Steve George Photography Blog

Amanda & James wedding, Firle Church and English Wine Centre at Alfriston

Steve — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 06:27:12 +0000

Amanda and James booked me for their wedding a long time ago, something I recommend to every couple, whichever photographer they are booking!

They are the kind of couple it’s impossible not to warm to the moment you meet them and I knew how special and emotional their big day was going to be. I started the day taking photographs of Amanda getting ready at the beautiful English Wine Centre in Alfriston before heading to Firle for some photographs of James and then the ceremony at the gorgeous Church of St Peter in Firle. After the ceremony there were ice cream cones for all the guests then back to the English Wine Centre for the wedding breakfast and a great night of entertainment.

There are a few of their photographs of the day and the truly lovely couple below. If you’re getting married at the English Wine Centre or anywhere else in the Lewes, Alfriston or surrounding area and you’re looking for a wedding photographer do drop me a line!

All photographs (c) Steve George 2010 www.stevegeorgephotography.co.uk

The dress being buttoned

A quiet moment

James on his way to the church

Signing the register 1

Signing the register 2

Confetti

Leaving the church grounds

Portrait

At the English Wine Centre, Alfriston

Garden portrait

First dance 1

First dance 2

Sunrise this morning / Photo of the Day number 22

Steve — Sun, 05 Sep 2010 06:42:57 +0000

I like getting out onto hills and mountains whenever I can…that, combined with an inability to sleep much after 4am at the moment has had me up on the hills surrounding Lewes recently to watch the sun come up. The sunrise the past couple of mornings has been lovely with a low mist over the fields and the Ouse – a couple of shots from this morning below. An ND Grad filter was used to bring the sky down.

All photographs copyright (c) Steve George 2010 www.stevegeorgephotography.co.uk

Sunrise over the Ouse 1

Sunrise over the Ouse 2

Using an older lens – first few photos / Photo of the Day number 21

Steve — Sat, 04 Sep 2010 16:48:35 +0000

I’m absolutely not a photography gear geek. I used to be, but having established what I believe I need to do the best job I can for my clients (full frame Canon’s and fast L primes for the record) I now no longer pay any more than a cursory glance to developments in camera technology. I think the lenses will probably outlast me and each body can be upgraded as necessary and at that point I’ll look into it more. As a result when people ask me for camera buying advice they are generally met with a blank look. That’s not to say there aren’t some things I’d like but until I can justify them from a business perspective it’s money better spent elsewhere!

If I do have an equipment geekery vice however it is for old and vintage equipment. With modern lenses developed to near clinical image perfection and photography magazines obsessing about sharpness over and above everything else there is something hugely appealing about the intangible quality of the way old equipment can render light. There can also be something near meditative about the process of using a 70 year old camera picked up in a car boot sale and all of the simplicity and thought that useage entails after using a precision engineered, multicoated, autofocussing, £1000 lens and a camera with greater processing power than the rockets that took humankind to the moon.

I’m not saying anything is better than anything else – it’s just different and what appeals to me or suit my purposes may not appeal to anyone else.

When I talk about the old equipment I occasionally use that covers everything from a Kodak Autographic 1A made in 1914 that I converted to take 6×9 negatives for a trip to South America to my most recent purchase, which arrived yesterday. This lens is nearly 50 years old, has a couple of fungus spots on the front element, but mounted on a digital body I like the look it gives – clean, sharp in the middle, with quite a big drop off in sharpness towards the edges when used wide open (ie. not just a depth of field sharpness fall off). I’ve only had a short amount of time to play with it in town – photos below – but it’s looking good and I’m looking forward to using it a great deal more! All photos taken around Lewes to test the lens in a variety of situations and no artistic value or merit is ascribed to any of the shots!

All photographs copyright (c) Steve George www.stevegeorgephotography.co.uk

Bible

Candles

Bench

Through the Barbican gate

Photo of the Day number 20

Steve — Fri, 03 Sep 2010 06:04:23 +0000

This was taken from near the top of Snowdon in Wales, looking back down the path we’d just walked up. It was taken with a standard digital compact so nothing fancy – a Canon Powershot that must be 4 or 5 years old now I think – my only criteria when buying it was that it should have the ability to manually override the automatic settings for just this kind of photo where the levels of contrast will easily fool the inbuilt metering of the camera.

All photographs copyright (c) Steve George 2010 www.stevegeorgephotography.co.uk

Snowdon

Photo of the Day number 19

Steve — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 05:55:37 +0000

This is the waterfall at Keld – the sun hit the spray perfectly to form the rainbow on a very snowy day in December. This photograph has been published a couple of times and sold in print form, though at the time I was taking it because I liked the look of it and had no thought of sales at all. It’s true I think, that you should do what you do because you like it, not because you hope someone else will.

Waterfall rainbow

Photo of the Day number 18

Steve — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 05:20:57 +0000

This was taken at the Barcombe bonfire procession a couple of years ago…shortly after this he started fire breathing.

Scary chap

Photo of the Day number 17

Steve — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 22:44:51 +0000

This was taken on Hove beach, East Sussex. The film was out of date and I was using an old Russian rangefinder with battered lens. This is the straight scan of the negative – I quite like the old feel to the image and the way the lens and film combination has rendered the colours.

Red boat and seagull

Photo of the Day number 16

Steve — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 21:33:28 +0000

Today’s photo of a dog on Hove beach at sunset when the tide was out was taken on Fuji Velvia slide film, on a Nikon FM2 (one of my favourite cameras) and a 35mm f2 lens I think.

Sunset, Hove

Photo of the Day number 15

Steve — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 20:23:34 +0000

Taken in Italy using, I think, a Fuji 670 medium format camera. Everywhere I looked above head height there was something in the walls of the houses. Italy is definitely a photographers dream location.

Cherub

Photo of the Day number 14

Steve — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 17:00:01 +0000

After a few black and whites in a row I decided to break the sequence today with a photo of the merry-go-round in Lille. This was taken at Christmas a good few years ago – Lille that time of year is special with the Christmas market and everything seemingly geared up to community and public spirit.

Merry Go Round