For many, this is not your typical wedding photograph. It doesn’t contain a bride. Or a groom for that matter. It doesn’t contain details like shoes, flowers, favours or cakes. It doesn’t even show the wedding venue per se. But it does tell an important part of the story of the day. As a documentary wedding photographer, the first thing I do when I arrive at a wedding location is to take a few establishing shots of the venue. This helps get the photography juices flowing as well as adding an important starting point for the photography reportage that follows. This is one such establishing shot. The majority of this wedding day took place in Henley overlooking the river Thames, with the afternoon spent travelling up and down the river itself on The New Orleans Steamer. This view from the front of Phyllis Court Club, taken during the calmness of the early morning, sums up all that is Henley.

Shot on a Canon 5D mk2 with 50mm f/1.2L, Aperture Priority Exposure Mode, +2/3EV, 1/80 sec, f/16, 100 ISO.