Mery and Alberto are both from Spain and were flying into Scotland with all their guests for the wedding, so our first meeting was just a couple of days before the wedding, when Mery popped in to the photography studio en-route to her hotel.

Mery had studied law at Glasgow University and fell in love with Scotland and its castles. When she first set eyes on Eilean Donan castle she vowed that whenever she met Mr Right, this was where they would get married.

Mery has impecable taste in selecting Scottish Castles – Eilean Donan is the perfect picture postcard castle and to most people is instantly recognisable. It’s been featured in a number of movies including the opening scenes of Highlander and the James Bond movie The World is Not Enough.

Being a very popular tourist attraction, weddings have to be performed “after hours” so the ceremony did not start until 6:30pm. The evening reception was to be held at nearby Loch Duich Hotel and it was all quite different from a typical Scottish wedding (no wedding cake, no speeches for example, and chuck in some Flamenco dancing for good measure).

I think the Spanish must be blessed with a certain beauty gene as all the guests looked extremely glamorous, and as soon as the ladies spotted a camera they would pose like experienced models. (Getting my signature style of documentary shots was a little bit of a challenge LOL).

Mery wore a stunning gown from Spain’s top fashion house, Victorio and Luchino.  On the morning of the wedding Alberto spent the day getting into a Scottish frame of mind by wearing a kilt (as did most if the male guests) and then changed into a more traditional Spanish attire for the ceremony itself.

The weather once again proved a little bit of a challenge, but it stayed dry from the ceremony and the main portrait session with the couple.

Thank you Mery and Alberto for choosing us to photograph your fabulous wedding – Morag and I thoroughly enjoyed the day.

Here are my favourite wedding photographs from the day:-

Family and friends can view the full wedding gallery on our clients page. The password to access the gallery is Mery’s full first name (i.e. what is Mery short for?)

Like what you see, want to see more? You can view our new iPad and iPhone compatible portfolio here.

Would you like to discuss you own wedding or portrait photography requirements with us? Use the Contact menu at the top of the page or contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431

P.S. Eilean Donan Castle sits on Loch Duich on the road to Skye and is the home of the Clan Macrae. Last year, despite the credit crunch, the castle had one of its business years ever as Macrae’s from all around the world descended on it for Scotland’s Homecoming year.

P.P.S. Interested in having your own Highland Wedding at Eilean Donan Castle? The information is all here.   Just remember the nice photographer that told you LOL.

Ian and Kerri were only going to be in the country for a few days and had organised the entire wedding over the Internet. They had never visited the hotel or met with any of the vendors. But you would never know. With a little help from Ian’s family and friends based in Scotland, the wedding was planned to perfection.

Our Malaysian bride Kerri was the most relaxed and chilled bride and she took everything in her stride. Ian was slightly more nervous, but soon relaxed into the day and everyone had a fantastic time.

Lochgreen House makes a stunning backdrop for a wedding with views to the Isle of Arran and world famous Royal Troon Golf Club on its doorstep. Ian is a keen golfer, so I wonder what influenced the couples’ decision on wedding venue?

Friends and family flew in from all over the world making this a very multi-cultural day. We even had a Chinese Tea Ceremony on the lawn. Chinese tradition states that the happy couple must show their respects to their family by serving them tea. They will start with the oldest members of the family and then move on to siblings. Ian’s Mum was quite taken by the whole thing and looked as if she’d been a veteran of many a tea ceremony.

Ian of course made sure that Scottish traditions didn’t go unnoticed with a Piper on call to toast the bride and a bottle of Talisker Single Malt whisky on every table. Slainte mhaith! (Which for those of you calling from outside Scotland is Gaelic for “Good Health”)

Here are some of my favourite photographs from the day.  Images 2 and 4 were taking by my lovely wife and assistant photographer, Morag.  She was also responsible for the stunning lighting achieved in the last image of Ian and Kerri on the dancefloor.

Friends and family can view the full set of wedding photographs in our Clients Gallery. The password to access the gallery is Ian’s surname (all in lowercase).

Like what you see, want to see more? You can view our portfolio here.

Would you like to discuss you own wedding or portrait photography requirements with us? Use the Contact menu at the top of the page or contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431

P.S. Ian is also a keen diver and photographer – you can view some of his stunning underwater camera work on Flickr

P.P.S. You may have noticed that the site has had a slight makeover – we are currently updating the site and have launched an updated portfolio section of the site. Our existing portfolio used “Flash” animation exclusively to display the images and unfortunately Flash does not work on the vast majority of mobile devices including the Apple iPhone, and I know we have a lot of users visiting the site with iPhones (and increasingly the new iPad).   The new portfolio still has the same gorgeous Flash animation, but also enables the portfolio to be viewed on an iPhone and the awesome iPad.  Check it out here!

A Scottish Castle Wedding is the dream of many a bride and Dalhousie Castle certainly ticks all the boxes.  The Castle dates back to the 13th century, is steeped in Scottish history, and although it has seen a lot of changes (it was even a Boarding School at one point) it still retains its character and heritage.  Dalhousie is one of Scotland’s finest wedding venues and even has its own chapel, so it was easy to see why Kim and James selected it as their venue.

The weather that day was fabulous, so as soon as the ceremony was over everyone was out enjoying the grounds of the castle with champagne in hand.

Then it was on to the speeches and dinner – James and his groomsmen didn’t disappoint with some very entertaining tales. Then it was on to the evening ceilidh, but not before Kim and James stunned everyone with a fantastic choreographed first wedding dance to the sounds of Sergio Mendes’ “Mas Que Nada”.

So here, as usual, are some of my own personal favourite images from the day:

Family and Friends can view the full set of wedding images in our Clients Gallery – the password is James’ surname (all in lowercase).

Morag and I love to hear from visitors to our website, so please don’t be shy and feel free to leave your comments and feedback below.

Like what you see? Want to see more? – you can view our Wedding and Portrait Photography portfolio here

Looking for a Wedding Photographer? Or perhaps planning a special family portrait? We’d love to discuss your plans with you. You can contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431 or use the Contact menu at the top of this web page.  We look forward to hearing from you.

P.S.  Speaking of romantic weddings fans of Braveheart may note that Edward I (aka Longshanks) stayed at Dalhousie Castle before going on to meet Sir William Wallace at the Battle of Falkirk

P.P.S. “Mas Que Nada” by Sergio Mendes is one of those songs we’ve all heard before but can never remember the title of – it has featured as the theme tune for many TV programmes and adverts including the fabulous Nike campaign for the 1998 World Cup (yes that’s where you’ve heard it before).

Our first of five June weddings saw us back up at one of our favourite wedding venues – Dalmunzie Castle, nestled high up in the Central Scottish Highlands of Perthshire, just a couple of miles South of the Glenshee Ski Resort area.

Breanna and her team at Dalmunzie had planned for the wedding ceremony to be held on the gorgeous lawn at the front of the hotel – and she was confident that the local weather wouldn’t let her down.   The day had started in glorious sunshine, but with every passing hour, the occasional little passing shower would make an appearance.  But as luck would have it, the rain stayed away for the ceremony and our photo session, before finally a thunderstorm made its appearance, to help create the cosy atmosphere for the evenings activities.

We had a fabulous day – Robin and Kath clearly enjoyed every minute of the day - Breanna and the Dalmunzie Castle Team once again showed why they have such a fabulous reputation as a wedding venue – and the wedding guests were a great fun crowd.

Congratulations Robin and Kath – here are some of my own personal favourite images from the day.

Family and Friends can view the full set of wedding images in our Clients Gallery – the password is Robin’s surname (all in lowercase).

Morag and I love to hear from visitors to our website, so please don’t be shy and feel free to leave your comments and feedback below.

Like what you see? Want to see more? – you can view our Wedding and Portrait Photography portfolio here

Looking for a Wedding Photographer? Or perhaps planning a special family portrait? We’d love to discuss your plans with you. You can contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431 or use the Contact menu at the top of this web page.  We look forward to hearing from you.

P.S.  It was nice to spot that Dalmunzie Castle staff were using an image I took of the hotel last year as the Desktop Wallpaper on their office computer. Cool!

P.P.S. We’ll be making the trip back up to Dalmunzie Castle this coming weekend for another wedding and once again in August. Can’t wait.

Margaret and Stuart (who are no strangers to the blog) are both doctors, so it was pretty clear from the outset that this was going to be a very well-planned event and indeed it was. One concern I did have however was whether the wedding day schedule would be typed up or handwritten – have you ever seen a doctor’s handwriting? LOL

The day started at Margaret’s parents’ beautiful home in Kippen. With four bridesmaids, the bride’s parents and the bride to get ready, you would perhaps be expecting things to get a little frantic.  Add to this the rather major issue of hosting the Wedding Breakfast and Reception later that day in a Marquee at the bottom of the garden. Can you imagine the logistics of effectively turning your home into a wedding venue for a hundred guests? Amazingly everyone was very calm and relaxed with Margaret’s Mum and Dad, Anne and Robert taking care of all the logistics.

After all the ladies (and Robert) were in their finery it was off to the small village of Doune for the Wedding Ceremony at St Fillans Catholic Church.

After the wedding ceremony it was back to Kippen and the Marquee overlooking the Forth Valley. Robert, (Margaret’s Dad for those that haven’t been paying attention) had apparently spent ages getting the garden in stunning condition so that guests could meander round the gardens with champers in hand. However the weather men had different plans. It rained. And rained. And rained.

Fortunately the rain finally relented at the end of the evening and we were able to get some stunning wedding photographs of Margaret and Stuart in the gardens – so Robert hopefully all your work wasn’t all in vain.

Margaret and Stuart provided a “Donations Bar” where all proceeds went to their two favourite charities, Strathcarron Hospice, which cares for terminally ill patients in the Forth Valley area, and ‘Mary’s Meals‘, an international charity aiming to provide school meals for some of the world’s poorest children. Well done guys.

Credit must also go of course to Wedding Planner Rebecca Barnett who ensured everything ran smoothly on the day.

So here are a few of my favourite shots from the day.

Friends and Family can view the entire gallery in our clients area – the password is the couple’s surname (all in lower case). You can also order any prints in various sizes directly from the gallery.

Thanks Margaret and Stuart for allowing us to be part of your special day – it was a truly wonderful wedding.

Don’t be shy – We love to hear from visitors to our website, so please feel free to leave your comments and feedback below.

Like what you see? Want to see more? – you can view our Wedding and Portrait Photography portfolio here

Looking for a Wedding Photographer? Or perhaps planning a special family portrait? We’d love to discuss your plans with you. You can contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431 or use the Contact menu at the top of this web page.  We look forward to hearing from you.

PS. Did you know that Doune Castle is where many of the scenes in Monty Python and the Holy Grail were filmed? You didn’t?  Well you do now. They even have an annual Monty Python Day there each year.

PPS. Kippen also has a claim to fame. In 1891, Duncan Buchanan planted a vineyard in the village (yes in Scotland!) and one of its vines grew to be the largest in the world. The Kippen Vine covered an area of 5,000 square feet, spreading across four greenhouses. It became a famous tourist attraction, until the Vinery had to close in 1964.

There you are – see it’s not just Whisky we make here in Scotland.

Denis is Irish and a contingent of friends and family were flying in from the Emerald Isle, so I knew this was going to be a fun wedding and it certainly proved to be. The wit and wisdom of the Irish “craic” was never far away and the speeches were some of the funniest and heart-felt that I’ve heard.

Later that day news started to filter through the wedding party that flights from Scotland back to Ireland were being disrupted due to the volcanic ash cloud situation.  Did that dampen their spirits – not one bit!

Meanwhile, the staff at Balbirnie House clearly demonstrated why they are one of the most popular wedding and civil partnership venues in Scotland, with fantastic customer service throughout the day.

As a venue, Balbirnie House offers a great backdrop for wedding photography and Denis and Stevan were absolutely delighted with their photographs.

Here is an extract of an email I received from the guys after they received their images:

“We are delighted with the pictures they are amazing worth every penny, we have watched the slideshow three times in a row now laughing and crying through it each time. A big thank you for all the hard work you put into them we couldn’t be more happy.“

Thanks guys it was a pleasure.

Here are some of my favourite images from the day:-

P.S. Apologies for the lack of blog updates lately – we had a two week holiday in Crete recently followed very rapidly with a trip over to Tuscany, so it’s all been a little bit manic at this end.  Normal service has now resumed however, so watch out for more blog updates as we play catch-up on the website.

P.P.S. Another reason for the lack of blog updates is I have been engrossed with my new Apple iPad.  It is absolutely awesome and a gadget lover’s dream device.  I went for the 32GB iPad with Wi-Fi + 3G.  I can see lots of areas where I can use this in my photography business (well that’s my excuse anyway). If you haven’t seen one yet, get yourself along to an Apple Store.  This also reminds me that I need to tweak a couple of the areas on this website, particularly the portfolio area to ensure it is indeed iPad (and iPhone) friendly – watch this space…

Like what you see want to see more? You can view our wedding portfolio here.

Want to talk to us about your Wedding or Civil Partnership – please contact us using the Contact Menu at the top of the page or call us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431 – we’d love to hear your plans.

You see although everyone’s idea of the perfect shooting conditions is a nice sunny day – it’s the cloudy days that can sometimes present the most creative opportunities.   And we do get a lot of cloudy conditions in Scotland, so we may as well use them to our advantage.

Such was the case for our latest pre-wedding photography shoot with Robin and Kath. The chosen location was Monifieth Beach on the River Tay, a few miles east of Dundee.   The weather was kind to us – it was dry and bright, although cloudy, but it was very cold, so we had to work fast.

So when presented with the lighting conditions (bright soft lighting on a bright sandy beach) we have a few options on the types of images we could do – after a brief discussion with Robin and Kath we decided to go for a moody skies look – we would darken the skies to make the clouds look much darker and use off-camera lighting to make the couple stand out from their environment.

For the photographs on the beach, we setup the camera to under-expose the beach scene (i.e. make the background appear a litter darker than it really was) – this gives us the moody skies. I then setup my flash unit (or speedlight as we photographers call them) on a light stand to one side of Robin and Kath. We then program the flash to provide the correct lighting on the couple and help separate them from the under-exposed scene and add some impact to the image.  (Are you following along now…).

The reason we set the flash up off-camera to one side is to give some shadow and depth to our handsome subjects, rather than have the very flat look you would get if the flash was mounted on the camera itself.

Here then are the results of the photoshoot – Both myself and Robin and Kath were very pleased with the results, and we got the exact mood we were looking for on the beach scenes.

Robin and Kath are due to get married in just a couple of weeks time up at one of my favourite wedding venues, (and one of Scotland’s finest), Dalmunzie Castle in Glenshee, Perthshire. You can read all about Dalmunzie in a review I did of the wedding venue last year.

This will be our first of two visits to Dalmunzie Castle this year and both Morag and I are very much looking forward to it.

Like what you see? Want to see more? You can view our portfolio here.

Interested in speaking to us about your Wedding Photography or Portrait requirements? We cover wedding and portrait commissions throughout Scotland (and even further afield if you are planning a wedding overseas).  You can contact us by using the “Contact” menu at the top of the page, or you can reach us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431 or via email at weddings@alanhutchison.co.uk

We’d love to hear from you.

P.S. In the meantime, we’d be delighted if you would be kind enough to leave comments and feedback for us below, our couples always appreciate reading the many nice comments we get on the blog, so please don’t be shy!  And if you have any questions about any aspects of our wedding and portrait photography, even a technical question, please feel free to ask.

Morag and Simon live down South, but Morag wanted to return home for a proper Scottish Wedding and chose the gorgeous wedding venue of Airth Castle. The stunning castle overlooks the village of Airth and the nearby River Forth.

Airth Castle Hotel was recently named the “Best Wedding Venue in Scotland” at the prestigious Vows awards and is a well-deserved accolade as the staff cannot be more helpful.

Of course weddings don’t organise themselves, even with the perfect wedding venue.  It takes planning.  Lots of it.  However, if Carlsberg planned weddings they would hire our lovely bride Morag – if ever there was a lesson in “best practice” on how to organise a wedding with was it.  (You can see Morag’s wedding project folder in the images below). Morag was so organised and the wedding ran like clockwork allowing the happy couple to relax and enjoy their well-planned day.

We first met Morag and Simon last year for their pre-wedding photography shoot at the Wallace Monument in Stirling.  So on the day we were all very relaxed.

Occasional cases of mass confusion did however occur every time I asked Morag for something – as readers of the blog will know, my wife and wonderful assistant is also called Morag. Eventually we agreed Morag 1 (aka the bride) would be called Morag, and Morag 2 (aka the photographer’s assistant) would be called Mo. That lasted all of two minutes when I already had the names reversed. No problems with the groom fortunately. Well done Simon.

We had great fun with the happy couple and their guests all day – it was a fabulous wedding. In the evening we brought along our popular photobooth to allow guest to get some “couples” shots in our portable photography studio, as well as some fun filled “creative” shots.

Here are some of my own personal favourite shots from the day:-

Friends and Family can view the full wedding gallery here. The password to access the gallery is the Groom’s surname.  The photo booth images can also be viewed there as well.

Like what you see? Want to see more? You can view our portfolio here.

Interested in speaking to us to discuss you own wedding photography or portrait requirements? Please click on the Contact menu at the top of the page or give us a call on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431. We can cover wedding and portrait commissions throughout Scotland as well as overseas.

We’d love to hear from you.

P.S. The Best Man’s speech reference to the Volcanic Ash Cloud disruption was classic, bringing out a carrier bag from Iceland to collect the ash.

Tracy and Greg, who are no strangers to the blog got married a few weeks back at the majestic Barcelo Stirling Highland Hotel.  The Stirling Highland Hotel sits on the road up to Stirling Castle and the building was the original home of The High School of Stirling (which has since moved twice), so it is steeped in local history.

It was very fitting then that Tracy and Greg chose some very classic and historical cars to transport them to the venue.  The Highland Hotel also has an agreement with Stirling Castle to allow couples to have their photographs taken in the grounds of nearby Stirling Castle.

Of course any great wedding cannot go without a little bit of drama and our poor bride and groom got stranded back at the hotel with a broken down car when all the rest of their bridal party were waiting for them up at the castle.

Once they were able to be rescued and the official group shots were taken we then had another problem as a wayward tourist decided to walk right in front of one the bridal cars ejecting the mother of the bride out of her wheelchair – fortunately she wasn’t hurt.  Apparently neither was the tourist although I believe the driver of the car did leave him with a loud ringing noise in his ear with the roasting he gave him LOL

After all that drama it was back to the wedding venue for a good Scottish knees up with a traditional Ceilidh which was thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Here are a few of my favourite images from the day.

Like what you see? Want to see more?

Please view our portfolio section to see some more of our work?

Friends and Family will be able to view the wedding photographs and order prints from our clients gallery once Tracy and Greg have had a chance to review all their images.

Glasgow Science Centre was the couple’s choice of venue for the photography shoot, and what a great choice it was.  Great architecture, great weather and a great couple – an excellent combination!

Here are a few of my favourite images from the session:-

Interested in a Pre-Wedding Shoot?

We currently offer complimentary pre-wedding shoots with all of our Album packages and they offer an excellent opportunity to get some really cool images of you and your partner prior to your wedding day.

At the end of the session we present you with your favourite image as a mounted 20 x 16″ print – and if you wish we can create a signature area where you can get your weddings guests to sign the image on your big day – it makes for a wonderful keepsake.

Like what you see? Want to see more?

Please view our portfolio section to see some more of our work?

Want a Pre-wedding shoot but you’re already married?

Don’t worry, we also offer our “Aftershoot Sessions” – a chance to get some really contemporary photographs taken, perhaps to celebrate a first anniversary or even a special birthday.  Or why not get the wedding dress back on and do a “Cherish the Dress” shoot or even go a little wilder and do a “Trash the Dress” shoot?  Drop us an email using the Contact menu at the top of the page or call us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431.

We’d love to hear from you.

P.S. My assistant photographer ( and lovely wife ) Morag can’t stop herself checking in on Living TV’s Four Weddings series – Four brides pitch their weddings against each other for the chance to win a “dream” honeymoon – whatever possesses these people?  Sheer madness.  It’s dreadfully trash TV but somehow Morag can’t seem to stop herself from watching it.  We should however add that anyone that wants to book us for their “Robin Hood” themed wedding – Erm, the answer will be a polite “No thank you”.  LOL

P.P.S. If you are looking for a slightly more sensible source of TV-based wedding inspiration, check out Wedding TV on Sky 266 or Freesat 400, or better still go grab yourself a copy of Real Life Weddings magazine.

Or so the Roman’s thought when they visited the Callander area and set up camp a couple of Millennia ago.  It wasn’t long of course before the brave Scots kicked them into touch and sent them packing back over Hadrian’s Wall.  Remnants of that Roman camping expedition can however still be found close to the venue for Jeff and Claire’s recent wedding – the stunning Roman Camp Hotel.

Dating back to 1625, The Roman Camp Hotel is situated in Callander in the heart of the Trossachs.  The Hotel is an excellent (and very popular) wedding venue with lots of character, and the occasional hint of Roman influence.

Whilst the Roman’s might have had a little gap in their strategy, there was certainly no sign of that in Jeff and Claire’s wedding plans – They came, they saw and they most certainly conquered – their wedding absolutely rocked and it was definitely one of the best weddings we’ve had the pleasure of photographing.

The day kicked off at Claire’s parents house in the small village of Doune (near Dunblane and Stirling), and then it was off in the Bentley to the historic Trossachs Parish Church which is located on the road between Callander and Aberfoyle.

After the ceremony Jeff and Claire stopped for a quick photocall at the Harbour Cafe by the side of Loch Venachar. We then headed off to the Roman Camp Hotel for the reception and dinner.

Jeff is a fellow member of Stirling Camera Club and a very good photographer, so when he asked me to photograph his upcoming wedding I was of course very honoured. ( No pressure there then LOL ). It also meant that both Jeff and Claire were up for grabbing some “interesting” shots, so it’s not often the Bride and Groom will happily march into the (gloomy and very dark and very scary) local woods for some more portrait shots.

Then it was time to let their hair down on the dance floor, and boy they did. Entertainment for the evening was provided by the fantastic and highly recommended Copycats and the evening was topped off by a feast fit for the Romans themselves – a Hog Roast straight from the barbecue.  Marvelous!

Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day.  Jeff and Claire’s full wedding gallery will be up on the website shortly – you can register to be notified via email as soon as they become available.

P.S. Like what you see, want to see more of our Wedding Photography?  Please view our portfolio here.

P.P.S. Are you looking for a photographer for your wedding in Scotland? If you would like to discuss your photography requirements with us, please click on the Contact menu option above ,or call us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431.  We cover weddings throughout the whole of Scotland and can also cover occasional weddings overseas – just ask.

Just last week we had the “Posh and Beck’s” of the Scottish Photographic industry (and I mean that in the nicest possible way) – Trevor and Faye Yerbury.  Trevor and Faye are a very charismatic couple and their work is simply stunning.  Being the fourth generation curators of the Yerbury Studios brand, both Trevor and Faye have a wealth of knowledge, history, hilarious anecdotes and of course simply awesome raw talent.  Do yourself a favour and go take a look at their work.

This week however, it was back to regular club business and our Annual Print Competition.  This is a very highly contested affair amongst our club members and whilst we have interim competitions during the year, everyone holds something special back for the annual competition.

I previously won this award a couple of years ago for one of my travel images (which also scooped a Gold award at the SWPP a few months back),  but I could only muster a “Commended” award last year, so I was determined to try and win the Annual Print trophy back.

Well, it was close, very close.  In fact the judge had me as the winner, but for just one very small detail. A label. Sometimes it is the smallest of things that can turn a good photograph into a great photograph and in my case I had overlooked a little bit of clothing which the judge (David Symonds, FRPS) quite rightly decreed as detracting from an “otherwise excellent portrait”.

So it was a Second Place award for me this year.  Ah well, maybe next year. 

All is not lost though as I did win the Tom Dickson Trophy for a digital image a few months earlier – the annual prize giving is next week at our AGM.  It’s a huge trophy, so I’ll need to invest in some Silver polish to keep it clean. (When my wife Morag reads this she’ll be rolling her eyes LOL).

Congratulations of course must go to fellow member, Bill McKenzie who’s glorious “Harbour Colour” image won first prize.

Anyone interested in joining the local club should put a diary entry in for the early September when we are due to kick off our season again after our “Summer” recess. We meet Wednesday evenings at 7:30pm – more details on the club website.

Here is the image the got me the Second Place – it’s one I took of Kathryn Miller for her modelling portfolio when we were out at our villa in Florida at the start of the year.  If you look at the bottom left hand corner of the image, you will notice the offending little white piece of label material.

Details, Details Details….

No problem however as we’ve worked with overseas-based couples before and with Sharleene and Barry’s meticulous planning everything worked like clockwork on the day – even the weather, which blessed us with a beautiful spring day.

The ceremony took place in the David Welch Winter Gardens in Duthie Park in Aberdeen – a fantastic location on such a gorgeous day.  Then it was on to the Palm Court Hotel for the wedding reception. Highlight of the day was the lighting of chinese lanterns, which after a little coaxing slowly lifted off into the night, ending a fantastic day with a very fun crowd.

Here are a few of our personal favourite images from the day.

Family and friends can view the full gallery of images and order prints by visiting our clients gallery page – the password to access the gallery is the Groom’s surname (all in lowercase characters).

We love to hear your from our website visitors, so please feel free to leave us your comments which are always appreciated.

Like what you see? Want to see more of our wedding photography? Please view our portfolio here.

Want to discuss your wedding or portrait photography requirements with us? Then please use the Contact Menu at the top of the screen or contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431.

The password to access the gallery is the couple’s surname. You can access the gallery here.

In the meantime please allow me to present another batch of our own favourite photographs from Nicola and Paul’s wedding day.

We love to hear your from our website visitors, so please feel free to leave us your comments which are always appreciated.

Like what you see? Want to see more of our wedding photography? Please view our portfolio here.

Want to discuss your wedding or portrait photography requirements with us? Then please use the Contact Menu at the top of the screen or contact us on 01259 210299 or 07887 835431.

Gean House is located on the Eastern fringe of Alloa off the B9096 Tullibody to Alloa road.   The stunning mansion house was constructed in 1912 as a wedding gift for his son by a member of the famous Patons family, owners of many of the local woollen mills in the area at that time.

The Gean simply oozes with character with its huge fireplaces, warm wooden panelling and its distinctive Edwardian architecture.

The Wedding Fayre kicks off at 11am and runs on until 4pm. There is a bridal fashion show at 1:30pm and last year it was standing room only – so please arrive early to make sure you get a good seat.  Entry to the Wedding Fayre is free of charge.

Come visit our stand and you could win a lovely bottle of champagne and you may also leave with a nice little gift.

We will also be launching our exciting new album range so please be sure to stop by our stand and say hello.

We look forward to seeing you on Sunday.

In the meantime I will leave you with this photograph I took at Gean House just this past weekend, featuring the lovely Fiona Bruce wearing a Watters gown supplied by Ivory Whites in Perth and jewellery by Gioia Mia.

For me this image captures The Gean’s warmth and character – I hope you agree.

P.S. Okay, you may not know here Gean House is?  Here’s a Google maps link to Gean House.

P.P.S.  Like the above photograph and want to see more – please view our portfolio

Orocco Pier is a gorgeous wedding venue which sits on the banks of the River Forth on the East of Scotland, close to Edinburgh.   The venue has a stunning outlook,  overlooking the world famous Forth Bridge and “the Golden Gate wannabe” the Forth Road Bridge.

We had a great day with Nicola and Paul and their extremely warm and welcoming families.   Stars of the day were of course the happy couple, but we must also mention little Matthew, shown in the second and fifth photograph (taken by Morag). You know that expression “he’s been here before”? – that definitely applied to Matthew, here was a young man with what seemed like a lifetime of wisdom in his young head – he kept us entertained with his little quips all day.

Honorable mention also goes to Nicola’s gorgeous Christian Louboutin shoes.  Morag hasn’t stopped gushing about them since the wedding.

Nicola and Paul are now on the other side of the world enjoying their honeymoon in New Zealand.   So in celebration of their first week anniversary here are a few of our favourite images from the day.

The full gallery of images will be up on the website once Nicola and Paul get back from New Zealand.   In the meantime friends and family can register to be notified as soon as the images become available by visiting our client gallery.

Enjoy the rest of your Honeymoon Nicola and Paul and Happy First Week’s Anniversary.

Like what you see? Want to see more? You can view our Wedding Photography portfolio here.

Want to discuss your own wedding or portrait photography requirements? Then we’d love to hear from you, please contact using the Contact menu at the top of the web page.

1. Take the creative mind of a certain Mr John Denton (photographer extraordinaire)
2. Roll one wooden floor to an even thickness
3. Add one attractive model (thank you Ms Ashleigh Hewitt)
4. Garnish with some recycled Christmas Fairy Lights
5. Lastly sprinkle some digital processing to taste

This is a quick shot I took at John Denton’s mini Lighting Workshop that I organised at Stirling Camera Club on Wednesday night.

John very kindly drove all the way up from Yorkshire to present a mini workshop on lighting techniques to the members of the club.  John presented an extremely enjoyable evening and it was a real pleasure to meet him.

Coincidentally this shot reminds me that I don’t have any time to lie down at the moment as it’s all go.  I’m currently finishing off Joyce and Doug’s photographs from their recent wedding at Broomhall Castle in Menstrie. On Saturday Morag and I head off along the River Forth to Orocco Pier in South Queensferry for Nicola and Paul’s wedding.

On Sunday we have three client meetings and then a visit to the stunning Balbirnie House in Markinch to chat through final arrangements for an upcoming Civil Partnership.

Next weekend we will be at Gean House in Alloa working with a local model on a bridal photoshoot. We’ll be experimenting with some new lighting equipment recommended by Gordon MacGowan during his SWPP Convention Masterclass.

Then its back to editing and preparing some new sample albums just in time for an upcoming Wedding Fayre also at Gean House on the 21st of March.  Oh, and a little trip up to the Winter Gardens and Palm Court Hotel in Aberdeen on the 20th for Sharleene and Barry’s wedding.

Keep an eye open for some sneak peak images from Nicola and Paul’s wedding early next week.

Like what you see? Want to see more? Please take a minute to view our portfolio.

Want to get in touch? Please click on the Contact menu at the top of the page.

Thanks for visiting.

These were all taken in Old Town, Kissimmee and in the the town centre of Celebration – a great couple of locations for shots like these as you are totally spoiled for interesting backgrounds.

Surprisingly for Florida it was very cold that day (well relatively speaking) but Kathryn was a trouper and you can’t really tell that her nose was as cold as a Spaniel’s.  I’ve already posted three from the set, so here are a few more.

Kathryn would love to break into modelling and her mum treated her to this photosession as a Christmas gift to kick start her portfolio. I’m sure you’ll agree she has managed to get off to quite a good start.

Like what you see? Then please leave your comments below as we’d really appreciate hearing your feedback on our photography.

Want to see more? Then please take a few minutes to view our portfolio.

Want to get in touch? – please click on the Contact menu at the top of the page.

Thanks for visiting!

It’s fair to say that Scotland has had an interesting Winter so far this year, so the weather was always at the back of our mind when planning this particular shoot.

Nicola and Paul elected to have their photoshoot in Edinburgh’s fabulous Royal Botanic Gardens – the idea being that if the heaven’s opened we could get inside the famous Glasshouses for some shelter.

As luck would have it, the rain stayed away for most of the time and we managed to do all our shots outside.

Although I’m sure we would all like to have a nice sunny day when getting our photographs taken, you can see from this set that you can still get lovely colourful shots even on a dull overcast day, just like it was last Sunday.

Nicola and Paul will be using the shots from this session to be made up into a custom designed Wedding Guest Book – we will also make up some cool Moo cards which will feature their pictures and the website address where their guests will be able to view their final wedding pictures.

The couple’s big day is just a couple of weeks away now and will be held at the Orocco Pier in South Queensferry. Orocco Pier is a fabulous wedding venue with its stunning location between the two Forth Bridges and its own little private beach area, so we’re really looking forward to this one.

I’m off to check the tide timetables to see if we can get them down onto the Beach.  Okay, I know it’s still the middle of Winter but we’re hardy us Scots, don’t you know!

Not a wedding image this time – it was for a personal piece of work that had been entered into the January competition and was for an entry in their “Architecture – Interior” category.

The shot is of the Westfield Shopping Mall in Downtown San Francisco.   When I’m out with my camera I’m always looking for interesting patterns and shapes and when I entered this Mall and looked up I could see the possibilities for a good monochrome shot.  (Of course it also gave my wife Morag a great excuse to wander into the stores whilst I studied the building. In hindsight this was possibly quite an expensive print.)

Processing the photograph in Black and White as I have here, makes the patterns much more prevalent and almost abstract in nature.  Although it is a square image you’ll also note that the “eye” of the pattern has been composed to be off-centre, adding interest to the picture and creates a much more pleasing composition.

The SWPP monthly competition receives thousands of entries from around the World every month.  Gold Award winners are automatically put forward to the final judging for the Annual SWPP’s Photographer of the Year awards – this one will be put forward for the 2010 competition which will be judged in January of next year.

It is one of my personal favourites so it was nice to see it get a Gold award.

It wasn’t all relaxation however, as we had been asked to do a photoshoot for a young aspiring model when we were out in the Orlando area.  (Any excuse to escape from the Scottish winter for a couple of weeks LOL).

Kathryn Miller is the daughter of the couple who look after our villa for us and she is very keen to try to break into modelling.  Her mum asked if we could help with some initial images for her portfolio.

We took Kathryn and her Mum, Jan down to the Old Town area in Kissimmee, which if you visit the area on holiday, you will no doubt be familiar with.  It’s a small shopping and leisure area designed to resemble an old tradition American town – it makes a great location for a portrait shoot like this as they are lots of different backgrounds that can be utilised.

From there we drove a mile along the road to the beautiful community of Celebration.  The township of Celebration was designed from the ground up by Walt Disney Corporation and it’s almost the “perfect” town centre in the way that it has been laid out.

Shown here are three quick edits from the day – once we have a chance to get over the jet lag I’ll post some more images from the shoot.

I’m sure you’ll agree that Kathryn is a complete natural in front of the camera and hopefully some of these images will grace her initial portfolio.

P.S. As an aside – if you are planning a trip to Florida, our villa is available for Vacation rental and any of our portrait or wedding clients get up to 15% off our normal rates if they decide to book it for their honeymoon or any future holiday occasion.

The convention is a mix of trade show and educational seminars and we had a very busy weekend trying to absorb as much information as possible.

Morag focused on the product side of things whilst I tried to rub shoulders with some of the best photographers in the business and glean as much information from them as I could.  Morag picked up on a number of potential new products for us and we’ll be investigating these further in the next few months.

I attended a number of seminars and the stand-outs for me were the seminar with Gordon MacGowan and the practical workshop I did with Trevor and Faye Yerbury. Together they represent the very cream of Scottish (and UK) Wedding Photography so it was a great opportunity for me to learn from the masters.

Gordon’s seminar focused on the fine details to look for when posing couples for their bridal portraits – as I’m primarily a photojournalist I was interested in gaining any tips I could to improve the more artistic side of my photography. Gordon is very down to earth and even describes himself as the “Gordon Ramsay of Wedding Photography”, so it was a very entertaining seminar.

Sunday morning I spent in the company of the very charismatic Trevor and Faye Yerbury – the Yerbury’s are almost a Scottish institution, with the family photography business dating back to the 1800′s.  You might think that a company with such a history may be steeped in the more traditional side of photography, well how wrong you would be – Trevor and Faye’s work is at the very cutting edge and they provide great inspiration.

The workshop I attended was entitled “Shoot in the City” and focused on the scenario of working with a couple to take their bridal portraits in a strange city with little preparation – Trevor focused on how to rapidly seek out interesting backgrounds and how to quickly interact with the couple to get some real passion in the images. Trevor and Faye’s photographs are simply works of art, so it was a real joy to get some insight into how they work.

The shot on the right is from that workshop and features the delightful models Nicola Johnston and Steven Duffy. As well as being models, they are both trained actors, so they very quickly adopted their roles as the “newly-wed couple”.  Trevor and Faye directed the models and setup the shot for us, so I take no credit for how stunning this shot turned out – but I have learned how to look for similar setups in the future – so watch out for the occasional bit of “artistic” rather than “photojournalistic” work from me in the future.

Although based near Stirling, our Wedding Photography adventures will take us all over Scotland this year and we’ll also be photographing some couples from as far afield as the USA, South Africa and Australia.  So, if you are one of those couples getting married this year, may I take this opportunity to wish you a particularly Happy New Year.

So before the new Wedding season kicks off proper, what better time than to update our wedding portfolio and refresh some of the banner images you see here on the website.  Then we’ll spruce up all the marketing materials before a much-needed holiday in the Sun.  Then we can really put our feet up (well for a couple of weeks anyway).

But…we can’t start a new year without closing out the last one, so here’s a little slideshow of my own favourite wedding photographs from 2009.

The Dalmeny Park describes itself as one of Scotland’s premier wedding venues, and it is easy to see why – gorgeous surroundings and everything ran like clockwork tendered by a very very attentive staff.

Scotland at the moment is experiencing a bit of a cold snap and the temperature on Saturday never rose above 1 or 2 degrees all day (and a good Scotch Mist was never far away either). This didn’t hold Renee and Ally back though, and they were more than keen to nip outside into the cold misty day for some really cool portraits.  Add in the warmth of some festive Christmas lights and you have the makings of a well-timed seasonal set of wedding photographs just in time for Christmas.

Enjoy your honeymoon guys and here is a little sneak peak of some of your wedding photographs from the day.

Like what you see? Then please leave your comments below as we’d really appreciate hearing your feedback on our photography.

Want to see more? Then please take a few minutes to view our portfolio.

If you would like to be notified when the full wedding gallery has been approved by Renee and Ally, please register your email address here, and we will email you as soon as they are available for viewing.

Still thinking of what to buy your loved one this Christmas?

How about pampering them with a gift that will delight for generations?

Our special Portrait Session Gift Certificate costs only £95 and provides the lucky recipient with a one hour portrait session and includes a £45 print credit toward any of our photography products (enough for three 8×10′s ready for framing).

Sessions can include other family members (5 maximum) and photography sessions can be undertaken in the comfort of your own home or at a local venue of your choice.

To order your gift certificate, simply click on the Buy Now button below and you will be taken to our Payment processing page which will collect all your details. You will then be sent a gift card which you can customise with your own special message before giving to the recipient. the card also includes full details and instructions on how they can book the session.

If you want us to ship the card with a message directly to the recipient, simply let us know in the comments field when checking out.

Family Portrait Gift Certificate : £95 (includes £45 print credit)

This was a Christmas Ball for the resident students at Stirling University’s  Andrew Stewart and AK Davidson Halls.

We had a very enjoyable evening – a really nice bunch of people, and it was great fun.

Prize for coolest photo goes to these girls who decided to give their best “cat” impression – yep we’re impressed as much as you are…..

And prize for most unimaginative use of a feather boa goes to….

If you were an attendee at the event and would like to view or purchase your photos, click here to view the gallery. Also come say hello on our Facebook page.

This pre-wedding photoshoot saw us walking around the beautiful grounds of the Stirling University Campus. The University’s grounds are huge and I was fortunate to find a couple of new locations I’d never used before – including the stunning brick wall that you can see in a few of these images – this is right at the back of the university grounds where it backs onto Logie Kirk.

Jacqueline and Tam are getting married in Bridge of Allan Church near Stirling and have chosen one of Scotland’s finest hotels for their wedding reception, the world famous Dunblane Hydro.  The Hydro (now a Doubletree by Hilton property) has had a recent refurbishment, so it will make a stunning venue for their wedding.

So from these photos you can clearly see the hot pink coat, the stunning brick wall and the campus. But what about the Abba tribute band? Well that would courtesy of Tam who on regular occasions dons a wig and platform soles as his alter ego Benny in Scotland’s finest Abba tribute band, Abba-Cadabra.

I can’t wait for this wedding whan Tam says “I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do”, and to see whether it’s Jacqueline or Tam who will prove to be the “Dancing Queen”.  Thanks for being a pair of real “Super Troupers” on an otherwise cold Scottish day.

Like what you see? You can view my portfolio here.

This time it was the turn of Tracy and Greg from Stirling.

Like most grooms-to-be Greg was a little bit apprehensive about the photoshoot and didn’t quite know what to expect. Fortunately he soon relaxed into it and the results speak for themselves.

It was a typical Scottish November day – damp and cold.  Tracy and Greg however, were real troopers and quite happy to sit or even lie on the ground in the pursuit of a “cool” image (pardon the pun). The results were some stunning, and indeed very cool pictures.

Tracy and Greg get married next April at the Stirling Highland Hotel which is a stunning venue for their wedding. They also have permission to have their wedding photographs taken at nearby Stirling Castle, which is often referred to as Scotland’s finest example of castle architecture.  So this will be a fantastic backdrop for their wedding photographs.

Can’t wait!

Like what you see? Want to see more? You can view my portfolio here.

This week I was delighted and very honoured to win the club’s Annual Tom Dickson Trophy for another one of my wedding photography images.

This image is entitled “One Two Three Blow” and is from Dean and Nina’s recent wedding. This is their delighful and very photogenic wee boy Cameron, who was a great sport on the day.

For the photography enthusiasts this was taken on a Nikon D700 body with a Nikon 50mm f1.4 AF-S lens – 1/250s, f1.4, ISO 3200.

The SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Professionals) runs a national competion each month over a range of different categories.  The Gold Award winning images will go forward to the SWPP’s Annual competition to be held at their Convention in London during January.

I was particularly delighted to note that one of the Gold’s was in the category for Wedding Photojournalism which is my chosen discipline of wedding photography.

According to the SWPP’s judging criteria, images awarded Gold are deemed to be “images of the highest standard”.  The images are also showcased in the Society’s monthly magazine, Professional Imagemaker.

The Wedding Photojournalism image was from Dean and Nina’s recent wedding and is entitled “Three Layers of Love”.

The other winning Gold image was for some personal work of mine and this was in the Travel Category.

Both images are particular favourites of mine so it was great to see that the judges agreed.

I also won a further two silver awards in the portrait categories and another silver for my landscape work.

So all in all a nice way to start the weekend!