I seriously swooned over these beautiful images when they landed in my inbox at the end of last year.

A gorgeous couple, with vintage feel attire… a J Crew dress, which quite frankly is exquisite. All set by a beautiful harbour, and not forgetting a super cute VW Beetle, this post wedding shoot is just perfect viewing.

Thanks so much to London and Suffolk based wedding photographer, Anna McCarthy Photography for sharing her images with us today, here is what she had to say about the shoot;

“Sometimes you meet people in life and immediately find common ground, know where each other is coming from and hit it off, and as a photographer, when this happens with a new client it is a joy. Jojo was one such client. As she described to me what she was looking for in her post wedding images, I quickly realized that we both have a similar aesthetic which enabled me to get inside her head and visualize the look and feel she wanted but also to have the confidence that I could inject the session with my own creativity and interpretation with every chance of her loving the results. This was brought home to me further when I visited her home getting an insight into Jojo’s individual taste and style – essentially a love for the quirky and vintage within a clean (preferably white) natural palette – which is why Duncan also could not have got it more perfect with a white vintage Beetle car as a wedding present to her!

My aim with wedding photography is primarily to create aesthetically beautiful images but crucially to tell the story of a couple’s days in pictures. Getting across emotion is also very important within the storytelling. I want my images to move especially my wedding images. But shooting someone’s wedding is also all about anticipating and capturing moments under the pressure of time. There is no second take, no messing about. You have to capture it as it happens and you only get one chance.

With a post wedding shoot, you have much more freedom all round. You have none of those time pressures, you are not held to a list of must haves, you are not dealing with the unpredictable in the same way. This frees you up to get really creative and for your subject to totally relax into the session. You can choose the location, when you venture out to take advantage of the optimum natural light and then take your time on the shoot itself. 

Up in Suffolk where I am partly based (I also have a base in London and photograph weddings and families there and all over the country) we are spoiled for choice for fabulous locations. For this shoot we beetled down to Ramsholt on the River Deben and to the stunning landscape and arable land that surrounds Ramsholt church inland.  We spent a very relaxed and fun couple of hours messing about with the box brownie camera on top of the Harbour Master’s boat ‘Redcap’, sauntering along the costal path before heading inland along the country lanes and into the fields as the sun set in a typical vast Suffolk sky.

What I love about the results is how all the elements came together within the images:  the vintage elements (the car, clothes, box brownie, suitcases, Duncan’s hat, JoJos shoes and fascinator, the boat), the natural landscape (simple, timeless and providing the perfect backdrop to my subjects with the gentle greens, browns and yellow hues within it), the light and time of day we were able to take advantage of, the vibe and real connection between Jojo and Duncan themselves and their ability to be themselves and in the moment together and to have fun whether playacting a Bonnie and Clyde moment of running towards their ‘getaway’ car or lying in the grasses staring at the sky in the perfect silence around them, and finally the relationship between all three of us in those few hours.

How could I fail? A post wedding photographic shoot made in heaven…

Except perhaps just one slightly tense moment when I discovered half way home that I had left one of my £2000 cameras in the middle of a field and had to race back in the fast fading light with no torch to hand to retrace my steps and retrieve it. Might not have had the same luck if I had been in the middle of Hyde Park but here in rural Suffolk, there it was lying silently just where I left it… and thankfully with JoJo’s and Duncan’s pictures on the card within it!

Anna McCarthy“

Here are Jojo’s words about the session…

Having seen some beautifully styled post-wedding shoots in the land of wedding blogs, I knew it was the way to go for me. I had heard of Anna through a friend and seen her work before, and having met her knew she could fulfill my vision. She put so much effort into it, researching possible locations and, as we could do it whenever we wished not being tied to the wedding day itself, we were able to choose the day with the best weather and light.

We did have a photographer for the Big Day but what I really wanted was some stunning photos of Duncan and I, without taking time out on the actual day with my guests to do it. And that is exactly what Anna did, stunning photos. She totally understood the effect I was after and we had an absolute blast on the day…. including a few teething troubles with the VW’s engine and a misplaced camera in a huge field of straw!

I have a passion for beautifully styled images, whether it be interiors in my work or more personal. I wanted something timeless, which would highlight the simplicity of my J Crew dress and husband’s vintage attire. 

I am usually quite self aware in front of a camera and the fact that it was just us three (oh not forgetting the wonderful harbour master who allowed us to use his boat for some of the shots) my nerves disappeared and I actually loved doing it. We knew Anna was there shooting away in the background but somehow she managed to get us to tune out of what she was doing so we could just be in the moments together.. and that was very romantic as the locations were stunning and we had no audience. The time that Duncan and I have alone is a rarity, (we have 4 fantastic children) but I wanted this to be about just him and me, the couple. Oh and my 1967 beetle! He bought it a year before our May wedding and spent many hours, and evenings, at his friend’s workshop restoring it. On the day before our wedding, he presented me with it, having had to take the week off work before hand to complete it –  a true labour of love.

Every picture tells a story, and these tell mine.

Thanks so much to JoJo and Duncan for sharing their post wedding shoot story with us today xoxo Lou

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