Jonathan Syer Photography / Blog

Hayley & Aaron

I've always said that if the English summertime does not produce the goods in terms of weather then there is always September and October to fall back on. These months can produce stunning weather that a lot of people prefer to blazing hot sunshine in July...blue sky days with the temprerature in the cooler low 20s.

Hayley and Aaron's weddding day weather was simply perfect...or almost as the temperature I think was actually closer to the mid 20s and arguably too good as there were worries that it was going to be get too hot. In the end though it was a great day and I really enjoyed photographing for Hayley & Aaron...very giving with their time and in tune with the way the photography was going to be approached, so they fully embraced it and we all got the shots we wanted.

'Dear Jonathan 

Thank you so very much for your email, we have just returned from honeymoon and it is wonderful to see the images. Myself and Hayley wish to thank you for making the photography process so effortless and seamlessly linked into our day. Most of the time we didnt even notice your presence which in a small intimate service and wedding breakfast is a talent and it shows in the quality of the photos. They are everything we wanted and more. 

We will not hesitate to recommend you to anyone for any occasion and we will treasure our photos always.Many thanks again.'

Carla & Tim

I've just been reading a post from Jeff Ascough talking about detail shots at weddings and how they are displayed on an endless number of photographers' websites and about how much they can be detached from the real story of the day - that being the joining together of two people and the feelings, emotions and atmospere that surrounds this event.

I have to say that I agree with him to a point - detail shots can take up a considerable part of the day in capturing them...quite often requiring the use of a tripod, for me personally, as I try to take good strong interiors of the day and also, say for the cake shots among others, (quite often shooting against the light as they are invariably placed against a bright backlit window - or as in a lot of cases in the deepest, darkest part of the venue). There is an argument that more important shots could be missed in pursuing these smaller details...

However - I think that the smaller details are kind of the cement in the bricks when building the photographic jigsaw of a wedding day and join together the small detail shots with the more important key shots. They can perhaps look a little sterile without the human element - and to my mind the day is all about the people - but they are important to capture nonetheless. All this being said the first three shots below here and the last one were all tripod mounted but the rest were all hand-held and took little time in capturing and some display the human element and context of the final photograph...

 

MCE British Superbikes Brands Hatch Final Race of 2011 Season

The climax of the MCE British Superbikes occurred last Sunday on the 9th October 2011 and it lived and surpassed all the hopes, dreams and expectations of riders, teams and spectators....not to mention the sponsors who must surely have been lapping up all this drama.

It was Tommy Hill from the Swan Yamaha team who prevailed, stealing the title away from Samsung Crescent's John 'Hopper' Hopkins by 1/6000th second...or in simpler terms approximately half a wheel of superbike at 150 mph. It all came down to the last race between these two superb riders and they did not disappoint either the crowd or themselves in their hungry pursuit of this title....the final shootout will surely go down as the stuff of legend and all the talk among the spectators as far as I could hear was that they had never seen anything like it and was by far the most exciting finish to a race they could remember.

Well done also to Samsung Crescent's John Kirkham who captured the Riders Cup, for the best rider outside the title fighter's showdown. The weather was fabulous and the racing was sheer excitement personified and what a day was had by everyone there who I'm sure felt they had witnessed something glorious, special and rare...