The grey, grey mist....

A warm wedding welcome

Holme Pierrepont Hall, Nottingham at 2:41pm, December 22nd 2006.

The Hall.

In those days I would meet the couple at the venue, rather than start my day when they did and photograph everything, as I do now.  I knew this shoot wouldn't be an easy one from the beginning due to the time and the date- three days before Christmas day, in the middle of the afternoon isn't the most ideal situation for the perfect wedding photographs, but, forewarned is forearmed, as they say....


I arrived at Holme Pierrepont Hall in good time, as usual, to be greeted by- fog. Someone had tied balloons to the gateposts but they flapped sadly in a low breeze and looked so forlorn! I stopped the car and quickly took a few images before continuing to the venue.

Inside.

 The fog never really lifted and the daylight continued to fade with little resistance from the sun. Fortunately, the family that still live in part of the Hall had made the place look magnificent and festive, with lovely traditional decorations tastefully placed around the place and a few table lamps to lend a cosy glow. 

A VERY dark room

The rest of the day went without a hitch, apart from the fact that the ceremony room was very dark! I managed to use a high speed setting on my camera that produced focused, but very grainy images- there were old canvas paintings in the room and the owners had banned flash photography! The next day I bought software that could smooth out the graininess from images- I was still using it until recently when I bought my present Fuji cameras that excel in low light situations.

Lighting the way.

My one regret with this wedding was that we couldn't go out to use the fabulous gardens for any shots, but we managed to group people around the large Christmas tree and I maxed out the flashguns to fill the high ceilinged room we were in.

We had a great day- I learned a lot about using available light to illuminate a shot as well as how to carry a large tripod around without knocking valuable items off small occasional tables- and when the couple saw the 'balloons in the fog' image, they had me put it on a canvas print to hang in their new home!

The Brownsea Experience.

Starting this week, I'll be regularly posting images from my archive and giving a little of their back story. Some will be from client shoots, whilst others will be from my private albums featuring the most precious jewels in my life: my family and friends.

Saffy-Next -The-Sea.

 'Brownsea Island is dramatically located in Poole Harbour, with spectacular views across to the Purbeck Hills.' So goes the National Trust's blurb.

I think my first visit to Brownsea was about 1985. We wanted a holiday in the UK and looked for a cottage to hire. Quay cottage sounded ideal, so we booked it.

Cool dude! Saffron wearing my trendy sunglasses on the ferry.

And it was a fabulous holiday! The visitors don't arrive on the island until about half ten in the morning and then have to leave by about half five, so we had the place to ourselves, apart from a few of the NT workers that lived there and guests at the Castle.

And what a place! Red squirrels, Sika deer, peacocks, and a huge Nature reserve that takes up half the island. There are trees, valleys, ruins, hidden beaches, cliffs, views, the very first Camp that established the Scouting Movement, a castle, a shop, a restaurant....

Door- walkway-beach-sea.

We fell in love with 2 Quay Cottages.
Luke, Elspeth and Isobel loved the private beach that was 6 feet away from the front door. We would spend hours with a cuppa, sat watching the sea traffic coming and going from Poole Harbour, from the tiny jet-skis to the massive Channel Ferry that blocked the TV signal as it passed within a few hundred metres of us and lit up our bedroom at night. We walked the circumference of the Island in the evening, looking for the deer that would hide in the rhododendron bushes, only re-appearing when the visitors had gone away. We hammered the free ferry pass that took us one way to the car at Sandbanks, the other to Poole Quay and shops. One week was never enough....

Move on a few years. The 3 older kids are grown up, Hannah and Saffron are now part of the family and we're looking for a holiday destination. It was a no brainer- we booked 2 Quay Cottage again.

So, after a day with my brother in Portsmouth, we motored down to Sandbanks, unloaded the car and carried it all onto the ferry. As soon as we'd deposited the luggage and food in the cottage, allocated bedrooms and put the kettle on, we ventured back outside. It was a warm, slightly overcast day, the tide was out and the shingle beach was fully exposed. Saffron was so keen to paddle in the sea that we just removed her trousers and socks, rather than empty the suitcases to find the swimming cossie.

 Cautiously, she tottered over the pebbles down to the sea. The water was cold, but she wanted so desperately to get her feet wet. Just at that moment, waves created by a big boat were breaking on the shore, wetting her skinny little legs. She absent mindedly lifted her knickers to stop them getting wet, and looked so cute stood there, wanting to walk further but unsure of herself, that I took a picture.

And there it is at the top of the page. The image represents for me the whole holiday- all the 'firsts' the girls experienced; the sunny weather, the relaxed island lifestyle, the wildlife.... I'd love to take them back, one day.

We left a special present on the beach for future cottage dwellers to enjoy- I wonder how long it survived!

The ferry, interpreted using shingle from the beach.

If you have a favourite retreat, I'd love to hear about it in the comments!

More soon. Paul x