Wedding at Bryngarw House Bridgend

12 01 2009
Two Little Boys at Wedding

Two Little Boys at Wedding

Two little boys at wedding in Bryngarw House, Bridgend, South Wales towards the end of 2008.

Although Silver Birch Photography is based in Bridgend the lack of quality wedding venues in the area attribute to most of our wedding commissions being carried out in the Cardiff, Newport, Monmouthshire and westcountry areas. Bryngarw House is one of the better wedding venues in the borough of Bridgend – the other being the Coed-y-Mwstwr Hotel near Coychurch, Bridgend which is probably one of my most frequently covered venues during the year.

I am often asked by clients which is my favourite wedding venue. This is a very difficult question as I cover the whole of the UK and also offer a few overseas commissions during the year. My favourite wedding venues in Wales for larger weddings would probably be (in no particular order) : Llansantffraed Court, Monmouthshire. Penrice Estate, Oxwich. Coed-y-Mwstwr Hotel, Bridgend. Glen yr Afon House, Usk. Miskin Manor, Llantrisant. Bryngarw House, Bridgend. Caerphilly Castle. Fonmon Castle. The Orangery, Margam Park. The New House Country Hotel, Cardiff and Tredegar House, Gwent.
I would also consider (for smaller weddings) : The Newbridge Inn, near Usk. The West House Country Hotel, Llantwit Major and the Fig Tree at Llanarthney.

Always remember that the local authority and national trust run venues such as the Orangery at Margam Park and also Bryngarw House, Bridgend usually offer better value for money, although because of this are usually booked well in advance for weekend weddings during the summer months.

Andy

Wedding
Photographer South Wales





Rainy Day Weddings

4 01 2009
St. Donat's Wedding

St. Donat's Wedding

At Silver Birch Photography we are often asked “what if it rains on our wedding day ?” The main thing for the bride, and indeed the photographer, is to make the weather work for you and not to worry about it. We have a selection of different style umbrellas that we keep with us at all times – the clear / transparent ‘hood type’ work well for fun and intimate photographs while the large golf type are used for group shots. One tip when choosing umbrella colours is to stay with cream, white or black (or even transparent) – the last thing you want is a bride holding a red umbrella and casting a pink shadow over her beautiful white wedding dress. We often encounter this problem when some limo drivers and wedding venue managers supply the umbrellas with patterns, stripes and even advertising logo’s from bridalwear stores – Yuk !!!!
Many classic traditional style hotels and manor houses have sheltered architectural features such as archways that can be used to great effect – also look out for fairy walks through trees. We poor photographers are usually the ones bearing the elements but providing the bride and groom are sheltered – fine. We use rain suits and also camera protective equipment by Kata (although the new pro camera bodies and Canon L Lenses are pretty much weather sealed) It is also a good idea to carry transparent plastic sheets or even a white shower curtain (without the fixings :) ) to place on outdoor benches or low walls before seating the bride and groom. I also have two pair of boots – one for the bride, and another for the groom to wear while walking across wet and muddy areas – these shots look great (especially if you can get the groom to carry the bride)

BTW- it is considered GOOD LUCK if it rains on your wedding day.

Andy

Wedding
Photographer South Wales





Wedding Photographer Wales – New Blog

3 01 2009
Wicker Heart and Bridal Gown Hanging on Door

Wicker Heart and Bridal Gown Hanging on Door

Welcome to my new blog.

I have made a few new year’s resolutions for 2009 – one of which is to regularly update this new weblog with news and images from the everyday life of  Silver Birch Photography.

Following an amazing 2008 we can only hope that 2009 will be as fruitful and exciting. I personally think the worries of the so called ‘credit crunch’ will not really affect the wedding industry until 2010 as us wedding photographers usually obtain bookings a year in advance. We have already taken in excess of thirty bookings for 2009, including two in France and one in Spain :)  so at the moment things are chugging along quite nicely.

Santa recently delivered a nice and shiny Canon Eos 5D MK2 :) together with a 50mm f1.2 lens. The results of the initial test shots have been absolutely amazing with minimal high iso noise levels (even at iso 6400) being the most impressive. Another new year’s resolution I have made is to shoot more weddings using available light and maybe even put my canon 580EX MK2 flash strobes into semi retirement. Towards the end of 2008 I started experimenting with small video lights while photographing weddings. I originally saw Yervant use this method (on ‘The Masters of Wedding Photography’ dvd) and found the technique to be extremely useful for the portrait shots (both directly using barn door attachments and from the rear of the subject for special lighting effects) – once I’m completely happy with this technique I’ll post example images here.

All the best for 2009,

Andy

Wedding
Photographer South Wales








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