Angela and Dave joined me at Tynemouth Priory the coast just outside of Newcastle for their pre-wedding session. The air was crisp as the sun started to go down and we hoped for an interesting sunset.

Most people, male and female, don’t like having their photograph taken. They certainly don’t like looking at the photographs in detail after they have been taken. This can lead to long delays when choosing which photographs to put in albums or made into wall art. Sometimes it can even result in an email from the couple who are unhappy with their photographs.

Creating this blog a few months after the wedding allowed me to go back over the photos and see what I captured, what I created.

I see photos with true meaning; candid, fleeting, real moments. Moments full of emotion, feeling or just plain fun. And of course we finished off the day with some glorious night portraits.

It’s impossible to really know what a wedding is going to be like before the day kicks off. You can get a feel from the couple and a sense of the style of wedding they’re planning and hoping for, but until the day it’s all speculation and ideas. On the day, though, it quickly became clear that this was going to be a kick ass wedding!

Sneaking away for couples portraits doesn’t have to mean stiff poses and awkward smiles. I’m more than happy for couples to go off and do their own thing, with me capturing the moment as it unfolds naturally.

Northside Farm is an exclusive use wedding venue, set within 400 acres of farm land in the picturesque Northumberland countryside. It was a venue I’d heard great things about and jumped at the chance to shoot Tash and Adam’s wedding there over the summer.

I’d far rather discover a new location for a couples session as I think it helps put them at ease and it gets my creative brain whirring. Izzy and Rob chose the Havannah Nature reserve, which is where they walk their dog. Eze became the star of the show, photobombing our shots and posing like a boss!

You have more control than you think over how to organise the group shots on your alternative wedding day. Forget about tradition, and what you think you should do. Step back and think about what photographs you actually want to look back on after the wedding day.

Wedding speeches can be deceptively tough to photograph. Here are my four best ideas to plan your wedding day speeches so that you, your guests, and your photographer get the best results.

I’ve written this blog for adventurous and creative couples who are looking for an alternative wedding photographer. A photographer who is fun, and definitely not cheesy. Someone raw, real and authentic.