Discovery Photography

30/08/2026

This was taken at St. Nicholas Church Guisborough quite a few years ago now, and it's somewhere I'll be heading back to next weekend for another wedding.

I always enjoy going back to venues and churches I've photographed over the years. Different couple, different people, a completely different day — but walking back through those doors always brings a few memories with it.

And I still love this photograph. No staging, no interrupting the ceremony, just standing quietly at the back ( the bell tower to be specific) of that beautiful church and capturing the day as it happened.

Funny how some photographs just don't seem to age.

www.discoveryphotography.co.uk

WhatsApp - 07739 121743

24/08/2026

One of the questions every wedding photographer gets sooner or later is, “When will our photographs be ready?”

And honestly, I completely understand it.

You've spent months, sometimes years, planning your wedding. The day itself seems to disappear in about five minutes, I've seen a few preview photographs on social media and suddenly you want to see everything else. I would be exactly the same. Once you've had that little glimpse of your wedding photographs, waiting for the rest probably feels even longer.

But something I've realised over the years is that most couples understandably have absolutely no idea what happens at my end once their wedding is over.

From your side, I've photographed your wedding, I've gone to the office and now I'm editing it. It sounds pretty straightforward.

Unfortunately, it isn't quite like that.

Your wedding doesn't finish when I put the cameras away

Photographing the actual wedding is only one part of the job.

Once I'm back tot he office, the first priority is making sure everything I've photographed is safely backed up. A full wedding can contain thousands of individual photographs across multiple memory cards, and before I even start properly editing anything, all of those images need sorting through.

That doesn't mean throwing a preset over the entire wedding, clicking export and calling it finished.

Every photograph that makes it into one of my finished wedding galleries gets my attention.

I work through the images, choose the photographs that tell the story properly, remove duplicates, test shots, blinks and the inevitable photograph where somebody has managed to pull a face that no human being should physically be capable of making. Then the actual editing begins.

Exposure, colour, contrast, highlights, shadows, cropping, straightening and all the other little adjustments are looked at as I work through the wedding.

Sometimes an image needs very little doing to it. Sometimes it needs considerably more.

And that's important to me - I don't rush your wedding photographs

Other wedding photographers may work completely differently to me, and that's absolutely fine.

There are photographers who have different workflows, different turnaround times, outsource parts of their editing or have teams working behind the scenes. I'm not interested in saying one way is better than another.

I can only tell you how I work.

When you book me, it's me photographing your wedding and it's me sitting at the computer afterwards working through your photographs.

I care about every individual image I deliver.

If something isn't quite right, I'll work on it. If a crop could be better, I'll change it. If the colour doesn't look right, I'll correct it. If I've got several very similar photographs, I'll decide which ones actually deserve to be in your finished gallery rather than simply giving you everything for the sake of increasing the number.

I probably drive myself slightly mad doing it sometimes, but I wouldn't be happy doing it any other way.

Your wedding photographs are something you're hopefully going to keep for the rest of your life. I'd rather spend the time getting them right than rush through them because I want to say I've delivered a wedding quickly.

I'm rarely working on just one wedding

This is probably the biggest misconception about wedding photography.

When I've photographed your wedding, yours doesn't suddenly become the only wedding in the business.

During a busy part of the wedding season I can have several weddings moving through different stages of my workflow at the same time.

One wedding might be being backed up and sorted. Another might be well into the editing process. Another couple may be choosing photographs for an album. I've potentially got another wedding to photograph in a couple of days and another one shortly after that.

That doesn't mean I'm jumping randomly between weddings or that yours has been forgotten.

It simply means I'm running a wedding photography business with lots of couples at completely different stages of their journey with me.

And some of those journeys are surprisingly long, I have couples are with me for three years!

Wedding photography isn't a business where somebody books on Monday, I photograph them on Saturday and we're finished with each other the following week.

I'm currently looking after weddings booked years in advance.

From the first enquiry, there are messages, contracts, payments and questions. As the wedding gets closer there are final wedding meetings, timings to organise, group photographs to discuss and all the little details I need to know before turning up with my cameras.

At exactly the same time, new couples are getting in touch about their own weddings.

So while I'm editing weddings I've already photographed, I'm also answering new enquiries and taking new bookings, dealing with existing clients, holding wedding meetings and preparing for the weddings I'm about to photograph.

That's before I've actually picked a camera up.

Then there's everything else you don't see

Like most small businesses, there isn't a mysterious office full of people working alongside me.

There isn't somebody sitting in another room answering all my emails while somebody else does the accounts and another person updates the website.

It's me.

The website needs looking after. The blogs need writing, new photographs need uploading, enquiries need answering, social media needs updating, Google needs feeding, paperwork needs completing and the accounts unfortunately don't seem willing to do themselves.

Alongside Discovery Photography, I also run Stu Brown Photography, where I teach photography through one-to-one sessions and group workshops, including workshops I've been running in partnership with the RSPB.

I love that side of what I do as well, but again, there's preparation and work behind every workshop that nobody attending it necessarily sees.

Put all of that together with actually going out and photographing weddings and suddenly my working week looks rather different to simply photograph wedding → edit wedding → photograph next wedding.

So how long do wedding photographs take?

My wedding agreement gives a turnaround of approximately one to two months, and there's a reason I've chosen that timeframe.

Sometimes a wedding may be ready sooner. At particularly busy times of the year, it may naturally be towards the longer end of that period.

I don't want to promise every couple an unrealistically quick turnaround and then either rush their photographs or disappoint them.

More importantly, if you're still within that agreed turnaround period, please don't worry that I've forgotten about you.

I haven't.

Your wedding is safely in my workflow and I'll get to it exactly as I promised I would.

I know waiting is difficult, particularly once you've seen your previews. In some ways I actually like that you're excited enough about the photographs to be desperate to see them all. That's a pretty nice problem for a wedding photographer to have.

But every message asking whether a gallery is ready still needs answering, and during wedding season those little interruptions across lots of clients add up.

The best thing you can give me is the time we've already agreed.

Your photographs deserve that time

I've been photographing weddings for a long time (18 years now), and one thing that hasn't changed is how seriously I take the finished photographs.

Long after the cake has gone, the flowers have disappeared, the suits have gone back and you've forgotten half of what happened during the speeches, your photographs are still there.

They're the memories I'm giving back to you.

So yes, sometimes I'm sitting at my computer obsessing over things that you probably wouldn't even notice. Sometimes I'm tweaking a photograph, changing it back, looking at it again and deciding it was better the first bloody time.

That's just how I work.

I'm not trying to be the fastest wedding photographer. I'm trying to make sure that when your finished wedding gallery arrives, I've done the best job I can with it.

And if that means taking the time to look after every photograph properly, I'm absolutely okay with that.

Your wedding isn't forgotten.

I'm just busy making sure it's finished properly.

www.discoveryphotography.co.uk

WhatsApp - 07739 121743

19/08/2026

I’ve just been surprised by my neighbour (thank you 🙏) very fitting note book for world photography day 😂

19/08/2026

14/08/2026

Well we all need a good hearty breakfast 🤷🏻‍♂️ before work 😅

Mobile office for the morning, it’s too nice to be sat in an office so I’m at the amazing Farm Direct Country Store - Easington TS13

What’s everyone else up to?

11/08/2026

Sam & Charlotte's Wedding.

One of the nicest things about photographing weddings is that no two stories ever begin in exactly the same place. Some start in grand country houses, others in village churches that have stood for hundreds of years, while some begin with a much smaller ceremony surrounded by the people who matter most before the celebrations move somewhere completely different. Sam and Charlotte's wedding was one of those days, beginning with a lovely ceremony at Redcar Registry Office before everyone made their way to Fletcher's Farm for an afternoon and evening of celebrating.

I've photographed a number of weddings at Redcar over the years, and I've always liked how relaxed ceremonies there feel. Without the scale of a large church or country house, the focus naturally stays exactly where it should be; on the couple standing in front of one another, making promises that will stay with them for the rest of their lives. There's something refreshingly uncomplicated about it, and I think that simplicity often allows genuine emotion to shine through far more naturally than people expect.

As a documentary wedding photographer, those are the moments I quietly wait for. It isn't the obvious photograph of somebody smiling towards the camera that interests me. It's the smile that appears half a second beforehand. It's the little glance between two people that nobody else notices. It's a parent taking a deep breath before the ceremony begins or a grandparent watching proudly from the front row. Those tiny moments only last a second or two, but years later they're often the photographs couples tell me they treasure the most because they never realised they'd even happened.

Once the ceremony had finished and the congratulations were over, everyone made their way to Fletcher's Farm, and the atmosphere immediately shifted from emotional to wonderfully relaxed. That's one of the things I really enjoyed about this wedding. It never felt rushed. Guests naturally spread out across the venue, conversations started almost as quickly as drinks were poured and there was that lovely feeling that everyone had settled in for the afternoon with nowhere else they'd rather be.

www.discoveryphotography.co.uk
WhatApp - 07739 121743

09/08/2026

Not every wedding needs a full day of photography…

If you’re planning a later ceremony, a smaller celebration or simply don’t need photography from morning until night, my Twilight Wedding Photography Package could be perfect for you.

I’m currently offering 5 hours of wedding photography for just £550, reduced from £750.

That gives us plenty of time to capture the important moments, family photographs, some relaxed portraits together and all those natural moments right up to your first dance.

You’ll receive all your professionally edited images on USB, a private online gallery and a print & publish licence.

Limited dates available and new bookings only.

Check your availability 👇

WhatsApp - 07739 121743
www.discoveryphotography.co.uk

09/08/2026

Paul & Bernice’s wedding had such a lovely traditional feel to it, with the ceremony at St Nicholas Church in Guisborough followed by the historical Guisborough Priory for family photographs and a few quieter moments together.

The Priory made an incredible backdrop, especially in that sunshine, and it was great to have the chance to use somewhere so local and full of character. Add in a beautiful church ceremony, family all around them and a couple who were clearly just enjoying the day, and it gave me loads to work with.

A really lovely wedding to photograph and one I thoroughly enjoyed being part of. Congratulations again Paul & Bernice

07/08/2026

There are certain wedding venues that always make me smile when I see them in my diary, and Rushpool Hall is definitely one of them.

I've photographed quite a few weddings here over the years and, no matter how many times I drive through the gates, it always feels like somewhere special. Tucked away just outside Saltburn-by-the-Sea on the North Yorkshire coast, it somehow manages to feel grand without ever losing that relaxed, welcoming atmosphere. Every couple puts their own stamp on the venue, which is probably why no two weddings here have ever felt the same.

Adam and Faye's wedding was another perfect example of that.

From the moment I arrived, there was a lovely sense of calm about the whole day. Of course there were a few nerves – there always are – but they were quickly replaced by excitement, laughter and that wonderful feeling that everyone had been looking forward to this day for a very long time.

One thing I've learnt after photographing weddings for almost twenty years is that the best moments are very rarely the ones anyone plans.

They're the little ones.
The quick smile between two people who think nobody is watching. A reassuring hand on someone's shoulder before the ceremony begins. A burst of laughter from the other side of the room that makes everybody else join in without even knowing why.

Those are the photographs I find myself looking for all day long.

As a documentary wedding photographer, they're also the photographs that often become people's favourites. Not because they're the biggest moments, but because they're the moments they never realised had even happened.

Rushpool Hall is brilliant for that.

The venue gives you space to breathe. Guests can wander through the gardens, find a quiet bench for a chat or simply enjoy a drink in the sunshine while the celebrations unfold naturally around them. That relaxed atmosphere makes such a difference because nobody feels as though they're being rushed from one part of the day to the next. Instead, everyone simply settles into the wedding and enjoys it.

When it came to spending a little time with Adam and Faye for their portraits, we didn't disappear for an hour or spend half the afternoon posing. That's never really been my way of working. I'd much rather steal ten or fifteen minutes here and there, have a wander through the gardens, have a chat and create photographs that feel natural rather than staged. Couples book me because they want to spend their wedding with their family and friends, not because they fancy spending hours stood in front of my camera.
It also means that when they look back through their gallery, they don't just remember having photographs taken.

They remember enjoying their wedding.

One thing that genuinely made me smile later in the day was the personalised ice creams.

It's such a simple idea, but it suited the day perfectly. Guests were stood outside chatting, children were running around enjoying themselves and everyone seemed to have an ice cream in one hand and a drink in the other. I doubt anybody will remember exactly what flavour they chose in twenty years' time, but they'll remember standing there together, laughing in the sunshine. Sometimes it's those tiny little touches that quietly become part of the story.

As the afternoon slipped into the evening, the celebrations carried on exactly as you'd hope. The dance floor soon filled, ties became a little looser, shoes mysteriously disappeared and everyone relaxed even more. Those are always some of my favourite moments to photograph because by then people have completely forgotten there's a camera nearby. Nobody is thinking about photographs anymore. They're simply enjoying being with the people they love.

That's when real life happens.

Looking back through Adam and Faye's gallery afterwards, that was probably the biggest thing that stood out to me. It wasn't one particular photograph or one dramatic moment. It was the feeling that ran all the way through the day. Everything felt easy. Nobody seemed to be trying too hard. There was no pressure to make everything perfect because, in reality, it already was.
That's one of the reasons I still love photographing weddings after all these years.

Every Saturday is different, different people, different stories, different personalities.

Yet the one thing they all have in common is that they're filled with moments that only happen once.

Those moments are why I still get excited every time I pick up a camera.

Rushpool Hall provided the perfect backdrop, but as always, it was Adam and Faye, together with their family and friends, who made the day what it was. My job was simply to notice those little moments as they happened and preserve them before they quietly disappeared forever.

Adam and Faye, thank you so much for asking me to be part of your wedding day. It was an absolute pleasure spending the day with you both, and I hope every photograph takes you straight back to how it all felt. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together.

www.discoveryphotography.co.uk
WhatsApp - 07739 121743