Here comes the summer!

It's been a great few months, with lots of atmospheric, winter weddings and the opportunity for Jay to finally try snowboarding in Scotland (he was naturally very impressed)!

But much as we love winter, we're really excited about spring and summer. We've got some fantastic weddings coming up, in great venues and with lovely people. It's going to be an amazing time.

I've pulled an old favourite from our archives today to set the scene for summer. Brighton-based photographer Rosie married Dan on Camusdarach Beach, near Arisaig in June 2007. It was a beautiful day and this shot of Rosie and her son, Sammy is one of my all time favourites...

To view the full wedding in Real Life Weddings magazine click here

Scottish MPA Awards

We were celebrating last night after one of Jay's wedding photographs won a a Certificate of Merit at the Scottish Master Photographers Association's annual awards night.

The awards ceremony was held in North Queensferry and was attended by many of Scotland's top photographers.

The day-long event included seminars by two of the UK's leading social photographers, Bella West FMPA and Simon John FMPA. It was really interesting to hear how they developed their very distinctive photography styles.

Jay was awarded a Certificate of Merit in recognition of "outstanding achievement for originality and technical excellence" in the Contemporary Wedding category. The image was taken at a wedding at Fingask Castle last August.

As always it was a great social event and it was fantastic to catch up with old friends. We'd like to thank the organisers for all their hard work and congratulate all the award winners on their well-deserved success.

The Master Photographers Association is the UK's only trade body exclusively for full-time professional wedding, portrait and commercial photographers. The association has 1,800 fully qualified members throughout the UK.

Below is Jay's image...

Victoria & Robert - St Mary's R.C. Cathedral & The Balmoral, Edinburgh - Scottish wedding photography

What a wonderful day we had on Saturday! We photographed the wedding of Victoria and Robert - a fantastic couple with great friends and family, who all welcomed us into their celebrations for the day.

Victoria and Robert met at high school and are currently based in Boston. After spending a day in their company we can understand exactly why their friends and family speak so highly of them.

The morning began at The Balmoral, where Victoria and her bridesmaids were getting ready in the hotel's gorgeous suites. The girls had their tunes on and the champagne (and gin!) all helped add to the great atmosphere.

After taking a peek at Victoria's dress (stunning!), I left Jay with the girls and headed over to The Scotsman where Robert and the boys were congregating and enjoying a toast of their own. Apart from one or two small mishaps (codeword - white socks...) all was well!

The sun was shining as we arrived at St Mary's R.C. Cathedral, although it was still bitterly cold. The four bridesmaids looked gorgeous in their brightly-coloured dresses and their contrasting bouquets were lovely.

Victoria looked absolutely beautiful in her jewelled, strapless gown. Her cathedral length veil and tiara were the perfect finishing touches.

After a lovely service and some photographs in the cathedral we headed up to the Old Town. Victoria and Robert had opted to brave the cold weather (there was a short snow flurry along the way!) to get some outdoor shots, and it was well worth it. They were fantastic to work with, committing completely to the shoot, and the four of us had a great time.

Then it was on to a warm welcome at The Balmoral, where Victoria and Robert's family and friends were waiting to welcome them. As always the team at The Balmoral did an amazing job, and the Holyrood Suite looked amazing. It was also great to work once more with toastmaster Morris Manson, who ensured that everything ran smoothly and that everyone was well looked after.

After some great speeches and the wedding breakfast, we borrowed the happy couple and explored the hotel for a few more photographs. We happened to pass a baby grand piano and, after a bit of gentle encouragement, Victoria sat down and began to play. We were all a bit speechless at this point (she plays incredibly well!) and Robert looked so proud - it was another highlight of an amazing day!

Then it was time for the party to begin in earnest, with Victoria and Robert opening the dancing with Nat King Cole's Let There Be Love.

It was the perfect ending to a beautiful day.

Victoria and Robert, thank you for inviting us to share in your very special day. We wish you all the love, laughter and happiness in the world. Have an amazing time on honeymoon in the Maldives and we can't wait to show you the rest of your photographs when you get back.

If you would like to comment on the photographs or leave a message for Robert & Victoria, please click on the link below.

Venues - St Mary's R.C. Cathedral & The Balmoral Hotel, Edinburgh
Bridal gown by Alan Hannah at Alma Ogilvie
Flowers by Lily West Florist
Hair & Make-up by Pride
Cars - Ecosse Classic Cars
Toastmaster - Morris Manson
Band - Crossroads
Photography by Elemental Weddings

First dance - Wedding photography Scotland

The theme for our final instalment of favourite images from 2008 is the first dance. This is such a wonderful part of the wedding day and is (again!) one of our favourite moments to photograph (we know, we have a lot of favourites!).

Aside from ceilidh dancing, Jay does his best to avoid the dancefloor at all times. On our wedding day, rather than do an awkward shuffle, we decided to book some lessons with Felicity Drever of Learn 2 Wedding Dance and make the first dance another highlight of the day.

We picked Frank Sinatra's 'I've got you under my skin' - an absolute classic that we both love. Neither of us knew quite what to expect when we went for our very first lesson, but Felicity was so warm and funny, and immediately put us at ease.

We spent the whole of the first lesson giggling and stepping on each others' toes, but after a few more sessions we were swirling and twirling and even dipping!

We kept our dance lessons a secret and it went down a storm with our family and friends. It's great to think that no matter where we are in the world, whenever 'I've Got You Under My Skin' plays we will always remember that first dance feeling (not to mention look like we know what we're doing!).

For anyone considering first dance lessons, we would highly recommend it!

And now on with the show...

St Cyrus beach - Scottish landscape photography

Yesterday we spent the afternoon wandering St Cyrus beach and enjoying the great weather. The light was wonderful and the beach was near empty, so it was lucky I dragged along all my gear with me!

Here are a few photos, which will be featuring on my new landscape and fine art photography website. Watch this space for more information!

Jay