Wedding - Jess and Scott II

Wedding - Jess and Scott (Round II)

Premium wedding packages include a second day shoot where we all get the chance to relax and can get to some of the locations in town that weren't possible on the wedding day. Much of wedding photography that makes it into photographers websites (and wedding photography competitions) is post-wedding-day shoot and this is because the wedding day isn't all about the photographer (Really?!). Any pro-wedding snapper will tell you that exclusive time with the bride & groom on the day is limited simply because photography is only part of the big event. This is why reportage is so prevalent - it gives the snapper something to do when he/she can't get the brides attention!

The solution to this dilemma is a post-wedding shoot. Two weeks after the wedding day, Jess got Lindsay from Simply Perfect out on a Sunday afternoon to but her hair up, paint her nails and put her face on - Scottie just got dressed! I went around to their house and we all had some bubbles while we waited for Jess. Everyone was much more relaxed and both Jess and Scott were up for a wander through town. 

I started with some ring shots - its always hard to get a shot of rings going on in real-time - then we moved upstairs to do some simple poses. Jess and Scott are both photogenic and were very relaxed as well as having good ideas to chip in, so a bit of a vibe was coming on. Then some garden shots which showed off just what a pair of posers these two really are!

Next, off to the pub! Jess likes a pint so we stopped off in the Cumberland Bar in Cumberland Street (EH3 6RT) and wandered in.  Now, this was a test. Groom in a kilt with big boots on - not all that strange a sight in Edinburgh - but Jess in a Maggie Sottero strapless ivory dress from Emma Roy walking the streets in heels like the Empire State; certainly proved a conversation stopper. Jess had absolute confidence and acted like she was invisible. The locals and tourists sitting outside suddenly found their jaws dropping, pints dropped and eyes popping as she swayed up and into the bar. The few locals inside took in their stride - "Hi Jess, the usual?".

Pints poured, the light inside was very low; 1600iso, an f2.8 16-35mm L-series lens did the business though. A wee bit bounce flash lit the low ceiling but didn't take away the ambiance of the bar. Lovely. Even got in a shot myself as well as enjoying a pint of Belhaven Best - its a tough life.

Next stop - Calton Hill. Now, if the folks at the Cumberland were surprised, the tourists wandering around Scotland's Folly were simply delighted. Stares and smiles followed us as we strode up the steps; Jess in her heels, almost running up, me with the big Canon bouncing off my hip. The weather conditions were nearly ideal - it was warm, no rain, but threatening clouds with shafts of sunlight bursting through - I could see the finished shots in Photoshop; threatening, rumbling clouds dominating the sky with Scott and Jess looking out over the city, with The Balmoral Hotel prominent in the middle distance.

At the top we headed for Dugald Stewart's monument to get the classic Edinburgh wedding shot - of course what you can't see is the paparazzi of foreign tourists behind me snapping away on their camera phones.  

After that it was on to The National Monument - the thing that looks like a half-finished Greek Parthenon (because that's what it is). Playfair ran out of cash in the 19th century and planned to leave a legacy to complete it. Instead City of Edinburgh Council decided to use a legacy to buy trams - and that could be Edinburgh's next "unfinished symphony" if they don't get a move on! 

Now, anyone who's been at the National Monument will know that you have to climb up it - no steps, no ladders, no elevators. Bride in a dress and high heels, Groom in a kilt. Scottie was having none of it! Jess was given a footie-up and she got her heels off to climb the rest. Scottie was concerned - rightly so as it transpired - because he was a true Scotsman and most of the foreign paparazzi tourists got a cameraful of his wedding tackle as he struggled up over the stone lip. Hoots all round. 

Once they were both back in place (Scott and Jess, not Scott's wedding tackle!), I moved the too-close rubber-neckers back a bit and started shooting; Scottie lying down, Jess and Scott in a kiss, Scott with his foot up - the boy's a born model - and then finally I got him to shove Jess against the column for a snog. 

Days-end, for the photography at least. We got Jess down off the monument and I kept the shutter going while Scottie "negotiated" the steps down (each "step" is actually about 3ft high) without showing his bits to the eagerly poised paps. We walked back down the hill and got in the car just as the rain arrived. Perfect timing. Returning to the house, Jess and Scott did the superman/superwoman change and the we headed to L'Escargot Bleu on Broughton Street (EH1 3SA) to celebrate the day with wonderful steaks - and the cremé brulee was to die for.