New music on my website!

I have a new song on my website thanks to the amazing Stefanie K, called 'Sweet Love'. Stefanie who created the other popular and beautiful track 'Take What You Want' on my site, has sent me this one, which I think will be even more popular. Check it out and post some comments to let us know what you think!
www.captiv8.uk.com

Aileen & Albert, Orkney Islands Wedding

The last leg of an incredible 8 day adventure which had 5 weddings and much travelling. Weddings in Wick, Inverness, Cyprus, Inverness again and Orkney in 8 days. I love Orkney and really wish I did more work over there - need to look into that. It's such a beautiful place and the people are awesome!
So I headed over this morning on the Pentalina ferry from Gills Bay, my first time on the new boat at Gills. It was a good sailing and a much improved boat from the last one. Anyway, the couple getting married were Aileen Strutt and Albert Bruce, from Harray, and Aileen was getting ready at her parents house in Kirkwall. The wedding was at the magnificent St Magnus Cathedral in the town, which is a superb wedding venue. The bridal party and immediate family went out to Earls Palace at Birsay for the photography session, which was a load of fun! The reception was back at Harray Hall, where I joined the party for dinner, speeches (very entertaining), and the dance.

I had arranged to stay over in Kirkwall on the Saturday night, and photograph the post wedding party at Aileen and Albert's house on Sunday, so since I was there we decided to do the quickest-after-the wedding Post Wedding Shoot ever in the morning!

We headed out with plans to shoot at the more famous Ring of Brodgar, but I spotted the Stenness Stones on our way across and decided they were ideal, and less busy with tourists. It wasn't the best day, very windy and had been raining, but it was MY kind of day :) Gloomy skies, and loads of mood. I was delighted with what we got in a short time, and then we headed back for barbecue and party at their home. Late afternoon I headed off to the ferry after a great weekend, but absolutely knackered!

Annabel and Mike, Inverness Wedding

After arriving back from Cyprus on Thursday night, I had the wedding of Annabel Sall and Mike Bain, who are from Aberdeen, well Mike is actually originally from Thurso but lives in Aberdeen now. I did a pre wedding shoot with the couple and Annabel's lovely horse, Reggie, a couple of weeks previously, and was really looking forward to this one as these were two new venues for me. The ceremony was in Inverness Cathedral, which I'd never been in before, with the reception at the fantastic Aldourie Castle - the first wedding held at this venue. The day began with preparation shots at the castle before we drove into the city to the cathedral. When we came out it was pouring rain which was a bit disappointing, but it was just a bit showery, with nice sunny spells in between. It meant just having to grap opportunities to go outside whenever they arose, which is never ideal but it worked out great. We even managed to get a quick 5 minute shoot in an old burial ground on the castle estate between courses at dinner! The whole day was fantastic, with a great atmosphere, which was capped off with an amazing finale, where Mike surprised Annabel at the first dance, as a take That tribute band suddenly appeared on stage singing 'Greatest Day'. It was a great and fitting end to a lovely day. Thanks guys, for being such great sports!

Caroline & Richard Wedding Photography in Cyprus!

I was lucky enough to be flown out to Cyprus to shoot the wedding of Inverness couple Caroline Gannon and Richard Davidson. I was in Paphos in April shooting and it was hot but this was a whole new version of the word hot! I was only over for a couple of days so didn't get much time to enjoy the island this time, and spent most of my only day off on various buses travelling around Coral Bay and Paphos due to some dodgy information dished out at my hotel about where to go to meet Richard and Caroline, but we eventually managed to meet up and visit the venues. They were staying at the Aquamare Hotel and Spa in Paphos, and that's where the day started, with the getting ready pictures. We then had a 30 minute taxi ride (which I slept for 27 minutes of) up to the wedding venue - the magnificent Coral Beach Hotel & Resort up at Coral Bay. They got married at the hotels own Ampitheatre, which was lovely but had no shade so boy was it warm! It was a small family wedding, and I really enjoyed it, and had some great laughs with everyone and some great memories. At sunset we went down to the rocks and jetty below the hotel for some pictures before eventually heading back to Paphos. I had to fly back the next day for my next wedding so it really was a quick visit, but once again I really loved Paphos and will return soon again!

The couple had their reception back home in Inverness a week later in the Lochardil Hotel and I was back there for the fun!

Thanks to Caroline and Richard for taking me out there and letting me be part of it, and thanks to all the rest of the family for being so much fun.

Highland Wedding Workshop

I'm looking at running a 3 day workshop towards end of October - beginning of November, up here in the North Highlands. It will be a mainly practical workshop with plenty opportunity to get some shooting done. The reason for doing this course up here is so that you can see how I work, and experience shooting the couple in some of the best scenery and locations around. We will visit several stunning locations, including castles, standing stones and beautiful rugged scenery. I'm working on the schedule and costings as we speak, but in the meantime if you are interested in coming up here for a few days of relaxed tuition and practice, drop me an email to register your interest. john@captiv8.uk.com

I plan to put on a few more workshops around the country, but this is a chance to see the beauty and remoteness of this part of the world, and see what makes me tick.

Wedding Fayre - Drumossie Hotel 13th September

Drumossie Hotel Wedding Show
13th September 11am-4pm
I'll be exhibiting at the wedding show at the Drumossie hotel this Sunday, where you can come along and meet me, and have a look at the albums and products now on offer. Wedding fayres are a great chance to get to meet many different types of wedding suppliers from photographers to wedding dresses, from cakes to stationery. everything is covered If you live in the Inverness area it's worth popping in to see what is available in the Highlands. From a photography point of view - wedding fayres allow you the chance to actually see the products and quality and originality of your photographers, and make a judgement based on this, rather than prices. It's often a very social event and I often see former brides who have popped in with their friends, or recently married brides wanting to get a look at the latest albums before finalising their choices.
I hope to see a lot of couples on Sunday and look forward to discussing your weddings!!

Lucy and Moe

Lucy Meadows and Moe Bitar chose the fantastic Urquhart Castle for their wedding on 15th August. The couple live in Dubai, and had flown into Scotland to Lucy's mum's home earlier in the week. They left from the Clansman Hotel which was to be the reception venue as well.

It was a miserable day with wind and rain showers. I think we were quite lucky though as it dried up in time for the ceremony, and stayed dry long enough for us to get some photographs done around the castle. After the photographs we set of on a Jacobite Cruise across the loch and back to the hotel for the reception.