Brian Harte People Photographer

I was chatting with Rudding Park a couple of weeks ago when they told me they were holding a Valentines Ball.

My mind starting whirring with ideas and I asked “Do you have a photographer in case any one goes down on one knee?”…within a few seconds I’d somehow managed to volunteer to be offical photographer for Rudding Park!

So on Saturday evening I arrived in Harrogate hoping that someone would pop the question and knowing that even if they didn’t I’d still have some fun taking photos.

A few moments after midnight, in the early hours of February 14th, Robert Bell surprised his Valentine Tracy Kipling by proposing on one knee.

She said Yes!

Full of happiness they immediately hit the dance floor to celebrate the moment.

I am sure Robert must have been on edge all night knowing what he was about to ask. I could tell they were so in love before he asked and they were even more so after.

It was a privilege to capture the memory for them and I wish them all the best in the future!

They had a fab swing band on the night called Chris Hiltons Little Big Band (formerly Simply Swing).

If you are looking for a swing band for a wedding or event they were very good. Check them out here.

As well as Robert and Tracy there was lots more love at The Valentines Ball…

Plus lots of fun and dancing…

There was even a photo of me taken sporting my winter beard!

I had to leave before it finished as the next day I was at a wedding fair but when I left the dancing was still going strong!

This week has been charity week for me. Not only have I been involved with the Ilkley Candlelighters Christmas Fair, I was also delighted to attend and take photographs for Anita Massarella’s evening of glamour and entertainment which raised money for The Acorn Charity.

Anita is celebrating her 20th year as a leading fashion designer and the evening was compered by Gaynor Barnes from Yorkshire Television.

After a Champagne reception everyone was ushered in to the Radcliffe Room. The Fashion show kicked off with a catwalk show of Anita’s new and old designs from both her wedding and evening wear collections.

Being a people photographer I like to see faces in photos but some of these dresses have to be seen from the back to really appreciate them.

The dresses were perfect for the models to enjoy swirling around…

And sometimes there was so much dress I got lost in the material!

Moving around gave me a chance to use the light to make a more atmospheric photograph.

The models were great but the real stars of the night were the past clients and brides of Anita who graciously offered to model their wedding and evening dresses one more time.

The show ended with a human beatbox group playing out the models.

The night was organised in aid of the Acorn charity who are a local charity supporting those affected by dementia and scleroderma.

As well as the fashion show there was a charity raffle with many donated prizes.

Once the show had finished the dresses were packed away.

But the night was still you and many people stayed on to party…

…with music performed by the Jazz trio Around Midnight (01484 608388).

If my eye’s don’t deceive me the trio turned in to a 5 piece band for the evening!

I had a great evening and as I was leaving I took a photo of the impressive entrance to Rudding Park.

The fashion show urn flowers were generously supplied by Joanna McCrea from Twisted Willow flowers.

This month I am involved in a Glamourous evening at Rudding Park in Harrogate, and best of all it is in support of a local charity.

Anita Massarella couture dress designer is organising the event to support the Acorn Charity raising funds for dementia and alzheimers. Acorn Charity are a Yorkshire charity and more information about their cause can be found at their website.

Anita and her team of winning designers are celebrating their 20th year of creating stunning dresses and tell me that it will be “an evening of Red carpet glamour with a celebratory fashion show”. There will also be live Jazz, wine tasting with Rudding Park’s very own wine expert and to top it off will be compered by the lovely YTV Gaynor Barnes.

I’ll be there supporting and enjoying the event so get yourself down too!

To books your tickets for 17th November call Anita on 0113 268 7783. Tickets are £20 or £25 for front row seats.

I met with Daniel from Dine catering earlier this year at Nostell Priory. Daniel couldn’t contain his excitement about his new venue in Yorkshire and his excitement quickly rubbed off on me as I agreed to shoot some photos for their up coming brochure.

I hadn’t known about The Mansion House in Roundhay Park, Leeds and the state of disrepair it had fallen into however what I do know is that it will become one of the best wedding venues (also corporate meetings & events) in Leeds.

At the side of the house is the stunning colonnades which make a great feature for photos.

I had a bit of fun shooting this photo…I don’t know what Susannah was thinking but lying on the floor shouting and whooping certainly made her smile.

Here Susannah was playing with her dress while the wind was blowing.

Using the colonnades I was able to shield Susannah from the direct sun and get some beautiful light in her eyes.

The interior of the house is very fresh and vibrant with a lovely symmetrical staircase.

I made great use of the staircase to frame Helen (who also modelled for me) lounging on one of the funky chairs.

Daniel had told me that he thought the photos should be elegant and I pulled out my portable flash equipment for this shot to see how elegant I could take it.

The detailing inside is simply stunning…

And here is one of the funky chairs with a diamond in the middle of the cushion, how cool…

The walls are decorated with framed photos showing the history of The Mansion House…

Even the rest rooms are gorgeous. I spent about 20 minutes taking a multitude of photos including using the reflection in the full length mirror.

I had to be careful not to get myself in the reflections…although I couldn’t help taking this one as I don’t often get to feature in photos!

The Colonnades Room where your ceremony is held has fantastic light for photos with a beautiful warm glow.

With a little bit of furniture re-arranging I was able to take a few photos of my bride too…

For larger wedding functions The Mansion room is just the ticket and with a permanent dance floor at one end there is no need to leave the room and then come back in at the end of your meal.

With several rooms available The Mansion can also cater for smaller weddings including this room set up for the very intimate wedding breakfast.

All of the rooms have fantastic views of Roundhay Park.

Susannah an I took a trip out in to Roundhay Park to see what we could find as a location for photos and as we were The Roundhay Land Train pulled up and we did the done thing and hitched a ride!

The light in park is great for some natural photos…

…and only a few minutes away we found a band stand.

I love the mirror in the lobby and it’s positioned quite high which is a bonus for me as at 5′6″ there is little chance of my reflection appearing in the photo!

I normally dont like completely defocused pictures however as I had a bit of time I had an experiment and took one of their crystal chandelier that works well.

I would like to thank Helen and Susannah for their time, Anita Massarella Design Couture of Leeds for the loan of her wonderful dresses and Kath from The Wedding Flower Company Leeds for arranging a bouquet of flowers at super short notice.

I would also like to thank Richard the head butler at The Mansion who not only doubled up as my assistant from time to time but also made sure I was supplied with all The Mansion’s own bottled water I could want (some say they have their own spring?)

Richard is ace….he reminds me of Alfred the butler in Batman.

If you would like to know more about weddings or corporate events at The Mansion Dine can be contacted on 0345 450 4545.

Last week it was announced that Sir Alan Sugar may soon become Lord Alan Sugar. Ok, I didn’t take Sir Alan’s photos but I did manage to take photos of another Lord at the recent wedding of Helen & David Murphy.

Here is Lord Richard Musgrave having his make-up topped up half way through the wedding breakfast.

Helen tell’s me that he is known to flash his card with his title on to get the best table when booking a restaurant!

I am yet to find out how his came to be a Lord but I am sure I will find out! Helen also said that he is one of the funniest guys she has ever met and I can vouch for that as he had me laughing my head off at Oulton Hall.

When Luke and Sara asked me for “something different for their wedding invite” my mind started going in to over drive. I thought about re-enacting scenes from great movies or maybe something more challenging to set up….a kiss underwater or maybe as they are parachuting from an airplane (ok…I like to dream big).

Luke and Sara had already given it some thought and wanted a photo to show Sara looking a bit miffed cleaning up after Luke.

They told me they only wanted a quick snap for the front of their wedding invite but I wanted to make it more than a snap. After a bit of furniture rearranging and setting up a light or two we settled on a montage of photos showing many Sara’s cleaning while Luke lounges on the sofa watching TV!

Luke and Sara have since married in Bali and I will be taking their post-wedding photos when they party through the weekend having booked exclusive use of Middleton Lodge, Richmond, North Yorkshire.

Their invite went down a treat with their guests…here are a few quotes from their replies

Choice invites, knew you would be different. – Ben & Hannah

Thanks so much for the invite though – it’s a great one – much better than the normal hearts and roses guff. – Catherine xx

Hi Luke, Thanks for the invitation they are fab! – Sasha

…look forward to seeing you both as husband and wife.  Ps.  I love the photo Luke, you are just going to have to retrain him sara. xxxx – Liz

Of course we will be there, quality invite!! – Rob C

Never seen an invite like that, they are excellent! – Soph & Kieran xxxxxx

So tell me your plans for a wedding invite and book with me for a special engagement shoot.

You might remember Helen & David’s wedding photos, well I had an email from Kath who supplied the flowers saying that she really liked the photos and would I like to come and see her garden flower studio.

The studio was brimming with flowers and table mock-ups which Kath makes up to show every customer how their wedding flowers will look. She can also supply wedding chair covers, cakes and table decorations so it’s a one stop wedding shop and you know they will all match in colour and style.

Kath is full of energy and we didn’t stop talking all afternoon about flowers and photography. I had a gut feeling that she might be a pisces too, so I asked, and you guessed it she is! No wondered we chatted the afternoon away!

If you have your wedding flowers to organise ring Kath on 0113 255 4938 and see the studio for yourself

The wedding flower company website

I was invited by my good friend and fellow photographer Annemarie King to come along for a super sunny wedding this weekend.

I have known Annemarie for a few years now and we each bob along on one another’s weddings when we have the chance. It’s great for us as we have such a ball trying to out do each other with the best photos and it’s great for the couple as they get two fab photographers (can I say that about myself?) shooting for them.

It was the hottest day of the year and Jamie told me that he had booked the weather especially for Claire. Here is Jamie getting ready and having a little trouble with his winsor knot.

Claire had chosen a wonderful fairy like wedding dress with fairies and wild flowers as their theme.

They held their wedding at the Church of St. Botolph at Bossall in North Yorkshire. The priest was a family friend who had seen Claire growing up from a young age. Here he is contemplating his service before Claire and her father arrived.

The Bridesmaids arrived by black cab which was decorated in wedding ribbon. It proved to be a great way to arrive as the doors were large enough to get in and out easily. If you’d like to book the taxis you can contact Ian or Dave on 01904 791739.

Claire arrived in a vintage chevvy…

Claire and her father were greeted at the Church by their priest.

I cheekily moved up the aisle to capture this fun moment…

Claire and Jamie held their reception on Claire’s parents farmhouse…

…where they opted for Papakata tipi style tents instead of a marquee where they had lounging sofas and real fires burning.

One guest had left a present for Claire and Jamie on the top table, a knitted wedding cake!

Annemarie’s mum was one of the guests and I took a quick photo of them when I saw them together.

As Claire and Jamie started their speeches I packed my camera away but not before I had time to take this closing shot of the Papakata tents in the lovely gardens.

The Ilkley Candlelighters 2009 Ball photos at Rudding Park are now online and a contribution from every order will go to the Candlelighters fund.

The photos can be found at http://brianharte.jambino.com with the password candlelighters2009

Thank you to Andrew McMillan, wedding photographer in Crawley Sussex, who has sent me his photos to place online alongside mine. Andrew has been giving his time to the Candlelighters photos for 14 years and has handed me the reigns after moving down to Crawley.

Thank you Andrew for your help on the night and I’ll hold you to your promise of a guest appearance at the ball in the future!

On Saturday 9th May I dusted off my suit and bow tie (dusted off from all the building work I have been having done lately!) for the annual Ilkley Candlelighters Charity Ball. The Ilkley Candlelighters are a local charity who each year raise thousands of pounds in support for the regional centre for the treatment of cancer in children.

The committee worked hard through the year to make Saturday a night everyone will be talking about for a long time to come.

This years theme was magic and along with magic I also much fun and dancing.

It was hosted at Rudding Park in North Yorkshire, a popular venue for functions and weddings. The committee had spent most of Friday and Saturday morning preparing the table decorations and magic table surprises and as you can see they did a stunning job.

The famous 80’s psychedelic rock band Doctor and the Medics headlined the event.

and even The Doctor commented on the great atmosphere of the event…

As well as raising money the night was a reason to let your hair down and have a bit of fun

My final shot of the night was of Sarah and friends. Sarah, along with her many other roles for the charity, runs the Ilkley Candlelighters website.

Earlier on in the year I made a trip to St James Hospital in Leeds to take the photographs of the children for the Candlelighters brochure. I also donated a prize to raise money on the night.

If you would like to be involved, become a sponsor or make a donation to the charity The Candleighters would love to hear from you.

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The Ilkley Candlelighters 2009 Ball photos at Rudding Park are now online and a contribution from all orders will go to the Candlelighters fund.

The photos can be found at http://brianharte.jambino.com with the password candlelighters2009