Wow, what a wedding. And after Covid, it was a long time coming!
Andy and Charlotte celebrated their marriage in the same location where I had myself been married four years earlier. This was a private house in the Chiltern Hills, Oxfordshire, close to Henley-on-Thames and Reading and the venue is simply breath-taking.
Having met the bride and groom more than several months earlier, and after changing the date numerous times due to Covid restrictions, it finally went ahead and was spectacular. I have never been made to feel more welcome by both families and all attending guests.
I arrived early in the morning to spend time photographing the preparations, the bride and her bridesmaids getting ready and over to the groom and his groomsmen getting suited-up before the arrival of the guests and the ceremony.
My instructions for the day were to shoot how I am at my most comfortable, in a relaxed and candid manner and to capture the happy, (remarkably!) laid-back proceedings and the fun of the event. There were also some more formal portraits taken with families and wedding party gathered in front of the property and some more intimate photographs of Andy and Charlotte.
The colourful photographs reflect the spirit of the day and reflect the happiness and joy of all involved. The dancefloor images particularly reflect the atmosphere and these are some of my favourite after-party photographs taken. What a wedding.
After the wedding, and a couple of months later, all of the edited images were uploaded to a USB stick and sent to the bride and groom in a custom-made wooden box with several prints inside.
This was an absolutely brilliant wedding that took place at Herons Farm, Pangbourne in Berkshire. From the moment I arrived, there was a fun and relaxed atmosphere that began in a house full of bridesmaids, make-up artists and stylists and finished with a party to remember on the dance-floor.
Arriving at 8am and spending the morning relaxing and capturing the girls getting ready, it enabled me to familiarise myself with the crowd and to allow the camera-shy to build confidence before being the focus of my lens.
Photographs of the ceremony really capture the ease, comfort and humour of the day and I feel that this is evident in all of the photographs that were taken - of the happy couple, the families and the guests.
The bride and groom asked me to work in my usual candid fashion but we also wanted to ensure that we had a selection of staged and posed portraits of all the family as well as taking the opportunity to capture private shots in the beautiful meadow on the property.
The evening event was a huge part of the day and I wanted to capture the incredible live music and do justice to the party-hard couple and their close-knit crowd.
This was an absolutely beautiful wedding on a gorgeous day in the South of England near Christchurch. The ceremony and reception took place at Highcliffe Castle on the coast overlooking the beach. The bride, similar to my other weddings, asked for candid photographs of the guests and for the images to capture the joy of the day without anything overly staged. There is a real blend of posed portraiture as well as spur-of-the-moment natural shots that highlight the day.
It was also an incredible opportunity to be able to use the beach, literally on the doorstep, to take a memorable photograph of the bride and groom after the ceremony in a moment of peace. This is something I look forward to doing in future weddings and at various locations.
Drawing is more of a passion than a hobby and something I love to do for myself and others.
The drawings of the musicians you see here were involved in a Music Memorabilia Exhibition at The Light House in Wolverhampton. They are graphite drawings completed on A3 Bristol Board Paper and backed against a hand-painted acrylic background.
To see more of my drawings please visit my other site, www.thebloordraws.com for more information.
All these drawings have been completed with graphite mechanical pencils and vary in size between A4 and A3 on Bristol Board Paper.
If you would be interested in commissioning a portrait, please use the Contact Tab and I would love to hear from you.
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When photographing this wedding, the Bride was keen for the photographs to be natural and it was therefore, my aim to work as anonymously as possible. It was my hope to capture unique moments and to provide portraits that were both candid and authentically reflected the atmosphere of the occasion.
It is always my intention to try to capture the day in detail and to photograph the happy couple, family and guests as well as the location; the Bride believed that the photographs should be a great reminder of the events of the whole day rather than just the ceremony and formal portraits.
This is my favourite way to work.
"Nat took all the hassle out of capturing our wedding on camera and we couldn’t be more delighted with the photographs she took. She was an absolute dream to work with and came to meet Nick and I, and my family, on a few occasions before the wedding so she could really get a sense of what we were hoping for…which were natural, spontaneous photographs of the people we loved being in the moment, on the day. She went above and beyond her remit, researching the church, the house and garden where the reception was held, and finding out who she needed to capture and at which points of the day. Discreet and calm, she seemed to always be in the right place at the right time and put everyone at ease. She also has a wicked sense of humour and definitely left a few hearts fluttering amongst the guests too! I love the photographs we have as they evoke the happiness and atmosphere of our wedding day completely and utterly and I would recommend her without a shadow of a doubt to anyone looking for unique and beautiful photographs."
- Alice (Bride)
21 days spent in a wonderful country. These images have been taken in Hanoi, Sa Pa, Hoi An, Ha Long Bay, Saigon, Phu Quoc and a number of villages along the way. I would go back in a heartbeat.
“If in our daily life we can smile, if we can be peaceful and happy, not only we, but everyone will profit from it. This is the most basic kind of peace work.”
― Thich Nhat Hanh, Being Peace
All images available as Unframed Prints. Please use the Contact Tab if you would like to place an order.
8x8 Unframed: £50
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This was a joint birthday party of Rose and Rory who both turned 18 and 21. The event was held at the Victorian Bath House in Bishopsgate, London.
Photographing in this location was tricky as there was no natural light in the space and minimal lights on the dance floor, however, the images capture the crowd and dark atmospheric setting very well.
I wanted to document the sense of celebration, youth and mania of the dance floor by capturing images taken in and amongst the revellers. Shooting with flash enables a number of varying outcomes with a sense of the movement of the dance floor but, also, capturing portraits at the venue.
New York City.
My favourite city.
'When I am in New York, however, I feel up against the tragic and the sublime. The substance of life, in all its stimulating potential for grimness, grandeur, and folly, is conveyed to me by these very streets, these buildings, these surroundings.'
- Phillip Lopate in his essay, To Live and Die in New York
All images available as Unframed Prints. Please use the Contact Tab if you would like to place an order.
8x8 Unframed: £50
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This was a gorgeous shoot completed on what was quite possibly one of the windiest days of the year..! As a 70th Birthday Present for the mother of Kate and Georgie, they wanted a family shoot with all of the girls to be given as a gift.
The photographs were taken in Caversham Court Gardens with a blend of natural and staged shots and, later, back at home. Georgie had asked for the edits of the shots to lean towards the hyperreal in the portraits of the girls. This was subtly, but noticeably, achieved in some of the finished examples you see here.
This family shoot was a great experience and something I thoroughly enjoyed doing. It was wonderful to work closely with the children, whose characters I tried to capture in the images shot, and to convey the closeness of the sisters and the bond between all four. I look forward to working similarly to this in the future.
The Bride and Groom requested a very similar style of relaxed and natural photography seen in the Montgomery and Bellamy weddings but with formal portraits alongside. Having arrived early for the wedding and spending time with the Bride and Groom, as well as the families and friends, made everybody much more comfortable and allowed me to familiarise myself with the stunning location in South Wales for the wedding.
The ability to interact so closely throughout the day with the Bride allowed a feeling of comfort and ease before the camera.
"Nat was an absolute star on our wedding day. She was so natural and comfortable to be around, which was very reassuring to me as someone who doesn’t particularly like having my photograph taken! We were worried about having too many ‘staged’ pictures but Nat’s ability to capture all of the natural moments made our set of photographs very memorable. There was a perfect mix of images and she was very good at making sure all of the guests were included. Thank you Nat, we cannot recommend you highly enough!"
- Becky (Bride)
These photographs have been taken at various locations in Britain and include mountains such as Ben Nevis, Snowdon and Scafell.
All images available as Unframed Prints. Please use the Contact Tab if you would like to place an order.
Similar to the Montgomery wedding, the Bride wanted the photographs to be natural and, in the majority, spontaneous. With the wedding having a very relaxed atmosphere, the couple was very keen that this translated in the photographs of the day.
The formal portraits were completed in the gardens at Cardiff City Hall.
"Natalie has such an amazing talent for capturing 'moments'. We were worried that because of the amount of things we needed to do as well as all of the events to take in on the day, we would not be able to remember all the smaller, equally as important moments. However, she truly captured the essence of our day, providing us with many natural and stunning images. We knew we wanted Natalie's style of photography, and we were lucky to have her to document our wedding day."
- Charlotte and Jon (Bride and Groom)
These photographs are examples of the portraits I have shot at various weddings and social events. Again, there is a mixture of candid and posed images from all gatherings.
It is my favourite way to shoot when working freely and to a relaxed brief. I always endeavour to capture beautiful and natural shots of people at ease and without sensing the presence of the camera.