Beach Wedding East Yorkshire
Relaxed wedding photography in the great outdoors!
I am somebody who has always been drawn to nature, whether it be a muddy walk in wellies through trees in a forest, trekking up a mountain to get the best view of the landscape or skimming stones on a beach (9 bounces is my personal best), exploring the great outdoors is something that makes me happy. I therefore jumped at the chance to meet with Dave and Ailsa to capture their wedding portraits on the beach at Hornsea on the East Yorkshire coast. Following a series of changes to plans forced on them by the global pandemic, Dave and Ailsa married at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Scarborough. Friends and family supported them through video link from their homes across the country, the joy of technology allowing people to connect and be together. With restrictions relaxed a few weeks later, I was honoured to have the chance to meet with the newlyweds and shoot some portraits on the beach to celebrate their marriage and love for each other.
Hornsea at sunset, a beautiful backdrop for wedding photography
The location for the shoot was Hornsea which I was really excited about, I spend lots of time on this stretch of the East Yorkshire coast so I was familiar with its beautiful beaches, the various sea defence structures and very changeable conditions. Arriving an hour before sunset we had planned ahead to make full use of the changing light to our advantage, a decision that would pay off in a major way!
Assisting me on the shoot I had my wife Rachel by my side, a talented photographer herself it is always great fun working on weddings together. Having the extra set of hands was really useful as we set up lighting in fairly breezy conditions, allowing us more time to take pictures and less time trying to weigh down lighting stands to stop them heading out to sea. As with any photography, I love to bounce ideas off the people I am working with and the experience all becomes much more collaborative, occasionally throwing up a few surprises too (more on that to follow).
Relaxed and fun wedding photography
We had so much fun throughout the session, it was such a pleasure to be part of this. Here are a selection of my favourite images from the day and the stories behind them…
Walking hand in hand
Early in a session I find any kind of action shot to be a really great way to get people settled into the flow of things and to forget about the camera. Here we did a short walk to go get some natural movement and I captured the action from a few angles, this shot of Ailsa looking back over her shoulder was my absolute favourite from this sequence.
Portraits against a big sky!
This image took advantage of the sea defences and allowed us to have Dave and Ailsa stood on a higher level to me with the camera, this gave a beautiful angle looking up at them with the big sky behind them. I love the symmetry in this image, we used this in an album layout across the fold and it looked fab!
Confetti in the wind
Not having guests to throw confetti didn’t stop us from capturing the fun of a confetti photo for Dave and Ailsa. As a little surprise for them, we brought along some dried petals which meant we were able to enjoy this moment and get them a super fun photograph to cherish. One break in the breeze, one handful of petals, one willing assistant and one beautiful couple sharing a cute kiss, throw these elements together and we had such a fun image which the couple were super happy with! The petals were ordered online from Polly’s Petals, these looked amazing in photographs and with them been a natural product they caused no harm to the beach or sea life. We opted for pink blush petals but we were spoilt for choice as Polly’s Petals had so many different varieties available, be sure to check them out if you are looking for natural petals to be used as confetti for your own wedding day.
A moment of calm
This image has become one of my favourites of all time and at the time of writing this, it is the header image on the home page of my website. Sat sharing a moment of calm, I quietly moved around them with the camera documenting this moment from a few angles. I love the feeling of tranquillity and how present in the moment the couple are, these are the genuine moments that I love to capture and this image would go a long way to show how I like to work.
Epic sunset!
We timed the session to tie in with the sun setting but we were still very much in the hands of Mother Nature as to what the actual sunset would look like, thankfully we were given a gift of a sky full of detail and colour. With Rachel holding lighting, I stood in a big puddle to get the best angle and the result was an epic sunset photograph and a pair of soggy shoes (totally worth it).
Creative environmental wedding portraits
With the sun down, the sky was still still full of colour although now the colours had changed to rich blues. We moved to one of the sets of wooden stairs and set up to use the structure of the stairs to frame Dave and Ailsa, giving some extra interest to the picture. Growing up I used to do a lot of street photography and was often drawn to architecture with strong lines, I still look for these compositions now when photographing weddings and portraits because they look fab and give unique images that stand out! Again we added some extra light to the image to make it pop!
“She’s your lobster”
I’ve had a few requests from clients which take me by surprise, none more so than the request from Dave to put on his lobster suit for a few pictures. The story behind this relates to an episode of the popular TV show Friends in which reference is made to lobsters falling in love and been mates for life. Getting to know Dave and Ailsa the lobster reference makes total sense, these guys truly are made for each other!
Kind words from the couple
“We were amazed when we received the photos how beautifully they captured the day and we will certainly be treasuring them for years to come. Chris took the time to understand what we’d like on the day and he did a fantastic job in making it a reality. The shoot was really well planned - Chris had given lots of thought to different shots but was also open to suggestions from us. We felt very much at ease during the shoot, helped by his obvious enjoyment of his work and his care to make sure we had a special time. We weren’t able to have many guests at our wedding but Chris has captured some beautiful moments that we can share with our family and friends.”
— Mr & Mrs Conlan
The beautiful flowers in these images were made by Sandhill Garden Centre
I have known Maria at Sandhill for several years, she is very approachable and always happy to help! She always takes the time to listen to her clients requirements and together with her team they produce lovely arrangements, anything from a delicate button hole to an elaborate spray of fresh flowers as a wedding centrepiece.
The brides bouquet was a beautiful combination of gerbera, lisianthus, thistles and a hint of gypsophila. The thistle flower added a hint of greenery and texture representing devotion and strength.
We are a husband and wife team of wedding photographers in Hull with a love of storytelling through images. If you are planning your own wedding day and like our style it would be great to have an informal chat to hear your story so far, your plans, and see if we’re a good fit for you.
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