Brian Harte People Photographer

Last Sunday I exhibited at The Queens Hotel Wedding Fair in Leeds.

Bethan was representing me and answering questions on my behalf.

Bethan booked me for her wedding next year and she’s such a warm person I asked if she would like to represent me at a few fairs this year.

If you’d like to pop down and see me at my next wedding fair I will be attending The Wedding Experience at The Mansion in Roundhay Park on Sunday 8th November and will also be at The Charity Bridal Fashion show organised by dress designer Anita Massarella at Rudding Park in Harrogate on Tuesday 17th November.

For tickets to The Charity Bridal Fashion show at Rudding Park please contact Anita on 0113 268 7783.

The Queens boasts to be able to sit 450 people for a meal, comfortably, and I can believe it!

Confetti & Lace bridal shop organised two fashion shows during the day and the visitors were treated to a catwalk of her latest dresses. They have recently opened their new shop in Harrogate as well as this year opening Yorkshire Menswear hiring out menswear from Cameron Ross.

The Wedding Flower Company in Leeds had turned one of the rooms in to a beautiful room set with Just For You Cards & Invitations supplying the table decorations.

This year I have met so many frustrated photographers. Camera’s have become much more affordable but we never have the time to learn how to get the most from them.

I’ve set myself the challenge to get you guys taking better photos, ones where you are in charge of the camera not the other way around!

Want to take pictures that you can be proud of?

I’ll be holding a full day all you need to know to make creative choices workshop at The Mansion House, Roundhay Park in Leeds Sunday 1st November 2009.

Running through the functions of your camera I will show you how to use the modes and functions available to get to grips with your photography.

Aimed for beginners through to intermediates you will go away with new ideas and knowledge you can immediately put in to practice.

Full day course £120, gift certificates are available to purchase contact brian@brianharte.co.uk or 0845 257 1758 for more information.

Take a look at all the photography training workshops

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.

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

Everybody had their fingers crossed yesterday for the weather and it seemed to have worked Helen & David’s wedding missed the worst of it and the sun even paid a visit to bring a shine to the photos.

Helen & David booked with me over a year ago and I’ve been looking forward to their wedding ever since. They had booked an engagement shoot with me as they thought they might need a warm up….

…they didn’t really need it as they are such a natural and down to earth couple.

Helen looked stunning with her hair up

They got married at St.Wilfrids church, Calverley in Leeds. It is a gorgeous church and the priest was lovely.

They had a pink theme wedding and Helen text me on Thursday to ask me if I could get in on the theme. I was wearing a pink tie and I noticed that David was wearing pink socks!

There were a few photos in the church grounds

before throwing the confetti on the way to Oulton Hall.

Oulton Hall is one of my favourite locations and yesterday we took advantage of it’s beautiful setting to take some fab photos….

…including some during the meal and speeches.

The night, for me at least, ended with the first dance…

…but I couldn’t help unpacking my camera from the car to take one last photo.

Helen & David’s photos will be online from 2nd June. Please contact Helen or David for a password to the site.

Ben and Rebecca had been flying around Australia on a year out when they first made contact to see me. When we met up Rebecca spoke of all her wedding plans and her dream for something different when it came to the wedding photography.

On the wedding day the heavens opened and the wind blew a gale but that wasn’t going to stop us getting an album of fabulous photos. Rebecca and Ben even came out for some more photos and skipped dessert where they danced around the fountain at Oulton Hall.

Rebecca was so impressed with the DVD slideshow of her wedding photos that she sent me an email…you can read it in the testimonials section.