Dark and moody wedding photography on an Oxford golf course
The first time someone told me my wedding photography was dark and moody, I was bit concerned they meant there was something sinister about it. Naturally, I was relieved when they went on to explain that by ‘dark and moody wedding photography’ they meant my photography was quite intimate.
For me, part of what makes us think an image is dark and moody is often how dark the photo is and how much contrast it has; dramatic skies and bad weather tend to add to that contrast but bright sunlight with deep shadows can have a similar effect.
The photo I’m sharing here is one I’ve had printed for use at wedding fairs and it’s frequently got me the label of dark and moody wedding photography by couples visiting my stand.
Of course, the story behind the image is not dark and moody at all. It was joyful and uplifting albeit that when I took the photo it had already rained for seven-days-straight and was about to start again so the world was looking a bit grim.
The couple in the photo are Charlotte and Alex and this was their wedding day at the Oxfordshire Hotel and Spa in Thame.
In case you’re not familiar with the venue, the Oxfordshire Hotel is also a golf course and club house. Now that you know it’s a golf course you might be noticing one of the bunkers in the distance.
Back to my story.
Because we’d had so much rain, the golf course was fairly water logged and we weren’t allowed to go onto any of the greens or fairways. Although interestingly, it was being played.
Luckily, I spotted this tree when I visited the venue a few weeks earlier. It’s not actually on the course so we were able to use it to create some dark and moody wedding photography.
However, whilst it’s not on the golf course, it is at least 50 metres from the footpath and zig-zagging around pools of muddy water with a wedding dress is no mean feat.
But I think it was worth it.
In this, the finished image, Charlotte is actually standing on a white shower curtain; it’s covered by the dress but you wouldn’t notice at this distance anyway and it definitely stopped the dress from getting filthy.
I’m standing in several inches of water taking the shot and my second-shooter is standing in line with the tree holding the flash that’s lighting them both – I took him out in post.
If you like the idea of dark and moody wedding photography and you’d like to know more about how I work, get in touch and check my availability for your wedding.
You can see more examples of my work by visiting my Oxford wedding photographer page.
Can you add a filter to your photos to give them a look of dark and moody wedding photography?
There are filters (presets) you can add to photos that will give them a darker mood. Most of the filters I’ve seen, typically give the photos a warm brownish hue. They have a tendency to desaturate a lot of the colours in an image as well although the blacks tend to be blacker as this increases the contrast. Some of the companies offering dark and moody presets include Mastin Labs and Adobe, with presets for Lightroom and Photoshop. No filters were used on the photo featured in this blog. It was processed in natural colours using my signature style.