Verity’s Top Ten Photographs!

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Hi Everyone,

I have finally chosen my Top Ten Photographs from the last 2 years. Its been such a hard decision and I am sure I could have changed a few a million times! I wanted to choose ones that mean something to me and have affected how I have progressed. We have covered so many lovely weddings it was so much fun to look back at them all. We are so proud and happy to have accomplished what we have in 2 years and would like to thank every bride and groom for making us feel so welcome on their special day. It was not an easy decisoin and I am sure that in a few months we will have so many more to add, we will be doing some more themed Top Ten posts to celebrate our achievement and I hope they aren’t all as hard to finalise as this one was!

Hope you all enjoy the photos!

This photography was from one of the first weddings Chris and I did. Laura and James were such a lovely couple, their families and guests made us feel so welcome, we still talk about this wedding today! This was Laura and her Maid of Honour arriving at the church, the perfect time to get those excited and nervous expressions! When we got home after their wedding we looked through their whole days shoot and when I got to this one I was so excited. This was the photo that made my passion for wedding photography grow even stronger, it was the one that inspired me to be even more creative and want to aim for the best. It’s hard to always convey how I take photos and to prove that they are natural, but this moment lasted only a second and would be impossible to pose! I still look back at this photo and it reminds me of where it all began, its one of my favourites and probably the most important in my photography journey.

I love doing preparation shots in the morning of the wedding day, it’s the only part of the day the couples don’t spend together and one of the most important mornings of their life! The getting ready stage is a huge part of the day, its exciting and always brings those nervous butterflies to life. Sharon and Stephen were another lovely couple and this shot from the morning is one of my favourite Bride shots ever. After Sharon had her make-up and hair done she looked out of the window for a second, I saw the opportunity and am still so happy with how it turned out. This one (like all) is completely un-posed, and I think you can tell in her expression. During the morning there is always a time when the Bride and Groom take a second to think of their big day ahead, you can really tell how in love they are and just being able to capture that precious moment is an honour. I love this photograph!

Corinna and David got married in the center of our home city Leeds. I love the more unique and interesting locations, art is where I began my photography career and I love being able to translate that into weddings! They wanted to go for a quick couple shoot in the city center, they walked ahead of me and I just saw this in my head and thought “YES!”. Its one of my favourite photographs of a bride and groom, it shows them in a real situation, and proves that you don’t always need the impressive backdrop! Moments like this are hard to capture and I am so proud of how it represents my style of photography.

Although this one is a bit more, I guess “weddingy” than the others it is still natural and un-posed, it also symbolises a huge milestone in mine and Chris’s career. Anne and Andrew became our 100th wedding earlier this year. It’s hard to think that in just 2 years we have covered over 100 weddings! It was such an honour to be a part of Anne and Andrew’s day, they were so happy and in love, it was a pleasure to capture their wedding. We will never forgot this wedding and this photograph to me captures their romance perfectly. I look forward to the next 100!

Mark and Rebecca got married at Allerton Castle last year, such an impressive venue but what really stood out to me was Rebecca’s dress. I love seeing all the amazing wedding dresses when I come for the bridal preparation in the morning, and getting the perfect photo of your dress is my aim every time. This was Rebecca getting into her dress as her mum was doing it up at the back, the way Rebecca had her hand on her dress with the engagement ring was just perfect. I can’t believe that I managed to get this photograph without positioning or saying anything! It was one of those magical moments that I just love. It’s still one of my favourites and one that will probably never happen again!

I have been visiting Harewood House since a young age, my father is a wildlife artist and used to exhibit there regularly, I used to love helping out and Harewood House was the most beautiful building I had ever seen. The grounds are amazing, with Red Kites circling the skies its my favourite House around! Never did I think that one day I would be back at Harewood House to photograph a wedding. To me it was a dream come true, it was the prefect fairytale wedding and Kyra and Stuart made the perfect Bride and Groom. I also wanted to make sure I did it justice, and when I got to this photograph of Kyra preparing to walk up the aisle in Harewood House’s All Saints Church I was thrilled. Capturing this wedding really made me look back at how far Chris and I have come in 2 years, Harewood House to me is the dream location and this wedding meant so much to me.

The first dance is such an amazing time to photograph, normally the couples are extremely nervous about dancing in front of their guests but when the music starts they forget all about who’s watching, and for those few minutes its just them. Claire and Tony had planned for some paper streams to be set off during their first dance, so I was anticipating when it would happen and am so glad I managed to capture it! I loved Claire and Tony’s expression in this photograph it captures their excitement and happiness and is still one of my favourite first dance photographs I’ve taken!

Chris and Emily’s wedding was also a really important milestone in our 2 years of business. They were a young, unique couple so we instantly got on well from our first meeting. They got married in Leeds Town Hall on the 1st of April – good job none of us were superstitious! When they exited the Town Hall and the confetti was thrown a huge gust of wind trapped the confetti in mid-air for a good 5 minutes! Everyone was in awe and it looked like it was snowing, it was a complete one-off. I loved this photograph, it has an almost first dance like quality and created a dream like scene! We were so happy with their whole’s day photography and even though it was one of our earlier weddings we have only taken it down of the website a few months ago! It still is a really good example of how Chris and I approach wedding photography and will always stand out to us.

This photograph is actually from the wedding we covered last Saturday! I am glad I waited a while before doing this post or else I wouldn’t have been able to include this one! Cheryl and Steven were one of the nicest couples we’ve had the pleasure of photographing. They were relaxed and friendly and having opted to upgrade to the preparation shots at last-minute we wanted to make it really worth it for them! Cheryl looked amazing in her dress and as I watched her come down the stairs I couldn’t stop clicking away, when I saw this one I was so happy! The reflection in the mirror and her expression is just perfect, this was the time she was beginning to feel a little nervous and I think this photograph just freezes that moment in time. It’s probably my favourite bride to be shot I have taken and I can’t wait to share with you the rest from all the recent weddings we have covered.

This year we had the opportunity of photographing a Gothic Wedding at Kirkstall Abbey, Leeds. Chris and I often drive by Kirkstall Abbey and have always said to each other how amazing it would be to photograph a wedding there. We became even more excited when this came a reality and not only that but to have a Gothic themed wedding at this venue was even better! It was the one wedding where thunderstorms and rain showers would not have been such a bad thing! Corin and Teresa were a lovely couple who wanted to make their day unique to them. Teresa chose a untraditional red dress and black veil and Corin had diamonte skulls as button holes., this combined with the impressive Abbey was too good to be true! I envisioned them walking down this path with the light shinning through the alcoves so vividly in my head and when it happened I was not disappointed. Although they appear in the distance here, Teresa’s dress is so stand out that it works on its own. We love living in Leeds and its so nice to be able to photograph someone’s special day in places that we have been visiting ourselves for the past few years.

I hope you have enjoyed reading about my Top Ten Photographs, they all mean so much to me and have helped me progress into the photographer I am today. I don’t want to ever stop trying to get those impressive one-off shots it’s where my passion is. I am so excited as to where Sansom Photography can go and after the 2 years Chris and I have had its only made our enthusiasm and ambition stronger. I can’t wait for the next 100 and in the meantime I will try to get Chris to finalise his decision on his Top Ten!! We have many more weddings and engagement shoots to upload very soon so make sure you check back regularly!

- Verity

If you would like to know more about Leeds Wedding Photographers Sansom Photography then please visit our website on www.sansomphotography.co.uk for more example of our uniqe reportage wedding photography.