Aldeburgh Pre-Wedding Photography – Recommended Places to Photograph
Our next recommended location for photographers is Aldeburgh in Suffolk. This post was written by professional wedding photographer Mark Ewels (all images Mark’s):
As a wedding photographer part of the service I offer my bride & grooms is a pre-wedding (sometimes called ‘engagement’) photoshoot. I often meet couples right across Norfolk & Suffolk for their pre-wedding photoshoots but my favourite place for these is the Suffolk coastal town of Aldeburgh with its shingle beach, fisherman huts and The Scallop sculpture. I like to define my style of wedding photography as ‘natural, creative and a little quirky with no cheeseball’ and my preference for each couples pre-wedding shoot is make it as natural as I can (so absolutely no wooden posing).
To me (at weddings and pre-wedding shoots) the most important thing above everything else is capturing the moment, so my emphasis is on taking photos quickly. In terms of my equipment and technique I use two camera bodies (currently a Nikon D850 and Nikon D750) one of which is on my belt (Peak Designs clip) and one across my shoulder (Black Rapid strap). On one camera I have a 85mm prime lens and on the other a 35mm prime lens.
The camera set up that I use is shooting aperture priority (using exposure compensation for correct exposure) with auto ISO settings of 64 ISO minimum sensitivity on the D850 (100 on the D750) and maximum ISO of 12800 with a minimum shutter speed of 250/1. Additionally I prefer to shoot ‘wide’ whenever I can, move the focus point and not ‘focus and recompose’ and to ‘back button’ focus. This set up ensures that I achieve relatively sharp images and that I am able to focus on swiftly getting the shot and not having to worry too much about my camera settings.
My favourite lens is the 35mm prime which constantly makes me think about composition (love to zoom with my feet) so for example it would be very easy to ask the couple to stand either side of The Scallop sculpture to take a cheeseball photo. Instead, as the portrait shot of them both laughing at the camera shows, I’ve used part of the metal structure of sculpture as a leading line and positioned myself so that the couple are off centre within the frame. Hopefully this creates a more interesting picture whilst capturing their personalities.
I like to think the images illustrate the fun the couple had on their photoshoot….so to me its not about me shoving camera lens in their faces (they are not models) its about giving them space and interacting with them to get the fun shots that I hope they will treasure for many years to come.
For those visiting Aldeburgh and wishing to view The Scallop parking is available on the Thorpe Road car park in the north of the town and the sculpture is a short walk across the beach towards sea shore. There are also a number of delightful things to do in Aldeburgh including sampling its famous fish & chips, browsing the high street with its small independent shops and visiting Moot Hall (Aldeburgh Museum) along the sea front.
Images & Words © Mark Ewels, 2017
Mark was a finalist in the EDP Bride Wedding Awards 2017 and won the Weddisson Award for Best Wedding Photography in 2016. He is also a regional finalist in the 2018 Wedding Industry Awards. To see more of his work and to find out more about his wedding photography services please visit Mark Ewel’s website. Mark has refined his outdoor flash technique at our photography workshops including the Night Fashion workshop.