If you have spent any real time on my portfolio you'd have seen that I'm not one to shy away from taking photos in the rain, usually to spectacular effect. The only trouble with this has been, that a lot of couples who have seen this type of image, really want one taken at their wedding - the main problem being, I can't guarantee rain and owing to the ethics by which I shoot, I'm not going to do it using a hosepipe. This has lead to me being at certain weddings well past the time I was due to clock-off, in the hopes that it would rain. At Sarah and Jamie's wedding (image below) I stayed an extra hour and a half, longer than some of the guests, because I was convinced it was going to rain - and it did!
For Roz and Arjan's wedding however at Bredenbury Court, I didn't have to wait long and I was pretty sure we'd get the image I wanted. It had been threatening rain all day, so it was more a matter of time before I whisked the bride and groom away for a couple of quick photos. During the evening reception, after the first dance, it started to drizzle, but for images like this to really work, you need the big persistent blobs of water. I waited a little longer and within the hour, the heavens really opened. I ran outside with Roz and Arjan, with an umbrella in one hand and my camera in the other, rushing to set up the image without getting the couple absolutely soaking wet. I set up a flash behind them, pointing back towards me and took a few images with Arjan holding the umbrella for them both, much like in the above image of Jamie and Sarah.
Without warning, Arjan threw the umbrella far out of the frame, in order that I could get this photo of just the two of them. I took a handful of images before retrieving the umbrella and retreating into the venue for more dancing and a LOT of baklava.
Location: Bredenbury Court Barns.
Keywords: Bredenbury Court Barn Weddings (53), Photographer-directed image (128).