Photography by kerry

We've MOVED

2011-11-02T13:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks for stopping by! Our new blog can be viewed at www.kerrybartlett.co.uk/blog

Dorset Wedding Photography : Sherborne

2011-06-03T01:29:00.000-07:00

A carpenter by trade, the groom built a 'first dance' barn, a 'wedding breakfast' of tables and approximately eighty place-name holders. This wedding was gingham galore, with an underlying theme of footwear. A beautiful rural ceremony and a Proper country knees-up made for a spiffing day!

Scotland Wedding Photography : Greenock & Largs

2011-05-15T03:59:00.000-07:00

The majority of my wedding photography is based in the South West of England : Somerset, Dorset, Devon and Wiltshire. I do however offer wedding photography across the united Kingdom. All jobs beyond a 50 mile radius of BA16 require an overnight stay, and all jobs beyond a 25 mile radius of BA16 require additional, nominal travel charges.

Our New Assistant

2011-03-08T11:16:00.000-08:00

I took Jemimah to Bristol Harbourside this week, for a shoot full of variety. The old cranes and trains offer a very intricate, unusual backdrop to portrait photography. Along the riverside, many colours and textures are on offer - in the form of buildings, doors and other surfaces.

I have a wedding on the Bristol harbour side in May, and this shoot was excellent preparation for that. The bride and groom are very 'into' their contemporary art-based photography and these locations offer everything they could want!

All of my wedding photography clients have full rein when it comes to the style of their wedding photography. Locations of shoots can be close to the ceremony, the reception, or en-route. With time on our side, we can also go much further afield. I have a vast knowledge of fantastic 'shoot' locations within Somerset and the South West. For weddings further afield, I will always visit all venues, and their surroundings before the big day, and if some location photography is what you're after, I shall seek out some fantastic locations for your perfect day!

Somerset Civil Partnership Photography : St Audries park

2011-02-22T11:55:00.000-08:00

Sam and Stephen tied the knot on valentines day at St Audries Park, West Somerset. the grooms' eldest daughter lead the beautiful procession down the aisle, followed by the two men, hand-in-hand with their youngest daughter.

Somerset Wedding Photography : Doulting, Shepton Mallet

2011-01-27T07:06:00.000-08:00

Amanda and Charlie's wedding took place on the 18th December 2010... the day on which the Daily Mail reported "Coldest December since records began as temperatures plummet to -10C bringing travel chaos across Britain". For every wedding photogrpaher, travel is something which takes a lot of planning and thought, even on a good day. My journey to the church would take 30 mins, and knowing that snow had settled, and was predicted again that evening, I made the decision to stay with friends who live 10 minutes from the church.

My decision proved vital. As predicted, four inches fell and it was a job to dig my car out (luckily I had a willow broom on the back seat, a 'leftover' from a haloween party). My drive to the bride's house for the prep shots was dreadful. Ice was thick on every major road, and the minor roads to the house were worse still.
The service was beautiful - lit by candle light, Christmas carols for hymns and a christmas tree near the altar. The service ended at 3.30pm , by which time the outside temperature was -8C.

I had already made the decision for group photographs to take place indoors; Outside the snow was too deep for ladies' shoes and too cold for standing still. A decision I didn't take lightly. Fortunately the church was grand in it's archetecture and romantic with the candle light and bare stone walls.

There are always to be compromises on winter weddings when the elements close in. Sadly some guests chose not to risk driving to the reception. The journey was again tretcherous, the reception at the bottom of a steep quarry hill. For those who made it, a warm welcome, flowing drinks, gorgeous rustic fayre and a lively deilidh band awaited weary travellers.

Somerset Wedding Photographer : The Longhouse, Bruton

2010-11-29T07:21:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I exhibited at the wedding fair held in The Longhouse in Bruton (Longhouse Weddings). I was delighted to be associated with their wedding fair as they share my own environmental and local values.

My range of hand made wedding albums (Talullah Albums) attracted much attention at the fair and I received some wonderful comments from those who attended. The albums are made with great care and skill, and each one is designed and finished to suit the photographic story that it holds among it's pages.

I also showcased the Guestbox, offering a free photo shoot to anyone willing to 'don a moustache and glasses. The Guestbox proved very popular and some cracking shots were produced. It was lovely to meet many wonderful 'to-be-weds', and to share my passion with them.

Clockwise from Left: Guestbox props; a silver-themed album; a branded mug(yet to collect full set); wedding themed props at my stand.

That's me!... along with my stand, camera and exceptionally long lens. Inlaid; a slate advertising free photos!

Guest Photo 'Booth' available now - The Guestbox by Kerry

2010-09-14T06:05:00.000-07:00

Somerset Wedding Photograph : The Batch Hotel, Lympsham

2010-07-20T03:10:00.000-07:00

Fiona and Shaun's vibrant outdoor ceremony set the tone for a wonderful summer. Set at The Batch House Hotel in Lympsham, N. Somerset, hot pink bridesmaids brught a wonderful punch of colour against the blues and greens of the warm June day.

The bride and maids prepared themselves for the big day with a pampering stay at Cannington Grange near Bridgwater, before heading to Lympsham for the wedding and reception.

The outdoor ceremony was beautiful, and a very special occurrence in England. We have plenty of warm sunny days in the year, but planning an outdoor event can be daunting, an there is sadly always the need for a carefully planned back-up option.

The grounds and gardens at The Batch Country House offer plenty of features and landscapes for wedding photography.

Fortunately the weather held out, but not for long! The clouds rolled in and the temperature dropped just as we were finishing the group photographs.

Somerset Wedding Photography : St Audries Park

2010-05-12T08:18:00.000-07:00

The 23rd April saw Tanya and Andrew tie the knot at St Audries Park, West Quantoxhead, Somerset. The weather held out all day, offering the grounds as well as the house for champagne, canapes, croquet and plenty besides (presumably not all beginning with the letter 'C', although they did throw a casino into the festivities!!

Bridal Promo Shoot

2010-01-26T12:05:00.000-08:00

Last week I knocked out some new promo material for the forth-coming wedding fair. A few of my faves deserved a bit of blog space. I like to encourage my brides to make the most out of the money and effort they've put into their weddings. Where possible we'll go off alone and shoot some 'modelled' photography around the grounds of the reception venue. This often offers great natural and man-made features which can be used in the composition of the shot.

Veils and other accessories really enhance an already beautiful, but sometimes quite ordinary bridal portrait

For more information on my work, visit Kerry Bartlett Photography or the by Kerry. album 'sister site'.

Somerset Wedding Photography : Chalice Well, Glastonbury

2010-01-15T14:16:00.000-08:00

I was honoured to be asked to cover a blessing at the Chalice Well in Glastonbury. Spiritual blessing/hand-fasting photography requires a different point-of-view (excuse the pun) to traditional wedding photography. Fortunately my flexible, candid style lent itself well to adapting to the variety of blessings taking place during the morning of Julie and Paul's blessing.

Due to the early (8.00am) start, and the canopy of trees that encompass the Chalice Well Gardens, available light was at a premium and my two prime lenses worked very hard for me.

Julie specifically wanted me to capture nature's presence at The Chalice Well Gardens in their photographs.

Celebrations took place in the meeting house, located at the gardens. The dining hall was adorned with an 'English country garden' theme and splashes of shocking pink.

Paul and Julie treated their guests to three sumptuous celebratory meals throughout the weekend of their blessing.

Somerset Wedding Photography : Midsomer Norton

2009-10-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

The Centurion Hotel in Midsomer Norton was the setting for Zoe & Jason's knot-tying adventures...

Digital Vs Film

2009-07-26T11:23:00.000-07:00

Honestly? I might as well be comparing a quill and a Biro. There is no competition. I love the surprise, the craft of processing and the exclusivity of film. Sadly, not even my passion for film could keep me far enough away from digital photography. My story of betrayal began with the imminent birth of my (now two year old) son. I knew that with a young baby in tow, ‘darkroom time’ would be a luxury that i was too impatient to wait for. Digital photography opened my eyes to a world where I could spend all day shooting and processing imagery whilst completing those everyday chores of breast-pumping, nappy-changing delight. Two years later my photography business is picking up pace, something I could have only dreamed of with a baby and a darkroom.

Did the advent of digital photography level the playing field make it easy for anyone to take great pictures and shun the need for a photographer? Definately not. When digital photography first appeared the quality did not match that of film photography. This created a ‘tutorial period’ where film photographers were able to grasp the digital basics in their spare time. Although Joe public was able to learn the skill of digital from scratch, it didn’t take long before the quality was sufficient for professional photographers to take the reins and raise the bar in terms of photographic, technical and creative ability.

Take wedding photography for example: In 1995, your average wedding photographer would shoot between 50 and 80 frames at any given wedding, of which 40 may be offered as proofs to the client. Compare this with your average 2009 wedding photographer shooting between 200 and 800 frames at any given wedding . The ease of processing meant that to compete with the big boys [pardon the expression] in wedding photography, it was essential for photographers to up the work load in order to satisfy the client.

Photoshop and it’s contemporaries really are very similar to darkrooms. Those unfamiliar with a darkroom may see such software as a lazy way for a photographer to manipulate an image to suit the intended criteria, whereas those familiar with a darkroom will tell you that the only real differences between the two is the speed at which Photoshop performs – and that said, shooting up to 800 frames at a wedding, is up to ten times that of a film photographer, so put simply, it is essential that Photoshop performs at speed.

Somerset Wedding Photography : Street, Walton & Ashcott

2009-06-21T13:17:00.001-07:00

Thank you to Matthew, Justine, their wonderful family and their fabulous guests for a great day yesterday. I really do have the best job in the world. Check out some faves below.

Sibling Portrait Session

2009-05-30T04:50:00.000-07:00

Last week I was asked to conduct a portrait shoot for a local couple. I took around 80 frames of their 6 month old son and 3 yr daughter. Below are a few frames from a fantastic set of proofs.

Lots Of Light

2009-05-09T02:29:00.000-07:00

With thanks to a couple of Stunners; Stina and Mark, here are some studio portraits from Thursday.

Tool-total

2009-04-19T00:27:00.000-07:00

Friday made up for my lack of 'photo du jour' so I've posted twelve gems from a 'Builder's bumcracks' party - thanks going out to Claire and the Blackmores for a fantastic shindig!

Back in the Box

2009-04-13T13:07:00.000-07:00

Hmm... As expected I've barely scraped through today's photograph. My fiancee suggested I "shoot the sunset" with my reply being "what sunset?". Not to be defeated, I wore a hole in the carpet trying to come up with an 'out-of-the-box' response to shooting the sunset. I got so far out of the box, I gave up and shot a self-portrait.

Easter Sunday

2009-04-12T05:47:00.000-07:00

These fabulous 'Easter' biscuits (I don't know what an Easter biscuit is, but I do know that these were made at Easter) were a bit of a botch job, the result however was far from botch...

3oz caster Sugar 2oz pine nuts
3oz unsalted butter 1oz Sesame seeds
2oz Self raising flour 2oz Rolled oats

All blitzed, rolled, cut and chilled for 30 mins, then baked for 20 mins at Gas 3. Job's a good'un.

Daily Dose

2009-04-12T01:33:00.000-07:00

To maintain a healthy workflow and document a bit of my life, I'm going to try and upload one photograph each day, taken on that day... I apologise now if this little feature becomes a bit ad-hoc as I'm already behind on posting my first snapshot, so without further adue, here is yesterday's washing. I'll be back soon with today's entry.

Somerset Portrait Photography : Couple Shoot

2009-04-09T03:52:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to steal an hour from 'The Delectable Ross and Christa'.

Somerset Photographer : March Model Shoot

2009-04-02T07:46:00.000-07:00

I've just been compiling a CD from a model shoot last month - posted below. The weather's preparing itself for plenty of location shoots... and not to forget the summer weddings! Watch this space!

In other news, I would like to express just how much I LOVE prime lenses! They're practically perfect in every way. I've conducted a test between my 50mm and 85mm Canon primes. The 85 is of a much more robust construction than the 50 (it has to be in order to case the heavy glass) and although the 50mm feels (and is) cheaper, performance isnt' compromised. The 10-22 doesn't really have any place in my test, but the comparison does show the lack of distortion (and yes, the distorted-looking hair in the third image is due to my subject's lack of styling, NOT the wide-angle lens!

50mm f1.8 1/200th 85mm f1.8 1/200th 10-22mm f4 1/125th

Trolley Dash

2009-03-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

The wee'un couldn't even handle a trolley dash after a very athletic swim this morning.

Somerset Photographer : Archetectural Photography

2009-03-25T06:29:00.000-07:00

A couple of the archetectural photographs I've shot for a local engineer. There are 8 buildings he specifically wanted photographed to form a portfolio of his work... they'll also be going on the office corridor walls.

Somerset Wedding Photography : Swan Hotel, Wells

2009-03-24T09:16:00.000-07:00

Laura and Darren's wedding was held at the Swan Hotel in Wells.

That'll do

2009-03-17T11:08:00.000-07:00

Another great day (don't worry, I'll stop posting great days for the sake of great days now).

Just Like That

2009-03-17T02:45:00.001-07:00

It's been such a beautiful couple of days. To think that a few weeks ago we were struggling with the pitfalls of snow when POP! it's a cockle-warming fifteen degrees without even a light breeze. Perfect weather to 'pap' my wee'un...

The First One

2009-03-15T15:09:00.000-07:00

I could sit here all night trying to write my first post. I've decided it's going to sound wooden regardless of my efforts so I'm just going to introduce myself. I'm a photographer with a hint of graphic designer.. I'm a mummy, a fiancee and head of the kitchen. Enjoy. :-)