Steve and Stephanie Ashton Wedding and Portrait Photographers

Ship Wreck at Fleetwood

2011-05-08T13:55:00.000-07:00

Recent photograph from Fleetwood...amazing colours

Steph and Andy's Wedding At the Great Hall At Mains

2011-05-08T12:16:00.001-07:00

Stephanie and Andrew….The new Mr and Mrs Beresford tied the knot on Easter sunday, 24th April 2011 at The Great Hall at Mains, Lancashire. An exclusively yours wedding venue, nestled away on The Fylde Coast The sun shone and all their wedding plans came together perfectly.

Let me share with you their special day….firstly the theme….."Breakfast at Tiffanys" so straight away we get a feeling of the gorgeous and elegant 1950"s era, with "Moon River" playing in the background! This wedding theme soon became "Breakfast at Stephanie's!"…we just loved it!!

So lets' start with the wedding venue….wow and wow again…The Great Hall is always immaculate and looks beautiful, however at this wedding it looked absolutely gorgeous….the tiffany blue worked so well and the elegant theme was enhanced by the stunning venue decor created by Dawn of Creative Covers and the lush flowers and table decor by Jane and Jason Thompson of Flower Design. This combined team effort resulted in a breath taking wedding venue!

Stephanie and her bridesmaids got ready at The Shard Inn and Steph chose to use Sonara Parker for her makeup and another Stephanie for her hair….three Steph's in one room was confusing!!
You can see the elegant accessories, from dresses and shoes, to gloves, flowers, tiffany sunglasses…every last bridal detail was perfect!

Andy our groom and the guys looked very sophisticated in their DJ's and black tie's…. enhancing the elegant and sophisticated wedding day Steph and Andy both dreamt off!

Following on from their romantic ceremony, Stephanie and Andy danced down the aisle then enjoyed cocktails and canapes on the terrace of The Great Hall with all their family and friends. As the sun shone, Paul Guard entertained the guests with some fabulous songs… all in the right genre of music for this day. Ashton Photography, myself Stephanie and partner Steve Ashton were delighted to be their chosen wedding photographers. We spent the next or hour capturing bride and groom photographs, some fun photographs of the bridal party and lots of candid and reportage wedding photographs…combine this all together with lots of beautiful detail and I cannot wait to design their wedding album!

Everyone enjoyed delicious canapes and the subsequent wedding breakfast from Twelve event management…the menu was divine ( as always) with an Easter theme of wild game terrine, seasonal roast lamb and a lemon desert…yellow for Easter of course. After a feast of gorgeous food, the speeches commenced…I have to say I so enjoyed them…especially The mother of the Bride Speech….still chuckling about it now!! The Great Hall and Twelve Event management team swiftly changed the room round ready for the evening celebrations.

Stephanie had also selected Joe Hargreaves from Specilised Cakes to design and create the most stunning and detailed wedding cake…the perfect Tiffany colour and detailed icing…the cake stood proud later on for the official cake cutting and first dance. Paul Guard entertained guests during the wedding breakfast and ensured the party got off to a great start with him singing their first dance and getting the guys and girls up for Mustang Sally sing off…so funny!!
A short and sweet summary of a fun, happy and all round great wedding…Steve and I would like to wish the new Mr and Beresford every future happiness x

Suppliers details

Venue
The Great Hall At Mains in Poulton Le Fylde

Photography
Ashton Photography

Flowers
Flower Design

Chair Covers
Creative Cover Hire

Catering
Twelve Restaurant

Entertainment
Paul Guard

Wedding Cake
Specialized Cakes

Make up artist
Sonara Parker

Latest Portrait and Pre Wedding Shoots

2011-05-08T12:08:00.000-07:00

Just a short blog post to share some of the portrait and pre wedding shoots we have been doing in the last few weeks.

From past bride and grooms with their growing families to our newest clients with weddings coming up soon. Its been a very busy few weeks.

I hope you enjoy these images as much as we enjoyed taking them.

2011-05-08T10:35:00.000-07:00

Its been a while since I had some time to update the blog and following on from Claire and Andrews Pre Wedding Shoot in March here are some images from their great wedding. The ceremony was held in Blackburn, followed by a superb reception at Stirk House Hotel, in the Ribble Valley. It was a really superb day with some fantastic weather.

Once Claire and Andrew have viewed their wedding images I will post some more shots from the day. Hope you enjoy this sneak peak!!

Claire and Andrews Lancashire Pre Wedding Shoot

2011-03-23T03:21:00.000-07:00

We spent some time with a really lovely couple on Monday. Claire and Andrew are getting married at Stirk House very soon and after a detailed chat over their wedding plans we headed of to our local Worden Park for some relaxed pre wedding shoot picture.

Here are a few images from the shoot along with a small slide show of some our my favourite images. Enjoy!!!

Latest news from Ashton Photography

2011-03-10T02:35:00.000-08:00

Its all go at the moment here at Ashton Photography. We are pleased to be spending a lot of time working on commercial commissions and this week, which is really interesting for us.

Yesterday we were working with a really great creative team and some fantastic new clients. They have formed a bespoke tailoring company, Charles Campbell Bespoke Tailoring based in the Ribble Valley. These guys are going to be a real name to watch.

Our job was to work alongside the companies designers and graphics team from Teacake Designs to produce all the images for the companies new web site. This will be going live in the next week or so.

I don't normally post commercial work on this blog, but having seen their product range and experienced the fantastic vibe around these guys, it seemed to make sense to let you know about them. They would be the ideal people to speak to, regarding getting your grooms suit made to measure. Just think no worries about badly fitting suits or shirts on your wedding day.

Loads more images and web links to follow so watch this space. As soon as the finished website is on line I will post a link. In the mean time if you are needing a suit making gents give me a call and I will be happy to pass on your details.

For me the varied and diverse commercial work continues. I am in Manchester on an architectural commission today and possibly Friday, and its more architecture this weekend as well, however, this time in Liverpool.

More wedding venue and supplier information is planned for the blog, so keep popping back and don't forget please, say hello and leave us some comments especially on any ideas you would like us to cover in the future.

Coffee Cake and Weddings At Samlesbury Hall

2011-03-03T05:09:00.000-08:00

Wanting to take advantage of yesterdays beautiful weather Stephanie and myself decided to pop out for a drive and treat ourselves to a spot of afternoon tea. We found ourselves at Samlesbury Hall on the A59. What a stunning scene of spring flowers, beautiful woodland and a simply amazing and interesting building.

Samlesbury Hall really is a stunning location and whilst we have photographed a number of weddings there over the years this was the first time I have been there in a non work capacity. As many of you know I do a lot of landscape and Architectural photography, this is really what I do when I am not working with Stephanie photographing weddings, so it was really great to have the chance to take a look around in my own time and indulge my interests in Architecture

Whilst having a coffee we decided it would be a great idea to feature some of the most interesting and popular venues we work at and give potential bride and grooms some insight into what we think are the best wedding venues in the area. Wedding photographers spend a lot of time thinking about weddings so it was no surprise that whilst walking around the Hall and its stunning grounds, we were remembering past weddings we had photographed here.

For some time we have been looking for ways to make the Ashton Photography blog a more interesting and informative source of information for couples getting married and our visit to Samlesbury Hall yesterday gave us the inspiration we have been looking for. I hope to be able to take a close look at many more of the superb wedding venues in Lancashire from the perspective of a wedding photographer. We will also try and give our thoughts on other wedding services and suppliers, maybe we can help you find the people and places that can make your wedding that little bit more special and avoid some of the pitfalls on the way.

So lets get back to the point, with a little bit of information about Samlesbury Hall.

Samlesbury Hall really must be one of Lancashire's hidden historical treasures. The Hall was built in 1325 by Gilbert de Southworth and it was the main home of the Southworth family until the early 1600s.

Possibly built to replace an earlier building on this site which was destroyed by the Scotts in a cross border raid in 1322, the hall has served many functions in its long history, including a public house and later a girls boarding school. However since 1925 when it was saved from demolition for its timber, the hall has been administered by a registered charity trust.

Now this Grade 1 listed building attracts many thousands of visitors each year. The hall now has a licence to hold civil wedding ceremonies, and when we have worked at the hall these have been held in the beautiful chapel. This was added to the original house by the southworth family, in order to upgrade the status of the building to that of a Manor House.

Doing some research I found that in order to be regarded as a Manor House certain key features needed to be present, they were

1. A large household,
2. A chapel and priest,
3. A store of fish for Fridays,
4. Usually a pond,
5. A water mill and grain store.

On a different note the Hall is reputed to be one of the most haunted buildings in Lancashire and legend has it the building and its grounds are haunted by the ghost of Lady Dorothy Southworth amongst others. Samlesbury Hall has featured a number of times on the popular paranormal show "Most Haunted"

So thats enough of the history lesson and I do hope I got at least most of the historical information correct. Whats Samlesbury Hall like as a Wedding venue? I can honestly say its one of my personal favourites. As a wedding photographer the location plays a big part in the images you are able to achieve on the day. At Samlesbury Hall photographically speaking you really do have it all. The grounds can only be described as sublime, always stunningly maintained they provide a great background for wedding photographs.

The wedding team at Samlesbury, Angela and Lindsay, are two great and very capable young ladies.Every wedding I have photographed at the Hall has been superbly run and I know only to well how key the venue events team are in a smooth running wedding. They really do seem to put the bride and groom and their guests at the very top of their priorities, and this shows through in the relaxed feel of weddings at Samlesbury Hall. I have come to learn over the years as a wedding photographer that the relaxed, happy weddings come about not through budget or venue, its the people that make weddings a sucsess. Here you have a team that know how to make an event run well.

Many venues try to create an "old" feel some do it well others fail. Samlesbury Hall is an old historic venue and the romantic side of me, would love the idea of my wedding being a small part of the history of such an important building. Many historic venues can be a lacking in intimacy, but here at Samlesbury the compact nature of the building serves to brined a feeling of warmth and intimacy to a wedding, whilst still providing so much for guest to see, explore and become part of.

We have photographed weddings here at all times of the year and it really is a venue that offers a stunning backdrop at any time. From my point of view I think the grounds look their best in Spring and Autumn.

The Hall its self provides a location most photographers dream about. The exterior is stunning and gives you all those interesting little details that make wedding albums more interesting. I love to be able to tell a story at a wedding and this is a place were the venue is a story in its self.

The interior of the Hall is once again superb for photography, the light inside this building is stunning and as we all know light is what makes pictures. There are so many small and interesting features you really can't go wrong and no matter were you go in the Hall you are blessed with this fantastic quality of light.

That Hall as I have mentioned looks fantastic all of the time but for me its in the evening when the beautiful artificial lighting come on, that the real character of the building shows its self. If you get a chance take time out to explore the stunning stained glass windows, they are amazing and simply draw your attention to the fine detailed work which went into their construction.

The image below from one of our weddings at the Hall last years, shows just how stunning the main hall is in the evening.

Here are a few more images from Samlesbury Hall weddings, just to give you a feel for the atmosphere at the venue.

So what started out as an afternoons drive, a coffee and slice of very nice cream cake, turned into the idea for some new blog content. It seemed to make sense to start the ball rolling with such and interesting venue as Samlesbury Hall and I hope we can cover some other venues and top wedding suppliers in the near future.

Just in case you are not planning a wedding and also for the many keen photographers who I know read this blog. Samlesbury is open to the public on many days of the year it makes a great day out and offers some amazing non wedding photo opportunities. Take it from me the photographic ideas flow much more freely when a nice big slice of freshly made cake is close at hand!!! This time of year is possibly one of the best times to see the Hall so pop along and experience a really great historic location with your camera.

Over the course of this year we have a number of weddings at Samlesbury Hall and there will be many pictures for you to enjoy, in the mean time I hope you have enjoyed my brief insight into this fantastic Lancashire treasure. If you have any ideas for future articles that would be of interest please let Stephanie or myself know.

Latest Architectural Photography In Manchester

2011-03-02T07:02:00.001-08:00

Here are a few personal images I managed to squeeze in whilst working on an architectural assignment in Salford, Manchester yesterday.

The first image shows the amazing architecture of the Imperial War Museum (North). This superb building was designed by the architect Daniel Libeskind and opened its doors to the public in July 2002. This image was captured with a long exposure using a Lee 10 Stop ND Filter.

The building was constructed on the banks of the Manchester Ship Canal at Salford, an area which was heavily bombed during the second world war due to its importance in the construction of engines for the British heavy bombers and the Spitfire fighter aircraft.

Libeskind envisaged a 'constellation composed of three interlocking shards' with each shard being a remnant of an imagined globe shattered by conflict. These shards in turn represented air, earth and water, and each formed a functionally distinct part of the museum. The 55m high air shard, provides the museum's entranceway and a viewing balcony. The second image again shows the main Air Shard, which forms the entrance to the museum.

My other images show the scene at the new Media City which will become home to the BBC. The 200 acre site is being developed as a joint venture between The Central Salford Urban Regeneration Company, Peel Holdings and Salford City Council.

The area around Media City looks amazing at dusk as the evening light blends and balances with the artificial lights of the development. Hope you enjoy the images.

Ribby Hall Wedding Photography | Review

2011-02-21T01:39:00.000-08:00

We received a lovely message from two of our wedding clients Laura & Ozzy, who got married in December last year. They held their wedding reception at the fantastic Ribby Hall who were superb on the day. The wedding breakfast room looked superb.

"Steve and Steph, A huge thankyou for capturing all the special memories of our super day! You were both brilliant and we really enjoyed having you there!

"We love this picture along with many others! What a Brilliant Day!

Thankyou so much! See you in August! Love Laura & Ozzy xxx"

They also put another message in their thankyou card. On the front of the card was a lovely image of Laura and Ozzy at the alter. it was one of our favourites as well.

We are really looking forward to photographing Laura's sisters wedding in August this year at the beautiful Villa In Wrea Green

Thanks for the card guys, you were great on the day and are the sort of people who make this job so much fun.

Mitton Hall Wedding Photography | Jill and David

2011-02-18T09:44:00.000-08:00

Here are a few of my favourite images from our latest wedding, which was held at the lovely Mitton Hall. The Hall is a great wedding venue located in the stunning Ribble Valley.

Despite heavy rain all day long which meant not being able to get outside to do any photography, we had a great time using the fantastic interior of the hall with a mix of available and artificial lighting.

Hope you enjoyed viewing our favourite images, if you head to the Ashton Photography Website you will find all the other images from this lovely wedding are now on line.

Lets Talk Weddings | The Great Hall At Mains | Wedding Fair

2011-02-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

The Great Hall At Mains

If you are planning a wedding, Lancashire is a great place to be this weekend.

One of our favourite wedding venues The Great Hall At Mains will be opening its doors once again for a fantastic wedding open day on both Saturday and Sunday.

If you are looking for an "Exclusively Yours" Venue with character and a unique atmosphere then check out The Great Hall at Mains. This stunning venue is nestled away on the Fylde Coast in Little Singleton.

You will receive a warm and professional welcome from the proprietors Adele and Roger Yeoman and the superb wedding Dream Team headed up by Chriss Greenland, one of the best wedding event co-ordinators in the business.

This is a great chance to view one of the best and most versatile wedding venues in Lancashire and meet with the superb wedding events team who will answer your questions and guide you through the process of planning your wedding.

Also on hand will be a selection of the top wedding industry professionals covering just about every aspect of weddings you can imagine.

Stephanie will be at The Great Hall representing Ashton Photography on both days and she will be happy to chat through your wedding plans and answer any questions you may have regarding wedding photography. In fact with over 10 years experience covering some of the top weddings in Lancashire she will be able to point you in the right direction on most wedding related subjects.

I will be at this weekends second great wedding event which is being hosted by Debenhams in Prestson. The Debenhams wedding shows are always very popular events and once again some top wedding industry professionals will be on hand to help you with your wedding planning.

Both Stephanie and myself will have with us our latest display albums from some of last years amazing weddings along with our new iPad based multi media products. These are really interesting times in terms of what is possible with wedding photography, so pop along and have a chat with us and see some really amazing wedding products.

Stanley House Wedding Fair Today

2011-02-13T00:00:00.000-08:00

Just a short posting today to remind readers we will be at the Stanley House wedding fair today (Sunday 13th)

Always a busy wedding fair and a superb premium wedding venue if you are looking for a wedding or wedding reception venue in Lancashire. If you are visiting the fair pop along and say hello, both Stepanie and myself will be available all day.

Beeston Manor Wedding Photography | Catherine & Neil

2011-02-07T11:57:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the delay posting this wedding on the blog, but a mixture of running training courses and getting ready for various wedding shows, not to mention photographing a few more weddings slowed down the blog postings a little.

Anyway back to business. Catherine and Neil married on the 30th December last year (our last wedding of the year in fact) and they held their special day at one of our favourite Wedding venues in Lancashire, the superb Beeston Manor in the Ribble Valley

A really nice and relaxed wedding and for Stephanie and myself a great wedding to finish off a great and very busy year.

Here are a few varied images from the day hope you enjoy viewing them.

Tatton Wedding Show This Weekend

2011-01-29T11:00:00.000-08:00

Just got home from a really fun and busy Saturday at the Fantastic Tatton Wedding Show. Loads of great conversations with some great bride and grooms. Its also been great to see some of our clients who we will be photographing in the coming months enjoying the show and doing some wedding shopping.

All set for another great day on Sunday. If your planning your wedding, this really is the show to visit, a superb venue packed with some of the top wedding industry professionals. I had a quick walk round the show this afternoon and you really could book your entire wedding at just the one show.

Both Stephanie and myself will be on the Ashton Photography Stand again on Sunday so pop along for a chat. Pleased to say our new display and portfolio albums have gone down a treat. Just likle to say a big thanks to all the past clients who feature on our display stand and sample albums.

Latest Wedding Show Reel

2011-01-25T10:59:00.000-08:00

Just finished work on our latest wedding video showreel. Sit back and enjoy some amazing weddings!!

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography |Danielle & David

2011-01-10T11:51:00.000-08:00

We got 2011 off to a great start with our first wedding of the year on Saturday.

All the images from the wedding are now posted on the main Ashton Photography website, just to keep you going here are some images to give you a flavour of the day.

Venue for the day was the stunning Bartle Hall and I loved the colour theme for the day which was the most amazing Purple!! Creative Cover Hire once again did a great job decorating the venue and with flowers by Flower Design Of Lytham Bartle Hall looked fantastic.

It seems David is a bit of a car fanatic, Mini's seemed to feature strongly in the day, with all the tables being named after special editions of the "Mini" a great idea and one I haven't seen before.

Ribby Hall Wedding Photography | Laura & Paul

2011-01-09T03:35:00.000-08:00

It was great to be covering weddings between Christmas and New year, and we had a really great day with Laura & Paul, who got married in Kirkham followed by a superb wedding reception at Ribby Hall.

Laura and Paul are two of the most fun people to be around I have come across and it came as no real surprise their family and friends would be such great people. Here are just a few images from the day. Hope you enjoy them. All the other images are now posted on our main website.

The Great Hall at Mains Open Weekend

2011-01-06T15:19:00.000-08:00

Tonight we enjoyed photographing The Great Hall At Mains, here are some of the images which we hope shows this stunning location looking at it's very best!!

If you are looking for an "Exclusively Yours" Venue with character and a unique atmosphere then check out The Great Hall at Mains. This stunning venue is nestled away on the Fylde Coast in Little Singleton.

Your will receive a warm and professional welcome from the proprietors Adele and Roger Yeoman and the superb Dream Team headed up by Chriss Greenland.

Excellent service is supported by superb catering from Twelve
, Heathcotes and With A Twist and finishing touches from the teams at Creative Cover Hire and Flower Design.

Wedding Open Days At The Great Hall

2011-01-04T04:33:00.000-08:00

This week we will be attending two open days at the fabulous Great Hall At Mains. These open days always prove very popular and the Great Hall is one of the top wedding venues in Lancashire. We will be there on Thursday 6th and Sunday 9th.

If you are planning your wedding come along and check out the fantastic venue and meet some of the top wedding professionals in the business. The events team from the Great Hall At Mains will make you very welcome for sure!!

Hope to see you there, so pop along and say Hello!!!

Bride Magazine Feature

2011-01-04T03:36:00.000-08:00

When you get the chance check out the latest issue of Cheshire, Manchester & Lancashire "Bride Magazine" it features one of our favourite weddings of 2010. Heyley & Louis held their reception at the fantastic Beeston Manor after a really beautiful wedding ceremony at St Gregory's Church in Chorley Lancashire.

Beautiful Bride, Handsome Groom, Lovely Church, Fantastic Cars, Hot Air Balloons And some of the nicest guests we have ever worked with. All the ingredients for a super wedding. Add to that the great landscape around Beeston Manor which is located in the stunning Ribble Valley no wonder this wedding has been so popular with our blog followers and the wedding magazines. Heyley had worked with the talented team from Creative Cover Hire and Beeston Manor looked stunning on the day. If you are planning a wedding I can't describe how much impact real professionals like Dawn from Creative Cover Hire can have on the look and feel of your day. Every single supplier at this wedding was at the top of their game and it showed.

Wedding Photographer Of the Year

2011-01-04T02:58:00.000-08:00

We are really pleased to be nominated for the second year running in the Wedding Ideas Awards.

Ashton Photography have been shortlisted in the "Photographer of the Year" category of The 2011 Wedding Ideas Awards, the UK's only consumer wedding awards, voted for by readers of the UK's best selling monthly wedding title. The awards acknowledge the very best companies who deliver fabulous products for every bridal budget, coupled with exceptional customer service. There are 16 categories and there have been in excess of 8,000 nominations this year.

The awards will be presented at a glittering awards ceremony at The Brewery by the Barbican in London on Friday the 14th of January 2011 , following a Champagne Reception and a delicious three course lunch. The evening will be hosted by TV presenter Jenni Falconer, entertainment by Andy Abraham and over 200 leading names from the bridal industry are expected to attend.

Rachel Morgan, the editor of Wedding Ideas magazine, explains the significance
of the awards:

"The 6th annual Wedding Ideas Awards will see la creme de la creme of the UK's wedding industry honoured for their work with real-life brides – the people who matter! Many of the nominees work with us anyway, and we are especially delighted that these people have been recognised for their brilliance, in these tough times and considering just how many nominations we had this year. We send our congratulations to Ashton Photography for being nominated for one of these prestigious awards."

The Vincent Hotel Wedding Photography | Helen and Andy

2010-12-21T01:11:00.000-08:00

Helen & Andy had a fabulous wedding in the fantastic Vincent Hotel. Outside as Christmas shoppers braved the freezing temperatures Helen and Andy and their great guests were enjoying the ultra modern luxury of one of the top hotels in Lancashire.

Regular readers of this blog will know I love working in low available light and the Vincent provided a real challenge in terms of photography. Like most modern hotels all the artificial light comes from overhead down lighters. These are a tricky light source to work with at the best of times, but an unexpected challenge faced us as we entered the wedding ceremony room.

As the guests entered the room the lights were lowered to a point were they provided me with an exposure of 1/30 sec at F1.4 running an ISO of 12,000. I have never been faced with photographing a wedding at such extreme exposure settings.

So plan "B" very quickly set up a pair of Quadra,s in medium sized soft boxes.... Problem solved. At least I thought. The registrars arrived in the room and informed me the would not permit "Flash Photography". In fact I had to smile when she said she couldn't see to read the wedding contract. It really was that dark. Not sure why the hotel feel the need to keep the place so dark but as wedding photographers we often need to work with what we are given.

So the entire ceremony was recorded at 12,000 ISO on the D3s Bodies using fast 1.4 lenses. Low light is never a problem, I relish the depth and quality it can give, but NO LIGHT is a challenge;) In the end I think it worked out OK !!

Here are a few images from Helen And Andy's big day. I hope you enjoy them.

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography | Liz and Edward

2010-12-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

On Friday we photographed the lovely wedding of Liz and Edward in Chorley, followed by a great reception and party at Bartle Hall. A really great day and despite some not so great weather early in the day, conditions improved by the the time we got to Bartle Hall.

Here are a few images from the day.

It's a busy old month!,

2010-12-09T13:56:00.000-08:00

Sorry for a lack of postings of late, we have just been so busy getting client album and print orders ready for Xmas deliveries. The viewing room is looking like a Christmas Grotto at the moment.

The fantastic weather over the last few weeks has seem both Stephanie and myself out shooting stock landscape images and I have been busy on my wildlife projects. The picture above was from one such session this week.

We have received some great orders for our landscape and wildlife art images. One order which just came through today is for a massive print from our last Cuba Trip and possibly the biggest print we have made from a digital file.

We have taken some great wedding bookings at some fantastic venues for wedding photography in the last couple of weeks including Hoghton Tower, Gibbon Bridge Hotel and Knowsley Hall. So some great weddings on the cards for next year and 2012 is starting to book up really well.

The Tatton Wedding show in January will see a set of new display prints and albums available to view. These include some amazing images from weddings this year.

This weekend sees us back out photographing two weddings on Friday and Saturday so we will be in action at Bartle Hall one of my personal Favourite venues in Lancashire and also the Vincent Hotel in Southport, which will provide some great images.

Last bit of news really just in... We are to be featured in a massive portrait project, which will be showing in Selfridges in Manchester early in the new year. It's great to be involved in these art projects and we can't wait to see the response to this amazing project.

So the gear is packed ready to go for a nice early start in the morning. Until my next posting here are a few more images from the last few weeks. Just a reminder for the photographers out there here is a link to my landscape and wildlife blog
Here you will find loads more photography information and many more of my latest non wedding work.

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography | Sam and Matt

2010-12-03T02:57:00.000-08:00

Last week we spent a great day at the wedding of Sammy and Matt who got married at Bartle Hall. The light was fantastic and despite freezing temperatures we managed some great images. I have to say Sammy was amazing, she seemed to enjoy the cold!! Bartle Hall has for many years been one of my personal favourite venues. It offers some great locations for photography,the wedding team are simply superb and its one of those venues, no matter what the weather holds it provides a perfect setting.

Here is a short slide show of some of our favourite images from the day.

The First Few Years

2010-11-18T10:25:00.000-08:00

Five years ago we photographed the wedding of Matt & Debbie. Since their wedding day we have enjoyed being their photographers as each of their beautiful children have come along. Cameron was days old when we first met him, nearly four years ago.

Since that first phone call we have had many portrait shoots with the family. It would be fair to say we have got to know them all very well. They now have three amazing children. Matt and Debbie are fantastic parents and its also been a joy to see their family grow as the years go by.

Last week we photographed the latest addition to the family, Tom only weeks old, joined by his older brother and sister.

Seeing Cameron gave me great pleasure, having seen him as a baby he has grown into a really fine and polite young man. He is a real credit to his parents. Lilly is now a real little lady, blonde and pretty.

Here is a very short video of the first few years of Cameron's life... I hope you really enjoy watching the video.

A few Favourite Images

2010-11-18T06:11:00.000-08:00

Wedding Ideas Awards 2011

2010-11-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

Delighted to say that we have been short listed for Photographer of The Year (2nd year running) for the Wedding Ideas Magazine Wedding Awards. This is an achievement we are proud of as the nominee's are all chosen by brides and the winner is decided by the company who has received the most number of votes...bit like X Factor :)
In January 2010, we were the runners up, so it would be fabulous if we could ask you to vote yet again for us and hopefully win this time round!!

You can follow the link below, which will take you to the voting form

Thanks for your votes Stephanie and Steve

Visit Wedding Ideas - The UK's best bridal mini-mag

Thornton Manor Wedding Photography |Christina and Aaron

2010-11-02T05:18:00.000-07:00

Last weekend we photographed the wedding of Christina & Aaron, which took place at St Andrews Church in Bedington followed by a great reception and wedding breakfast at the stunning Thornton Manor

Also I just wanted to mention the two amazing wedding cars. We had two vintage Bently's one of which has the reg number LOV76 They are stunning cars and well worth taking a look at when you are looking for your wedding transport. Here is a link to their website LOV76

All the images from the day are now posted on our wedding Photography website

2010-10-16T02:52:00.000-07:00

As you can see Ashton Photography has been shortlisted in the Bridal magazine wedding photographer of the year competition. Please take a few moments to vote for us and any of the other shortlisted suppliers you know.

Here is a link to the Voting Form

Both Stephanie and myself would like to thank all our clients and friends who have taken the time to vote.

Wedding Photographer Of The Year...... Bridal Magazine

2010-10-15T02:53:00.000-07:00

Just found out we have been shortlisted by The Bridal Magazine for Wedding Photographer of the Year...our brides have voted for us and I didn't even know...THANK YOU!

I will post more details as soon as I find out more information, came as a big surprise and a great way to start a Friday!!!

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography | Emma and Anthony

2010-10-15T01:59:00.000-07:00

We were back at Bartle Hall for the wedding of Emma & Anthony last week and at times forgot it was the middle of October, there was not a single cloud in the sky. So blessed with fantastic weather a really great bride and groom and a "Just do what you do" brief all was set for a great day.

The only real challenge all day was the lighting conditions outside the church, which presented a few problems for photography, as it was just so bright and harsh. Here are a few of my favourite shots from the day.

All the other images are now on our main wedding Photography website hope you enjoy viewing them.

Mere Court Hotel Wedding Photography Lisa and Alex

2010-10-11T06:35:00.001-07:00

Just about to go live on our main website Ashton Photography

Lisa & Alex held their wedding reception at the fantastic Mere Court Hotel in Cheshire which has for many years been a poular venue with our clients.

Here are just a few of my favourite images from the day.

Eaves Hall Wedding Photography | Heather and Peter

2010-09-30T02:13:00.000-07:00

It gives me great pleasure to write this blog posting, firstly Heather and Peter had a fantastic wedding at the stunning Eaves Hall last weekend, but also this now means we are bang on target with all our post production after the very busy August and September period.

Back to Heather and Peter, Eaves Hall is a stunning wedding venue with the most interesting and photogenic grounds you could wish for. Once again we had great clients and guests all in all a really great wedding to be part of. This really is the time of year I enjoy most, as the stunning autumn colours start to show and the light takes on an almost magical glow.

The bride and groom are off on the most amazing three month honeymoon which will pretty much take them around the world returning home just in time for Christmas. We can't wait to hear the tales of their fantastic trip and show them the rest of their wedding images.

Once again we were given a very reportage brief so here are just a few images from the day.

The Inn at Whitewell Wedding Photography | Lynn and John

2010-09-30T01:26:00.000-07:00

Its no secret I love working at the The Inn At Whitewell The location is simply amazing the food is great I even enjoy the drive out there, so photographing this wedding was always going to be good fun.

When you add ingredients to the party like the Flower Design Team Howard wing providing the entertainment, the most amazing wedding cake I have seen this year, some really great guests and some fantastic speeches things just keep getting better. To top it all Lynn and John are such great people and boy do they know how to throw a party!!

Here are just a few images from the day.

Caroline & Connor

2010-09-30T00:19:00.000-07:00

Caroline & Connor were married on a glorious September afternoon at St Cuthberts in Lytham

After the very warm and personal wedding ceremony they moved onto their wedding reception at the stunning Lytham Hall, were we were blessed with the most amazing light and the first subtle hints of autum colours in the trees

St Cuthberts is without doubt one of my favourite churches, not only is the church beautiful in its self both inside and out, but the staff and the minister are such friendly and helpful people. They seem to get the balance just right.

Here are just a few of my personal favourite images from the day.

Lytham Hall Wedding Photography | Emma & Matthew

2010-09-21T12:44:00.000-07:00

The latest wedding to go live is Emma and Matthew who got married at the stunning Lytham Hall. When we arrived at the Hall the rain was blasting down like a tropical monsoon but within a short time the rain had cleared and the sun came out and we were blessed with some fantastic September sunshine for the rest of the day.

The day was all the more special as we had the Flower Design Team along withRowleys Catering making sure everything went to plan. Ben from Rowleys did a great job but Im still not convinced he was the one responsible for the change in the weather.... I think it was Jane from Flower Design!!

Here are just a few images from the day.

The Grand Hotel Lytham Wedding Photography | Diana & John

2010-09-21T02:52:00.000-07:00

Just a few images from the wedding of Dianna and John who had a fantastic day on the Fylde Coast. There seems to be a trend developing here as yet again this was a wedding coverage with very few groups and posed pictures which let me concentrate on the more candid images.

Just to prove the summer has not been so bad the last two weddings posted on the blog enjoyed superb sunshine and almost a mini heatwave.

Dianna and John had planned the day to perfection with a superb church and a great reception venue. In fact I don't think I have ever seen a bride more organised than Dianna, no way would she have got the weather wrong. She really needs to become a wedding planner!!!!

Mitton Hall Wedding Photography | Heather and Ben

2010-09-21T01:53:00.000-07:00

We photographed Ben's Sisters wedding a few years ago and since then have got to know Ben and Heather very well, so it was great to be invited to capture their big day at Mitton Hall.

This was another reportage photography brief which we love so much and it was great to catch up with some old friends on the day. Here is just a small selection of images. I hope you enjoy them.

We also got to work with our good friends Jane and Jason of Flower Design who did a fantastic job as they always do. Mitton Hall looked amazing on the day, the weather was superb and I know Heather and Ben had a Fantastic day. We can't wait to catch up with them and hear all about the fab honeymoon.

Chester Cathedral Wedding Photography | Carrie and Mark's

2010-09-15T04:45:00.000-07:00

This was a great wedding as Carrie and Mark gave us the brief of "do what you do"! so we did and are really pleased with the results.

We had little contact with them so totally blended into the crowd enabling us to capture the day as it unfolded.

Chester Cathedral is truly magnificent and we were so delighted to be given such great access to the ceremony...here are just a few of our favourites, enjoy the images.

Bartle Hall Wedding Photography | Georgina and Mark

2010-09-10T02:18:00.000-07:00

Fun fun and more fun.. that sums up this amazing wedding in my old home town of Morecambe. Gina is one of those brides who is so relaxed and such a lovely person that she is just a pleasure to be around. You can see happiness on every single frame from this wedding. As for Mark, well he is just one of life's nice guys and he is a real character to say the least.

The day started in Torisholme at the church were I shot my very first wedding, more years ago than I care to remember. It really was a blast from the past for me. The Wedding reception was at one of our most popular venues Bartle Hall about 40min drive from Morecambe.

The actual wedding service was a real emotional experience and at one point I looked up from the camera and could see just about every person in the church with a tear in their eye.

The bridesmaids were a great bunch of girls who just beamed and looked stunning all day but a special thanks must go to Marks best man, he was a star all day and by the time we left he was a real dab hand with the Quadras.

The entire day was great but the highlight had to be when Mark sang to Gina just before the first dance.

Now I have had grooms sing at wedding before, but Mark really can sing!! He was a West End singer some years ago and did a fantastic performance. Within seconds he had the entire wedding reception on the dance floor. This was followed by a fantastic first dance. To any brides reading this if you want you wedding reception to be a massive hit, ask Mark to come and do your entertainment. He is a natural performer, and it was great to have a first dance last more than a few seconds.

All in all one of the best weddings I have covered in many ways.. Here are just a few images from the day. Hope you enjoy viewing them.

Farington Lodge Wedding Photography | Louise and Luke

2010-09-07T13:32:00.000-07:00

This was a really lovely wedding to be part off. Despite the typical August rain and a vicar who told me I was not able to take any pictures in church, the day seemed to go rather well.

Not put off by a bit of rain Louise and Luke were fantastic and the guest at the wedding were a great bunch of people. The rain came down like a monsoon when we arrived at Farington Lodge and as you can see the shooting just carried on. Later in the day we were all rewarded with a really nice evening.

The Quadras came out so we could make the most of the fantastic sky in the evening and I must admit to feeling a bit guilty. I seemed to have manage just a few shots in church!!! The church warden sent to guard me by the grumpy vicar seemed to be just a little bit distracted by Stephanie, so I thought it would be crazy not to grab a few frames whilst his back was turned.

Both Stephanie and myself had a great day and I think its pretty obvious, so did Louise and Luke.In fact I think this first shot sums up the day pretty well.

Farington Lodge Wedding Photography | Michelle and Richard

2010-09-05T03:02:00.000-07:00

Michelle & Richard married at our local church, St Andrews in Leyland and then had a fantastic reception and wedding breakfast at farington Lodge. They had a really great day and for me I could not have been working closer to home. It is fantastic to work with a young couple who are so much in love, they just beam when they are together, and how about the look of pride an Michelles dads face, Fantastic!!

Stanley House Wedding Photography | Sally and Mike

2010-08-30T11:22:00.000-07:00

Sally & Mike held their civil wedding at the superb Stanley House Hotel. Despite some heavy rain at times everybody had a great time. Here are just a few images from their great day.

West Tower Hotel Wedding Photography | Lynn and Keith

2010-08-26T10:34:00.000-07:00

Just finished working on the images from Lynn and Keith's wedding at the fantastic West Tower We have got to know Lynn and Keith really well over the past few months and had a great time with them on their wedding day.

A real feast of detail this Wedding, Lynn had put a lot of thought into all the important details and everything came just right on day. As ever West Tower did a great job in their usual relaxed, efficent way.

Keiths car seemed to be attracting a lot of attention on the day, not sure why!!! It was great to share in the love and warmth at this wedding. Thanks for letting Stephanie and myself share part of your special day guys. We can't wait for you to see the rest of your images.

Tanya & Gary's Wedding At Worden Arts Centre Leyland

2010-08-24T02:03:00.000-07:00

Just a few images from the wedding of Tanya & Gary. Their wedding took place in Blackburn followed by a stunning wedding reception organised down to the smallest detail by the amazing team from With A Twist Catering I would have never thought the arts centre could look so amazing.

Despite saying she hated posing for pictures Tanya, in her stunning Ian Stuart wedding dress turned out to be a natural in front of the camera. We had a great time doing this wedding.... nothing to do with the amazing deserts, one of the latest With A Twist creations !!!!!!

Hayley & Louis "The faces of Beeston Manor"

2010-08-18T11:56:00.000-07:00

The wedding of Hayley and Louis is fast becoming the talk of Lancashire, attracting interest from the national wedding press and now our model clients find they are the face of the latest Little White Books advertising campaign.

Can't say we are surprised, they really were the ideal wedding clients and planned the perfect wedding day. Its great to see our bride ad grooms get this kind of interest from the wedding press and have their wedding be so well received.

You will possibly have seen this image before, it is without doubt one our most talked about images of this wedding season.

As you can see on the advert there will be a wedding and bridal fair at Beeston Manor on the 19th September. This really is a superb Lancashire wedding venue and one well worth checking out. We will be at the fair of course and hope to see you all there.

Stanley House Hotel Wedding Photography | Becky and Pauls

2010-08-17T13:23:00.000-07:00

Close to home again for the wedding of Becky & Paul in Preston followed by a great reception at the fantastic Stanley House in Mellor Lancashire, which is looking even more amazing after the completion of new extensions and the addition of some great modern art work.

Despite what looked like it was going to be another rainy day, we managed to escape the rain and enjoyed a very pleasant and warm afternoon.

Paul & Becky were great on the day, as were their guest. Here are a few images from their great wedding.

Farington Lodge Wedding Photography | Kate and Mark

2010-08-16T08:30:00.000-07:00

Here are some images from the wedding of Kate and Mark, which took place at Christ Church in Charnock Richard followed by a sunny wedding reception at Farington Lodge.

This was a great traditional family wedding and the vicar at Christ Church was possibly the most friendly chap I have ever met. A super day and I hope you enjoy this small glimpse of what made it so special for Kate and Mark.

Rachael & Will's Garden Party Wedding

2010-08-11T14:02:00.000-07:00

Here are justa few images from Rachael & Will's wedding which took place in Goosnargh Nr Preston in the stunning Ribble Valley and then on to the most amazing garden party reception on the brides parents farm and fishery.

What a venue for a party, and the amount of work thsi family did to prepare the garden and grounds for thsi wedding is just beyond belief.

We had a very open brief with only one instruction, "we don't do posed" so it was a day of shooting in the style I most enjoy, simply catching emotion and fun, and boy was this wedding fun.

The high point for me was Rachael's reaction when she got out of the car at church and realised she had forgoten her flowers.. a real classic moment.

Once again really great people having a great family day, as you will see even the familiy dog "Carrie" got in on the action. In the end we did manage a few posed shots and out came the Quadra to make the most of that fantastic Ribble Valley Sky.

Hope you enjoy a brief glimpse into the beautiful wedding.

Time for some serious post production

2010-08-08T14:58:00.001-07:00

After a fantastic and very busy weekend, we have just made he last backup of the latest sets of wedding images from todays shoots.I now have 8,713 images sat on our main frame computer ready for editing and post production, all which must be completed before our clients can view their images.

So I know its going to be a very busy week for me in the digital darkroom. I will post more details about our latest weddings as soon as possible, but as I was checking through todays images this picture of one of our brides from today stood out. Mel married Tao, at the Grand Hotel in Lytham. This is an image directly out of the camera no post production has been done yet, I just loved the simple effective composition. You look stunning Mel!! Looks like you had a great day.

Sharon & John At Farington Lodge Hotel

2010-08-06T03:39:00.000-07:00

We really both enjoyed covering this wedding it was just fun right from the start. Met some really lovley people and even got home to feed Lucy our dog and have a cuppa whilst the meal was being served... not often we get to do that at a wedding.

Here are just a few of the many images I love from the great day. The moment when the registrar asked who was giving Sharon away and her son called out "I DO" will be one of those funny moments we will remember for a long time... it was priceless!! Yet another of those weddings that make this job such a pleasure. Thanks to our fanatstic bride and groom and some really great guest.

Raquet Club Liverpool Wedding Photography | Jess and Joe

2010-08-06T02:02:00.000-07:00

Latest images from this years fantastic and very busy wedding schedule. Joe and Jess married in Liverpool, at a very special wedding service. Jess was married by her Dad, which produced some very emotional moments I can tell you, At one point even Stephanie was crying!!!

One of the great things about being a wedding photographer is the way we get to be part of these magical moments in the lives of other families. Hope you enjoy the images guys and see you very soon. Great choice of honeymoon destination Joe!!The secret is now out you old romantic.

All set for weekend.

2010-08-05T10:11:00.001-07:00

Its been a busy old week with pre wedding shoots and meetings with clients and now its time to pack the camera gear ready for a very busy three wedding weekend.

I have had loads of e-mails and comments regarding styles of wedding photography. The first chance I get I will put my thoughts on the blog. In the mean time I would be very interested to hear your views. Were do you think wedding photography is heading? Lets compare notes!!

Have a great weekend we have three great weddings this weekend and just before I switch off for the night, we have a new client meeting at 6.30pm Then its the computer shut down for the weekend.

Lynn & Keith Pre Wedding Shoot

2010-08-05T08:30:00.000-07:00

Hot off the press today are the pre wedding shoot pictures of Lynn & Keith who get married at the amazing West Tower next week. There are more images on our main website under the portrait section.

We managed a very short portrait shoot in our local park in between heavy rain storms. The place was a bit damp to say the least and conditions not the best you would wish for, but thanks for you smiles and see you next week.

Hayley & Louis Wedding

2010-08-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

We have just loaded the complete set of images from the wedding of Hayley and Louis at the fantastic Beeston Manor in Lancashire Beeston really is a superb venue and a very welcome addition to the Lancashire weddings venue collection. Hayley and Louis you were fantastic on the day and I hope you enjoy the pictures.

Here are just a few of our many personal favourites images from the day.

Castlefield Manchester Pre Wedding Shoot | Heather and Ben

2010-08-03T17:45:00.000-07:00

We have known Heather & Ben for a good few years now, in fact we became friends after photographing Ben's sisters wedding some years ago, so it was great to be invited to photograph their own wedding, which takes place later this month.

I have also worked with Ben on a number of commercial shoots and I regard him as one of the most creative people I have had the pleasure to work with over the years. So after a good long chat about the wedding and life in general we found ourselves quickly running out of light.

My style of portrait photography seems to be changing. I am finding I use black and white much less, colours are becoming more important in my images and the subjects are becoming much smaller in the frame, they are in many cases now secondary to the location. Not sure were the change came from it just seemed to evolve over a period of time.

I know I am enjoying portrait shoots more and more as I experiment with new ideas. These are my personal picks from the shoot. Let me know what you think. Now I need to stop playing and get on with the wedding edits which are quickly mounting up.

The main reason I did these tonight was simply as a test. I shot in JPG mode not my normal RAW workflow. The RAW files from the shoot will be worked on in the next few days. Its one of the great things about photography, you never stop learning and never stop looking for new ideas.

Louise & Luke Pre Wedding Shoot

2010-08-03T02:38:00.000-07:00

After a busy weekend of really lovley weddings yesterday saw us back in Leyland for the pre wedding shoot of Louise and Luke. They get married on the 20th August so not long to go now before the big day.

Here are just a few images from last night shoot. They are so relaxed together It was a pleasure to photograph them and I just know they will be great subjects on their wedding day.

Jackie & Chris Pre Wedding Shhot

2010-07-26T15:58:00.000-07:00

Just a few images from our latest pre wedding shoot with Jackie and Chris. They get married at the superb Bartle Hall Hotel in August.

looks like it will be a great wedding!!

Things are nice and busy here at the moment, keeping on top of all the editing, pre wedding meetings and pre wedding shoots. The average wedding, if there is such a thing, takes about three days to edit and work it's way through our post production system. So it really is constant long days in the digital dark room for me at this time of year.

Tomorrow we are collecting a new lens, the Nikkor 70-200mm F2.8, this will be replacing my old version of this lens which has simply worn out. Will it be better than the old lens? Possibly but not that much, the 70-200 is my most used lens so in the next few days we shall start to see some results. Talking of lenses we are still waiting with anticipation the release of the new Nikkor 85mm, which should be released in the next few weeks..... We have been waiting for this lens for over two years now, so who knows what Nikon will come up with.

Talking of new equipment, I discovered what after only two jobs has become a vital item of equipment. The Black Rapid camera straps. They are simply superb and one of the best bits of camera gear I have ever used. The weight of two Nikon D3s bodies with F2.8 lenses is very heavy and after 12 hours on you feet at a wedding this weight becomes a real problem.

The Black rapid straps simply take away the problem and give a massive increase in speed of operation. They are expensive but when you consider they make the £10Ks worth of equipment more responsive and weightless the price tag is small.

Here is a link to the Black Rapid web site. http://www.blackrapid.com/ These straps get a massive 10/10 from me. I can't remember being this impressed with a single item of camera gear since the release of the Nikon D3.

Hayley & Louis Wedding Yesterday

2010-07-18T05:17:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic wedding yesterday, Hayley planned her day to perfection, you can just see from the pictures everybody had such a fantastic day.

When the day is so well planned things just flow and yesterday everything just flowed. We are both still buzzing about this wedding amazing day and amazing people !!

Here is just a taster LOTS more to come. This is a shot from the evening fasion style shoot out in the fields at Beeston Manor, who as ever were fantastic on the day. Taken using the Ranger Quadra kit and here is another image from the same shoot, this was Stephanie in action with the 14mm Nikkor and the Quadra's again

Just Messing

2010-07-15T07:08:00.000-07:00

Having a short break from wedding images and came across this D3 capture from Marbella, taken a few weeks ago......... what struck me was the camera shooting data not only was this image taken at 3200iso at f4 but it is frame number 185,000 0n the D3 not bad going for a two year old camera, the D3 bodies are looking a bit tired now but still are producing results day in day out, very glad I changed to Nikon

Knowsley Hall Wedding Photography | Carley and Dan

2010-07-15T05:53:00.000-07:00

Saturday saw Stephanie and myself photographing the wedding of Carley and Dan in Ormskirk followed by a great wedding reception at the stunning Knowsley Hall

Destination Wedding

2010-07-06T07:57:00.000-07:00

We photographed the wedding of Nicola and Andrew in Spain and what a fantastic event. The wedding was held in the stunning Villa Del Mar

I can't describe how amazing this venue is, situated in the grounds of the world famous Marbella Club

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so here is a small selection of our images from the wedding. I hope you get some idea of just how special this wedding was.

We are both so pleased to have been invited to cover this wedding. I have seen some great wedding venues over the years but this simply blew me away. Walking out onto the Villa's Lawns as the sun dropped below the horizon only to be replaced by a full moon was a fantastic experience. I hope you enjoy the images as much as wee enjoyed taking them and being there with Nicola & Andrew

After the wedding we spent a few days in Marbella relaxing before the busy two months ahead. July and August will see us attending over twenty wedding in total. So if the blog postings slow down a bit its simply that we need to focus all out attention towards taking care of our clients over the busy wedding season. We will be posting on our face book pages and the blog will return as soon as possible.

So sit back and enjoy.

Latest Wedding Images Now Online

2010-06-08T08:55:00.000-07:00

Last thursday we photographed the wedding of Stephanie and Simon at The Great Hall At Mains.

Super people,fantastic sunshine all day and the events team at The Great Hall did a fantastice job as they always do.

Here are just a few of images from the day. All the other images can be found on our main wedding web site.

A Busy Weekend!!

2010-06-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

We have photographed three great weddings this week, so a busy week for both Stephanie and myself, but what a finish, todays wedding was simply a stunner. We also had the pleasure of seeing two good friends Jane & Jason of Flower design in Lytham, relaxing as guests at a wedding!!! Guess who did the flowers though!!!! Must say you blew me away with these decorations. You just never fail to deliver the goods.

So knowing Jane will be dancing the night away the very well turned out Jason, I am safe in saying she wont be blogging, so just to keep you happy Jane, here are a couple of shots from the Day.

Hayley & Leuis Pre Wedding Shoot

2010-06-02T05:53:00.000-07:00

Images from yesterdays pre wedding shoot are now on line in our portratit area. Getting camera gear ready now for a very busy three wedding weekend.

The Queen

2010-05-25T02:15:00.000-07:00

Just to give you some idea of what its like up close and personal on a Royal visit here are a few more images from last Thursday in Yorkshire.

The Queens Visit To Scarborough

2010-05-21T01:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday saw a little change of pace for Stephanie and myself, we were commisioned as official photographers to record the the Queens first visit to Scarborough in 40 years. I have done a good few Royal visits in my years as a press photographer and worked the Royal Rota before, but never have I had such unrestricted access as yesterday.

We rode in the official cars and we were at times only a few feet away from the Queen. It was such an honour to be commisioned to record this historic visit. The Palace Press staff and the Police were fantastic, at one point I even managed to get a lift in one of the Police Range Rovers, Thanks guys you did an amazing job!!

I don't think I will ever forget the feeling of being driven down streets lined with people waving Union Jacks all trying to get a glimps of who was riding in our car.. simply an awsome day

Now as for pictures we are still busy editing and doing post production work ready for our clients presentation but this frame just stood out at me last night. I just love thr relaxed happy feel, so here is a very quick sneak preview.

Loads more images will follow once we have received official release, needless to say the Queen looked fantastic as ever, she is such an amazing lady. We are so lucky to have her and she really does make me so proud to be British.

Stephanie and myself are still on such a high.... we will be talking about yesterday for many years to come.

Sophie & Stuart's Wedding in Lytham

2010-05-19T03:27:00.000-07:00

Here is a small selection of my personal favourite images from Sophie and Stuarts wedding which took place at St Cuthberts in Lytham followed by a super wedding reception at Lytham Hall. The entire wedding reception was expertly organised and run by Rowleys Catering who did a fantastic job the venue looked stunning on the day. The bride and grooms flowers were supplied by Jane of Flower Design whilst the reception room was decorated by Sophie's family.

Helen & Marc

2010-05-18T01:42:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of the latest images out of post production. We photographed Helen and Marc's wedding over in Scarisbrick followed by a fantastic wedding reception which was held in the grounds of Helens's parents family home (I love weddings like this). We photographed Marc's sisters wedding a few years ago and have got to know his family well so this seemed like photographing a friends wedding. These folks really do know how to throw a party!!!!! Hope you enjoy a brief glimpse of this stunning wedding.

We really were working with the big wedding dream team on this one. All the stunning flowers were from Margaret Mason The simply fantastic marquees were by Mahood Marquees On the day Jenkinsons did a superb job of all the catering, the food was superb as always. The really great thing about all these top wedding professionals is the way they work in such a discreet manner. The entire event just runs like a military operation, but you never see the events team they are behind the scenes doing what they should be doing. Its no surprise that on many of our really big weddings the ''Dream Team'' are all working together again.

Sophie & Stu Just A Taster

2010-05-06T07:53:00.000-07:00

Spent today doing the post production on saturdays wedding. Here is a taster the rest will follow very soon

Rebecca & Warren

2010-05-06T07:25:00.000-07:00

A small selection of images from the wedding of Rebecca and Warren. The wedding ceremony was held in Churchtown followed by a fantastic wedding reception at a really great venue West Tower.

West Tower looked fantastic and the wedding team along with Laurie the florist had done a great job.

The rest of the images from the day are now posted on the main web site, hope you enjoy them.

Some Old Friends.

2010-05-06T06:31:00.000-07:00

Over the last few weeks we have done a number of portrait shoots with the children of past wedding clients. Its great to keep in contact with our bride and grooms and one of the great joys of the job is to see their young families grow.

Here are two shoots done last week.

Aimee & Paul's Wedding

2010-04-25T12:48:00.000-07:00

After a very busy few weeks at Ashton Photography we are getting to the end of the post production work on the latest weddings. Here are a few images from a really great wedding we photographed last month.

Aimee and Paul held a very spiritual and emotional wedding in Maghull followed by a reception at Hurlston Hall Golf and country club. We had a great time at this wedding with lots of freedom in the church to do what we love most and simply capture events as they happen.

I have mentioned before how much I love weddings were the emotion and love just overflows and this was one such wedding.

Finally, how about this for a ''walk down the aisle'' This just sums up these two!! Not content to just walk out of church we have skipping to music,it really sums up the day which was pure fun!!

Kristie & Lee Wedding at Mitton Hall

2010-04-25T10:14:00.000-07:00

Just a small selection of images from Kristie and Lee's wedding which was held at the fantastic Mitton Hall

A superb venue in the hart of the stunning Ribble Valley. A great location and a day of fantastic sunshine, what more can you ask for. Hope you enjoy this brief glimpse at some of the images.

Ashton Photography on Face Book

2010-04-20T02:10:00.000-07:00

We now have our own page on Face Book so please come and join us here is a link
Face book

Some Random Shots

2010-04-17T14:09:00.000-07:00

Packed & Ready To Go (Wedding Kit)

2010-04-16T16:40:00.000-07:00

I get so many e-mails asking what we take to weddings in terms of camera gear. Well tonight as I was packing for Saturdays wedding I decided to answer all the e-mails in one go. Here is a very quick picture of my Billingham bag and its full contents all ready to go.

If you click on the picture you will see a full size image with notes showing what I carry to a wedding.

This is backed up by a full set of spares including cameraa body lenses and flash guns along with spare flash cards and batteries. The only thing not shown are the snack bars and bottle of water!!!! Tesco first thing in the morning for me then.

When I get to the location I will use the macro lenses for detail shots but these will be left in the spares case in the Land Rover. I have also been using a few flash gels and snoots which will be in the car, but not planning on using any flash on Saturday..... main lenses will be the 24-70 and the 70-200 but I bet all the lenses will get used at some point, they always do.

Stephanie carries a smaller Think Tank bag with a full compliment of gear including D700 and D3 bodies 24-70 / 70-200 / 50mm lenses and flash.

If you have any questions please drop me a line.... but please no which is better Nikon or Canon questions PLEASE !!!

Donna & Matt 's Wedding At Gibbon Bridge

2010-04-15T03:46:00.000-07:00

On Friday we photographed the wedding of Donna & Matt who had a fantastic day at Gibbon Bridge Hotel.

This was our first wedding at Gibbon Bridge this year and we were amazed to find how much the venue has changed. There is now a stunning new garden room and Donna and Matt were the first couple to get married in the new extension. Gibbon Bridge has been a favourite of Ashton Photography for many years, but now its better than ever, superb location and a great team !!

We had a great day with fantastic weather and some great people to photograph. The venue looked fantastic with flowers designed along a Japanese theme by the very talented Jane & Jason of Flower Design

The superb wedding cake decoration was created by Donna's mum, a very talented lady.

Here are a few of our favourite images from the day, hope you enjoy them.

We photographed the speeches, which is always a great time for candid shots and this is a classic example, I love this image, it just sums up this Mums feelings and the love just jumps out at you....... images like this just make wedding photography such a pleasure.

To close this post here are two of our great friends and fellow wedding professionals Jane and Jason, from Flower Design.... one for the scrap book guys and thanks for doing such a great job, a pleasure to work with you again!!

Helen & Gary's Wedding At Samlesbury Hall

2010-03-24T03:57:00.001-07:00

Another classic wedding on Saturday, this time it was the turn of Helen and Gary at the superb Samlesbury Hall
Near Preston in lancashire.

The Hall looked fantastic on Saturday, despite some rain showers in fact its one of those few places that has so many great locations for photographs rain never causes a problem. Despite the weather we managed to get most photography done outside which was a real bonus.

This was a really nice classic and elegant wedding in a superb venue, what more can a wedding photographer ask.

Gary is the proud owner of a gleaming Lotus sports car, which seemed to play a very significant part in the days proceedings, standing proudly outside the main enterance

Helen's grandad did a fantastic reading from ''The Owl & The Pussy Cat'' during the wedding service which was held in the small chapel.

This is the scene awaiting the guests as they went in for the wedding breakfast. The Hall looked stunning. The event team had done a fantastic job in creating such a warm and friendly reception for everyone.

It was then time for a quick and efficient turn round in preperation for a very livley and well rehersed first dance.

Both Stephanie and myself had a great time. Hope you like this small selection of pictures. For any bride and grooms out there, looking for a superb wedding venue, you really should take a look at Samlesbury Hall.

More Donna & Oliver

2010-03-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

Just a few more images of the Donna & Oliver at Beeston Manor
last Saturday. These are hot off the press having just gone through post production, so sorry for the split post.

Donna & Oliver At Beeston Manor

2010-03-15T15:13:00.000-07:00

On Saturday we photographed the wedding of Donna & Oliver. I have said before its grest to work at a new venue and this was no exeption. The wedding reception was held at Beeston Manor
in Hoghton, Lancashire. Beeston is a new wedding venue which promises to be very popular. The owners have done a fantasic job of converting old farm buildings into a swish new purpose made enue for weddings.

Im sure we will be back again many times, We have at least three other weddings here this year alone.

Donna and Oliver had a great day and being fresh back from Afganistan made it a very cold afternoon for Oliver im sure, they both braved the wind and cold to let us take advantage of some great light and the stunning view from the rear of the manor. Thanks guys and we hope you enjoy your images.

Nikon D3s D3X or good old D3 ??

2010-03-03T02:42:00.000-08:00

I have over the last week or so received a lot of e-mails asking which pro camera you should buy from the Nikon range.

We now shoot on Nikon D3s bodies which are all in all the best cameras we have used to date for our style of low light photography. In all honesty it is only the low light capability of the D3s which attracted me. Video is a new and developing tool for stills cameras and to be honest I can live without it. However high quality high ISO performance is the one thing which will draw Stephanie or myself to a camera.

My reply to anybody asking which camera to get is always the same. When you need it you will know. If you need to ask the question your not ready for a change. As for Pro bodies people never seem to consider the Nikon D700, which is due to be upgraded. As an all round pro camera it takes some beating. Chances are the camera replacing the D700 will be as good if not better than the D3s in terms of low light performance.So unless you need a camera built like a tank that can shoot at crazy fast frame rates, I would say the D700 is the best option.

Some people who never really use a camera to a fraction of its ability get hung up on gear...... some people just take pictures others with more money than sense must have the latest BIG camera. In the end buy what you need or what you want.

Emma and Gavin's Wedding At The Grand, Lytham

2010-03-03T02:16:00.000-08:00

Every once and a while you get to really enjoy a wedding shoot. All weddings are very different but some just shine through. The thing that makes weddings special for me is emotion and Emma and Gav's wedding emotion just overflowed.

The day was a photographers dream with a stunning bride and groom in a fantastic location with great guests. Its been some time since we worked at the Grand Hotel in Lytham, in fact since we were last there the Hotel has been given a multi million pound revamp and boy has it made a difference. From a photography point of view this place simply rocks!!!

Here is a link to the Grand Hotel

Here in no particular order are a few of our images from the day. For the photographer reading the blog, there was no fancy flash stuff, just simple daylight and the D3s at last a camera which lets me leave the flash gun at home. This wedding was a little different to our normal wedding coverage. Whilst we did a lot of reportage photography, we also spent a lot of time with the bride and groom capturing available light portraits using interior locations around the hotel. So a bit of a change for us but a very enjoyable one!!!

More From Joe and Melissa's Wedding

2010-03-03T01:45:00.000-08:00

The Great Hall Looking Fantastic

2010-03-03T01:30:00.000-08:00

The Great Hall at Mains, which without doubt is one of Lancashire's most prolific wedding venues, was looking the best I have ever seen for Joe and Mellissa's wedding a few weeks ago.

Mellissa has fantastic attention to detail and with the help of the great wedding team at the Great Hall they produced a stunning theme for the wedding. As you can imagine we see a lot of wedding venues, but this was stunning. Here are a few images from the day but I will leave it to The Great hall's blog to give all you brides the more important wedding information. So great venue, Stunning bride and groom and fantastic weather on the day all combined to produce one of the nicest weddings we have seen for some time. Here is a link to the Great Hall Blog

Some Interesting Shoots

2010-03-03T01:09:00.000-08:00

We have had a great few weeks with some really great weddings and pre wedding shoots. The firstly we spent a great few hours over at Lytham Hall on the Flyde Coast with Sophie and Stu on a pre wedding portrait shoot, as seems to be the norm these days it snowed, but we had some lovley light and a fantastic couple to photograph. Both Stephanie and myself are really going to enjoy their wedding in a few weeks time.

Nikkor 24mm F1.4 Lens

2010-02-10T06:38:00.000-08:00

I moved over to Nikon Cameras when the D3 was launched about 2 years ago now and a Nikon rep I spoke to promised then we would have fast prime lenses available soon to go with the new D3, well soon has just arrived and two updates of the D3 later in the shape of a Nikkor 24mm F1.4 ED lens.

I was expecting a price tag of about £1,000 for this lens only to find a £2,000 list price when I got my e-mail asking if I wanted to pre order. Despite looking a very nice lens and one which would find a place in my bag, I think the price is crazy. Lets hope the UK price drops when the lens hits the shelves in March, but for now I have to say no thanks Nikon. Also released today was a 16-35mm F4 wide angle zoom, We use the 14-24mm so this new lens won't be temping us either.

Its a shame that after a two year wait for the fast primes all we get is a very overpriced 24mm and we still don't have access to the magic 1.2 that Canon shooters have.

God how I wish I still had those fast Canon lenses. I really do despare with Nikon at times having still not got over the disgust at needing to buy raw software for a £4k camera........ Still in another 2 tears we may have a replacement for the old 85mm F1.4 god forbid a fast 35mm, what are they playing at?

Stanley House Hotel Wedding Fair & Latest News

2010-02-08T07:32:00.000-08:00

Ashton Photography will this Sunday the 14th be exibiting at the Stanley House Hotel Wedding Fair.

For a long time now Stanley House has been one of our most popular wedding venues. Great location, superb food and a great wedding and event team. This really should be on your shortlist of Lancashire wedding venues.

Both Stephanie and myself will be available on Sunday so please call along for a chat about your wedding photography.

January was a very busy month, not in terms of taking photographs, but as one of the busiest months for new wedding bookings we have ever seen. The Tatton show and in particular the Bartle Hall wedding show were a massive sucsess and 2010 looks set to be one of our busiest years todate.

Both Stephanie and myself love to work at new venues and interesting locations.This year we have weddings in some great new locations, including Spain and Loch Ness in Scotland so plenty of new and interesting jobs on the horizon.

This week finds us running our first one 2 one training sessions of the year and new photography courses aimed at the more advanced wedding photographers. We do still have some limited places available for training clients this year, so if you are considering a career change or just need to brush up on some new techniques give us a call.Below are a few images taken on recent training sessions.

The plans to do more personal photography have not really happened this month, but with more fina art images being acceted into art dealers we are organizing a trip to Paris in the next month or so. I just love Paris, so Im sure the cameras will be getting some serious use on this trip and over the rest of the year.

Emma & Gavin Pre Wedding Shoot

2010-02-01T11:06:00.000-08:00

After a busy weekend at the wedding shows it was great to get behind the camera again today. We had an early pre wedding shoot with Emma and Gavin and despite the cold and some more snow I was really pleased with the set of images. Thanks for all your smiles guys, hope you like the images.

Both Stephanie and myself are looking foreward to their wedding in a few weeks time. Here are a few images from todays shoot. The rest of todays images can be found on our website.

News Update

2010-01-28T09:24:00.000-08:00

We got notification that we received a comendation in the wedding photographer of the year competition which was run be Wedding Ideas Magazine. It was great to be in the top three and we are really pleased with the results.

This year is proving to be very busy. So far this month we have taken 9 new bookings and things are looking much improved on last January, which despite talk of the credit crunch was a good month, There seems to be a real increase in activity in the wedding business, so all looks set for a good year and we have some great new weddings and some lovley new clients to work with this year.

Just a reminder that this weekend Ashton Photography will be at the Tatton Wedding Show Without a doubt the biggest wedding show we attend each year. It really is worth a trip out to Tatton if you are planning a wedding in the near future.

Stephanie will also be at the Bartle Hall Hotel wedding show on Sunday. Last year this event proved to be one of the best shows we have attended. No real surprise as Nicola, Bartle Halls fantastic wedding and event manager organised the entire show in her usual super efficient style.

The Bartle Hall show whilst much smaller than Tatton is well worth a visit. A really super venue and a place we always enjoy working.

So no weddings this weekend but a busy one non the less. Hope to see you at either Tatton or Bartle Hall

Amy & Paul Pre Wedding Shoot

2010-01-20T07:36:00.000-08:00

Stephanie & myself spent some time yesterday on location with Amy & Paul, we will be photographing their wedding in a few weeks.

Despite being a bit dark and overcast we had a great time, they are such a really lovley couple.

More images can be seen in our portrait client area on the main web site

Ashton Photography Web Site

For the photographers we shot on the Nikon D3s bodies and all the available light shots were at 2,000iso The flash image was taken using the Elincrom at 200iso. These D3s bodies just continue to amaze me.

We Made The Press

2010-01-20T06:34:00.000-08:00

I went across to Tesco today for some fuel only to be greeted by the petrol station attendant saying" I just read about you in the paper" Not my normal greeting so here is the article in question.

The local newspaper ran a short article on our business today. They were interested in our nomination for the Wedding Photographer of the year award, the winner of the award will be announced on Friday.

It was nice to see our business featured and we are all keeping our fingers crossed for the results on Friday.

Wedding Show This weekend

2010-01-15T09:40:00.000-08:00

This weekend Ashton Photography will be at the wedding open weekend being held at the Great Hall At Mains

The Great Hall is a superb wedding venue on the Fylde Coast so if you planning a wedding come along a take a look. The Hall always looks superb on these days and the fab team there will really help your wedding plans along.

We have just finished our new advert for wedding ideas magazine. This is the format we are running this year. There is a much stronger emphasis on reportage photography, so we both hope this will help attract the right types of clients to our business.

Its been a busy old week with a full price list review and more than a few days of head scratching, whilst I have been getting my head round video editing and the capability of the new Nikon D3S. Chris the owner of ABC video productions has been helping out and smoothing out the learning curve for me. Thanks mate it has been a big help.

In the process we have designed a new wedding show reel for 2010 which will be completed in time for the Tatton show later this month. So as i said a busy week but a good one. Five bookings in the space of a week. This year is looking very good so far with over forty wedding on books so far.

Winter In Detail

2010-01-08T10:52:00.000-08:00

Hope you are managing to cope with the snow and ice this week. I keep looking at the news and wishing I was back in my press photography days.

When the weather was very bad like this we would be sent out to capture images showing how the conditions were causing problems. Yes it was a cold job with lots of driving in poor conditions, but it meant I could roam around just looking for shots without the normal brief or time pressure of normal press work.

Many great days were had following emergency services about in the snow or being sent to odd places searching for that exclusive image that just told the whole story in one picture which would make the front page.

These days I don't do that type of work but what the weather conditions have done, is make me see some very common day to day objects in a whole new light. Each day over the past week I have picked up a camera and just closed in on small details which in the passed I failed to notice.The light is also superb at this time of year so get out there with your camera Its good fun and produces some interesting results. Give it a try.

Stanley House Wedding Fair

2010-01-07T09:24:00.000-08:00

Just to let you know Sundays wedding fair due to be held at The Stanley House Hotel has had to be cancelled due to the weather conditions.

We have been given a new date for the wedding fair which will now be held on Feb 14th... seems like a great day for a wedding fair to me so see you their. If I get any more news I will let you know.

Hope you are all keeping safe and warm in these arctic conditions. For anybody comming to see us at the studio I can confirm the roads are clear and moving about in Leland is not a problem as I type this.

Portrait Photography

2010-01-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Now we are out of the busy wedding season Stephanie and myself have more time to devote to our portrait photography. As many people know we don't use a studio, instead we work on location and use natural light for most of our portrait work.

Despite the cold and snow this time of year is superb for location work. So if you are thinking of some portraits why not give us a call and lets talk through some ideas.

Happy New Year and Latest News

2010-01-06T10:42:00.000-08:00

Just wanted to wish you all a Very Happy New Year and also remind readers we will be at the Stanley House wedding fair on Sunday this week.

Always a busy wedding fair and a superb venue if your looking for a wedding or wedding reception venue in Lancashire. If you are visiting the fair pop along and say hello, both Stepanie and myself will be available all day.

Morecambe Bay Infra Red

2009-12-29T09:42:00.000-08:00

Image Captured using Nikon D3 14-24mm iso200

Latest Images

2009-12-29T03:53:00.000-08:00

Ok I got bored and just had my fill of TV so back to the computer for some more work on the latest ''Art'' images which are going off to our agency. Let me know what you think.