In the glorious summer evening sunshine a few weekends back, Clare & I drove up to join Clair & Matt to talk through their plans for their upcoming wedding in the beautiful Yorkshire Dales.

This time we were in the picturesque village of Hetton, in the Yorkshire West Riding!

My mum is a proper pub connoisseur and knows all the best pubs around the north of England.  They’re generally named the “something’ at “somewhere”, and the Angel Inn at Hetton is certainly super high on her list of all time best pubs in Yorkshire.  It’s as gastro as pubs get with an obscenely good wine list.  Right up our street.

So I won’t lie when I say I was excited to be booked by Clair & Matt to photograph their ceremony in the Angel Inn’s ‘wine cave’ followed by Angel Inn catering at…

wait for it

 Cracoe Village Hall!  Which is where I was last weekend shooting a wedding!

[It’s all about the road signs in the dales!]

The Hall is just down the road from the Angel Inn (1 1/4 miles if the Hetton signposts not lying)

Its a hugely versatile space.  I shot a wedding there a few years back, with a greek theme and it looked like this…

And last week, Marianna & Matt threw these fruity colours at it!

Can’t wait to see what Clair & Matt have in mind!

After a cool orange & lemonade in the sun talking over their plans we dived in and got started with the practice photoshoot round the back of the wine cave.  

As you’ll see they were super easy on the eye!

They look like some kind of yachting catalogue summer collection!

I love this one.  Really relaxed, with slightly cheeky expressions all round!

Out in the sunshine cool shades were brandished

This one I like for it’s composition & the direction of their glances

It’s all about the summer footwear!

We took a wee turn around the village of Hetton to get a few ideas of places to shoot, including someone’s front steps.

But the place that had really caught my eye was the Hetton sign on the way into the village, so down we strolled…

For the photo fans out there, this image set really show the difference between the look of a 50mm from reasonably close & the 70-200 zoomed in from far away.  Look how buttery soft the background is above at f1.2 in the above…

And with the 70-200mm at f2.8, we’re able to read the sign, but throw the res of the background out.

The sunshine was simply glorious, it looks like some remote Italian country lane!

Back on the 50, I love catching a moment, pin sharp, while throwing the background so out of focus, elements bubble and bloom into crazy shapes.

But that 70-200 look is arguably just as tasty, and compressed the background.

I also love how the flare has burn through around the sign top & round the bottom of the image.

But at the end of the day, I like how they’re enjoying a casual kiss in the countryside.

I know I’ve posted far too many from this set, but with this light, the 50mm was on fire.

A little further round the village we spotted an old electric station in an overgrown field, and saw potential from the green door

And the overgrown grass!  

I love this kinda shot.  A relaxed, happy couple enjoying each other in a textured scene.

Finally, we found possibly the most idilic Yorkshire country lane to take a stroll down…

…before we both popped back for a delectable dinner at the Angel Inn, washed down with a beautiful glass of chilled gewürztraminer.  Aaah.

Can’t wait to join these two for their Dalesy wedding next weekend!

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