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.
I’m not very far into editing Eleni & David’s wedding from last weekend, but just had to share this image. Usually church layouts, and photography restrictions, make it hard to get into a good angle for the first kiss, but St Marks in Teddington was perfect for this! Love this picture. <3
The biggest difference between English and Finnish wedding is the hectic schedule of the Finnish wedding day. There was a dizzying array of quizzes, speeches, dance competitions, singing, reading, games etc. which made sure the Bestman certainly had to work hard trying to keep everything happening on time!
Miikka always used to say his plan was to be married with kids by the age of 25, which means he was somewhat behind schedule. I suppose that can happen when you wait for the right girl though, and I think it’s pretty obvious he has found that girl. Congratulations again, I wish you guys all the best in your life together!
First of all, I want to make it clear that if anyone wants to hire me to shoot a wedding in Finland, specifically in the capital area, I’m all up for it – what with it being my native country and all. However, if anyone wants to hire me to shoot their wedding in Juuka, some 8 hour drive from Helsinki, they better make sure they’re someone I consider practically a brother. So when one of my oldest friends, Miikka, asked, of course I said yes.
The weather was gorgeous throughout our road trip to Juuka and on the wedding day. Finland was definitely showing its best and it was lovely to experience a Finnish wedding after all the English ones I’ve been to recently. Despite different traditions and locations, the essence of all weddings is the same and there’s always a heightened sense of that elusive ‘world is a good place’ feeling present, which is what I love most about weddings in general. And this wedding was no exception.
More pictures from the reception to follow…
Just a really quick sneak peek from Päivi & Miikka’s wedding in Finland last Saturday. I’m still trying to catch up with emails etc. since returning to London, and I haven’t even started editing this wedding yet. This one shot just caught my eye when I was backing up the files.
I have a pretty busy period ahead of me, with weddings every week until September. Here’s hoping I will find some time to edit and post pictures as well!
I’m off to Finland tomorrow, shooting a wedding on Saturday. I’ll be on the road for most of the time so I can’t guarantee that I’ll get to read my email. So if you don’t hear back from me straight away, don’t panic or anything. I’ll be back in London on Monday the 20th and will reply to all outstanding queries then.
In the meanwhile, my 2010 wedding calendar is filling up pretty quickly (which is pretty awesome). So if you’re thinking of booking, especially for the busy summer months, I suggest you get in touch pronto.
2009
July – Fully booked
August – Fully booked
September – Limited availability
October – Available
November – Limited availability
December – Limited availability
2010
January – Available
February – Available
March – Limited availability
April – Limited availability
May – Fully booked
June – Limited availability
July – Limited availability
August – Limited availability
September – Limited availability
With that, I’m off. Can’t wait to have a sauna!
I’m currently editing Becks & Andi’s engagement shoot from this morning. Couldn’t resist posting a little sneak peek!
After the (very sweaty) studio session, we headed out to the park for some more pictures. I have to say that I do prefer working on location. There’s such a freedom in not being restricted by space or lighting equipment, and people tend to relax more when they’re outside, making it easier to catch those genuine moments. This is definitely where I want to move towards when it comes to portrait and maternity sessions. I personally really love these images!
Sarah’s due date is in just a few weeks and I can’t wait to meet, and photograph, the new arrival.
I’ll blog Sarah’s maternity pictures in two parts, as we shot two pretty separate sets. Sarah wanted some bump pictures in the studio, and even though I’m trying to move towards a more ‘lifestyle’ type approach with my photography, I obliged. And I must admit that it was quite fun working with studio lights after a long break – it makes you approach picture-taking differently. Working in a studio is more about building a scene rather than ‘catching’ the picture, which I quite enjoy as well. The only thing that made this part of the shoot a bit painful was the hot weather, my god, you definitely need an air conditioned studio for photo shoots in the time of heatwaves! :D
When Linda contacted me about photographing her husband John’s birthday/retirement party two days before the event my first reaction was to wonder how an earth I would fit it into my already packed schedule! But when I learned that the party was to be held on a boat on the Thames, and that it was to be a proper knee’s up with family and friends that John hadn’t seen for years, I found the opportunity to record what sounded like such a fun event pretty hard to resist!
And fun it certainly was! The boat in question was William B, which has a great party space, and on top of it all, a huge deck. Pretty awesome. It had been a very hot day, but on our way to the pier, thunder and rain made a spectacular appearance. For a minute there we were looking at the ominously dark sky and rocky waters, wondering whether the boat was going to leave, but luckily the weather calmed down pretty quickly so the boat, and the party, could get on the way.
John has had a long career in music and music education, and is the founder of Access to Music, so quite a few of the guests had something to do with music, which I found quite cool. And the band, The Groovy Wonder Band, kicked some serious ass and really got the crowd on the dance floor! For someone who enjoys live music as much as I do, this definitely was a pretty enjoyable gig to work. :D So all in all, I’m more than pleased Linda did contact me at the last minute. Thanks Linda and John for a great evening!
I’ve had a bit of a break from weddings this weekend, but I’ve still kept pretty busy. On Friday I was photographing the launch party of the Summer Garden at Andaz Liverpool Street. It was a bit of an unusual event for me to cover, but I do love the venue and have more weddings to shoot there in the future, which I’m really looking forward to. What I loved most about Friday night’s do though? All the lush pink details everywhere! Who could have guessed eh…. :D
We nearly missed the window of opportunity for some portraits of Claire & Hywel because the dinner was served just when sun started going down. Thankfully the couple wolfed their food down in order to go out for a few pictures literally minutes before we lost all the light. And I’m so glad they did, as these are some of my favourite portraits I’ve shot this year!
Claire and Hywel are just the sweetest couple, and I hope they’re having a blast on their honeymoon in Crete. I wish you guys the happiest of lives together, and want to thank you so much for having me!
Claire & Hywel had their wedding reception at The Garden Museum in Lambeth. I adored this unusual venue, with pretty flowers and colours everywhere! I might have in fact gone a bit trigger happy with all the lush greenery around, but I just couldn’t resist! This was a perfect venue for my style of creati
ve wedding reportage, as I could sneak up from behind trees and bushes like a ninja (well, I like to think). Also, Lettice did an amazing job with the catering, the food was gorgeous and Katie made sure everything ran like clockwork!
I really did have a great time, and I just love the fact how wonderful and different each and every wedding I work at is. Love it!
The ceremony of Claire & Hywel’s wedding took place in St Andrew’s Church in Chelsea. It was conducted both in English and in Hywel’s native Welsh, and was altogether a very touching affair. I know it sounds super soppy, but you could really feel the love that everyone in the church was reflecting, and projecting. Even I got a bit teary eyed in places.
After the ceremony the bride and groom, followed by all the guests, piled into two old routemaster buses, that drove us to the reception at The Garden Museum. And oh my was it a bit of a bumpy ride, at times I felt like I was holding on to dear life when the bus sped its way across London!
More pics from the gorgeous reception later!
Claire & Hywel’s wedding day couldn’t have been any more beautiful. The sun was out for most of the day, and even though rain did make a little appearance, it was perfectly timed for just after everyone had gone inside for the evening reception.
I just love taking getting ready pics! The atmosphere of nervousness and excitement is so catching, and there are always beautiful girly details everywhere to capture. One of my favourite shots from these is the one where Claire went ‘Oh my god I’m getting married in half an hour!’.
Stay tuned for pictures from the ceremony, and from the reception at one of the most beautiful venues, The Garden Museum.
After the reception at Glaziers Hall, Maesha changed out of her wedding dress and into a gorgeous evening gown. Then a pied piper lead all the guests across London Bridge (yes, this would be the point where I was running backwards! :D), and on to Miyuki Maru, a party boat which would be cruising the Thames while the wedding party got down and dirty on the dance floor. Even though the evening was chilly, the party was SO much fun. From the second the music came on everyone w
as dancing. I had a such a wicked time and would like to once more thank Maesha and Pete for trusting me to be a part of their day. Also, again, thanks to my always wonderful assistant/second shooter Susanna – you’re the best!
The reception of Maesha & Pete’s wedding at Glaziers Hall went by in a whirlwind of speeches and good food. Time completely ran away from us (as it generally tends to do at weddings) and we had to rush through our little portrait shoot on London Bridge at breakneck speed. It was a real effort trying to control the constant flow of people (thank you Susanna for doing a brilliant job at that!), navigating through the traffic with Maesha’s heavy gown, and getting the shots I wanted – all in 15 minutes!
Maesha and Pete got married in a humanist ceremony at Glaziers Hall in London Bridge. Despite a hot and summery start to the week, by their wedding day the weather had turned chilly and grey, which made me worry to begin with. However, the weather did nothing to dampen the spirits of this wedding, which was one of the most fun weddings I’ve ever attended! Even though the day was long, and physically exhausting (entailing things like running backwards across London Bridge!), the wonderful energy of everyone involved really made the day whizz by. Stay tuned for more photos from the reception, and the evening party on board a boat on the Thames!
Hello everyone! I hope you’re all doing just fine. I’m pretty good myself now that summer has finally decided to grace us with some sunshine. I am a photographer of light, and not having any makes me a bit grumpy. Here’s to having the sun around for as long as possible!
I just want to quickly address all the lovely people who have emailed me about wanting to assist me. I do read all your mails and store your details, but I know I haven’t been very good at replying to everyone. I currently have a permanent assistant/second shooter, but I will keep everyone’s details, as there will inevitably become times when she can’t make a certain date, or when I’ll need an assistant on a short notice. I currently get a lot of inquiries and my time is very limited, so I have to prioritise which emails I get back to quickly. Hence I thought it might be useful for me to post this on the blog in reply to some of you who were wondering why they haven’t heard back from me!
Hmm what else was I supposed to mention. Oh yes! I recently got interviewed for Don’t box us in!, a cool blog showcasing photographers. I’m really honoured to be in such good company, even though it was a total bi** trying to come up with sensible answer to all the complicated questions. :D You can read the whole interview here. Also, a little while back Kat from Rock ‘n Roll Bride featured Lucy & Richard’s wedding in her blog – always an honour. In related exciting news, Kat is taking part in a personal photography project of mine and we’re having a little photo shoot with her at the end of May. So that should be fun, I can’t wait to photograph her amazing hair!
Here’s my wedding availability calendar, updated as promised!
2009
June – Fully booked
July – Fully booked
August – Fully booked
September – Limited availability
October – Available
November – Limited availability
December – Limited availability
2010
January – Available
February – Available
March – Limited availability
April – Limited availability
May – Limited availability
June – Limited availability
And since I just have to finish with a picture, here’s a snap of some raspberry & lemon muffins we baked for my friend’s birthday on Sunday. They were sooo yummy!
While going through the pictures from Lucy & Richard’s wedding it became quite obvious that there was a star emerging… Yes, I have to admit that a certain someone called Bridie stole my heart completely! So I just had to dedicate a whole blog entry to her, the cutest bridesmaid ever!
Here’s finally the last instalment from the reception of Lucy & Richard’s wedding. The Northbank Restaurant truly was a lovely venue for a small wedding such as this. It is stylish and contemporary, with amazing views, and yet it has this really comfortable and intimately friendly vibe about it. And the staff is absolutely lovely! Thanks so much for taking such good care of our little photography team.
If the warmth and joy of their wedding day is anything to go by, Lucy and Richard surely have a wonderful life ahead of them to look forward to! Thanks again guys for letting me share your special day with you.
