It’s pre-wed season; that time of year when I meet upcoming wedding couples to talk about their big day and do a practice photoshoot.
Last weekend I took my first visit to Wortley Hall in Sheffield!
This grand venue’s heritage is still a strong aspect of its identity. This year the Hall will be celebrating its 60th year of ownership by the Trade Union and Labour Movement. Inside, there are loads of cool old interesting socialist posters.
Outside, Spring was most definitely in the air. The snowdrops were out, sheep looked ready for lambing and the weather was suitably overcast…
There I joined upcoming April wedding couple, Beckie & Joe. 
After a coffee & catch-up on the wedding logistics we got stuck into the practice photoshoot
I understand that it can be a bit weird being photographed, so these shoots are a great way for a couple to get comfortable in front of the camera. 
I like to show couples that it’s ok to have a bit of fun in front of the camera, to relax and enjoy it
I try to catch some killer shots of them, to help reinforce the process, so it’s easier and quicker to do a great portrait shoot on their big day.
Plus I get to photograph their ace shoes!
I also like the opportunity to play with some funky post-production on the images, like this vintage look.
We took a good explore round Wortley Hall’s 26 acres of picturesque, formal woodland to look for spots we could use again on the day
Fun times!
Like this set
We found a random log in the trees & my instructions were to ‘work it’.
Rather like this one!
I’ve been inspired by Jonas Peterson‘s work recently, and love how he composes his images with small cropped couples in interesting frames.
I’ve started using pinterest and have created a wedding inspiration board pinning loads of amazing pictures, including a bunch of Jonas’ images. Do follow my pinterest boards if you’re interested. They’re a great place to gather inspiration.
In a bush I spotted these amazing gnarly branches, so in we climbed for another relaxed portrait.
I like this fun one, captured on my 35mm at f1.4, with tasty background blur.
It’s gonna be easy photographing these two!
A final closing image of them walking back towards the Wortley Hall!
I’m really looking forward to joining these guys in April!
Watch this space for their On-The-Day slideshow the day after their wedding…