East Sussex Wedding Photographer: Black and White Bridal Portraits
East Sussex Wedding Photographer, Peter Prior has been shooting weddings all over the UK and beyond for 24 years. Over the years he has seen the way weddings are photograph change almost beyond recognition!
“When I started out, good wedding photographers were few and far between and then almost all of them shot in the same old static way. Of course we shot on film cameras, usually manual focusing medium format cameras from a tripod. We also had 12 or possibly 15 shots per roll of film and then processing film and having it printed to a professional standard was very expensive, so its was easy to see why almost every shot was highly controlled and planned.
I was very fortunate to be taken under the wing of one of the top wedding photographers in the South of England and by carrying his bags and watching and listening (not shooting) I was able to learn all about the way a wedding unfurled, how he related to his couples and how to work under pressure in all sorts of situations. This experience was invaluable and, of course, I learned how to see light and pose brides easily and effortlessly.
When I stared my business, I took onboard all of the tools and experience that John had given me and then added my twist. Back then, almost no one was shooting black white film and certainly not documentary, natural images at a wedding. I wanted to offer both my now signature black and white atmospheric and relaxed images as well as some high quality portraits of the bride and groom, and also cover the family groups they wanted without taking over (and ruining) their day.
This has enabled me to build and continue to run a very personal and successful wedding photography business, that is constantly evolving to ensure that both my images and me remain fresh and highly motivated in an ever changing world. Couples still search me out purely on recommendation which is always the greatest compliment I can receive.
Very few modern day wedding photographers know how to elegantly pose and flatter brides without fuss or see “the light”. They often hide behind shooting “natural images” and resorting to cheap presets to give their images a “vintage” or “high contrast and muddy” look. They haven’t had the opportunities I had to learn about exposure, posing and lighting and this is what makes my work stand apart. I am well know for my natural, documentary black and white photos as I said above, but also for my no fuss and effortless way I create and produce elegant, almost classical style portraits and family groups without taking too long.
I thought that I would use this post of share a few recent black and white bridal portraits on my Blog.”
You can view my wedding portfolio on my website here or my Facebook and Instagram pages. You can also view my portrait portfolio here.