Helen & Chris | Wedding

Helen & Chris got in touch with me through Chris' sister, Jenny who is an old friend from my uni days (and I'll be photographing her wedding in the New Year!).

The wedding took place at Close House in Newcastle and after I'd had a little struggle getting there in the morning the day went perfectly. It was a happy day, with perfect weather and I am so pleased I got to be a part of it in some way.

Masks..

About three months ago I got a message from Rebecca saying she'd just come to the Lakes and was wondering if I needed a model. I am always needing models and was very keen to work with her but the day before I had moved down to Bath to start a new job!

So yeah,  I've started a new job as a house parent at a boarding school and I'm in my second term now. It's great but doesn't leave me much time to do my own photography so as soon as the summer holidays started I contacted Rebecca who was still in the Lakes and 5 days later we were shooting in a wood in Kendal.

I've always loved masks.. theres something very creepy and beautiful about them. One of my favourite shots I ever took was Depravity with the donkeys head. I've been keeping an eye out online for anything similar to that "mask" but I think it was pretty much a one off find so I set about making my own masks for the shoot. I had a wicker man theme going on in my head so I wanted the masks to look slightly creepy and homemade.

 And that called for Papier-mâché...

Making the masks

I did the fox one first and then decided to try the rabbit which proved a more difficult beast but I got there (after wanting to throw it across the room a few times!)

Finished masks

I was going to paint the masks but after rifling through the home craft closet (yes its enormous), I found lots of pieces of material which would do the trick and make the masks a little more interesting.

I met Rebecca in the afternoon and we went to Serpentine Woods in Kendal to shoot. I walk my dogs there quite often and the last time I'd been there I had kept an eye out for good photo locations.

Test shot

Along the way we did some pretty shots too:

Rebecca was so much fun to work with and was up for my slightly random ideas. Its always great to meet someone and say "can I put you barefoot in a forest in a wedding dress with a creepy mask on holding an axe?" and for them to go "Yeah!!".

I want to make this more of a series. Need to get making more masks at some point!

Foresee

Tarry

Jen & Andy | Wedding

I met Jen & Andy at university and was so pleased when they asked me to photograph their big day!

I had a wonderful time at the wedding - it was full of laughter, cakes and dancing. What more could you want?!

The ceremony was in a beautiful church in Durham and then we went onto Brancepeth Castle for the reception.