Graduations

It was graduation time again at St Andrews University and I had a busy week photographing students and their families.  Apart from Tuesday the weather was fair so many photographs were taken at all the favourite venues, the most popular this year being the Cathedral and the pier.   Have a look at some of the pics………

      

 

 

 

                            I also took Grad photos of a young couple who are coming back to St Andrews to get married, so after taking their graduation photos, we used the opportunity to have a practice session for their up and coming wedding.  We visited the castle where there will be a drinks reception after their ceremony – weather permitting.

 

                 My next blog, I’ll show you some wedding images from a very beautiful part of Scotland – Plockton.  Until then…………..

Another Test

Testing

A Test Post

Just testing new software

A Royal Visit to St Andrews

I have just returned from the town centre today where His Royal Highness, Prince William and his fiancee Kate Middleton were honoured guests at the 600th celebrations of St Andrews University.

The street was busy, many students, as you would expect were present, along with citizens of the town and also many visitors from further afield. Some of the luckier students were able to attend the actual ceremony in St Salvator's Quad while the remainder of them and the rest of us lined the streets. Some students had a really good vantage point from their apartment windows.

Their was a very jolly mood, and you should have heard the crowd roar when Prince William said, in his speech, that St Andrews University was the best university in the world!

There was - as one would expect - a very high police presence there. Whilst they were all very helpful and cheerful, there was no escaping the level of security at such an event and there were police dogs - probably trained in the art of sniffing for explosives - and surveillance on St Salvators rooftop.

It wasn't difficult to determine when Prince William and Kate were ready to begin their walkabout - there was such a cheer from the crowd the minute they appeared.

Prince William walked along in front chatting to all and Kate followed behind. I didn't think that I would be able to get a good vantage point but people are so incredibly kind and I found myself in a fantastic position not only to photograph the lovely couple but to meet them!

I have to say, I was very impressed with Prince William. I was standing next to an elderly lady in a wheelchair and he was so very considerate of her. The way he bent right down over the rail to speak with her was so very kind. It can't be easy shaking hands and finding the words to say to so many strangers all the time but they were both simply marvellous. I do think though that they may have suspected I was "paparazzi" on seeing my cameras when in fact I was just an ordinary citizen of the town who truly enjoyed seeing them both. No - wedding and portrait photography suits me just fine, I couldn't work in that cut throat world!

I wish them all the very best for their wedding and a long a happy life together!

I just thought, since I didn't blog much last year, I'd show you some of the weddings and portraits I worked on last year, in particular, weddings in St Andrews, since I don't have any St Andrews images on my website yet.

St Andrews is such a popular place to get married particularly with St Andrews University students who meet here during their studies and come back to get married in St Salvator's Church.

In fact, St Andrews University has the highest percentage UK wide of students who meet at uni and get married. Prince William and Kate Middleton are just one - very famous - example however the town of St Andrews isn't that large so I guess it makes sense - who else are students going to meet?

It's not only students who come to St Andrews to get married, many people have a great affinity with the town. Some holidayed here when they were little and others simply wish to get married here because of St Andrews' great history with golf.

It also helps that there are so many lovely venues to hold a reception here. There's the Old Course Hotel; The Fairmont Hotel; St Andrews University Lower and Upper College Halls; The Golf Hotel; The Scores Hotel and Rufflets - to name just a few!

There are also wonderful locations from which to choose for wedding photography, including the castle; the cathedral; the harbour; the pier; the Swilken Bridge and the beach. No wonder St Andrews is such a popular wedding destination.

Anyhow, here is a wedding I covered last July which took place in St Salvator's Church and the Old Course Hotel.

More next time............

A Winter Wedding

I photographed a lovely wedding just before Christmas. The ceremony took place at Boarhills Church, just outside St Andrews.

It was very cold, we already had snow and the ground was white but it was a clear day and we managed to get some lovely photos of the groom - Neil - and his family outside, although the light was failing as the wedding ceremony began slightly later than normal at 4 p.m. The biggest problem I had was actually the low temperature as my lens started to freeze over!

By the time the bride, Jenny, arrived, it had started to snow quite heavily - as you can see from this image of Jenny in the car.

Boarhills Church is not large and the ceremony was very intimate. Since it was dark outside we did a fair amount of photography in the church .

As we left, I could see how pretty the church looked lit up from the outside so I took the opportunity to take a final photo of Jenny and Neil with the church in the background.

The wedding breakfast was held at the Peat Inn, thankfully not too far from St Andrews, as the roads were pretty bad and driving was difficult. I took along my studio lighting equipment for a few more pictures there. I particularly like this one of Jenny, she was a great model!

My last photos of Neil and Jenny's wedding day were of the speeches. Then it was off home for a quick change, then to the Golf Hotel in St Andrews for a Christmas night out with friends.

And finally, I thought I'd show you our new addition to the household - a puppy for Christmas. Meet Belle (well she is beautiful and her name has a Christmas "ring" to it!) our golden retriever puppy.