Tag: urban

  • Sophie & Ben: An urban rooftop engagement shoot ‘neath stormy skies

    Bristol Urban Engagement Photography by Marie Man

    When I met Sophie and Ben over a year ago – their wedding at Coombe Lodge (which will be my first of 2014), seemed so very far away. But 2014 has come around super fast! Sophie studied photography herself so it was really important to her to find the right photographer and I was honoured when they chose me 🙂 When they admitted to me that they didn’t have any ‘proper’ photos of them together, the challenge had been set!

    Sophie and Ben chose to be photographed close to where they lived, which is an urban area that has a great mix of industrial and residential buildings with more than a dash of street art – the Urban Paint Fest (UPFest) is hosted nearby. As they are both somewhat camera shy, they chose somewhere away from the crowds and we went up…high above the people! Airpoint gave us permission to shoot on their rooftop which has a gym and running track, then we popped downstairs to make use of some fab textures (I’m sure every photographer likes a good brick wall and a bit of brushed metal!) I had hoped for golden winter sunlight, but of course we had wind and rain instead. No problem though as stormy skies make great backdrops though as you can see in the pictures.

    I’m really looking forward to their wedding – I think it will be a lot of fun and a welcome rescue from the January doldrums for their guests. Enjoy the pics. Happy Christmas folks!

     














  • Paintworks, an urban wedding – Bristol wedding photographer

    BTS at Paintworks

    So I sit here watching our right Royal Wedding – an amazing spectacle that has made me become a wedding junkie…for the day. What better celebration of the wedding tradition than the fairytale story of an every day girl marrying her Prince Charming for love?

    And what better can a wedding photographer do on this wedding day of all wedding days than blog a wedding 🙂 James Garrett and Isabel Sealey came together to seal the deal after a decade of love together.  Isabel is a teacher and textiles whizz whilst her Prince Charming James is a DJ (DJ Ironside) well known on the local club circuit (http://www.myspace.com/dj_ironside). In addition to this, James’ brother works in the music industry and his best man was a musical maestro (and engineer). James’ clubbing mates all spruced up very well for a relaxed with a BBQ buffet…and onward to the music!

    At Paintworks, you get married, eat, dance in the same area – an industrial building shared with BocaBar upstairs and an outdoor courtyard. Honourable mention for David Hawkin’s best man speech which was one of the most entertaining I have heard, outting James to his mates as a trainspotter!

    The official photographer was Kate Kirkby (www.katekirkbyphotography.co.uk), I provided additional coverage and behind-the-scenes shots.

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  • Harmony, an urban wedding – Bristol wedding photographer

    Swept Away

    Kelly and Paul had a fabulous wedding that celebrated Bristol, the city where they had met and fallen in love.  I knew they had been planning a fairly no-nonsense wedding, so I was surprised when they announced that as well as the church and brasseries, they had booked…a megayacht!  The wedding played out at several locations across the city, starting close to where they lived, in fact Paul managed to fit in a swift pint at the pub before heading to church!

    The megayacht was a fantastic venue and after several frosty weeks, we were all delighted to see the sun come out to greet us which meant the guests could revel on the yacht’s huge upper decks, although I personally thought it was a shame that no one wanted to take a dip in the hot tub.  Although huge (with a lounge, dining room, several decks, dance hall, bedrooms and more!), working onboard did provide some photographic challenges in terms of space and lighting on the lower decks, so we had decided to do the couple’s shots at a park near their home.  Actually they loved having this part of the day to themselves, having a moment to cavort and bask in the sun and also take in the reality that they had done the deed. Shooting in the park was a fun experience with local ‘wildlife’ dressed in varying shades of neon wandering through our photoshoot. Gotta love Bristol.  

    I loved the moment during his speech when Paul revealed that when he first met Kelly, he had thought “this is the woman I want to marry.”  The stuff that fairytales are made of.  Weddings are such huge events, I feel privileged as a wedding photographer to share the rare moments that a couple spends away from the madding crowd.  As part of my signature style, I work with the couple to create key creative images that they would like to put on their wall in its own right, wedding picture or not.   From this shoot, I particularly love the series of pictures of them walking through the trees because their house is in the distance and has that much more meaning to them.  And of course, the images of Kelly, walking along the harbourside, radiant and buoyant with her love for Paul 🙂

    As usual, here are a few of my favourites, full gallery at the bottom.

    Preparations at The Greenhouse Salon

    The calm....

    Classic styling

    Classic styling

    Diamante is a girl’s best friend?

    Diamante is a girl's best friend?

    A church with a view

    A church with a view

    …I thee wed

    I thee wed

    One for the family album

     Say cheese

    Blessings from above

    Blessed

    In nature

    In nature

    A rare moment of solitude

    One moment in time

    Swept away

    Swept Away

    Half-full 😉

    Bottoms Up

    Ready and waiting

    Ready and waiting

    Finest dining

    Fine dining

    Sparkles and petals abound

    Awash with sparkles and petals

    The good stuff

    The good stuff

    Walking on air

    Walking on air

    Little Miss Sunshine

    Little Miss Sunshine

    Striking a pose

    Striking a pose

    All aboard!

    The Harmony II Megayacht 

    Radiance

    Aglow

    Through the looking glass, in the spotlight

    Through the looking glass, in the spotlight

    Starboard

    Starboard

    Disco 2000

    Disco 2000

    Survivor

    Peekaboo

    Sweetness

    Heaven sent

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