John Gardner professional Wakefield wedding photographer

Preview: Tracey & Glynn at Kings Croft Hotel

John — Sat, 12 May 2012 19:54:07 +0000

A Kings Croft wedding today with Glynn & Tracey and what a glorious day for it. The sunshine was with us all day and into the early evening so plenty of opportunitiy for photos in the grounds which were looking good with all the spring greenery. This is just a quick preview so that Tracey & Glynn get to see a few shots before they jet off to Mexico on honeymoon tomorrow. Lots more to come as I sort through the images.

Hannah & David pre wedding shoot

John — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:50:46 +0000

Hannah and David are getting hitched next month at Nostell Priory and the big day is approaching fast so we decided to meet up for a pre-wedding chat. We chose Newmillerdam as the venue and, with the threat of yet more rain spoiling the day, I decided to shoot first and as questions later! We headed down to the big beech trees and then went up into the woods for a shoot making the most of the verdant greens of the new leaves and sparkly backlight for some summery images. Of course, Hannah and David brought along Dudley the jet black Lhasa apso who is about as cute as it is possible to be and completely stole the show. With a face like that, I just had to make some doggy portraits. I have asked for him to be guest of honour on the day :¬)

Adam & Victoria at Ripley Castle: Sneak preview

John — Sun, 06 May 2012 22:06:20 +0000

A really heavy workload at the moment is stopping me sorting out the blog images from Adam and Victoria’s big day at Ripley Castle, North Yorkshire; I’m under pressure to get some other edits out and sort a few quotes but I hate to keep folks waiting so I’ve decided to show just a few shots as a sneak preview. The weather was just glorious and, as Adam is from Polish stock, the vodka was plentiful too! Lots to go at and more to follow but here’s a few as promised.

Katrina & Lee pre-wedding, Worsley Court House

John — Sat, 05 May 2012 18:35:44 +0000

I nipped over to Manchester today for a meet up with Katrina and Lee ahead of their wedding early next month which will take place at Worsley Court House. Katrina discovered me through a friend of her mothers whose wedding I did over near Sheffield a couple of years ago and I met up with Kitrina and her mum last year to show them some sample work and now, here we are, just a few weeks away from the big day. Amazing where the time goes! After going through the wedding day schedule, we headed off to the venue, just a couple of minutes away from their home. Worsley Court House will be a new venue for me and I think that if the weather holds on the day it will be pretty good for a shoot as it backs onto a canal basin which is surrounded by black & white Tudor buildings and has old bridges over the canal. Lots of photo opportunities, especially with such a photogenic couple :¬) Of course we had to have a bit of a shoot and here are a few from the day to give a flavour of what we’ll be doing on the big day weather permitting!

Excite Clothing catalog Shoot

John — Sat, 05 May 2012 08:15:02 +0000

Another shoot for the Excite Clothing website today with Sarah who came over from Manchester to model for us for a second time because we just love her look :¬) Mostly T’s and summer stuff plus a boat load of maxi dresses. Here are just a few images but there’s loads more on their website so be sure to visit ExciteClothing and if you use discount code VERVE15, you will get a 15% discount on your order courtesy of me :¬)

Becky, Elliot & Ben

John — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 18:14:22 +0000

Becky rang me to arrange a family portrait of her, her son Elliot and her brother Ben for their mother’s 6oth birthday. We decided to shoot outdoors unless the weather turned bad which, given the current spell, was a high probability. However, on the day, it turned out to be one of the driest and brightest days we’ve had for a while so we met at teatime at Newmillerdam and despite a bit of cloud dodging, we got some really nice images for her to choose from.

To book me for your family portrait, just call the studio for a chat on 01924 229800

Hayley & Minty: Degree Final Fashion shoot

John — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:44:35 +0000

Hayley and Minty booked me for a fashion shoot at the studio to create some high quality fashion images for their degree finals presentation. Both the girls are studying for a degree in fashion design at Huddersfield University and are just about in sight of the finishing line. In order to cross the line and get the merit however, they both had to come up with a small collection of around five pieces each which had to be photographed in a studio environment and a portfolio presented along with the garments for the final assessment. I shot some fashion images a couple of years ago for another designer from Huddersfield University and I really enjoy working with these creatives I have to say; they always have some great ideas and usually we end up with a great model and make-up artisit to make the whole thing complete. Today was no exception and I was amazed to see model Chloe enter the studio standing at 6’1″ in her very flat baseball boots but still looking remarkably tall. Imagine then, what she was like once the girls had dressed her and stuck her in 7″ heels! Talk about tall! It’s the first time I’ve had a model in the studio that had to duck to get through the doorway to and from the changing rooms! Drawing myself up to full height, I only managed to make it to her shoulders when standing next to her. No wonder she has been snapped up again for a second year running to model at the London Fashion Week!

I’m only permitted to show a couple of images from the shoot until after the main fashion event when the girls’ outfits will be priemiered at the University fashion show later this month. More to come after the 18th when the embargo will be lifted and also, a heads up that I will be shooting another fashion set for yet another designer from Huddersfield Uni over the next couple of days.

Kim & Paul’s wedding: Hotel St Pierre

John — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 22:18:27 +0000

After several days of heavy rain and damp weather we got a bit of a break for today’s wedding at Hotel St Pierre near Newmillerdam, Wakefield but we didn’t see much of the promised brighter weather said to come in the afternoon! The wet and muddy ground meant that Kim was reluctant to head down to the woods around Newmillerdam for the bridals but we managed to get outside for most of the shots at the hotel. Eventually though, the cold took its toll so we headed indoors for a few shots of the couple inside the main bar area where we managed to make use of the leather settees for a few intimate shots. I had my hopes high for a break in the weather in the early evening that might just allow us to get out again but it wasn’t to be and the day ended as cold and damp as it started. Nevertheless, we got some great images on the day and here are just a few.

Wakefield wedding photographer | wedding photographer hotel St Pierre | West Yorkshire wedding photographer | wedding photographer Wakefield | professional wedding photographer covering Wakefield Leeds York Harrougate Barnsley and Huddersfield

Interiors: The Grange Beauty Salon

John — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 17:22:25 +0000

The Grange is a new, high-end beauty salon and midi-spa at West Bretton set in a secluded woodland setting. I was invited along to shoot some interiors for the website and brochure work and also to chat about collaborating with the owners on running some high-end make-over and boudoir shoots from there. The place is absolutely stunning and has been furnished to the highest standards and offers all kinds of beauty treatments by expert and fully qualified beauticians. Of course, I’m really looking forward to shooting there. Hopefully, we will do a promo shoot there shortly.

David & Katie’s wedding at The Villa, Wrae Green

John — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 22:59:37 +0000

So, it’s only a few days since we last saw Katie & David at the pre-wedding meeting as you can see from the blog post below! As we left Wakefield and headed towards Blackpool, the overnight rain continued to fall and on the motorway, heavy rain and spray gave us the visibility of a London fog and reduced our speeds to around 40mph! Good job I had packed a couple of studio heads in anticipation of a wet weather wedding being shot entirely indoors! However! As we approached the end of the M55 on the way to Blackpool, the rain eased off, the skies opened up and the the roads appeared dry! By the time we got to the bride’s house, the sun was out and the skies were blue! I have no idea how it happened but the day remained like that with guests out in shirt sleeves sipping champagne cocktails on the lawns while we did the wedding photos! This was truly an international wedding with brothers, sisters, parents and guests coming in from America, Germany, Bali, Dubai and at least another dozen countries!

Katie got ready at her Aunt’s house before heading off to the church in an Aston Martin, while David and the best men got dressed at The Villa and then caught a vintage bus to church along with the guests. Although the timings went a little awry at the girls’ end, we did manage to catch the bus with the groom as planned, but only just. So, you can imagine my confusion when we arrived to get on the bus in a huge hurry only to find that David’s brother James is an identical twin, and I mean identical! I thought I was seeing double and Heather thought I’d gone nuts when I pointed out the guy she was photographing wasn’t the groom! Good job they had different coloured trousers on :¬o

The church service was really lively and fun with dancing in the aisles to the sound of the choir and loud cheers as they couple were hitched and the guests made a fabulous job of bubble blowing outside the church. We all boarded the bus back to Wrae Green and the The Villa where cocktails and beers were waiting for the guests but we did manage to halt the bus on the village green for a few quick shots on route. After the photos, the speeches were done and dusted and then it was onto the wedding breakfast and straight into the evening’s partying. Loads and loads of images I’d like to show, there’s 100 in the slideshow! Unfortunately, the iPhoney folks won’t get to see that but there are a few stills for those with Apple induced web censoring.