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BIPP Licentiate Submission - Weddings
WORKING PROFILE
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J o h n H a r r i s - L i c e n t i a t e Q u a l i f i c a t i o n - Wo r k i n g P r o f i l e
CV
I always took lots of photographs as a child with my interest being sparked one Christmas by the gift of a Kodak Instamatic camera. I gradually moved through Olympus XA-2s,
Olympus Trips and then my first SLR, the tank-like Zenit. I took lots of pictures through my school days and developed my own black and white prints at one of my parent’s friend’s
house who was also a keen photographer.
When I moved on to University, photography took more of a back seat as other interests took over and on graduation I moved into the world of IT as a software developer. This
seemed fine for a while but working for large organisations (I worked for the Rank Group, did a stint contracting and then worked for the Royal Bank of Scotland for many years)
left me bored and disillusioned.
About seven years ago I had a nasty cycling accident and was awarded compensation. My wife said I should treat myself to something nice and so I decided to rekindle my love of
photography and buy an entry level digital SLR (a Nikon D70). I took lots of snaps of landscapes and my children but wanted to improve my skills so began the Amateur Photographer Diploma course which helped me to think more deeply about composition, exposure, movement and light.
At a similar time my department at work went through a round of redundancies and whilst I ‘escaped’ at the time it forced me to think about what I wanted to do longer term. I
really didn’t want to work in IT any more so began investigating alternative options. Photography seemed an obvious avenue and so I signed up for a six- month social and wedding
photography course with local training organisation Barrett and Coe and began shooting weddings in my spare time. The number of weddings I shot grew nicely and I began to invest further in my skills by going on more training courses with the likes of Peter Prior, Damien Lovegrove and of course the BIPP. It was always my intention to go full time at some
point in the future but the decision was effectively made for me in late 2009 when I was made redundant.
Using my redundancy payment I converted my double garage to an office/client meeting area and spent considerable time ensuring that my website was Google-friendly. This paid
dividends as business grew nicely in 2010 and I ended up shooting just under 30 weddings that year and had some fantastic feedback from some very satisfied clients.
My personal approach to a wedding is to concentrate on recording the day rather than controlling it. Having said that I nearly always spend some time with couples on their own to
get some stylish posed shots, often using supplementary lighting such as speedlights or video lights. This mix of reportage with a small number of setup shots seems to go down
well as clients get to enjoy most of the day unhindered but still come away with some ‘wow’ shots.
The future is looking bright. For 2011 I have been able to increase my prices with no detrimental effect on bookings and have seen my referral business grow substantially. Looking at
the longer term, I hope to increase prices again at the end of this season and most importantly continue to learn new skills and refine my existing ones through a continual process of
practice and training.
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Risk Assessment and Health & Safety
As mentioned above I have a converted garage which serves mainly as an office but is also used as a meeting area for clients to view samples of my work, for pre-wedding meetings
and for client slideshows. Regular checks are carried out to ensure that there are no obvious trip/slip hazards such as trailing cables, spilt drinks or loose rugs. A first aid kit is also
stored on site.
At a wedding I take similar precautions to ensure that members of the public are never placed in locations that might place them in danger of slipping or falling and ensure as far as
possible that staircases, lights, windows etc are secure before asking couples to either lean on them or stand beneath them.
If using mains-operated lighting I always use an RCD circuit breaker to protect clients and the venue and ensure that cables do not present a trip hazard.
I hold public liability insurance that provides cover for up to £2 million.
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Panel Layout
SINGLE WEDDING
MULTI WEDDINGS
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Single Wedding - Image 1
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
This image was taken at the bride’s mother’s house where she and her bridesmaids were all getting ready. The framing provides a strong diagonal composition leading from the bride’s arm bottom right to the bride applying her mascara
top left whilst still ensuring that each face is clearly visible. Each person in the
picture is engrossed in what they are doing, vital in a reportage-style picture
such as this, and the cups of tea and general clutter add to the storytelling. I
timed the shot to capture the spray from the can of hairspray adding some further interest and movement into the shot.
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Single Wedding - Image 2
Nikon D700 70-200 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The bridal party travelled the short distance from the house to the church on
foot, led by a Scottish piper. The bride had informed me of this at her prewedding meeting and knowing that it may well result in some memorable photos, after photographing the groom at the church, I walked half way back to the
house and waited in the road. I chose a low viewpoint to the side to ensure that
the piper wouldn’t obscure the bride and her brother (who was giving her
away) and took several shots as they approached me. Of those that I took this
was a clear favourite and shows the bride and her brother sharing a joke. The
expressions are great and the lack of eye contact from anyone in the picture
helps convey the feeling that the viewer is an observer and not a participant.
The sky and foreground have both been darkened slightly in post production.
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Single Wedding - Image 3
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
As soon as I saw the inside of this church I knew I wanted to make a feature of
the shiny checkerboard patterns of the tiles on the floor. During the ceremony I
manually focused and then held the camera a few inches from the ground aiming it down the line of tiles. I love the way that just about everything acts as a
lead in line to the couple at the altar and how the reflection in the floor acts as
point of symmetry. The arch was purposely included in the shot as it mirrors the
shape of the stained-glass window and also acts as a framing device for the couple themselves.
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Single Wedding - Image 4
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light with a touch of fill flash
A predominantly natural light shot taken during the signing of the register. If at
all possible I try and avoid staged shots of this part of the ceremony, preferring
to capture the moment as it happens. The interaction and expressions of the
subjects in this picture for me convey far more about the occasion than a setup
shot would ever have done. The couple are sharing a joke, the Father of the
groom and vicar are concentrating on signing the register whilst the Father of
the bride looks on proudly.
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Single Wedding - Image 5
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
A relaxed shot of the Groom prior to his wedding. I positioned myself in front of the church ensuring
that the trees framed the tower and then asked the groom to come and stand on the path in a position
where his head was against the relatively clean background of the tower. The only instructions to him
were to undo his jacket, put his hands in his pockets and to place his body at a slight angle to me. The
simple act of un-buttoning the jacket and putting his hands in his pockets immediately relaxed his posture. The clock added an element of ‘when’ to the ‘where’ and the path acted as a nice lead-in line to the
groom and then on to the entrance of the church.
The groom has been lightened slightly in post production in order that he stands out a little more and the
edges burned down.
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Single Wedding - Image 6
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
Taken at the bride’s house and lit with window light from behind me. I purposely chose a high viewpoint to accentuate her fantastic eyes and because there was a lot of distracting clutter in the background
which would have been in the shot had I taken the picture from eye level.
I used the healing brush in Photoshop to remove a few spots from around her forehead and cheeks and
then used a skin smoothing action to improve her complexion. The eyes and teeth have been dodged
slightly to brighten them up and the eyes have been selectively sharpened.
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Single Wedding - Image 7
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The confetti shot is one of the few occasions during a wedding when I prefer to
set up the shot rather than just observe what’s happening. I find that without
some form of direction, one guest will take it upon themselves to throw some
and then someone else will see this and throw theirs by which time the first lot
has blown away! I normally ask guests to form two lines facing each other and
get the couple to walk between them.. This ensures that all the confetti goes at
once and that plenty of guests are in the shot. A small tilt in-camera added a
little more dynamism to the shot.
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Single Wedding - Image 8
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
A shot of the bouquet toss. I asked to get into an upstairs window to ensure that
I could see as many faces as possible and so that I could capture the expressions
of the girls waiting to catch the bouquet. I shot this in continuous burst mode as
a sequence from the start of the throw to the final catch but this is my favourite
as the flowers are easily visible against the clouds, the bride has her hands extended and is looking up at the flowers and the girls behind all have their eyes
fixed on the bouquet ready to pounce.
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Single Wedding - Image 9
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
A shot taken during the half hour or so I had alone with the couple. I chose the
location for the fact that it had some foreground interest in the form of the old
rusting farm building and because the road had a lovely sweeping curve in it
leading the eye through to the single tree on the horizon. I placed the couple in
the bottom right third of the picture and got down low enough that their heads
were framed against the clouds rather than caught up in the landscape.
Additional burning in post production brought out the texture of the clouds and
the farm building.
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Single Wedding - Image 10
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Off-camera speedlight triggered by SU-800
I wanted to use the overcast conditions and the cloud cover to set up a really
striking shot. I set up an SB-900 on a stand about eight foot high with the lens
pointing vertically and with the flash head zoomed into 105mm. I arranged the
bride’s dress as best I could over the stubble and told her to imagine she was a
figurehead on a boat. Clear space between her arm and waist was achieved by
asking her to place her hand on her hip.
The clouds and the bright patch of ground in front of her feet were further darkened down in Photoshop.
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Multi Wedding - Image 1
Nikon D3s 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
This was shot in a very dark hotel room as the bride’s sister adjusted her veil a
couple of minutes before the wedding. I focused on the face of the bride in the
mirror and love her studied gaze and the look of concentration on the face of
her sister as she fits the veil.
There were some very bright spotlights in the room to highlight the mirror. This
provided a natural vignette effect but the edges have been further darkened
down to draw attention to the bride’s face in the mirror.
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Multi Wedding - Image 2
Nikon D3s 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
Taken just outside Corpus Christi College in Cambridge, the bride arrived with
her Mother, late and stressed. As soon as she was out of the car however her
mood changed and in between the tears looked at me with this gorgeous smile.
This is one of my favorite images because of the emotion it conveys and for the
fact that there’s so much going on. The focus point is clearly the bride but the
chauffeur is wishing her well, her Mother looks on proudly and her Sister is
fixing her dress. The backdrop of Cambridge and the inevitable tourists just add
to the interest.
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Multi Wedding - Image 3
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
This is another of my favourite story-telling images. The bridesmaids had just
finished doing up the back of the bride’s dress and whilst they stand admiring
their handiwork the bride herself is clearly savoring the moment of being all
dressed up on her weeding day. The real focal point however is the flower girl
deep in thought looking up at the bride. It’s difficult to know exactly what’s
going through her head - maybe she’s dreaming of the day when she will get to
dress up like a princess or maybe she’s just bored but clearly she’s deep in
thought about something.
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Multi Wedding - Image 4
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
I had been taking shots of the bridal preparations in the bride’s room and began
following the bridal party down the stairs ready to go into the ceremony room.
The chief bridesmaid was already at the bottom of the stairs looking up at the
bride coming down and as emotions were already running high I anticipated
something might happen so stopped and got my camera ready. This was the
resulting shot. In post-production I cropped the picture to remove the rest of the
wedding party on the stairs and did some dodging and burning to reduce the
strength of the light coming through the window on the left and to ensure that
the subjects were in a pool of light.
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Multi Wedding - Image 5
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The bride and groom leaving the church on a cold December day. I tried to frame the shot as much as
possible so that the trees added some interest to the top of the picture - I could possibly have improved
on this but the car was traveling fairly fast at this point and guests were crowding round me so I had to
take the shot whilst I had the opportunity.
I love the silhouette of the couple through the back window with the heart hanging between them. I like
to think this image conveys a feeling of optimism as the newly married couple drive off into the future
together.
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Multi Wedding - Image 6
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
I was waiting at the church door for the bride and her Father to walk towards me. At the entrance to the
church they both stopped whilst the Father adjusted his Daughter’s dress. As he was doing so a gust of
wind caught her veil and dress blowing it behind her. I love the elegance of the bride with her right hand
holding the dress and her arm slightly bent. The turn of the head is also very graceful and allowed the
veil to blow away from her rather than over her.
A bright summer’s day combined with the dark trees in the background meant I had to dial in -2/3 of a
stop of exposure compensation to prevent the dress from blowing out.
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Multi Wedding - Image 7
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
One of my favourite images of all time. Shot at a fantastic stately home I just
love the emotion on the bride’s face and the smiles of all the guests behind her.
The elegant way she is holding her left hand really makes the picture. Large
windows to the left of the couple were letting in a lot of light and I had already
dialed in -1/3 stop of exposure compensation to prevent her dress blowing out
but the fact that in this image most of the light is hitting the back of the groom’s
jacket has really helped to preserve all the texture in her dress. The only direct
light falling on the bride serves to draw attention to the look in her eye.
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Multi Wedding - Image 8
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The bride and groom share a moment during the register signing. I chose a low
angle and shot slightly upwards to capture the expression in their faces. Just as
the vicar was explaining to the bride where she should sign she looked up at her
new husband and beamed at him. This is the resulting shot. The corners of the
left hand side of the image have been darkened to focus attention on the subjects
but I chose not to darken the right hand edges as much to keep the bible clearly
visible.
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Multi Wedding - Image 9
Nikon D700 24-70 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The Mother of the groom listening to her Son’s speech. I took a number of shots
including some of her crying but preferred this the best as she looks happy and
full of love but still has tears in her eyes which I thought was more powerful.
Her face was lightened slightly with a curves adjustment and a vignette added
to the corners to really draw the viewer to her expression.
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Multi Wedding - Image 10
Nikon D3s 70-200 f2.8 lens. Natural light
The initial intention of this shot was to capture a wide landscape image of the
field with the trees, the cows in the background and the couple some distance
away under an old oak tree. However as soon as we entered the field the cows
became curious and all wondered over. The bride seemed comfortable with this
so I suggested they should dance. I shot a number of images but this was taken
at the end of the ‘dance’ when the bride looked at me saying something along
the lines of ‘what on earth are we doing!’
I love her expression and the fact that the groom is still dancing away but the
slightly bemused expressions of the cows make this picture for me.
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