With my discreet and emotive wedding photography, I always seek to tell the real story of the wedding day. Not just the big moments that everyone sees, or the ones that make the guests laugh, smile and cheer. I like to capture all the tender little moments too. Part of my style as a reportage wedding photographer, or wedding photojournalist if you like, is to capture the real emotions of the day. Not parts of the day that have been set up, orchestrated or contrived. To me this shot does exactly that. It’s a real moment that’s full of emotion. But there was only the briefest of windows to capture it.

During this Humanist London Wedding I found myself working alongside an extremely creative videographer. Trouble was, we both wanted similar shots. Luckily we found a flow during the bridal preparations and by the time the ceremony came we seemed to be working pretty well together. But we still had to be creative with our compositions to avoid capturing each other in our shots. So whilst the couple listened to the readings by the Celebrant, I positioned myself alongside them to avoid including the videographer. It turned out to be a perfect angle to capture a pure and emotive image. If I had shot this image facing the couple it could well have lacked some of the impact and emotion. But from this angle I was able to make the most of the bride’s hand position whilst still retaining a hint of the groom’s expression. This is exactly the type of emotive wedding photography I strive to take for every couple who books me. Because I know that in years to come, this type of image will bring a tear to their eye.

Shot on a Canon 5D mk2 with 135mm f/2L, Aperture Priority Exposure Mode, -1/3EV, 1/160 sec, f/2.8, 1600 ISO.