Falmouth

A Cornish Festival Wedding – A Sneak Peek – Leanne & Tim

Most of our weddings are in Oxfordshire, Berkshire & Buckinghamshire so it was with great excitement that we travelled down the A30 to my native Cornwall to photograph the wedding of Leanne & Tim.011-LT-BJ-MLP23952_124I started the day in Falmouth with Leanne, her bridesmaids & Mum & Dad at their family home. It was a lovely part of the day, I know them well as Leanne’s Mum Dianne is my cousin! I photographed the girls when they were young before I left Cornwall but it was lovely to catch up. I loved the images I captured of the girls getting ready & Leanne’s Dad keeping out the way in the garden!028-LT-ML-MLP37487_040 022-LT-ML-MLP37394_005

024-LT-ML-MLP37409_011 029-LT-ML-MLP37499_045 031-LT-ML-MLP37525_055 032-LT-ML-MLP37531_058Before long it was time for Leanne to get into her dress & make her way down the stairs to see her family. I love the emotion of this moment of the day when a proud dad glimpses his daughter in her dress for the first time.033-LT-ML-MLP37545_062 034-LT-ML-MLP37570_070 035-LT-ML-MLP37579_072 036-LT-ML-MLP37583_074 037-LT-ML-MLP37586_076I then whisked myself off to the reception venue to make sure I was there in readiness for Leanne & Andrew’s arrival. Meanwhile my assistant had been photographing Tim & the guests arriving. Even my assistant at this wedding was a blast from the past! Many years ago when I was starting out I assisted a very talented photographer called Bjorn. Fast forward a few years & the roles had reversed & Bjorn was helping me out for the day. It was great working with again & we had a blast!001-LT-BJ-MLP23516_012 002-LT-BJ-MLP23521_013 003-LT-BJ-MLP23540_020Back to the wedding, by now a expectant groom was waiting for his brides arrival. He didn’t have to wait too long before she arrived on the arm of her proud dad.044-LT-ML-MLP37768_134

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045-LT-ML-MLP37770_135 046-LT-ML-MLP37790_142 047-LT-ML-MLP37799_146 051-LT-ML-MLP37819_154 052-LT-ML-MLP37822_156 056-LT-ML-MLP37849_165 057-LT-ML-MLP37855_167 058-LT-ML-MLP37856_168 059-LT-ML-MLP37858_169 060-LT-ML-MLP37877_179After a beautiful ceremony we all made our way outside & Leanne & Tim appeared with a flurry of confetti.066-LT-ML-MLP37927_196After the group shots in the Cornish sunshine we enlisted Becky’s help to drive the photography crew down to the beach for a few shots. Leanne & Tim made their way in style in a very cool VW camper. We really wanted to get some shots of them with the camper with the sea behind them. Now being a Saturday in July it wasn’t guaranteed but with a very helpful driver & a couple of signs being ignored we captured the shot!071-LT-ML-MLP38147_239Leanne took off her shoes & we made our way onto the beach to do some shots of the two of them. We certainly caused quite a stir!072-LT-ML-MLP38180_249 008-LT-BJ-MLP23888_110 010-LT-BJ-MLP23914_115We didn’t want to take too long so we then made our way back to the reception venue Penmorvah Manor just outside my home village of Budock Water. Leanne & Tim then enjoyed a fabulous wedding breakfast surrounded by their friends & families. There were some fabulous speeches & it was fantastic to capture the emotions – the laughter & the tears. The highlight certainly was at the end of Andrew’s speech when their friends & family all joined in with a rendition of All You Need is Love – kazoos & all. This was a complete surprise for them both but there was quite a few more surprises to come!074-LT-ML-MLP38256_273 075-LT-ML-MLP38260_275 077-LT-ML-MLP38299_288 078-LT-ML-MLP38314_293 080-LT-ML-MLP38326_298 084-LT-ML-MLP38362_317 085-LT-ML-MLP38366_319 086-LT-ML-MLP38369_321 087-LT-ML-MLP38371_323 088-LT-ML-MLP38373_324 089-LT-ML-MLP38374_325After the wedding breakfast a vintage coach turned up to take all the guests to the next venue for the evening festivities. Leanne & Tim are both massive festival fans having got engaged at one & they both worked really hard on arranging a fabulous festival wedding! They had great attention to detail with fantastic signage, a hand built stage with live music & even a camping field for the dedicated festival goers!097-LT-ML-MLP38495_372 099-LT-ML-MLP38514_379 100-LT-ML-MLP38519_381 018-LT-BJ-MLP24258_205 020-LT-BJ-MLP24473_256 019-LT-BJ-MLP24279_211 113-LT-ML-MLP38692_445 109-LT-ML-MLP38645_431 117-LT-ML-MLP38738_462 118-LT-ML-MLP38740_463 119-LT-ML-MLP38756_469 120-LT-ML-MLP38789_478 121-LT-ML-MLP38796_480 127-LT-ML-MLP38855_501 130-LT-ML-MLP38891_514 135-LT-ML-MLP38975_532 136-LT-ML-MLP38979_533It was a fabulous evening & was enjoyed by all. It was great to photograph a wedding surrounded by so many of my family too. It was so great that I couldn’t seem to put my camera down, it might have had something to do with all the surprises too! One of which was when Leanne & Andrew were announced onto the dancefloor for their traditional Father & Daughter dance….or so we thought! Check out the photos as they busted some serious dance moves. It really was a fantastic day from start to finish. Wishing you every happiness Leanne & Tim. We hope you enjoy your sneak peek, there are lots more to come!012-LT-BJ-MLP23964_126

 

 

 

Leanne & Tim, Pre Wedding Shoot – A Sneak Peek

We recently made a quick pre wedding season visit to Cornwall & whilst we were there Mark photographed Leanne & Tim for their pre-wedding shoot. Leanne & Tim are getting married in Cornwall in the Summer & Mark will be photographing the big day.Cornish Wedding Photography-MLP10770_006Mark is a proud Cornishman & has lots of family there. Leanne is a cousin on his Dad’s side & Mark was thrilled when she asked him to photograph her wedding day. When Mark was at college studying photography he often roped in family to pose for him. Leanne & her sister Sarah didn’t manage to escape the lens. Mark did some lovely black & white portraits of them & other cousins growing up.Cornish Wedding Photography-MLP10649_001They had a fab time at the pre wedding shoot & went to the beach at Swanpool, Falmouth & their wedding venue Penmorvah Manor Hotel outside the village where Mark grew up, Budock Water. Not often that a wedding photographer based in Oxfordshire gets to shoot on a beach!Cornish Wedding Photography-MLP10679_003Hope you enjoy your sneak peek Leanne & Tim. We will be in touch soon with the full gallery!






 

 

Jim Morrison – A Salty Seadog

Some 15 years ago whilst I was at college I did a series of portraits of retired seafarers in Falmouth, Cornwall. Those men who had spent their lives at sea, working the Cornish harbours, fishing and saving lives in the seas around Cornwall. One of the gentleman I photographed was Jim Morrison (nothing to do with The Doors!) Jimmy was a lovely man, retired and at the time, was in his eighties. He had plenty a tale to tell of his life aboard his boat named Eclipse moving cargo from one Cornish harbour to another under full sail.

These images were very well received locally and I had a few of them in an exhibition at a Truro gallery. Two of the images sold almost instantly to the gallery owner’s son who wanted them for his home. Some years later (15!) and I get a call from the gallery owner, (John – who is also now retired) who has been trying to track me down. I moved away from Cornwall 13 years ago and lost touch with John but thankfully I have still the same mobile phone number which he kept filed away.

He was after two prints of the images his son had bought for a friend who admired them on his gallery wall 15 years ago.  His friend lives in Munich but had mentioned she would love a couple of prints if John could find me.

Times have moved on in the world of photography and those negatives that I made on my Hasselblad film camera would be stored away in a box somewhere at home. I spoke to John a couple of months ago and we agreed it would be a good idea for me to search for the negatives in January when I was a bit quieter. One night last week I unpacked a large box full of negatives, wow my film processing costs must have been high.  All of my college negatives are in folders and it didn’t take too long to find the images I was looking for, all still in amazing condition. Now, I have the negatives but I don’t have a darkroom anymore, so they need to be into an electronic format. I sent the negatives to my lab for scanning and they arrived yesterday. The images look fantastic on my Mac screen and it is testament to the amazing optics of the Hasselblad camera I shot the portraits on – such an amazing camera that I still own! So a quick retouch to remove dust spots from the scans and the files are now ready to be printed. I would have remove dust marks with dye back in the day but Photoshop sorts it out now.

So times move on, our ways of recording images and outputting them has changed but the images of Jim Morrison will always remain dear to my heart. Such a wonderful man.

Here are the two images of Jimmy and his boat. Limited edition fine art Giclee prints available on request to info@marklordphotography.co.uk

Fine Art Prints Mark Lord 1 Fine Art Prints Mark Lord 2

Brother in Arms – A personal photograph or two

Dont worry folks I’m not going to be talking about the album by Dire Straits but a personal photograph I took recently.

Ever since I started on my photographic voyage through life I have loved photographing people, just being themselves, as they are within their own environment. One of my first projects many years ago was photographing the villagers of Budock Water in Cornwall, where I grew up. This project was all black and white portraits of people I have known most of my life and people that have spent most of their years living in the village. Sadly many of those dear people are no longer with us but it is a project I always revisit in my head. It has led me to my career in a photography, namely being a portrait photographer.

So, a few months ago when Becky and I were in Cornwall staying with my parents I thought it would be nice to grab a portrait of my Father and his brother Joe. Dad and Joe spend many hours a week at the local churchyard maintaining the grounds and the graves. Being in their late seventies and early eighties I find the two of them incredible – they just don’t stop working. If they are not working in their own gardens, they are ‘up churchyard’ cutting the grass, cleaning grave stones and  tidying up. All in their own time for the love of it and each others company.

So here is a couple of portraits of two great brothers who aren’t afraid of getting their hands dirty. As I said in my wedding speech to my Dad ‘you are amazing and I only hope I have your energy when I’m your age’ – half of it wouldn’t be bad either!

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NJL-1205To see some of my wedding photography at Budock Church please keep scrolling down.

Heidi and Brendan’s sneaky peek of their #wedding in lovely #Cornwall!

Last weekend Jack and I travelled to Cornwall to shoot the wedding of Heidi and Brendan in the village of Budock Water, near Falmouth where I grew up. I have known Heidi for many years and it was a pleasure to be part of their big day.

Their day was a perfect mix of coastline and countryside and we even managed to pop down to the local beach where the two of them got engaged for some pictures. Heidi and Brendan got married in St. Budock Church where I got married last year.

The reception was held at the family stables with tea and cake served to the guests on arrival before the champagne reception later in the day. The stables were all cleaned out and bunting hung from the doors and rafters giving it a vintage charm. During the tea and cake Heidi and Brendan had organised a Bucking Bronco and even had a go themselves. Guests were also entertained by a bouncy castle, sumo wrestling suits for those who fancied a wrestle and a magician who wowed the guests with his balloon swallowing!

So without further ado here are a few pictures of Heidi and Brendan’s big day…..

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Jewellery Photography for Stephanie Johnson

I have been photographing Cornish artist’s work for several years. I find it inspiring looking at other people’s working methods and how they reach their final designs or pieces. Having always had an interest in art, mainly sculpture and ceramics photographing Stephanie’s work is always a pleasure.

Stephanie’s husband was in fact my old art teacher, the man who first encouraged me to develop my interest in 3 dimensional work. Whilst living in Cornwall I photographed Stephanie’s work on several occasion. After completing my studies in Cornwall I moved away and lost touch with Stephanie and Rollo (my old art teacher). Earlier this year, with the power of the internet and having a distinct name Stephanie tracked me down to ask me to photograph her latest work. She has used other Cornish photographers but none have photographed her work in such a way as I had done all those years ago. ‘You seem to get a sense of the sculptural and 3 dimension aspects of my work’ I was told over the telephone. I feel my photographic work has moved on since the previous images I had done for Stephanie so was keen to pop to Cornwall to shoot some new work for her.

It was great to meet up again with Stephanie and Rollo after all these years and thankfully I still had an eye for the 3 dimensional aspects of her work.

Here are a few pictures from the shoot – Stephanie was delighted with them and one of the pictures even made it onto the cover of an exhibition she was working on in collaboration with other artists for the Edinburgh Festival.

I think I made the right choice in life putting down the papier-mache and clay and picking up a camera but it’s nice to revisit old ground sometimes…..

To find out more about Stephanie’s beautiful work click here.

To book a session to have your work photographed please email me info@marklordphotography.com