The story behind the picture

When ever I shoot a wedding there are always some pictures I like more than others, sometimes for technical reasons and sometimes for artistic. But pretty much always there is a story that the image is telling.

This image is one of my favorites and is from a wedding of Jason and Mandy in the beatiful church at Kings Somborne with a reception in the Hotel Du Vin & Bistro, Winchester. This is a fabulous venue with a lovely outside area, unfortuately this wedding was a rainy day and so everyone was gathered in a function room for the buffet and speeches. Saying that, this was one couple who were never going to allow the weather to affect their day at all!

Although Jason is giving his speech - with great eloquence and wit I might add - the picture is actually of Mandy rather than Jason, capturing her reaction. It would have been reallu easy to ocus on Jason or widen the field of focus to include them both but I feel that having Jason just out of focus puts the emphasis nicely onto Mandy and gives the picture more depth. A technical decision that to my mind worked well. There was also then the artistic choice to put it into black and white rather than colour. The colour picture is nice but for me the black and white picture, with dark shadowns and midtones works so much better.

Finally, the more observant of you will have spotted the great bridal skill shown by Mandy here with Champagne flute and bouquet both in the same hand!