I’ve photographed weddings at various Cripps venues over the years and have loved it every time. They put in so much work to make everything feel extra special and the spaces are stunning. So, when I found out they were opening one fifteen minutes from my house I was so excited to get to photograph there. Last month, thanks to the utterly lovely Katy and Oliver, it finally happened!
There I was, just minding my own business eating a crisp sandwich (salt and vinegar Seabrook, mayo, white bread… thanks for asking) with one hand and editing with the other when an email landed in my inbox letting me know I had been named one of Professional Photo magazine’s Top 50 British Wedding Photographers for 2021. My jaw hit the floor and my crisp sandwich nearly did too.
Hello! I ‘m Camera Hannah, a wedding photographer and filmmaker from Derbyshire, UK. I’m also a huge fan of the US Office and was supposed to be a 2020 bride and I thought why not jam the two things together? If you’re planning a wedding right now, hopefully there’ll be plenty of hashtag relatable content.
While preparing to write this post I looked back over the past few years of round up posts and my goodness, it was overwhelming. Was life really like that? All those adventures, great big sweaty hugs, hopping round here and there for destination weddings… how alien it’s all become. I felt so sad, but also so hopeful. That life is out there somewhere in the future and it’s coming back as fast as it can. If you fancy a trip down memory lane here’s a couple of previous posts you might like - 2019, 2018, 2017.
Normally, writing one of these posts can take days. I sift through tens of thousands of images and dozens of videos. My first draft normally clocks in at about three hundred photos and I try and wrestle it down to something manageable. I obsess over it. I usually shoot over forty full day weddings… this year I shot 15, most of which were very short coverage. It was a very different year and let’s just say choosing photos has been a shadow of the task it usually is.
It hasn’t all been bad of course, because I’ve had the chance to slow down for a while and spend time with my family. Months of home learning brought us all back together after an impossible year last year when my son was very ill in hospital. We had seemingly endless sunny days, discovering just how many beautiful footpaths had laid unexplored by us in the rush of normal life. Mine and Dave’s wedding was postponed, but our relationship grew stronger than before.
Hate having your picture taken? I feel you. I’ve been a photographer for ten years, shooting mainly weddings and portraits. My passion is photography, my career is built on the value of pictures… but the idea of stepping in front of a camera can fill me with dread. Over the years I can’t count the number of events where I’ve hidden from being in photos - I’ve kept a vice-like grip on my camera when people have said: “let’s get a shot of you!” I said I wanted to be the one to document things and as I tried to convince people around me that I was happy with that, I knew that I was really trying to convince myself. The sad fact is that when I look back over pictures from the happiest of times: Christmases, birthdays, trips to the beach… you’d never have known I was there. No matter how much I had that feeling of dread, no matter how much I felt self-conscious or hated the result I realised that I had to overcome it in order to avoid being the invisible woman. I can’t promise that I will take away all of your fears about being photographed in one blog post… but I’d like to share some tips that might help to build your confidence with time.
It’s been a funny year because… well… *gestures at everything*. I would never have known at the start of the year that I’d be having a forced break from being able to work. In a lot of ways, it was lovely to be able to slow down and take some time with my family. I homeschooled. I foraged wild garlic and made pesto. I put my cameras away for months.
But, it wasn’t easy. I’ve missed working so much. Not just getting to be creative but being around people and having a sense of purpose. I finally got to break the seal and do my first professional shoot since March and there was no better way to do this than a family shoot with a couple I’ve been lucky enough to work with since 2014. First on their engagement shoot, their wedding, a family shoot when they had their first baby and now with their newest arrival. Here’s a little trip down memory lane…
It’s my goal to blog more weddings this year, I have so many ready to share with you and I’m super excited to be starting with this one! Lauren and Mark got hitched in Winchester back in 2018 at the registry office, followed by a gorgeous reception at The Green Man pub. Everything was so colourful and relaxed, I was completely in my element. So… here we go and I’ll pass over to Lauren and Mark to tell you all about planning their wedding!
I’ve compiled a bumper playlist of songs you maybe haven’t heard of or thought of that you can use at your wedding! It doesn’t have to be for a first dance either, these songs would be absolutely cracking to walk down the aisle to, have as your recessional music or any dang time you want because it’s your wedding!
2019 took me all over the UK, from Edinburgh to Kent and all kinds of awesome places in between… oh and Sri Lanka! Not only did I shoot a whole host of incredible weddings, but I also got engaged! It’s taken me most of January to compile this post but finally, I’m ready to show you what I’ve been up to! 3…2…1… let’s do this!!!
Over the course of 2017 I started a new feature on my blog. Every other month I have been writing blog posts about what I've been up to... sharing work, music and stories from my life. I'm so excited to do the same throughout 2018 as it's been so helpful putting together this post... there were so many adventures that I almost forgot about, photos taken, films crafted and memories made.
It's time to blog another wedding! I have a wonderful collection of weddings from last summer to share with you over the next couple of months and I'm making a start with Sam and Roxy's colourful and sparkly celebration. It definitely cemented my love of confetti cannons and it was wonderful heading to the Lyceum theatre for their first look
“I am amazed at the depth of emotions you captured…you were completely in tune and intuitive as well as superbly talented and that is a rare combination of gifts.”
