It had been 3 years since I had last set foot in the Lake District and in that time my love of Cumbria hadn’t changed.  The Lakes are simply amazing.  If you’ve never been here’s your kick in the butt to make tracks.  You won’t regret it.

3 years previous I travelled up (Nic and Evan in tow) to shoot a wedding in Eskdale.  It was the first time I had ever seen my SatNav show ‘time remaining’ to destination as getting longer with each mile.  The passes, hills and terrain are breathtaking if not a little slower than normal roads to navigate.  But its all worth it.

This time it was a little easier.  Langdale Chase is just outside of Ambleside which is at the southern end of the Lakes.  No one track roads or mountain passes required to get here.

This wedding was a first for me.  I had never shot a wedding with so few guests.  7 to be precise, plus the Bride and Groom and, oh yeah, me.  So 10 all together.  Shooting it isn’t the hardest part…its knowing when to just walk away and let things happen without you.  I wouldn’t follow 9 guests around for 6 hours at other weddings.  The same holds true here as well.  But I will say, that even with slightly fewer images than normal I am still extremely pleased with what I covered.

While I’m on the subject of Lake District weddings.  Firstly, am I interested in going back.  Yes, of course, perhaps out of season or a weekday.  But generally its quite a hike and travels costs are always more than you might imagine.  So with that, allow me to recommend a friend and outstanding Lake Distrct Wedding Photographer in Steve Yates from Derwent Photography.  Steve was very generous in marking places on my map to sightsee as well as treating me to a Keswick speciality, the Cow Pie, at The George.

Windermere looking back from Langdale Chase towards Waterhead

John sorts the table

Sadly he stole my unique hairstyle

In true Lake District style, a storm blew in

Nelly’s Dad enjoys the view

Nelly admires, Mum primps and Dad…well, Dad just keeps his nose clean…literally

Dearly beloved…

I like this because the ‘blob’-like reflection in the wooden wardrobe is her Dad

This is what a wedding with 7 guests can look like.

One of my favourite images of the year — clean, simple and pefectly exposed

Window dressing

“I wanna live like common people…I wanna do what-ever common people do”

For the Brother of the Groom!

Later in the afternoon we took a boat ride on Lake Windermere

Captain Pugwash and Master Berlusconi (he was Italian, so Bates didn’t really fit)

You either get it…or you don’t