Documentary Wedding Photographer and Commercial Photographer Stuart James Photography covering Staffordshire, Birmingham, Shropshire, Manchester and the UK | Blog

Exciting new albums!! | Incredible new wedding album we're now offering for weddings!!

I've just taken delivery of a very exciting new product - a stunning new album from a brand new supplier!! The albums are coming from an incredible company across the pond in the good old USofA.

The albums come in different sizes including 10x10 and our display album format, the great 12x9. They also can come presented in this stunning printed album box - which will look absolutely amazing on a book shelf. Your album story really does start from the box with this company!

Printed on fine art archival papers with archive inks the album has a totally different look to anything we've offered before and we really are incredibly excited to hear what people think when they see it!

The design of the album is also something I'm really excited about as it's a totally different approach to anything we've presented before. Classy. Clean Lines. Lots of positive white space. And stunning, stunning, stunning looking images!!

I'll blog the design later in the week but for now here is the official unveiling: 

Incredibly well packaged!

 

There's a crease there somewhere but honestly I can't see any discolouration and it will only get better with time as is the quality of archive inks and paper:

And how AMAZING is that box - an exact copy of the album cover!! Stunning!!

It's been a very long time since I've been this excited about an album company - 2010 is going to be an amazing year to have your wedding photographed by us!!

sj.p

Rebecca and Richard | Moat House Wedding Slideshow

Bec and Rich had a lovely intimate wedding at the Moat House is Acton Trussell on the 20th December. I love Christmas weddings, especially when the weather is kind to us, as they always have such a lovely romantic feel about them.
Rich arrived in a gorgeous split-screen VW, which was a total surprise to him (bless Bec for surprising him like that!!) and it really set the tone for the day. 
Both Bec and Rich's families are absolutely lovely and I really enjoyed spending their day with them and can't wait to see them both tomorrow for them to choose the final photos for their album!
Hope you enjoy the slideshow:
 

 sj.p

Sian and David Slideshow | Moat House Wedding

Sian and David were married on the 27th December at The Moat House, Acton Trussell. 
It was a gorgeous day, especially considering the weather we're all suffering at the moment in the UK, and we all had a great time together.
I was only with Sian and David for a relatively short time as one thing was very clear - they wanted no "fuss or faff!!" and I think what we put together was absolutely perfect :o) 
Everything went great and I can't wait to show Sian and David there photos, and before I put together a complete blog post please enjoy the short slideshow below:

sj.p

Kate and Mike Slideshow | Custard Factory Wedding | Documentary Wedding Photos, Birmingham

Kate and Mike were married on the 18th December at the very funky and quirky Custard Factory, Birmingham. Kate and Mike found me after weeks of trying to find a photographer over the net from where they live in Kuwait and once they stumbled across my site they simply fell in love with the stunning black and whites and booked straight away!
I first met the stunning couple along with Kate's mom back in August when they were over for a couple of weeks trying to get all the wedding plan's together and I think it's safe to say we hit it off straight away.
Having a great rapport with a couple is essential in my eyes, as I truly want everyone to feel comfortable and inclusive on the day, and I think everything went perfectly last Friday - and the photos certainly came out stunningly!

Kate and Mike got ready at the devine Hotel du Vin  just a short taxi ride away from The Custard Factory. The old eye hospital is a regular celebrity haunt, with the likes of Lenny Henry staying at the hotel on the weekend of the wedding, and has such character instilled throughout it really is a great venue. However, as Kate and Mike were spending the majority of their day at The Custard Factory it was only a limited area we used on the day - primarily the bedrooms, and that stunning staircase...
Once we got to the Custard Factory the day was absolutely stunning. Everything was exactly the way Kate and Mike wanted it and it could not have been better!

I had a great time sharing their day with them and their family and friends, and the photos are now burning to disc ready for Kate and Mike to pick up today (yes I am still working Christmas Eve!!!) ready to show everyone before heading back to Kuwait on Boxing Day.

I hope you enjoy this slideshow, a more in depth blog post will follow soon.

[Music on show by the sensational Cinematic Orchestra and the beautiful voice of Michelle Featherstone.]

Merry Christmas to you all!

sj.p

Michelle and Panayiotis | Greek Wedding Portrait Photos | Wedding Photography Birmingham

Michelle and Panayiotis were married on 30th August 2009, however, as it was a severely wet day we decided on doing a reshoot last week before we completed the album and it was a fantastic decision.

It was a gorgeous morning in Birmingham and we had a fantastic time in Brindley Place. Michelle wanted to go for a very traditional, classical feel to their shots, but I think I put my own wee twist on things!

The album is in design process this week and will be with Michelle and Panayiotis before Christmas - and it really is going to look amazing as the rest of the day back in August was fantastic and we had a great time, and I know the story we have really will look special in a stunning Bellissimo album.
 
More photos will follow here soon including the preview of the album. In the meantime, please enjoy the photos below:

sj.p

Charl and Farm | A Spectacular Halloween Wedding | New Hall, Sutton Coldfield

Charl and Farm booked me at the Sandon Hall Bridal Fayre last year. Fortunately Les of Barry James Photography wasn't there so when we got talking to Charl and her mom, along with Rebecca, whom Les and Ste photographed a few years ago, they booked me - and with how well we all hit it off on the day it was definitely the best thing that could have happened.
The wedding took place at the beautiful New Hall Hotel on 31st October. It was a lovely late wedding with a fantastic fun atmosphere. Everything felt very relaxed and everyone had a great time.
With how late the wedding was although we managed to get the few group photographs done in the last of the days light it was all down to flash light for the Bride and Groom portraits. We decided to have a bit of fun and the photos have come out amazingly. It's something a little different and definitely a lot of fun to do!

After the portraits we had a lot of time to just relax and get a great documentary coverage of the evening with the marquee looking stunning with the themed orange lighting. The whole day I think was summed-up by the choice of song for the first dance, Sex on Fire by the Kings of Leon. And why not?! :o)

Here are just a few of my favourites from the day although a much longer post will be coming in the next few days:

Charl looked gorgeous in a stunning gown from Rebecca Jayne's at Mix-n-Match, Rugeley

I love that they picked up on the Halloween theme:

New Hall looks amazing at night, don't you agree?

The magician that they'd booked for the evening did a fajtastic job - and the tricks he performed were amazing. In this one he cut a lemon in half to remove a £10 note which had just been signed by one of the guests of the wedding. It was really tempting to film him doing this on the 5dmarkII and then play it back but I resisted. The reactions that came were great though:

He also made some amazing balloon shapes too - and the creativity to create 'Ghostbuster backpacks' I thought was genius.

I couldn't resist taking Charl and Farm back outside to make us of the available light as the night changed and the 5DmarkII coped remarkably - and with an amazing colour quality when compared with the Nikon D3 files shot at the same time...

The choice of first dance was truly fantastic - and totally fitted Charl and Farm to a T!

I can't wait to hear from Charl and Farm and see what they think, and I know they're going to have an amazing album when we've planned it!

See you both soon. sj.p

Amy and David | a wonderful surprise in the post...

I opened the post this morning to be greated by a stunning and totally amazing thank you card from Amy and David Middleton, my stunning 19th September wedding which I'm sure you'll remember seeing here.
Amy and David are an absolutely lovely couple and it was such a pleasure to be part of their stunning wedding. Amy made all of the wedding stationery herself and did an amazing job, and to have my own personal memento of this is amazing.

Here are a couple of quick shots of the card which is now proudly on display in our viewing room.
If you wish to view the testimonial in a larger view please click here

There's nothing more I love about being a wedding photographer than making people happy. Personal relationships are so important and the relationships we build with clients is the cornerstone of how we work. I love people and I love documenting their special, personal moments. And I truly think to be a wedding photographer, I am one of the luckiest people in the world...

sj.p

Amy and David | a great Moat House wedding | Staffordshire Wedding Photographer

Amy and David were married on the 19th September at St Thomas' Church in Walton-on-the-Hill in Staffordshire with their reception at The Moat House, Acton Trussell.
I have already posted a little taster of their wedding (which can be found here ) but as Amy and David collected their album from me on Monday evening, another stunning Bellissimo Album - which can be seen here!

The whole day was absolutely fantastic and we all had such an amazing time together - as can be clearly seen in the photos.

I also think it's safe to say that Amy and David were happy with their photos after I had this message on Tuesday morning:

"We love the album it's fantastic, thank you so much :)" - I love getting great feedback from clients!!

Here are a few more photos from the wedding, a slideshow will follow shortly.

Amy did an absolutely amazing job with the wedding stationery and the table plan too - I love it when people put their own touch on things!

The first uninvited guest of the day - the village cat!

And probably my favourite shot from the wedding - I truly love this one!

As there was another wedding on with clashing timimgs on Amy and David's day we had to make the use of the other end of the moat from where we would usually work; however, with the gorgeous autumn colours I think it was a blessing in disguise!

Absolutely the only way I will take a big-group photograph. Nice background too :o)

I couldn't quite believe it when the people in the gorgeous Narrow Boat "Hope" who were moored opposite the Moat House on the canal offered to use the barge for a photograph, what a lovely jesture. Personally my favourite thing was probably the hippy-scarfed Border Collie

This guy is a star of the future - I saw the shots he was taking and the little guy's pretty good. Think I might try and sign up his services ;o)

I was pretty stoked to be asked to be a guest during the wedding breakfast and for once I actually sat with their friends and enjoyed a nice relaxing meal - which was very good I must say!

I do love it when it comes to the speeches!!

I love how the best man seems to be contemplating how cruel to be here...

As you can see some pretty serious shapes were being thrown!!

There were a couple of faces in the crowd that I was quite familiar with including Jo seen here 'doing her thing'. Jo was a bridesmaid at one of my alltime favourite weddings (which has recently been published on a local magazine front cover too!!) Gemma and Steve Fisher who were married earlier this year. Jo is herself getting married next year and I'm seriously hoping to be a part of that wedding too...

The night was going absolutely fantastically and everyone was having a great time - then the fire-alarm went off when one of the napkins inadvertedly made contact with one of the lovely tea-lights! Cue arrival of the uninvited guests! Thankfully everything was under control before the boys even arrives but it's something a little different to look back on I guess

Hope you enjoyed looking at this post as much as I enjoyed sharing it with you.

For all the friends and family of Amy and David their photos are now live on the client area at http://stuartjamesphoto.com so head over there and get spending!

sj.p

Rebecca and Nick | A Taster of a Lovely Wedding in Burntwood | Wedding Photographer Staffordshire

Rebecca and Nick were married on the 18th September at Christchurch Burntwood with a delightfully relaxed reception at The Old School House, Weeford.
The wedding was a wonderful sunny day and although I was on what is a traditional coverage for me it was a great day and we all certainly enjoyed ourselves. The reception is a venue I had worked already this year but I hadn't had the pleasure of working at Christchurch for some months. In that time the previous vicar David has retired and the new vicar is an absolute blast - Rebecca and Nick described her as 'the Vicar of Dibley' so I think you'll get the picture!!

Here are a few of my favourites from their day:

Rebecca and Nick should be returning from their honeymoon today and I can't wait to hear from them and show them their photos!

See you both soon. sj.p

Emma and Jon | A Wonderful Shropshire Wedding

Emma and Jon were married on Saturday at the beautiful village church in Edgmond, Shropshire with their reception at Hadley Park House.
Emma and Jon are a lovely couple and they booked me after meeting me last year at the Sandon Hall Bridal Fayre last October and I think it's safe to say from when we first met we definitely struck a chord with one another and it has made the whole experience as fantastic as ever. I distinctly remember Emma calling me up the week after the fayre and with both herself and Jon on the end of the phone (on speaker that is!!) I had a giggly, happy couple so excited to be booking me for their wedding!

The church is not a church we have worked before but it was a lovely place to work at. Hadley Park has been one of our favourite venues for years after Mark, the owner of the property, first moved their as part of The Lewis Partnership who own the Moat House. Mark took on the venue under his own name a few months after we photographed the very first wedding there a few years ago and it is always a pleasure to see Mark and work at his lovely venue.

The wedding season is starting to slow down for us now after an incredible summer and it's going to be amazing to bring forth all the ideas, new albums and products and also a big update to the galleries and the continued changes to the blog. Jon and Emma are currently in New York and are so excited to see their photos I challenge anyone else to get a comment in before they do!! 
Here are a few of my favourites from their day. Although it was only a short coverage by myself it was still a lovely wedding to be part of:

Hope you both have an amazing time on your honeymoon!

See you both soon. sj.p