A peek behind the scenes of my photography year! It’s those elements you don’t get to see which produce so much intrigue, and we all love to see what really goes into making things work don’t we? Generally, behind the scenes of weddings for us photographers is just us being permanently hot, dehydrated and seeking somewhere to collapse where guests can’t see us during their meal.

During the course of a wedding season, I collect a bizarre range of images which give a little reflection into what we get up to, when we’re not front and centre on a wedding day. This may be photographs I take, or photographs my second shooters take, maybe of ourselves (intentionally or otherwise) or each other, and everything in between. Sometimes we’re taking a sneaky practice shot, checking our settings before the actual moment, and sometimes we’re scouting locations for photos, particularly in the early evening for golden hour. We become experts at predicting when and where the sun will go down, and how much of a window we have to photograph in.

Also I’ve thrown in a couple of the final images that were the end product from some of the BTS pics you’ll see below. I could be wrong, but I think it’s fun to see what it was actually like when we’re taking them.

This year I’ve had a variety of different people helping me shoot, and it was great fun to work with all of them. I always really enjoy having someone shoot alongside me at weddings, and I must confess I am a little jealous when I see the fun they have at groom prep with the gents – it’s just a different mood altogether. So thanks to Emma, Katie, Gemma, Noemi, Cat, Ash, Camilla, Emily, Tom and Lorraine for helping me out and keeping me sane. You’ll see some of those guys below 🙂

It’s been a hectic but fun year, not without it’s moments; at one wedding I forgot my flashes and had to get my husband Matt to drive them over to me fairly sharpish (he wasn’t impressed), I lost my favourite sunglasses at a late Spring wedding which I’m gutted about, and I also had a big brown stain on my bum for a bit when I unknowingly sat on a chocolate at bridal prep. I mean, chocolates during prep – that’s a risky game isn’t it?

Alongside my second shooters I’ve photographed, fixed buttonholes, relayed boxes, done up shoes, doled out painkillers for headaches, played football with guests, and shot near-perfect rounds of laser clay pigeon shooting. Fairly standard.

So here are the photos then. I must take this opportunity to say one day I would dearly love some flattering behind the scenes photos of myself, and not just my ruddy-faced, harrassed scowl which seems to get caught on camera. I do look nice sometimes, honest guv.

Oh, and buttonholes… it’s always me putting on buttonholes. What can I say, I need them to be right for my photos 😬