Wedding Photographer Pervaiz Shah

8oth Birthday Celebration

We recently celebrated my dear mother’s 80th birthday, which was a fantastic day as mum was joined by friends and family to celebrate this milestone in her life. She loves the Argentine Tango dance and this picture shows her enjoying a dance with her friend Sue; my mother is the one in maroon. Cornwall did us proud - the weather was fabulous all day. It was lovely to watch everyone relaxing in the sunshine on the lawn. This is a poem mum wrote and is sending out to everyone who attended as a personal thank you:

MY 80th BIRTHDAY

Beneath blue skies the sun smiled down upon us
surrounded by old friends,
from “way back when,” & now - a clutch of cousins,
all those who have enriched my life - maybe unknowingly?
Above all my family and Sukie who worked, planned & cooked
to make it possible

Embraced by so much love & laughter,
pleasured by food & wine,
a precious gift of Tango,

My special day, to treasure in my heart & mind
Forever……

I thank you all xxxxx

Such a wonderful occasion, such happy memories.

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Wedding at St Ives Cornwall

Kim and Steve whose wedding I am photographing next July contacted me to ask if I would be prepared to join them on their hen and stag nights, which they will be celebrating in St Ives, to document them and their friends having fun before the wedding day. Having met Kim and Steve I know this will be outrageous fun so of course I have agreed to do the shoot.

The photographs will make a great intro for their wedding album. It will give me the chance to meet up with their closest family and friends before the wedding which is always a bonus. Back in 2006 I went to Lancashire to photograph Elisabeth and Chris’s wedding. I stayed at the hotel where their family and many of their guests were staying so after I had dinner I joined them for a brandy or two before getting some fun shots of everyone in the hotel bar and lounge area, several of the photographs were selected for the wedding album and this worked really well.

I have not photographed a hen or stag night yet so - something new and perhaps something that will be done often, only of course if the stag and/or the hen night is going to be in Cornwall. The world of the wedding photographer - never dull and that’s the way I like it!

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Photographers to photograph a wedding?

I have been a wedding photographer in Cornwall for many years and it’s interesting that many brides enquiring about our wedding photography service are asking how many photographers will be shooting at the wedding because photographers are advertising that 2 photographers will attend so it’s understandable that brides perhaps now expect 2 photographers. We can provide a 2 photographer shoot but virtually all weddings are just one.

Tuesday’s wedding was a classic example of how with a little thought it’s easy for one photographer to cover the groom where he’s getting ready and then the bride as she gets ready. With all weddings I have photographed, without exception, the groom has always been ready much earlier than the bride so he can meet and greet the wedding guests and have a couple of drinks with the ushers and his best man before the guests start to arrive. These photographs were taken at different locations that were miles apart.

By introducing different styles of shooting during the wedding, a very interesting collection of images are captured that will exceed the bride and groom’s expectations. Do you need 2 photographers to photograph a wedding, would 3 photographers be even better? It’s the collection of images captured that counts plus the photographers experience - perhaps an experienced photographer who has the right attitude and stamina can do the work of 2 or 3 photographers. The photographers portfolio will be the best way to judge so every couple should always ask to view collections of photographs taken at several weddings. After the wedding it’s too late.

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Canadian couple - wedding in Cornwall

I am delighted to have met Glenda with her sister and niece this morning at the studio to talk about her wedding at the Alverton Manor Hotel at Truro in Cornwall, next year. Glenda had seen the wedding photographs on the web site and rang me yesterday to arrange a meet. She, and her sister, are from Nova Scotia in Canada and her sister lives with her daughter and husband in Helston. Glenda and her partner Paul decided that they would like to celebrate their wedding in Cornwall partly because Glenda has fond memories of Cornwall when as a year 10 student she toured Cornwall with the school band and loved the area. The photography is a very important part of the day for Glenda and she was looking for a wedding photographer who would as she said need to be “outstanding”.

Having viewed my portfolio Glenda confirmed her booking straight away. We will be taking a trip down to Gwithian and Godrevy after their wedding ceremony because getting beach photographs on her wedding day is something she is very keen to do. I had shown her some of the photographs I took at Tuesday’s wedding, she loved the variation of photographs I had captured and the fabulous scenery which I feel is some of the best Cornwall has to offer photographers photographing weddings in Cornwall.

They will be having a big party back in Canada and will show their online gallery at the party so their friends will be able to get a real feel of what their wedding day in Cornwall was like. It is very encouraging to see the way the diary for weddings is filling up - long may it continue!

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Marie and Guy wedding at St Ives in Cornwall

Yesterday Marie got married to Guy at Tregenna Castle Hotel at St Ives. The weather was fabulous and after a lovely ceremony drinks and canapes were enjoyed by all on the front lawn. We went down to Porthminster beach, the Tate Gallery and then over to Godrevy and last but not least Gwithian. I remember looking out of the window at Tregenna and thinking how lucky I am to be seeing the amazing lighting and scenery that we were just about to enjoy. Marie and Guy enjoyed themselves - I hope they enjoyed the wedding as much as I did. The photograph shown was taken at Gwithian sand dunes near Hayle. Marie and Guy love south west Cornwall having enjoyed many holidays in the area. I hope that their wedding photographs will give them years of memories of their wonderful wedding in Cornwall.

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Wedding Tregenna Castle St Ives

Wow it’s going to be fantastic weather today for Marie and Guy who are getting married at Tregenna Castle at St Ives in Cornwall. I think they will get married outside which will be great as the sea view across St Ives bay is stunning. I met them both at Tregenna yesterday morning to finalise arrangements, the frontage looked fantastic in the sunshine amazing foliage which is alll sorts of quite vibrant colours and I am really looking forward to spending the day with them and their guests, getting down on the beach and getting some wacky images as Guy is a very keen photographer - today will be lots of fun! Their guests will certainly be seeing St Ives at its very best. I’ll get loads of shots in the grounds and will have some images on this blog tomorrow. Ah wedding photography - I love it!

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Wedding customer feedback

Have received great feedback from the parents of couples whose weddings I have photographed recently. My main aim is to please the bride and groom but as a parent myself I do like to create some photographs specifically for the parents and this is proving really popular. The comments have largely been about the way I work, which tends to lean towards expressive photographs that capture peoples’ personalities.

Brides talk about wedding photojournalism, reportage, fly on the wall to mention a few of the descriptions about the style of photography they are looking for, my style is a mix of all sorts which is challenging. The orders coming in from wedding guests is also very encouraging. The online galleries are such a great way for everyone connected with a wedding to be able to view the photographs and sometimes if friends or family cannot be present, thay can at least see the pictorial story of the wedding online in any part of the world. When I think back to the days of film and processing it’s incredible how the photography industry has changed in a pretty short time. Where will it go from here?

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Sunshine for today’s wedding

Having had a busy morning working on some more wedding album page designs I will be leaving shortly to photograph a wedding and for a change the weather is fabulous - yipee!!!

There’ll be about 25 guests at the wedding who are not from Cornwall so I’m pleased, for them aswell as the bride and groom, that the weather is good, so they’ll see St Ives at its very best. I’ll shoot a large selction of images and get some beach shots - great!

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Weddings and more weddings

Cornwall is growing in popularity for weddings so it would seem as I finish responding to several emails from brides getting married in Cornwall about half of which are not from Cornwall, mind you on a day like today when the sun has been shining virtualy all day, it’s not surprising. How much happier everyone seems to be and people seem to have more of a spring in their step.

The portrait shoot earlier today was great. Little Izabella is adorable and proud mum and dad looked really well - married and now family life is obviously treating them well. No wedding today as the couple that were getting married changed their date - still it’s given me the chance to get in the studio, have a laugh and create some more pictorial memories for Nicky and Rob. Have been album designing as Leon has loads to do, so I thought I’d ease the pressure on him a little. Ah, such a great way to live my life spending time doing what I love - how lucky am I ?????

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Wedding and Studio Photography

Today I am looking forward to meeting up with Nicky and Rob - I photographed their wedding last year and they now have a baby so I’m going to be taking pictures of them and their babe at the studio later on. They live out of the county and I am really pleased that they want me to take their family pictures in addition to their wedding photographs. Nicky’s mother lives in Falmouth hence the connection with Cornwall.

This brings home just how quickly time passes by, it only seems like a few weeks ago that I was getting the camera gear ready to photograph their wedding and here I am thinking of the sort of shots I’m going to take  of their baby. It’s great to do studio work - it’s so far removed from photographing weddings and has its own challenges, especially with babies, you can never tell what sort of mood they’ll be in - all part of the fun. I will post a couple of shots from the studio shoot soon but for now I’d better get off to the studio.

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