Sam & Ayal's Wedding Pre Shoot in Kenwood.
There are some couples who make photographing them remarkably easy. Sam and Ayal are definitely one of them.
Ahead of their wedding this December at Finchley Reform Synagogue, we spent a beautiful autumn afternoon wandering through the grounds of Kenwood House for their pre-wedding shoot.
One of the things I love about a pre-wedding shoot is that there really isn’t an agenda. There’s no ceremony to get to, no guests waiting and no wedding-day timetable ticking away in the background. It’s simply an opportunity to spend some time together, get comfortable in front of the camera and, most importantly, have some fun.
Sam and Ayal certainly did that.
We started by simply walking through the grounds, talking and stopping whenever the light or surroundings caught my eye. It didn’t take long before they seemed to forget about the camera altogether. What came through was the wonderful warmth and love between them — the way they look at each other, make one another laugh and are completely at ease together.
Kenwood gave us a fantastic backdrop. From the woodland paths and enormous old trees to the softer autumn light filtering through the leaves, every few minutes seemed to offer somewhere new to photograph.
There were some beautifully quiet moments, some very romantic ones and, as you can probably tell from the photographs, quite a lot of laughter. By the time we reached the stage of climbing around trees and throwing handfuls of autumn leaves into the air, any suggestion that this was going to be a serious photoshoot had well and truly disappeared!
That is exactly what I strive for in these sessions. The photographs should look like the people in them — not two people who have been carefully positioned and told how to smile.
For Sam and Ayal, that meant affection, laughter, a little mischief and a very obvious closeness and love between them.
Their December wedding at Finchley Reform Synagogue will have a completely different atmosphere: winter rather than autumn, family and friends around them, the ceremony, the celebrations and all the emotion that comes with a wedding day.
After spending this afternoon with them, I’m even more excited to photograph it.
See you both in December, Sam & Ayal. I have a feeling it’s going to be a very special day.
