As a wedding photographer, I travel to all sorts of different places. I normally find myself driving down tiny little lanes to tucked away, unspoilt venues in the middle of the beautiful Cotswolds or surrounding counties.

When Emma and Richard booked me for their wedding back in 2013, I was thrilled to hear it was down in Cornwall and had a relaxed, beach theme to it. Sadly, the weather wasn’t playing ball, despite being July! It didn’t dampen the mood though, everyone was totally up for having a party!

The ceremony was held in the most beautiful, tiniest church perched on top of a small hill overlooking the bay. It filled up quickly and was soon jam packed with guests!

One of the things I enjoy about weddings is capturing the little details and moments that mostly go unnoticed. Very often, a lot of time has gone into making the place names, wedding favours etc, so it’s important to document this effort so that the memory isn’t lost.

I like to observe people - many behave very differently when they don’t know they are being photographed, and it’s in those moments that you can capture very relaxed, natural interactions. Once guests know they are being photographed, they suddenly become very self conscious and the moment is lost. I like to fall into the background, taking photos in a very subtle way, so that even the most camera shy person doesn’t know they’re on camera! It creates honest pictures that tell the true story of the day.

It’s always fantastic when I meet a meet a vicar who gives me unrestricted access to the wedding ceremony. It means I am able to get into the best position to take photos of the couple from the best angle. The image below sums that up perfectly.

The trick to taking successful confetti photos is to reel off as many shots as possible on a fast shutter speed. Confetti has a mind of its own and a terrible habit of covering people’s faces. I always make sure I take plenty on the basis that I know I’ll get at least one perfect shot out of the thirty that are reeled off.

Moving water is another example of when a fast shutter speed is useful. Obviously, to capture the feeling of movement within the water, then a slower shutter speed would be preferred, but in this instance, with the crashing waves behind the couple, a quick ‘open and shut’ was the better choice so as to avoid the couple also becoming blurry.

I was booked to stay on into the evening. No actual first dance, but lots of informal merriments, and the odd scooter ride down the road too!