Real Wedding - Hotel Valdepalacios, Torrico, Toledo, Spain - James Sturcke

Real Wedding Description

With so many cameras at a typical wedding it’s so important that my photographs are different from the others - otherwise what’s the point of hiring a professional photographer?

So, like at Brenda & Alberto’s beautiful wedding at Hotel Valdepalacios, Torrico (Toledo), I’m constantly looking for unique ways of showing what’s going on. I want images that no one else will have. And a simple way of getting them is to put my camera in places other people don’t.

Most people when they take a photo put their camera to eye level. By getting my camera higher or lower I’m already going some way to getting a different point of view and the beginning of an interesting photo. Anyone who’s watched me working knows that I spend quite a lot of time kneeling on the floor - my trousers tend to wear out in the knee like a schoolboy’s.

Or I get high like in the photo below of the guests at dinner. That was taken from a guests’ room. I had to track down the guest and ask if they’d lend me their room key for a few minutes just after sunset as I wanted to get a whiff of the stunning Sierra de Gredos hills in the background.

Apart from moving the lens up and down, the other trick is to be closer or further away than other cameras. Being close to the action helps transmit the emotion of the moment. Being further away shows more context. Being close requires good judgement and a bit of bravery and certainly confidence. I want to be close to the couple during the ceremony but I don’t want to be in the way or to block the view of other guests. But if I’m kneeling, close and alert ready to capture a quick glance or smile between the couple, then I’m well along the way to capturing images that no one else will have.