Marianne Taylor Photography | Portrait & Family Photographer in Cornwall
On-location portrait and family photography in North Cornwall. Siren of the Sea sessions, couples, families. Soft, romantic, coastal.
In my opinion, London is at it’s best on a gentle late summer’s evening. There’s a sweetness in the air that smooths the rougher edges of the always bustling city. I thoroughly enjoyed walking through their beautiful neighbourhood for Anne & Archie’s engagement session, and I can’t wait for their big day next year!
Aniko & Anth we our real couple at a recent mentoring session, and the four of us had such a good time that our time together pretty much turned into a full-on Together Session. Even though it was still a little bit chilly, you could definitely start sensing spring in the air, and we even found the first of the blossom! Here are some of the photos I took while demonstrating, before my mentee took over. Thank you Aniko & Anth! x
Here’s a session that’s super close to my heart. Not only do I completely adore Pen & Cam, but I got to capture their Anniversary Together Session at Pentire Head in Newquay, Cornwall, which is one of the most beautiful places on earth (and soon to be right at my doorstep!). The wind might have been bracing, but these two rays of happiness brought their own microclimate to this portrait shoot, challenging even the sun to come out to play. This is the kind of photography I could do all day every day with a huge smile on my face.
‘Missy, Oscaaaaaar, look over heeeeeere!’ This was the soundtrack to our anniversary session with Marie & Jens. It was just the loveliest to get to spend some time with these two again since their London engagement session last year. It was also such a pleasure to meet Missy & Oscar, who looked dashing in their matching jumpers! Despite the freezing conditions, we had the best time traipsing around London and playing a game of ‘turn that dog around’.
I figured I better blog this Family Together Session before this beautiful day we spent in Cornwall with Flo, Chris, Wowzer and baby Chloe will start to feel as sweet a memory as their wedding day three (!) years ago. A lot has happened since their wedding, though, not only has their family grown with the addition of gorgeous Chloe, but they also did what I always dream of doing, they took the plunge and moved to Cornwall (with their families in tow!), and built up not only one but two successful businesses along the way. I couldn’t be more proud or happy for the life they’ve built for themselves in the most beautiful place on earth!
I must warn you, this one is going to be one of those ‘you won’t believe what happened next’ kinda stories you see circulating on Facebook. After a brilliant July, August decided to be a complete nightmare and just threw such horrendous weather at us that we had to postpone Hilda & Quain’s London engagement session several times. Finally, we just decided to take the plunge, and armed with our umbrellas we headed to the streets of Belgravia. It had been raining on and off for most of the day, but the rain stopped around five minutes before we started. How lucky, we thought. We had no idea just how lucky we turned out to be!
We had a lovely time walking the still damp streets, and once we changed locations to the South Bank, the sun was starting to go down and the sky began looking more and more dramatic. Finally, in front of the London Eye, I pressed the shutter for the final time. And at that exact moment, the skies ripped open, the wind exploded and a rainstorm unlike any I’ve witnessed before assaulted us with such force it nearly knocked me off my feet! The timing of it was just incredible, and I feel like some sort of magic must have kept the time we did our shoot dry. As an added bonus I got to capture a pretty dramatic sky for the last few frames. (I did get entirely soaked on the way home, mind.)
Ah, such good memories from Jo & Tom’s wedding in Cornwall! It was lovely to see this wedding featured in the September/October issue of You & Your Wedding magazine.
I was interviewed about Beloved for Kamera magazine in Finland. I was pleased that they used so many images and gave me 6 pages!
Sarah & Boris’ (rainy!) Hampton Court Palace wedding was featured in the Perfect Wedding magazine.
It’s always fascinating to me how little connections are made in ways you couldn’t predict. Alix & Matt got married at Aynhoe Park back in 2012, and a year or so later they just happened to attend the same antenatal class as Marie & Darren, and became fast friends. When Marie & Darren were looking for a photographer to capture some family photos of them with Wesley, they remembered seeing and loving Alix & Matt’s wedding photos and so got in touch with me. It’s a small world, huh?
I’m glad they did, and that we got to spend a lovely London spring afternoon together making memories. I think you’ll agree that Wesley is the cutest giggler!
Abigail & Simon got married back in 2011, in a ceremony which included the baptism of their son Charlie. Their family now has a new addition, the adorable Rosie. Abi and Simon were the first ones who (with their unwavering persistence, really!) managed to twist my arm and got me considering doing Family Together Sessions again. And it’s a good thing they did, as we had the loveliest afternoon in Bushy Park with lots of squeezes for both Charlie and Rosie!
The loveliest couple, a beautiful summer evening, and London showing its best. What more could you ask for? I just loved spending a magical golden hour photographing Isabel & Angel’s anniversary session. It was such a pleasure to meet you guys, I hope you’ll have many more gorgeous anniversaries to celebrate in the future! x
I just love Bushy Park, and I was so happy when Charlotte & Luke agreed to have their engagement session there. The day was beautiful and the deer came out of hiding, it couldn’t have been much more perfect. I had so much fun with these two, and I can’t wait for their wedding at the amazing Preston Court later this year!
Amy & John had to fast track their wedding day to ensure that a terminally ill family member would be able to join them. Afterwards, they wanted to arrange for a Together session in London, to celebrate the place where their romance bloomed. We had a lovely time, taking in some famous views, but also finding some special more obscure corners of London. It was a pleasure to spend time with you Amy & John, I hope there will always be as much laughter in your lives! x
Well, what can I say? We had pretty much a perfect day for Annie & Hamish’s London engagement session. The sun peeked gently from behind the clouds, there was a light breeze, and London was really showing it’s best spring colours. Spending time outside on a beautiful day with a lovely couple such as Annie and Hamish really makes me appreciate my job and count my blessings!
This is a pretty big day. A project that has been taking quite a lot of my time in the past year or so, has finally come to fruition. I am so SO proud to present to you the first issue of Beloved magazine!
It seems like forever since the initial idea for a magazine came to me, and the feeling of holding the finished product in my hands feels pretty special indeed. It was so much fun working on this project with the incredible Miranda Eason. I can’t quite believe that years after jokingly talking about making a magazine together, we’ve actually gone and done it! I’m also overwhelmed by the amazing quality of work we received for the first issue, whether you are interested in the Beloved technique or not, you will enjoy the gorgeous collection of stories and images showcased within.
You can read more about the magazine over on the Beloved Collective blog. The magazine is available in both electronic form and as a printed ‘collector’s item’ through this link. It’s also possible to purchase an iPad version through the magcloud app.
P.S. the photograph on the cover of the first issue is by the amazingly talented Fer Juaristi, who is also interviewed on the pages of the magazine.
I couldn’t possibly love Monique & Eric’s London engagement session more. Pretty balloons and pretty blossom, I was in total pastel colour heaven! We did experience some drama, when the balloons decided to unexpectedly make a run for it! But even so, good times were had. It was such a pleasure, Monique & Eric!
From London, Monique & Eric continued to a pre-wedding session in Paris!
Another spring day, and another London engagement session with gorgeous blossom. I can’t help but just LOVE this time of year. I had such a lovely time with Whitney & Chester, I wish every day was full of pretty blossom and laughter!
I’ve shot a few sessions with beautiful blossom already this spring, and I couldn’t love them more. Blossom really makes everything better. It started raining during Karen & Michael’s London engagement session, but with all those gorgeous flowers around, it didn’t really matter at all in the end. It was definitely a win for the prettiness, and for this lovely couple. Welcome, spring!
After wall to wall rain, it seemed like a little miracle when, for the couple of hours we spent together with Katie & Alphonse for their London engagement session, the sun came to play, only to retreat back behind the rainclouds the minute we were done. It was such a pleasure to spend time with Katie & Alphonse, in fact, I think what actually happens is that these two generate their own sunshine, so joyous was their energy together. I hope you’ll have the most beautiful wedding back in California! x
This year’s mnoo school workshop took place last month, and it was so much fun. My dear friend Ed Peers returned as guest speaker, and this year we decided that he would play a bigger role and talk a bit more widely about the craft side of things, so that we’d have a better balance between business and photography. I think all the attendees agreed that was definitely a good decision. I also invited a surprise guest speaker, the amazing Adam Alex, who talked about visual language and added something really valuable into the proceedings.
I feel like mnoo school is developing into something pretty special, and every time we do it it runs smoother and feels more balanced. I’m really happy about my decision to only offer one workshop a year, I think that helps make the time together even more precious. Some of this year’s attendees, Rachel, Corinna, Tim, Genevieve, and Vicki, have written blog posts about their experience.
A huge thank you to the class of 2013 of mnoo schoolers, your spirit was incredible and I miss each and every one of you! Thank you to our kick ass couple, Emma & Pete, for all the giggles during our shoot. I’d also like to thank our generous sponsors, Kelly Moore, Bob Books, and Beloved Collective, who donated to the goodie bags. And lastly, thank you once more to Craven House for starting to feel like a home away from home and providing the perfect space for intimate learning.
Last week I headed to the other end of the country, as photographer Zenna Barry had invited me to come and give my introductory seminar on the Beloved interaction technique to photographers in the North West. It was all worth the epic road trip, as we had such a lovely group of people all excited about what Beloved could add to their work and business. Our real life couple, Samantha & Simon, were brilliant during the demonstration, it’s never an easy prospect to be in front of a camera, never mind 24 other people!
Every time I talk about Beloved I can feel the ripples of excitement and those little moments of realisation going off in the audience. It really is an absolute joy to be able to spread something that I know will make every photographer feel more excited and fulfilled with their work. Next stop for me is the Beloved Collective Festival (now part of the larger Adventure Always conference), which I’m overseeing as the new Director of the Beloved Collective (fancy, right?). There are so many exciting things me and my team are working on for the future of the Beloved Collective, I just can’t wait to see all the work we’ve put in starting to properly blossom.
