In my ‘Picture This’ series I focus on an individual image, or series of images, and explain why I like it.

Street photography at weddings

The type of photography that most influences my wedding pictures is ‘street photography’. You could define street photography as any unposed, candid picture. But there’s much more too it than that, and it certainly doesn’t have to be created on a street.

Of course, there’s a structure to a wedding day, from the ‘getting ready’ to the ceremony and the wedding breakfast to the first dance. But there’s so much else going on that you need the eye of a street photographer to capture all the beautiful, funny, emotional moments that tell the authentic story of the whole wedding day.

Buxted Park Hotel wedding photography

This picture of Lizzie and Jamie kissing at their wedding held at Buxted Park Hotel in East Sussex is typical of my street photography approach. I’d just got some shots of their entrance to the wedding breakfast, with all the whooping and hollering, and then as I turned towards the top table it was like a scene from an old Dutch painting by Brueghel. A young waiter arrives with bread to feed the newly-weds, while another carefully folds a napkin as the proud parents settle into their seats.

It lasts less than a second. The moment the waiter leans over to serve the bread he is distracted by the kissing couple, and suddenly there’s the shot! The triangle between us (the viewer) looking at him looking at them is created. And this is what makes the image. Oh, and the fact that the figures in the picture don’t overlap each other. That’s pretty important when you’re trying to capture pictures of informal groups.

If you like my street photography style and want to know more about it or check my availability, I’d love to you to get in touch.

Getting married in Sussex, Kent, Surrey or Hampshire? Check out this guide to my favourite wedding venues.