLove this one of the girls.

And think the chaps look class in this one.

The only thing missing is a cane for Joe!

The wedding breakfast hall looked beautiful, and the table flowers looked even better in a bowl of citrus fruit!

After dinner we cut the cake their auntie made (including the edible models of their flowers!) so it could cut to go out with coffee.Speeches were brilliant, and compered beautifully by Joe’s sister Jules, who’d also designed all their beautiful wedding stationary & details

If you’re wanting brilliant stationary for your big day, be sure to check her company JulesBirkby.com).Evening set in over the Wortley Hall…

ad the party started.

Guests got down to the amazing live band

It’s not a wedding without a conga, if you ask me.

Then after having already had a good boogie, our happy couple did their official first dance.

As we knew a few guests at the wedding, we dropped the cameras and stopped for a pint before hitting the road back to Leeds.

It was such a brilliant day all round; beautifully organised in wonderful weather. Beckie, Joe & their guests all appeared to have a blast.

Thank you guys for letting us share your big day with you and we hope you have a cracking honeymoon in South America!

Barns & Clare

Blogs wot I admire [by Barnaby Aldrick Photography]

Barnaby Aldrick — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 14:24:22 +0000

Yesterday I joined about 20 photographer buddies of mine from all around the country for a get together in Leeds.

We went out for lunch & geeked away the afternoon at the Adelphi then went for tea at Sam’s Chophouse, before somehow ending up shooting tequila with the boys till 2am.

I always come away buzzing with ideas (and this time with an sizeable hangover) from all the sharing. It’s so good being in a relaxed network with loads of inspiring photographers that are always happy to advise and support, and often jump in on each others weddings as 2nd shooters when required. They keep me sharp, and keep me up to date.

I’ve always been an avid blogger, and like to share everything I see and do on here. Two Leeds-based togs that joined us yesterday, John Hope and Tom Arber, have always been a great resource for finding genius photography blogs to follow. John mentioned a few new additions he’s currently enjoying, and they’re a great place to get new photographic inspiration. This morning I decided all I could accomplish was going through my Safari bookmarks and add/cull the list. I thought if you’re into checking out amazing photography blogs – your very being here is surely testament to that! – then perhaps you might like to check out some of these kids:

The last one is a bit special too.

Enjoy x