studio 12 Goose Hill, Morpeth, Northumberland. NE61 1TL

email masonstudio@tiscali.co.uk

tel (01670) 783357

Alnwick Castle, Northumberland

Alnwick Castle, Alnwick, Northumberland,
was the venue that Jen and Glen chose for their wedding.

the choice of Alnwick Castle, involved a little bit of travel for the bride and groom

(and their families and friends), as they all live in the U.S.A.

Jen and Glen have quite strong local connections

which explains the choice of Northumberland for their wedding.

righty ho . at this point . I'll show you a picture of Alnwick Castle.

this is in case you're not sure what it looks like

this was Alnwick castle, as it looked on the day of Jen and Glens wedding

but first, we have a rendezvous with some shoes and a dress

and a girl, well, quite a few pretty girls actually . .

and all with American accents, in a cottage in Northumberland. . .

two bridesmaids, gazing at something . . . what can it be ?

it's Jen, the bride, having some pearls strategically placed on her by a third bridesmaid.

and who is this guy ?

he smiles a lot . . and he's dressed up to the nines . .

he's the brides father, waiting for the bride to alight from her chosen mode of transport . . .

which just happens to be a big red London Bus

here we see it parked outside of Alnwick Castle,

the building on the left . . . YES  you know it's Alnwick Castle . .

I was going to say . . the building on the left, with the little statue thingymajigs on the battlements

is called the Barbican. it's Alnwick Castles gatehouse.

I hop inside, and find a groom, three groomsmen

a string quartet . .and a bunch of family and friends in the Hall

the red stuff on the right isn't an exploded bouquet . .

it's some red rose petals strewn artfully on the floor by the florist

she's a lovely girl . .  by the name of Martine

here's a quick plug - because she's nice, and her work is good,

her company is called cinnamon rose

and unsurprisingly - her website is

www.cinnamonrose.co.uk

tel 07801 252069

end of quick plug for cinnamon rose 

:)

four men in line abreast

contemplate the rose petals strewn on the floor

and wonder what the meaning of the rosepetals is . .

hah

that's a very big smile !

who can this be ? 

you guessed (or you should have guessed by now !)

it's Jen, our bride !

Jen swooshes into the room with her father

(he was the feller in black and white, earlier . .

he isn't black and white, you understand, the picture was . .

although, technically, he was kinda dressed in a sort of monochrome outfit . .

but I digress.

I'll get back on track and tell you that the bride has arrived !

and here, in case you hadn't guessed this one

is a general view showing the hall and the wedding proceedings within . . .

bridesmaids dresses are in black, with red ribbons down the back

I declare . . you're wed !

I recognised the accent in which the minister spoke

she spoke in American.

( I know that's technically . . English . . but I'm trying to make the point
that she sounded as if she had an American accent . . . )

anyway . . I asked her . . and it turned out to be a real American accent

. . she's an American, but has a church in Alnwick . . .

small world !

what the heck is this picture ?

I hear you ask  . . .

well . . it's a guest, photographing the wedding (or he could be filming I guess)

I liked the composition of the image

the vertical and horizontal lines divide the composition into quite a quirky modern image

it looks like something from quite a modern art gallery

(in my very humble opinion ).

I step back and view the wedding from the back of the hall

that's a hammer beam roof supported by corbels, I'll have you know

(and that's about the limit of my architectural knowledge . . )

oh . . that's a lancet window to the right  . . .

that's it . . no more architectural terms

or I'll swiftly get out of my depth . .

I notice that a guest is filming something on a tiny little camera

perhaps I should photograph the same thing . .

(I know . . I'm shamelessly copying aren't I . . )

rings exchanged . . kisses kissed . . words spoken . .

they're married and beaming big smiles, whilst they walk down the aisle

they pause in the lobby

and a bridesmaid notices that there's a strange little rainbow

glancing across both of their faces . .

( I know it's a trick of the light . . some sunlight refracted through glass . .

but that's the boring explanation . .

I think it's just kinda nice . .

and maybe it means good luck or something ! )

this is what happens next . .

the sun shines

and the wedding guests mingle in the courtyard

nibbling canapes

and quaffing champagne . .

which is extremely civilised

above - some canapes motoring about the courtyard on a tray.

more mingling takes place

I become interested in very obscureit things - shadows, for instance . .

hey - what are these guys laughing at ?

ah . . I think that this lady is taking their picture . . .

it ooks like I have competition . . .

:)

in the blazing heat of the English Summer sun

a bridesmaid finds a novel use for a bouquet

she's using it as a parasol . .

well . . a kind of sun visor thingymajig

I start to wonder whether this sort of thing
could be marketed to bald men -
to stop their scalps from burning in the sun

 . . best not go there . . .

the thought of a baldy feller with a flower arrangement on his head starts to make me grin . .

'hey - will you take our picture' ?

certainly . . look this way and  . .

I was going to say smile . . but there's no need !

hey . . they're all going somewhere . . .

a bridesmaid holding the back of dress - to ensure that it doesn't drag on the ground . .

where could they possibly be going ?

when Jen and Glen booked me . . they mentioned a few things

standing in a road was one of them . . .

I'm guessing that what happened next, wasn't the initial objective.

but it was kinda fun . .

we held up the traffic in Alnwick to take this picture

(or . . to be more correct . . this series of pictures . because there are a few !

the grooms father is about 50 feet behind the group

and he is ensuring that any cars driving up the road

will have to drive over him before they hit the group

it's a safety thing

the group would hear the yell as the car went over his foot . .
or something like that . . .

it worked anyway .

there is a general agreement that holding up the traffic

was a bit anarchic

and a bit naughty

it's something you shouldn't really do . . should you ?

the castle staff tell us that we can proceed into the inner bailey

(bailey . . I think it's a technical term . . it's a bit of a castle . . that's all you really need to know . . )

what . . you want to know . .

gosh you're persistent aren't you !!

ok . . it's the area which is 'fenced in' by the curtain wall surrounding the main part of the castle

is that ok `?

anyway . in we go . . objective - take some pictures

Jens father decides that he doesn't want any publicity at this point . .

let's take a picture of everyone . .

ooh - that's a bit .. err . . distant .

isn't it . .

you can't make out their faces . .

I know . .but the picture was taken with another one in mind . .

this one shows the castle . . it puts the group into a context . .

and oddly enough - I have a socking great long lens

which is longer than a telegraph pole

I use the lens to take this picture . . a close up

then use the lenses great length

to poke guests in the ribs, from a distance of thirty feet . .

we lose the wedding guests for 5 mins

and take one or two pictures of our Bride and Groom around the castle grounds

(Bailey . . )

yep . . I'm still taking pictures . .

and they're still kissing . .

exhausted . I hide behind a counter,
thinking that a pile of hats and bouquets will hide me. . .

drat . . spotted . . . they've found me . . .

you need to know about this . .

the DJ (Colin Cook) explained to me that these folks, being American,
are likely to enter the room in a particular way . .

he described it . . I didn't understand . .

I asked for a rehearsal . .

no way . .

so I'm supposed to photograph this . . and I don't know what it is . . ?

yep . .

what happened was . .

the bridesmaids and groomsmen entered the room, dancing

and made their way to an arch of hands formed by the parents . .

as they went under the arch . . they joined it (I think !!)

anyway . . this all happened quite quickly,

and the finale was the bride and groom entering the room . .

thank heavens I had my quick thinking head on,

this is Jen and Glen,approaching the arch of hands .

phew . . the picture worked !

next thing that happens . . this being an American wedding  . . .

is the bride and grooms first dance

above - we have a wedding cakes eye view of proceedings . .

and after the bride and grooms first dance

the groomsmen and bridesmaids

(see those black dresses and red ribbons again !)

join them on the dancefloor . .

no caption really required here . . dancing . .

ooh . . speeches . . Brides father . . speaking . .

and then the grooms reply . .

a toast from a groomsman

and a few words and a toast from a bridesmaid . .

and then the cake . . you know . .the one that was watching the dancing . .

gets the knife . .

the bride is now dancing with her father . . .

this is a grooms eye view

well, a behind the grooms head, eye view to be correct . . .

I spot the DJ hard at work

this guy always works well,
he wasn't wearing his jacket on this picture

which kinda embarrassed him a bit - I've noticed that he's always dressed in a jacket and tie for a wedding.

it was lovely to see almost everyone get up to dance.

well - there's not much point in flying half way around the world and moping in a corner, is there !

you can easily see that these folks are really having fun.

ah this must be the American bridesmaids traditional barefoot dance . .

and then the bridesmaids notice the mens top hats,

which are quickly nobbled . .

the bride joins the bridesmaids

and calls to her husband - hey - throw your hat over . .

it flew quickly across the dance floor . . .

he must have been a fast bowler . .

no, you say . . it was a fast topper . . .

anyway - hat in hand, and now put to good use on the dance floor

and the DJ.       (Colin Cook - quick plug for Colin . .      www.colincook.co.uk   )

to give the man credit . . he immediately put a track over the loudspeakers . .

'you can keep your hat on'

for some obscure reason,

I become fascinated by a bouquet in a vase . . so I take a picture . .

I whizz about the room,

snapping conversations and moments . .

hopefully - without folks realising that they're being photographed.

ah - whilst wandering about with a camera

this bridesmaid turns towards me . . click . .that looks like a good picture . .

I immediately repeat the exercise with a groomsman

it it works once . . it might work a second time . .

and it does . .

our couple here are posing with a man called Harry Hotspur,

he's actually dead.

well . . he died several hundred years ago, but there's a statue of him in Alnwick Castle

and it's the statue that we're taking a picture next to . .
not actually him you understand

you didn't for one moment think that it was him did you . . . ?

this is a chunk of Alnwick castle - complete with Jen and Glen

we wandered about the place at night . . .

our only company was the howling of hounds . .

it sounded like the hounds of the baskervilles

they seem to have some serious heavy duty dogs in Alnwick Castle . .

:)

above . . a simple street scene

well .. not exactly simple  . .

this is Alnwick at night . .

I'm a bit of a fan of the work of a Victorian artist called Atkinson Grimshaw

and this is . . nothing like his work . .

:)

but he specialised in atmospheric pictures, evening scenes were a favourite for him.

and for me too . . I like this sort of thing a great deal.

the picture above is . . simply a picture of two people and a tree

and I'm trying to prove that you can make a composition for a picture out of almost anything

if you understand a little about art - this will make sense to you.

I think it was Velasquez who said . . an artist can make art from a broken egg . .

(meaning . .  you need very little material to make art - it's what you do with it that counts . . ).

but then the meaning of the phrase has been argued over the years . .

a broken egg - could be transformed into tempera paint . .

but that's another story . . and I'm digressing again . . .

now . . a little surprise . . .

Day two . . .

the day after the wedding day . .

Jen and Glen wanted to have a bit of fun with pictures involving Bamburgh Castle,
and the coastline around that area . . .

so . . . off we go . .

first stop . . a field full of yellow flowers,
which isn't actually Bmburgh Castle,

nor is it the coast . .

but we just noticed it as we drove down the road

and being opportunists . . .

we thought  - let's make a picture with it . . .

Jen and Glen hop into a bed of flowers . .

and I change lenses to give a wierd perspective on the scene . .

it's almost like a dream picture, isn't it . .

enough of fields of flowers - it's Bamburgh Castle that we've came to find . .

so . . down to the beach - and the castle is there on the horizon.

Jen didn't mind getting the dress wet

as she put it . . it isn't going to be worn again . .

and for Jen - the pictures were an absolute priority

so . . . we get some pictures of Bamburgh Castle - reflected in the water

I remember now . . .I think that my feet were a bit wet at the time that this picture was taken . . .

our patience wandering about the beach is rewarded with a glorious sunset,
the sun descended into the sea in a big fiery ball.

a final picture

thanks Jen and Glen . . you have given me some lovely memories

and hopefully - my pictures will preserve memories of your wedding for a long time to come.

it was a very good day . . .