Noah’s Ark fundraising event.

Xpect Photography were proud to be a part of the Noah’s Ark fund-raising event on Saturday the 28th of September 2009.

I would like to thank all of those who had their professional portraits taken and everyone seemed to have a lot of fun. Xpect Photography provide professional wedding photography, professional portrait photography and professional events photography. I work throughout South Wales and further afield around the UK.

Here are a few images taken on the night. You can see the full gallery at Xpect Photography. If you would like to talk to me about your event or other photographic needs, please contact me via my web site at Xpect Photography or by calling on 07840 947517.

Bride and Groom preparations.

It is just a fact that the longer I can spend at the wedding during the day, the greater opportunity there is for getting great images. On occasion, I have been booked for only two hours. These are not my preferred style of wedding in relation to photography as usually, due to the very limited time, it comes down to getting the essentials done, the ceremony and the groups. When I am booked for the entire day, then that is when the opportunities multiply and I can tell the entire story, start to finish which is what I love to do. You can view a complete wedding shoot at my web site Xpect Photography

Bridal Preparations

Bridal Preparations

Bridal Preparations

Groom preparations

Groom preparations

Groom preparations

Bridal Preparations

When I arrive at the Brides home, or the hotel room  I never quite know what the situation will be. Some people are calm, some are more anxious and it is important for me to arrive calm and organised so that I do not add to or cause any undue anxiety. At all times I want to enhance the day and so being sensitive to all situations is something I pride myself on. You can read some reviews at my web site Xpect Photography.

It is never ever about me, it is always first and foremost about YOU. What makes you happy and makes your day even better. I am never pushy, I am at all times totally considerate. After a few minutes depending on the situation I will begin taking pictures. I try not to interfere in any of the preparations and really observe and photograph in the journalistic – as it happens style. Always remembering that I want to tell the full story of the day.

I am also focusing on key people, such as the Mother and Father of the bride, bridesmaids and so on. I am also alert to any spontaneous laughter as well as trying to stimulate it with some of my own humour. As with the previous article on the details of the wedding, I will seek out the Wedding dress, bridesmaids dresses, shoes, flowers and any gifts that have been brought to the house. Cards, Champagne and so on.  At the Grooms preparations I usually begin by getting the rings from the best man and finding somewhere nice to photograph them. I am looking for natural shots again and spontaneity from the men to snap those as it happens images. At both locations I will try to get some more formalised images such as all the guys suited up, the Bride with her parents and bridesmaids for instance.

I focus on the fact that as well as capturing the images for your memories, the Bride and Groom will not have been present at the others preparations and these images will be all they have to know what was happening elsewhere.

Once I think I have everything, then it is off to the Ceremony location to capture images of the guests arriving. This will be the subject of my next article on Weddings in detail. You can see more images at my web site at Xpect Photography

Engagement Shoot.

I was recently hired to photograph Naomi and DJ at Skenfrith near Monmouth in South Wales. This was an engagement shoot and I will be their wedding photographer next year. You can see the full set of images at Xpect Photography. Unusually they wanted to bring their two adorable dogs along to the shoot. The result was a lot of hard work trying to get some great images of the two cutest dogs I have seen for some time, but what a load of fun we all had as well. I am a wedding and portrait photographer based in South Wales. You can see a lot more of my wedding and portrait images at Xpect Photography.

There are a number of wedding package options available and listed on my site at Xpect Photography along with some prices. I also provide bespoke quotes to suit any particular wedding. If you are thinking of having an engagement shoot then please contact me and we can discuss your requirements.

Thanks,

Mark

Weddings – The details.

Hello, this first article is about the details. What are the details? When I am booked for any wedding I always imagine the bride and groom sat together remembering their wedding day. Not any time soon, but ten years from now. By this time the small details have all but gone from their memories. So that is where images recording the details come in. Throughout the day, as well as photographing people, I am looking to record everything of the details, patterns on shoes and dresses, what food is on the menu? what was your room number at the hotel? the brides nails after that expensive manicure, and so on.

In short, I try to capture as much of the details as possible. This is why I consider myself to be one of the hardest working wedding photographers around. I am always alert to those little things that many miss but that go together to make your day unique. Some one somewhere put effort into those little things or you have paid good money for them.

Once a bride and groom receive their wedding images, one of the comments often made is that the day was such a blur for them and the images either reminded them of something they had forgotten or had shown them things they had not seen. When you hire me as your wedding photographer, I see myself as your eyes while you get on with enjoying your day.

The images included in this post are not all prize winners or images that would be printed large and framed. They are working images, totally important as part of the picture, making the record of the day whole and complete. If you wish to chat to me about your wedding day photography, please contact me on 07840 947517, or via my web site at Xpect Photography.

Lllangoed Hall Wedding

Congratulations to Claire and Tim who were married at Llangoed Hall in Wales on the 8th of August 2009. I was privaleged to be their photographer and they were blessed with great weather. Everyone had a lot of fun and the staff were great. The venue is well known and is of course outstanding for it’s facilities, architecture and grounds. A fabulous photographic location with a handsome couple. Here are a few of the images from the day, more can be found by visiting the gallery at my web site Xpect Photography

Cardiff Registry Office Wedding

I recently photographed a wedding at the new rooms of the Cardiff Registry Office. Anyone who had to use the old location will know that it didn’t provide the nicest of environments for a wedding.

Things have changed however with the new location at the impressive Cardiff City Hall in the civic centre of Cardiff. Just going to that location is great for a start, beautifull buildings with ample grounds out the front with a public green and fountain where group photographs can be taken. The rooms are lovely also. The waiting room is large with high ceilings and a fireplace for those pre wedding photo opportunities. Huge windows also provide a great resource for creativity and light.

The ceremony room is along the same lines, lovely subtle colours, with decorative plastered walls and high ceiling. Chandalier lights with tall windows allowing plenty of light into the room. I have to say that on the day of this particular wedding the rain was pouring down and the staff were very helpful, allowing me to take a large group photograph using the fireplace in the ceremony room itself.

I will now look forward to more weddings at the Cardiff Registry Office, but hopefully with better weather next time. Here are some images of the wedding. Kelly and Matthew are a great couple and I wish them all the very best for their future together.

Due to the rain I took the bride and groom to the nearby Glamorgan Colleg building where I was able to find a bit of cover to create some outside portraits of the Bride and Groom.

Model Portfolio Cardiff

Carly is an aspiring model living in Cardiff. She contacted Xpect Photography to arrange a shoot to expand her portfolio.

The key approach for me to assist Carly is to discuss what her objectives are. I am familiar with the requirements of Modelling agencies and will ensure that an appropriate selection of images, with differing outfits and locations is completed in order that a model can consider approaching an agency.

This gallery shows just a small selection of the images Carly obtained from her shoot. She has put a review on my web site which you can see here  Xpect Photography Reviews.

I am experienced in posing people as well as location selection and if you are new to modelling then you will also improve your knowledge in relation to working with photographers and posing. If you are an aspiring model, an experienced model needing to update your portfolio or an actor or dancer requiring images for your portfolio then please contact me to arrange your shoot.

Prices can be found by following this link Xpect Photography Portrait Information.

Remember that I also provide a full image retouching service to get your portraits looking their most impressive.

thanks, here are some images from the shoot

Mark.

Free Prints.

For a limited time only I am offering the following free prints offer with confirmed wedding bookings.

Silver Wedding package £50 worth of free prints.
Gold Wedding Package £75 worth of free prints.
Platinum Wedding Package £100 worth of free prints.

This means that once you have your proofs to view after the wedding you can spend up to the respective value on prints that you will get free. No postage and packing to pay either.

This is a great promotion and I hope you will take advantage of it.

This offer of course accompanies having Xpect Photography as the official photographer at your wedding. Excellent value for money already and with a service and commitment that is second to none.

I look forward to hearing from you soon to take advantage of this special promotion. To view the full wedding package options and to view more images visit Xpect Photography, Professional Wedding photographer, South Wales.

Mark.

You Tube Slideshows

Hello everyone. This is a reminder to those that already know and new information for those that don’t. I have uploaded onto You Tube, several slideshows of images from wedding and portraits. More will be uploaded at regular intervals.

These slide shows are an example of the style I use to make the the ones that you can order via my web site of your own wedding or portrait session. For the internet the music is Royalty Free. While the royalty free music samples I have chosen are very nice in their own right, there is nothing like getting your favourite songs to accompany your images. I am licensed to use copyrighted music so you can have the songs that mean something to you.

Many brides and grooms for example, usually ask for their first dance song to be included in the slide show.  The slide shows I create for customers are designed and produced to the highest standard and a great deal of thought is given to what images go where and how to synchronize them to the music. It is a very creative process resulting in a high standard and totally unique product. They can run from around 7 minutes, up to sometimes 20 minutes, depending on the number of available images and nature of the commission.

You can view my You Tube page here http://www.youtube.com/user/xpectphotography .

Wedding at Lake Vyrnwy Hotel, North Wales.

On Sunday the 3rd of May 2009, I was privaleged to be the photographer at the wedding of Louise and James, now Mr and Mrs Palmer, which took place at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel in North Wales.

I am based in Cardiff, South Wales, so the day started early with Sandra, my partner and assistant setting off at 6 am, with a schedule to arrive at the Lake Vyrnwy Hotel to start work at 10 am.

The journey would take 3 hours but we allowed an hour to cater for any unforseen circumstances. I had previously visited the Hotel in February to meet Louise and James after they accepted my quotation and I had spent a good hour and a half chatting with them, reviewing the location and getting through the paper work. On my arrival I introduced myself to the Hotel Wedding co ordinator and went off to see Louise and James who were at opposite ends of the Hotel in their respective rooms. 

Although I had arrived almost an hour early I felt it would re assure them to know that I had arrived and I then spent some time visiting the ceremony room where I took photographs of anything pertinant. 

At 10 am I began what was a very long day as I had been booked to work through to the fireworks at night with a finish time of 11 pm. The weather was on the whole not bad but we did get a bit of a scare with a few showers and the wind meant some creative thinking to keep Louise’s veil under control.

All the images from the day can be found on my web site at Xpect Photography and you will find a few examples at the end of this entry.

Louise and James had given quite a priority to the photography of their day and along with a willingness to try out my creative ideas they had also set aside a couple of hours between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast for me. They had sent me an e mail with a list of not only the groups they wanted, but also the names of everyone in each group. This made the whole process run smoothly and all I had done to aide the group shots was to arrange them in such an order that people would be messed about as little as possible.

As it was, everyone seemed to enjoy the experience and even laughed at a few of my jokes. Then came the portrait session alone with Louise and James. I had made a list of several locations around the hotel and grounds where I wanted to photograph them and the venue was simply wonderful. Amazing views, plush rooms and lovely grounds.

My brief from Louise and James was to take a mix of formal group shots and reportage images. It was also important that I captured every event and aspect of their day, from the small details of what they were wearing, to the meals served at the breakfast. The result is a flowing and complete record of their day.

I would like to thank Louise and James for choosing me to be their official wedding photographer which I consider an honour. I hope they enjoy the images of their day for years to come and I wish them every happiness for the future.