Sam Chipman Photography

Sam Chipman Photography Storytelling wedding photographer, covering Yorkshire, Lancashire, and Cumbria & the Lake District. Non posed wedding photography for relaxed couples

// MAGGIE & KANE //Before the wedding, I remember Maggie telling me they’d chosen Tithe Barn partly because it was beaut...
15/06/2026

// MAGGIE & KANE //

Before the wedding, I remember Maggie telling me they’d chosen Tithe Barn partly because it was beautiful, but also because the place meant something to them.

That stuck with me a bit.

With a venue like this, particularly from a photographer's perspective, it could be very easy to just make it about the building. The beams, the candles, the stone, the ridiculous ceiling. And don’t get me wrong, Tithe Barn gives you plenty to work with.

But the best bit is always still the people.

The dogs quietly taking over the morning.
Family waiting at the bottom of the stairs.
Maggie walking into the ceremony with that look of “right, here we go then.”
Kane looking quietly chuffed with himself.

And that dance floor later on, where everyone seemed to fully understand the assignment.

That’s always the bit I care about most.
The place matters. The details matter. The light matters.
But only because they help create the mood that helps the real stuff happen.

Maggie & Kane. What a day.

Venue: Tithe Barn, Bolton Abbey
Hair:
Make-up:
Day music: .singer
Evening DJ:
Cake:

“If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.”John Berger ...
12/06/2026

“If everything that existed were continually being photographed, every photograph would become meaningless.”

John Berger wrote this in his 1968 essay, Understanding a Photograph, first published in New Society.

I keep thinking about how strange that feels now.

He was writing in a world where photography still had friction.
Film cost money. Prints took time. You had limits. You had to choose.
Then smartphones changed how we take photographs.

But smartphones did not just change photography.
Its almost like they changed our relationship with being alive.

So much of life now seems to arrive with a second version attached.
The thing itself.
And the version we can keep, post, send, prove, archive, or forget about entirely.

A meal is not just eaten.
A view is not just looked at.
A concert is not just heard.
A moment is not just lived.
It is collected.

And I understand why.
There is something beautiful about being able to keep little pieces of ordinary life.
To send someone a glimpse of where you are.
To hold onto things previous generations might never have photographed at all.

But I wonder what happens when our memories start to feel transactional.

When everything becomes something to gather, store, show, or tick off.
When the moment itself gets treated less like something to experience, and more like something to take away.

Maybe more photographs do not automatically mean more remembering.
Maybe more proof does not automatically mean more presence.
Maybe the more photographs we take, the less value they hold?

And maybe the things that matter most still ask something very simple of us:
to notice them while they are happening.

That is the part I come back to at weddings.

Because a wedding is not just a collection of things that happened.
It is a day full of people, feeling, history, nerves, humour, grief, joy, and tiny moments that only happen once.

And maybe, just maybe, a wedding should feel lived in first.
Not performed for cameras.
Not experienced with the intention of watching it back later.
Not covered from every possible angle by every possible device.

Lived in.
Experienced.
Remembered by the people who were actually there.

Weddings are emotional, which makes them very easy to sell to.And that’s the uncomfortable bit.Because the wedding indus...
10/06/2026

Weddings are emotional, which makes them very easy to sell to.

And that’s the uncomfortable bit.

Because the wedding industry doesn’t just sell you things. It sells into love, family, expectation, grief, excitement, insecurity and the hope that you’re getting it all “right.”

That doesn’t mean every supplier is cynical.

I’m a wedding photographer. I obviously believe good suppliers are worth paying properly.

But the industry as a whole is very good at making couples feel like there’s always something else they need.

Another detail.
Another upgrade.
Another thing your guests will apparently notice.
Another thing Instagram has decided is essential this week.

And before you know it, you’re not planning around what matters to you.

You’re planning around what you’ve been made to feel is missing.

Spend the money where it actually matters.

The food.
The music.
The dress.
The photographer.
The party.
The thing nobody else understands, but you care about deeply.

But try to notice when the pressure is coming from you, and when it’s coming from an industry that benefits from making you feel behind.

Because sometimes it’s not really selling you a better wedding.

It’s creating the insecurity, then selling you the solution.

Because that’s capitalism doing what capitalism does.

Your wedding deserves better than that.

// MICHAELA & KEIRON //Rain, bubbles, kilts, highland cows, gyros, doughnuts, ceilidh chaos, and one of the most joyfull...
23/05/2026

// MICHAELA & KEIRON //

Rain, bubbles, kilts, highland cows, gyros, doughnuts, ceilidh chaos, and one of the most joyfully unhinged dance floors I’ve seen in a while.

Michaela and Keiron’s wedding at Hackness Grange was exactly what they wanted it to be.

Fun.
Laid back.
Relaxed.
And completely theirs.

There was Scottish heritage.
Slovakian Radovy.
A piper.
A whisky ceremony.
A bubble magician.
A bride eating doughnuts in the rain.
A groom in a kilt.
And a room full of people who were very much up for it.

That’s the thing I love most about weddings like this.

Not everything has to look perfect to feel perfect.

The rain mattered because it became part of the story.
The bubbles mattered because they were more them than confetti.
The gyros mattered because why wouldn’t you eat gyros on your wedding day?
The dancing mattered because it was loud, chaotic, sweaty, and full of actual life.

Michaela and Keiron’s advice to couples planning their own wedding?

“Do what you want. The wedding is yours and about you.”

Couldn’t agree more.

Make it personal.
Make it fun.
Make it yours.

Even if that means highland cows, bubble guns and being launched across the dance floor in a red dress.

Huge shoutout to the brilliant team who helped make it happen:

Venue:
Photography:
Catering:
Florist: .floraldesigns
Decor:
Hair & Make-up:
Wedding dress:
Kilt:
Ents:
Videographer:
Guestbook:

I’m absolutely fine with not being the right wedding photographer for everybody.I’m not trying to appeal to everyone.Bec...
23/05/2026

I’m absolutely fine with not being the right wedding photographer for everybody.

I’m not trying to appeal to everyone.

Because wedding photographers all work differently.

Some are more posed.
Some are more editorial.
Some take over more.
Some step back more.
Some shape the day around photographs.
Some photograph the day as it naturally unfolds.

None of that is automatically right or wrong.

But it does need to fit you.

Choosing your photographer isn’t just about liking their photos.

It’s about choosing someone whose way of seeing a wedding lines up with how you want to remember yours.

It’s about their approach.
Their personality.
Their energy on the day.
Whether you trust them.
Whether they’ll make you feel relaxed.
Whether you can actually imagine spending one of the biggest days of your life with them around.

The right photographer for one couple might be completely wrong for another.

And that’s fine.

Some photographers have a very clear vision of what they want a wedding to look like. And they shape the wedding day to get images that match with their vision of how a wedding should look.

And for some couples, that’s exactly what they want.

But that’s not really my approach.

What I value in an image is story. Not just something pretty.

Something that makes you feel something.

A look across the room.
Someone laughing in the background.
A hand on a shoulder.
The chaos around the edges.
The little bit of context that tells you what was really happening.

That’s what I’m drawn to.

Images that don’t just show what your wedding looked like, but bring you back to what it felt like.

I’m trying to find the couples who see the value in the way I work.

The ones who don’t want their wedding turned into a photoshoot.

The ones who care about people, atmosphere, little moments, real reactions, and the bits of chaos that make the day feel like theirs.

If that sounds like what you want, I might be the right photographer for you.

I’ve been told more than once that I should probably get into newborn photography.“That’d be a smart move.”And maybe it ...
20/05/2026

I’ve been told more than once that I should probably get into newborn photography.

“That’d be a smart move.”

And maybe it would.

But when most people think of newborn photography, they picture babies wrapped up like burritos. Placed in baskets. Perfectly styled and carefully arranged.

And honestly?
That’s never really spoken to me.

I get why people love those photos.

But for me, photography is at its best when it captures something real.

A moment.
A feeling.
A season of life exactly as it was.

So when Josh and Emily asked if I’d come over and photograph life with their newborn in my way, trusting my eye to capture something a little more authentic, I was genuinely excited.

Not props.
Not poses.
Not perfection.

Just this moment in their lives, documented honestly.

I basically went to hang out with them for an afternoon.

A couple of hours around the house while they got on with normal life.

Sitting on the sofa.
Passing him back and forth.
Going for a walk

And honestly, I find that stuff fascinating.

Because those routines feel ordinary while you’re living them.
But they’re also temporary.

In a world full of smartphones, we take more photos than ever.

But if you’re always the one taking the photo, you slowly disappear from the story yourself.

And yes, having someone else document it properly is an investment.

It’s not something you do every week.

But for the chapters that really matter, it can be worth it.

The newborn days.
The toddler chaos.
The school years.
The quiet Sunday mornings where nothing much happens, but somehow everything does.

Family life changes all the time.

And sometimes the most valuable photographs aren’t the "formal" posed ones.

They’re the ones with the mess.
The noise.
The half-drunk cups of tea.
The washing in the background.
The tiny hands reaching for you.
The cat wandering through the frame at exactly the wrong moment.

Which, really, might be exactly the right moment.

The photographs that don’t just show what everyone looked like.

They take you back to what it felt like.

Which, really, is how I feel about wedding photos too.

Not polished.
Not staged.
Just real.

Wedding advice is everywhere at the minute.Every time you open Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest, someone is telling you wh...
13/05/2026

Wedding advice is everywhere at the minute.

Every time you open Instagram, TikTok or Pinterest, someone is telling you what you need to do. What your wedding is apparently missing. What’s outdated. What’s cringe. What every “modern wedding” is supposed to include.

And some of it is useful. Of course it is.

But a lot of it is opinion dressed up as fact because that’s what gets reach. A strong take travels further than a quiet, sensible bit of advice. A “must-have” gets saved. A controversial opinion gets shared.

So I wanted to ask the people who actually know.

Couples who have planned the wedding, lived the day, dealt with the opinions, survived the final-week chaos, and come out the other side married.

This is wedding planning advice from some of my 2025 couples.

Not from a trend report. Not from someone trying to sell you another thing. Not from someone making you feel like your wedding needs to be bigger, better, cooler, or more impressive.

Just honest advice from people who have actually done it.

And the same message kept coming back: give yourself time, work out what matters to you both, book people you trust, ignore the pressure, and make the day feel like yours.

Because the best weddings are not the ones that follow every rule. They’re the ones where you can tell the couple actually lived them.

Save this if you’re planning your wedding and need a reminder that you don’t have to do everything everyone else is telling you to do.

// HOLLIE & SAM //“We stripped the whole thing back.”That’s what Hollie and Sam said when I asked how they’d made their ...
03/05/2026

// HOLLIE & SAM //

“We stripped the whole thing back.”

That’s what Hollie and Sam said when I asked how they’d made their wedding feel like them.

And honestly, I think that sums it up perfectly.

No huge production.
No endless list of things they felt they had to include.
No wedding that felt like it had been built for Instagram before it had been built for the people in the room.

Just a church with meaning.
An ice cream van outside.
A convertible with cans on the back.
A proper confetti battering.
A retro party room.
A packed dance floor.
And a room full of people who were completely, loudly, messily in it.

Their own advice to couples planning a wedding was:

“Don’t let other people’s ideas of a wedding influence your choices.”

Which might be one of the best bits of wedding planning advice there is.

Because a brilliant wedding doesn’t have to be the biggest one.
Or the most polished one.
Or the one with every trend you’ve saved on Instagram.

It just has to feel like you.

And this one really, really did.

Huge shoutout to the brilliant team who helped make it happen:

Ceremony: St Mary’s Church, Nunthorpe
Reception:
Catering:
Florist: .uk
Hair & Make-up: / Pins and Curls by Laura Jayne
Dress:
Daytime Entertainment: Scoops n Smiles Ice Cream Van
Evening Entertainment:
Cake/Dessert:
Videographer:

I do realise the irony of posting content about being tired of content.That has not escaped me.But I’ve felt this buildi...
26/04/2026

I do realise the irony of posting content about being tired of content.

That has not escaped me.

But I’ve felt this building for a while now.

The world of weddings feels like a sea of noise at the minute.

Every time you open TikTok, Pinterest, Instagram, or a wedding blog, someone is telling you what you need.

What your guests will hate.
What you’ll regret.
What’s outdated.
What’s cringe.
What every “modern wedding” apparently has to include.

And I get why it happens.

Advice gets views. Opinions get comments. Controversy gets shared.

I know that because I’ve done it too.

But honestly, I’m getting tired of playing that game.

The weddings I care about photographing are not the ones that look perfect or on-trend.

They’re the ones where people are actually present.

Where the room feels like the couple.

Where something ridiculous happens that nobody planned.

Where the best photo of the day might not be the most polished one, but the one that actually feels true.

Wedding planning should not feel like building a brand campaign.

It can just be your people, in a room, celebrating you.

That’s enough.

Listen to good advice. Absolutely.

But not every “must-have” is a must-have.

Not every tradition needs keeping.

Not every trend needs following.

Your wedding does not need to prove anything to strangers online.

I want to make images you’ll still care about in 30 years’ time.

Not images made to please an algorithm that’s already moved on by tomorrow.





Some photos just work in black and white.Not because it makes them look “arty”, or more important, or because I’ve sudde...
25/04/2026

Some photos just work in black and white.

Not because it makes them look “arty”, or more important, or because I’ve suddenly decided I’m Henri Cartier-Bresson in a flat cap.

It’s because black and white can make you feel the image faster.

It takes away the things that sometimes pull your eye in the wrong direction.

Not the details that matter.

Not the flowers, the styling, or the things you’ve chosen carefully.

I mean the stuff nobody chose.

Mixed lighting.
Odd colour casts.
A patch of orange tungsten on someone’s face.
Green DJ lighting making everyone look mildly radioactive.
A bright exit sign in the background having a main character moment.

All of that can be part of the day.

But sometimes, it isn’t the point of the photo.

The point is the expression.
The hand on the shoulder.
The laugh.
The bit of chaos happening in the corner.

That’s why I use black and white.

It can strip an image back to what’s actually happening, which is often where the strength of the photo is.

It’s also one of the reasons black and white images can work so well in print, especially if you’re putting together a gallery wall.

A wedding day happens in every kind of light. Morning window light, harsh sunshine, warm speeches, dark rooms, dancefloor uplighting that makes everyone look like they’re starring in a low-budget alien invasion film.

In colour, those images can sometimes fight each other a bit on a wall.

In black and white, they can sit together with a bit more calm.

A bit more consistency.

A bit more intention.

Not every photo should be black and white.

But some photos are stronger because they are.





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