This elegantly modest and serene gathering was a pleasure to be part of. The atmosphere, which was quite tender at times, was also incredibly warm and welcoming to work in.

This ambience was only complimented by the equally elegant Poundon House. The resulting images are quiet and sedate, featuring the more delicate and subtle moments.

An aspect of my coverage and post production that I’m always striving to perfect is authenticity, which I personally feel that when achieved well, provides couples with a more honest and thought provoking series of images to reflect upon.

Here are just a few of my very favourites from the day.

Hi Allister

You caught so many moments! I can’t tell you how pleased we are with what you’ve created, you’ve managed to capture the day perfectly and every time we look at the images, it takes us back….and all with us barely seeing you all day!

Thank you again.

Jenny & Mark Buchanan

Here’s a little taster…

For more please visit the main site.

You have such a relaxed and professional style and this helped immeasurably from both the first time we met in the studio right up to the big day. We had given a great deal of thought as to who we would like to photograph our wedding so we were both delighted when we discovered you.

The wedding was everything we had hoped for and more and at the preview session shortly after, I couldn’t hold back the tears – the photographs are truly beautiful and captured the day perfectly.

The pictures are dramatic, tender, humorous and accurate. You’ve helped us feel at ease throughout both the wedding and our pre-wedding shoot and the results speak for themselves.

Thank you Allister for doing such a magnificent job and for helping us have the perfect day!

Pinky and Tim

I don’t usually post more than fifteen images on my blog posts, this is to help condense the information and experience and to show just my very favourites from each shoot. For a change however, and to show off the stunning Syon Park, here are a few more. Please get comfortable and feel free to comment.

There were two traditional Chinese tea ceremonies in the morning and then onto a civil ceremony at the stunning Admiral’s House in Greenwich before we headed off to the restaurant near the docklands for the evening, so plenty of locations to keep me on my toes.

It was great to see John’s family again, the last time was in May 2009 during one of his relatives weddings, so I knew I’d be in good company. I often find myself working for the same families over the years which I really do appreciate. Not only can you make more familiar, personal photography because you have more of an insight into their lives but you get to see them growing as a couple and often starting a family.

Below are just a few of my favourites.

I keep my post processing simple, apart from a few areas where I can really improve on image quality. In a sense, I aim to shoot and process to similar parameters that I encountered during my film and dark room days – a digital workflow with very traditional influences. I feel that this ensures my images stand the test of time more so than if they have too much post processing applied, or perhaps more gimmicky effects such as textures. All images featured in this post have had very simple processing applied to them, first in Lightroom and then Photoshop. Several are pretty much straight out of the camera – a testament to the power of making a good image to start with. This process of image making, in my view, hugely outweighs mediocre images taken that are then masked by often faddy post production, which will only date the images within as little as three or four years.

The image, and ultimately the moment, must be good to start with and not rely heavily on post production or ‘airbrushing’, as some people like to call it.

I documented Ciara and Will’s wedding in Glastonbury, Somerset and although it rained for the early part of the day it really made no difference at all. I’m thrilled with the images – it was an elegant and relaxed wedding at a venue I’ve now worked at on several occasions and love – Orchardliegh House. Below are a few words from the couple and some of favourites from the day.

We were struck instantly upon finding Allister’s website by the beautiful quality and personal touch of his photographs. We wanted our day reproduced authentically, in both the big and little moments. This is exactly what he does best. From first contact, we received an immediate response which was both helpful and friendly and also flexible with what he could offer, our decision was made.

When we met with Allister for the first time at his studio we were instantly made to feel welcome and at ease. He showed us some of his portfolios and talked us through his style and approach to wedding photography. We also went through all of the ideas and desires that we had for the day.

It was obvious from this meeting that, although Allister has so many ideas and concepts, he wanted to understand from us exactly what we were looking for. We both left feeling absolutely positive and extremely happy and excited about our decision. We couldn’t wait to see the images that Allister would produce on our day.

The big day arrived and we were so happy with Allister’s professionalism and ability to move through the day discretely. He was, as always, friendly and approachable and able to put everyone at ease on what was a nerve-wracking day, even helping us on occasions where we were unsure on certain formalities.

The day finally arrived for us to return to Allister’s studio to preview our photographs and we were not disappointed! In fact, they were better than we could have possibly hoped for, we will always treasure them as a beautiful and honest reminder of our day.

Thank you Allister and best wishes for everything you do in the future.

Ciara and Will

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Not only does it lend itself to great lighting but its architecturally historical interior is an advantage when framing subjects and layering up images with narrative and context. I could say I’d like to work there all the time but I don’t buy into photographers being better at venues they’re familiar with, perhaps because they’re a featured supplier there. I personally feel that shooting at many different venues, from fantastic ones like Gosfield Hall to really tricky venues such as Aston Villa football ground or a school in Bedfordshire with poor available light (covering a large Asian wedding), really keeps you on your toes and ultimately makes you more sensitive to the effects of the environment with less potential for complacency and creating a carbon copy of your previous work – a much less personal product for your customer.

In addition to the superb venue, Jane and James are incredibly nice people with complete faith in the documentary style.

For those of you following my recent ramblings regarding my Canon to Nikon switch – this is my first Nikon wedding to be on the blog. My reasons behind the switch were very justified. As with a lot of documentary style photographers I rarely use flash and this is absolutely fine for the majority of the time when you have great venues with good available light. But on the odd occasion when you don’t have these things handed to you on a plate, for instance the Asian wedding held at a school in Bedfordshire that I shot several years ago which had appallingly low levels of available light, it really does push your cameras to their limits. Unfortunately, it was during one of these very infrequent occasions that the Canon 5D Mark 2 system was ever so slightly compromised. The particular 5D issues were the high ISO noise capability and low light and contrast auto focus difficulties.

I’ve used Canon since 2002, so it was a really tough decision to make and I’m sure many other photographers out there are currently having a similar dilemma. It’s particularly hard once you’ve bought into a brand, after all, a switch of brand doesn’t just involve your bodies, you have your glass and accessories to think about too, it’s costly and there really does have to be good reasoning to justify those costs, not just kit lust. It’s also unnerving – after working with the 5d Mark 1 followed by the Mark 2 for so long I can operate them with my eyes closed, I know how to get the best out of them in different environments and ultimately I know the limitations of the camera and exactly what the RAW file is going to allow me to do during post production.

I can already hear Canon users screaming – ‘what about the 1D Mark 4!’ – a truly amazing camera and a very tempting option which I very nearly took. However, I use primes and I didn’t want to stop using primes for my documentary weddings and didn’t want to have to alter my system because of the cropped sensor on the Canon 1D Mark 4. I also didn’t want the large, 1 series body or the price tag associated with that.

I’m not going to lie either, I’m quite (very) rough with camera kit – it’s a tool as far as I’m concerned, not a set of testicles to carry around during trade shows. I’m definitely not camera club material. Whilst I know, having worked with Canon 1 series cameras in the past, both film and digital, that they’re tough, I also know that they’re not ‘Allister proof’, so more expensive to repair, service and insure – costs also factored in to my decision. The smaller professional cameras are tough enough and not too expensive to replace regularly. I could have also waited for the replacement to the 5D Mark 2, but when would that be? I’d heard several dates – all after this year’s wedding season and I needed to do the switch before a very busy May. I didn’t want to be compensating for the shortfalls of the Canon system during my 2010 work which would form my portfolio for next year.

After some trials and many conversations with Canon 1D Mark 4, Nikon D3 and D700 users (thank you, you know who you are), I went for two D700 cameras. In the end it was the obvious choice, Nikon’s equivalent to the 5D – a high quality, full frame sensor in a small, more discreet package allows me to use exactly the same set up as before – a 50mm and 24mm and no flash, only this time I have a camera that doesn’t hold me back.

However, for photographers looking for a cropped sensor or a large, professional body, I appreciate that the decision making has several more elements involved.

The Nikon D700 compared with the Canon 5D Mark 2 is much more of a photographer’s camera – it’s more intuitive, more specialised and more customisable. With the introduction of the 5D Mark 2 I felt that Canon were neglecting a large majority of it’s users, I don’t want to make HD movie footage, I want to make stills, and stills that don’t look unnaturally sharp and digital. With the recent introduction of the Canon 7D it appears that this small but professional range within the Canon lineup is going to continue to be Jack of all trades, master of none. I personally like the softer, more film like Nikon files, in fact I’m now able to get similar results to when I used to use the Nikon F100 35mm camera with Kodak and Fujifilm monochrome negative. I find the files more authentic than Canon images straight out of the camera. I also like the more sensitive metering system you get in the D700, I get much more information in the shadows straight out of camera and when I need to can fill a 3200 ISO file considerably before getting bad noise and banding. No more issues with blown highlights in the red channel either – something I will definitely not miss when photographing bands during the evening reception.

The autofocus is much more sophisticated too, operating well in much darker and often backlit and low contrast situations, in fact you get the same AF system in the D700 as the flagship Nikons – it doesn’t have a much weaker, watered down system to it’s big brother, something that can’t be said for the Canon 5D Mark 2.

The lenses were my main sticking point I had before the switch – were they going to be as good as Canon? Well, I can safely say that they are, the only lens I feel Nikon need to hurry up and produce is a 50mm 1.4 replacement, something to rival the Canon 50mm 1.2 USM. Other than that Canon and Nikon primes are so closely matched, for my style of photography anyway, that it’s simply not an issue to factor into the equation when deciding on whether to take the plunge and switch, other than the cost involved of course. The decision needs to be based on the camera system alone.

So, am I happy now that I’ve shot around ten weddings, some portraits, a couple of documentary projects and some personal work with it? Absolutely. I’m not suggesting that the system doesn’t have it’s weaker points compared to the Canon. I’m not biased and am not guilty of any ‘brand loyalty’ that I’ve discovered discussing this topic via twitter and the blog, can be a little ‘Mac or PC’. The preview screen, for instance, isn’t accurate and the compact flash card door gets pulled open by the palm of your hand, especially when using the camera one-handed, not good. However these aren’t issues that have a direct impact on image quality.

For me, the most important improvement has been that the Nikons are not at the forefront of my mind when shooting, they’re completely in the background because I know they will allow me to capture and reproduce what I see, in almost any environment. The cameras are now a seamless link in my image making process.

If you’re considering the switch, have an interest in or completely disagree with what I’ve said, I’d be interested in hearing your comments on the blog.

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“Having viewed the work of several well known photographers, my husband and I were struck by the professionalism, quality and free expression shown in Allister’s work. Warmly welcomed and instantly at ease in his company, we knew on discussing what we wanted that Allister was more than capable.

On the day of the wedding, on time and immaculately dressed, Allister, despite the pre-wedding chaos that every bride can testify to, moved discreetly around the house capturing those key tender and candid moments that will forever mean so much to my family, all the while never once making us aware of his presence.

At the church and later at the reception Allister’s diligence never faulted providing us with a truly marvellous array of photographs that we will treasure forever. Indeed Allister’s style was so relaxed that he was on several occasions mistaken for a guest which must act as testament to his unobtrusive nature.

I mean every word – we all think your fantastic!”

Wow! Thank you very much to Charlotte, Jeremy and both families. I documented their beautiful wedding in Kent recently and below are just a few of my very favourites…

For the photographers following my Canon to Nikon switch – this is the very last Canon post, watch this space for the new Nikon work…(very pleased)

The aim of my completely tailored, one-to-one wedding photography tuition and business training is to give aspiring photographers very direct and appropriate advice, hence the one-to-one training. I’m not looking to spend the day showing photographers how to suck eggs – my photography tuition is aimed at giving completely individual advice where required – effectively you get to ask me anything you want but in addition I will be thoroughly assessing your business – from creating a strong, distinctive style through to getting deposits – from the foundations up. This allows me to then offer my advice constructively and with explanation by breaking down all elements in a logical and thorough fashion. Most importantly however, you will leave the studio with a sense of direction, knowing that you’re going to be managing your future time and effort effectively. My aim is to give aspiring photographers the correct building bricks to make a long lasting, profitable business and to show people how all elements of a wedding photography business work together. What I am not offering is wedding photography lessons. This is a specialist, individual focus on an individual basis, not a crash course in taking photos but a comprehensive construction and concise guidance for you and your business philosophy and aspirations, and is designed to succeed.

“Hi Allister

Just dropping you an email to say how good it was to meet you and to thank you for the advice and inspiration that you provided. I now realise how all of the aspects of business interlink and have a much better idea of how I can raise the profile of my wedding photography business and actually make something from it! To say that the fog has been lifted would be an understatement!

I hope you are well and again, thank you very much for your advice.”

Chris Burnell

Twitter: @cburnellphoto “Big thanks to @allisterfreeman for an interesting, thought provoking and throughly shattering day! Recommended to anyone though. Brilliant!”

Chris has been a pleasure to get to know, he spent the day at the studio last Friday and we went through his entire approach; from camera and technical advice through to marketing strategies worth investing time and money in. A few of the areas in brief that we comprehensively worked through are

• Camera and lens technical advice
• Creating and defining a unique wedding photography style that will stand the test of time
• Wedding photography – from making professional documentary wedding photographs through to taking formal group shots and insuring they work within your coverage
• Workflow – editing your images and defining a post production style that will compliment and finish your work
• Marketing, brand building and PR – generate work online and offline, paid and for free – run your business with the most appropriate, cost effective and ultimately profitable marketing techniques
• Wedding packages – appealing packages that have the correct products from the correct suppliers, designed with costs, business growth and development in mind
• Business strategies – pulling all elements together to make a successful, profitable wedding photography business that appeals to it’s target customer

To book a one-to-one training session simply get in touch via the main website – Wedding Photography Tuition, Training and Advice

Just a few images this week with another full wedding feature to follow very shortly…below are just a few of my very favourites from some recent weddings and a few words from some nice people.

“We really can’t thank you enough for our beautiful wedding photographs. You captured our wedding day perfectly and we couldn’t have wished for more amazing photography. We were so lucky with the weather and the late March sunshine brought a warmth and glow to all of us”

“The slide show just amazingly brings back all our memories on that day. We would like to thank you again for the sterling quality of your documentary style wedding photography (and to Joshua as well!). We absolutely love it!”

For those of you that have been following my Canon to Nikon switch with interest, these are the first Nikon images to be posted on the blog. I couldn’t be more pleased with how easy to use the Nikons are, the switch over has been more natural than anticipated, testament to a good system, a system that I’ve now found to be more suited to my style of shooting than Canon ever was and will, I’m sure, take my portfolio up another notch in my development as a photographer. Continually looking for better ways to produce images should be a constant in all photographers’ careers.

I can now operate the camera above 3200 ISO without being concerned about my images looking overly digital. Asides from a few subtle differences such as the metering, it’s been an easy transition. I feel that I’ve found a true photographers’ camera in the Nikon, where my equivalent Canon was split between stills and HD video.

We spent a couple of hours at this very sedate protest, really pushing the Nikon for weaknesses. Below are just a few of my favourites, all made using the new Nikon 16 – 35 f4 wide open and mostly at 24mm and 35mm.

Feel free to comment.