Here it is! My TOP60 of 2011! (I tried to make it TOP40 but I just couldn’t cut it down any further!) Another amazing year at Jonny Draper Photography filled with awesome experience after awesome experience. Another year of meeting some of the loveliest people you could ever possibly wish to meet and another year of working at some of the best venues and with some of the best suppliers in the wedding industry. To all of my brides and grooms and to all of my wonderful wedding friends – thank you for making 2011 an absolute joy. I’m looking forward to more of the same this year!

So without further ado, my favourite images in no particular order. As with my 2010 review, I set myself a couple of simple rules so as to (hopefully!) not bore you to tears reading this blog post and instead let you just look at and enjoy the images. The rules were: Only 60 images (I worked out that I shot over 100,000 images last year so it’s been a bit of a task to cut them down again!) and only a simple line about each one. Here we go…!!!

The gorgeous Poppy at Styal Lodge modelling for our ‘Future of Vintage’ shoot as featured on English Wedding (you can see the whole shoot HERE)  We could have been in Ibiza the weather was that good!  One of my iconic images of 2011 – so much so that it is about to be hung on our lounge wall!

Katie & Colin’s Grange over Sands wedding – I love a happy and full dance floor!

Bev & Phil’s pre-wedding shoot.  Seedy?  Nah….!!!  I love the colours!  (And so did they!)

Bev & Phil’s wedding at The Ashes in Staffordshire.  Taking a few minutes out at their stunning venue…

I’ve heard rumours about photographers not allowing guests to take pictures at weddings they shoot – obviously I don’t roll like that, but even if I did, I’d have struggled to stop Lisa & Eric’s guests at Thornton Manor!!!

Kelly & Mike’s Inn at Whitewell wedding – stunning.  That’s it.

Alexis & Adam’s wedding at Mitton Hall.  Wowsers.  What a gorgeous evening for the the most gorgeous couple.  Ali & Adam REALLY loved everything about their wedding and the photography and were so keen to use their amazing venue to it’s full potential.  As with all the images in this post, I could have used hundreds of images from their wedding, so it was tough cutting it to this one.  But I’m sure you’ll agree it’s a worthy entry!

Another Mitton Hall wedding, this time Jenna & Chris’s big day (that’s not Chris on the left by the way!) – I just loved Jenna & her bridesmaid’s matching Vivienne Westwood shoes!

Ridiculous gin based behaviour at Kate & Ant’s wedding.  Love it!

Chips by the river for Carrie & Rob and their bridal party at their wedding at Oddfellows in Chester – don’t think I need to say anything else!

Chrissie off of Chrissie & Louis at their pre-wedding shoot at Tatton Park – how gorgeous?!?!

My fave shot from Charlotte Balbier’s Candy Kisses launch party at Great John Street Hotel in Manchester – a stunning collection and an honour to be involved.

Catherine from Catherine & Will arriving at church.  Who cares that it’s raining?  This is a gorgeous shot!

Awwww…Jacqui & Will at Styal Lodge – I love them so much!  They are the nicest couple in the world!!!

Vicki off of Vicki & Stuart having a race with her bridesmaids at Browsholme Hall.  As you do!

One of my all time favourite images.  The gorgeous Ruth at The Ashes in Staffordshire.  It’s just so ethereal and beautiful!

Brooklyn Bridge in New York City.  Just because it’s so iconic.

A rather special moment at Louise & Tom’s wedding in Bristol where the ‘do not climb on the cow’ sign was very much ignored…

The first shoot I did for Black White Denim in Wilmslow, Cheshire.  My favourite model who’s not a model, Ella…

Jess & Mike’s Manchester pre-wedding shoot.  Because it doesn’t get cooler than this…

Charlotte & Teddy’s (and Ellie-Belle Balbier!) Tatton Park engagement shoot.  The loveliest couple on a stunningly beautiful and colourful autumn day…

Another of my all time favourite images taken at Hannah & Jason’s Styal Lodge wedding – I LOVE a moody sky!

Big red wedding bus at Steph & Kris’s Manchester Town Hall wedding!  Love it!

I think it’s the colours that do it for me.  And the expressions on Ali & Adam’s faces!  A BRILLIANT pre-wedding shoot at Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury…

Because people only smile like this when it’s the best day ever… Polly and Paul’s Albright Hussey Manor wedding…

Rebecca & Andrew taking 5 minutes out on the beach on their way to Lytham Hall.  Because they could.  I love a bride who loves her dress but doesn’t worry about it!

Mrs Angela Doran.  Because Emma & I love you!

One for the boys AND girls.  A sports car (Lotus Exige for anyone who’s a car geek like me!) AND a man in uniform!  What’s not to like?!  Mike from Jess & Mike outside Styal Lodge…

Lisa & Alex’s ’secret’ West Didsbury wedding!  I love this shot of them enjoying fish and chips in Frankie’s Fish Bar on Burton Road!

Leona.  Beautiful.

Laura & Simon’s Thornton Manor wedding – you can feel the atmosphere in this shot, I just love it…

Louise & Andy’s Mitton Hall wedding – Bags of attitude!

Vicky & Jamie at The Lowry Theatre – how cool is it that we were allowed to shoot in the theatre?!?!

My great friend Howard Wing getting a ‘Love Train’ going at Paula & Andy’s Barton Grange wedding – that was before the speeches had even started!  That’s how good he is!

Little Lola Fox.  Cute as you like!

Hayley & Matthew’s Blackpool pre-wedding shoot.  The wanted the glitter ball to be a feature.  So that’s what we did!  Ace!

Rachael’s portfolio shoot in Manchester.  Because we got her to sit on a wall on the 5th floor of a carpark and she was up for it…

Dawn & Phil’s Sandhole Oak Barn wedding.  We shot some gorgeous images of them after the wedding breakfast and this one of them having a few minutes to themselves is one of my faves.  What a lovely couple they are too…

Catherine & Richard.  It’s all in the look…

Emma & Pete and a couple of their hilarious mates – what’s not to like about this pic?!?!

Jess & Terry’s wedding.  Another wedding where I could have used hundreds of images for this post, but this was my fave (sorry you didn’t feature Tez!  Although you DID like it so you DID go and put a ring on it!!!)

Jordana & Ben at the windmill on the green in Lytham.  Because Jordana still has it as her profile pic on Facebook – I’m glad she loves it as much as I do!

Nicky & Graham at Styal Lodge.  I wanted to give them a different perspective to the now famous ‘platform’ at Styal Lodge – and it worked beautifully!

Louise from Louise & Andy on their pre-wedding shoot at The Inn at Whitewell.  They wanted to do something a bit different.  So they got REALLY dressed up and then we went for a walk in the country!  Cool hey?!

Tiz & Rich – once again, it’s all about the look…

Andrea & Andy’s Inn at Whitewell wedding.  Just to prove that even hotel corridors look awesome in wedding photographs…

Ashley Margolis shoot (Ricky from Hollyoaks)  Ash wanted something a little bit cooler than his usual headshot/agent card images so we spent a morning shooting some properly cool stuff around Castlefield…

Mel & Jivko’s Conwy Castle wedding.  Check that view out!

Katie & Nick’s big finish to their first dance at Albright Hussey Manor!  As choreographed by my good friend Ailsa Baker!

Tanya & Paul’s Bartle Hall wedding – I love them stealing a minute away from it all just before their first dance…

Check out that smile on Nat’s face!  Proof that rain doesn’t dampen spirits on anybody’s wedding day!

Jamie & his groomsmen at Stirk House having a little loosener before the ceremony!

Recently featured on their wedding ’sneak preview’ on my blog – I love this shot of Ali & Adam kissing under the mistletoe at The West Tower…

Another Black White Denim shoot – featuring the very lovely Charlotte.  Simple, elegant and incredibly beautiful…

Weddings are all about interactions and reactions – I love the look on Maria’s face as her and John are applauded into the room at Rookery Hall…

Sophie in a stunning gown from The White Closet at The Styal Lodge Open Evening.  Because it was such a fun evening!

Julie & Jamie’s pre-wedding shoot in Liverpool.  A ‘Friends’ moment…!!!

The gorgeous Stacey on The Vintage Wedding Dress Company shoot for The White Closet at Willow Pool in Lymm.  As featured on Love My Dress HERE!

Carly & Ian’s Manchester pre-wedding shoot.  Because they drink alcohol that is on fire.  And they’re particularly gorgeous and lovely!

This seemed a particularly appropriate image to end on!  Lucy & Ian’s friends at their Lyme Park wedding getting stuck into Jagerbombs!  Cheers!

So there it is. My 60 favourite images. Beautiful brides and grooms, wonderful moments, new friends, I loved every minute.

A huge thank you to the following people for their continued support and for contributing so much to such an incredible year:

Emma Draper

Chris & Pete Draper

Jo, Paul, Megan and ‘Bump’ Pike

Katie & Anthony Roberts

Clare Draper

Keith & Pauline Latham

Jane & Jason Thompson

Olivia Jones

Richard, Sarah, Georgie, Poppy & Franny Higham

Tom Harrington

Nikki, Rich, Jessica & Charlie Graeme

Charlotte Balbier & Ed Bedford

Sheree Reece

Howard Wing

Judith Blacklock

Jo Davies, David Bell, Charlotte, Lucy and all the girls at Black White Denim

Helen Corr & Pete Ruane

The Northwest Photographer ‘drink up’ massive

My lovely mates

And last but my no means least, all of my amazing brides and grooms!

Here’s to 2012!

xxx

And now for something a little bit different…

I won’t say too much here as the film explains everything, but what I will say is a huge thank you to Calumet Manchester, Natalie Kelly for modelling for us, Emma Draper MUA for looking after all things hair, make-up and styling and to Tom Harrington from Silk Wedding Videos for shooting the awesome footage.

Enjoy…

iPad2 Fashion Shoot from Jonny Draper on Vimeo.

Something very cool for a Friday for you. I’ve just started working with Black White Denim – the most gorgeous fashion boutique in Wilmslow, shooting a series of images for them for their website and some other very exciting bits and pieces! For this first job, my very good friend Ella was brought in to wear some of their amazing clothes (they supply the most fabulous labels, including J Brand, L’agence, Rag and Bone New York and Acne!)

We kept things very simple and just used the space in the boutique itself to shoot some uber cool images (we did pop outside for 10 minutes as well!)

Here’s some of my favourites from the shoot…

More exciting Black White Denim projects coming soon!

x

So at long last, when new year and Christmas seem a lifetime ago, I’ve finally put together my list of favourite images from 2010. I had intended to blog this in the first week of January, but I have to say, 2011 has got off to a flyer and I literally haven’t had the chance! But I can’t leave it any longer – here it is, my TOP 40 images from the last year. I’ve given myself a couple of rules – firstly limiting my post to 40 images (nice round number!) and also that I can’t choose more than one image from any one shoot. So it’s been tough – nobody is more critical of my work than myself, but at the same time, as a photographer you often fall in love with so many of the images you take (especially beautiful wedding images) so I’ve been really hard on myself and MADE myself choose! The list isn’t exclusively weddings – it really is a flavour of everything I did last year.

One last thing – in a rather geeky way, I worked out that I took around 75,000 photographs last year. So whittling it down to my favourite 40 was no easy task. But be thankful I haven’t made you sit through all of them!!!

So let’s start with the very beautiful Laura & Ewan’s New Year’s Eve first dance…

Cat & Pete.  The Inn at Whitewell (I got married there!  Have I mentioned that before???)  Taking five minutes out at the bar.  Love it.

Arthi & Jon’s Castlefield wedding.  LOVE the local gangsta pimping it past the bridal party…

Ahhhh – the GORGEOUS Alexis!  Her fiance, Adam, is equally gorgeous, but, rules are rules and I LOVE this one of just Alexis, which means sadly he doesn’t get a feature…

From a very cool bridal shoot I organised at Twelve Restaurant in Thornton, Lancashire.  Love the David Fielden gown from The White Closet – Amy looks soooo cool!

Self indulgent?  Me?  So obviously I didn’t take this one (the studio director did!) but I processed it!  And it reminds me of an awesome weekend in Ireland last year…

Livy off of Livy & Owen – theirs was the first wedding that I shot at one of my favourite venues in the whole world, the amazing Styal Lodge, and it was just the most beautiful day.  I love this shot from the morning of the girls fussing round Livy…

Steph & James on the beach at Lytham.  In FREEZING January last year.  But how beautiful is that scene?

Sometimes you get lucky…;0)

The most perfect snowy scene at Singleton Lodge for Emma & Karl’s wedding!  I love a bride who isn’t scared to get her feet cold!

Another Styal Lodge image – the very beautiful Poppy Higham wearing a stunning gown from Timeless Bride – and what about that Flower Design bouquet?!

NYC baby!

A very special wedding from last year – Linz & Rick (our very, very good friends) got married at The Swan at Newby Bridge and I photographed it for them.  I love this – best man Mike stepping up and delivering the best speech ever!

I love Sarah & Matt!  I had such fun with them throughout their entire wedding journey and just adore this shot of them in Fletcher Moss Park in Didsbury…

Cat & Pete’s pre-wedding shoot at The Inn at Whitewell – the stepping stones are truly an iconic part of the area and I love this moment between them…

Livy & Owen’s pre-wedding shoot.  This is when you realise just how well you’re going to get on with your bride and groom!

Doesn’t Michelle just look so perfect in this setting?  No posing, just the perfect location, the most beautiful gown – it just works beautifully…

A recent favourite of main from Cate & Mike’s pre-wedding shoot.  The shadows were too cool to walk past!

A genuine moment of reflection, calm and nerves all rolled into one on Charlotte & John’s wedding.  Gorgeous…

Danielle turned into a bridal gown model for a moment…!!!  Stunning!

Dawn & Phil at Dunham Massey.  I love how unintrusive this image is, yet at the same time has so much atmosphere and emotion…

One of my iconic images of the past year.  An image that was conceived with the input of the bride and groom which is exactly the way I love to work.  Claire and Andrew wanted something really cool and dramatic that was all about the part of the world they were in.  Claire’s stunning Ian Stuart gown was made for this kind of image…

Moments like this are what weddings are all about – Diana and Louisa and Luisa just enjoying themselves!

Ella.  Attitude.  Amazing.

Emma giving it both barrels on hers and Karl’s pre-wedding shoot – cool as!

A beautiful tender moment between Fran & Joe on their gorgeous summer wedding…

Emily backing up my ridiculous statement that Uggs were going to be big with wedding dresses this winter!  Love this shot from Gibbon Bridge!

A timeless image from Jo & Mark’s spectacular Tuscany wedding…

Karey & Kate’s pre-wedding shoot in NYC.  I won’t tell you how long we had to wait for a yellow cab to come past!  In the movies it looks like the city’s full of them!

Washington Square Park Memorial, New York City.  Another couple with creative ideas of their own that came up with this location and actually wanted this shot so badly that we left their reception at night, jumped in a cab and went and got this image.  How cool is that?!

And another couple who really understood the role of photography at their wedding.  Kirsty & Stuart had idea after idea for locations in St Andrew’s they wanted to use – music to my ears!  I love the fact that we’ve got the whole bridal party with us for this…

Laura & Ewan’s pre-wedding shoot on a miserable day.  But what a moment…

Weddings are all about moments.  And capturing those moments is so important.  This spontaneous laughter was due to the congregation setting off at the wrong time in the hymn they were singing – cue the WHOLE place falling about laughing and nobody able to get it back on track!  But Lisa and Tom will remember that moment forever…

Louise & Olly.  Confetti.  Soooooooo happy!  That’s why I love it!

Manhattan skyline in black and white.  Very cool.

Olivia at dusk wearing her art project.  See, everyone thinks that dresses that light up were invented by Big Fat Gypsy Weddings!  Olivia was designing them a year ago!

Sarah & Dan steal a moment on King Street just after they’d got married…

A very special shot from Sarah & Matt’s wedding at Sandhole Oak Barn in Cheshire.  Shot especially on the car park – just for them!

A really cool image from Steph & James’s post-wedding shoot in Northumberland!

And finally – Vicki & James sneaking a moment together on the beautiful terrace at Styal Lodge…gorgeous…

So there we have it.  40 images.  Lots of beautiful people in love.  Lots of moments never to be forgotten.  What a year.

Special mentions to those who contributed to making my 2010 a particularly special one.  Huge and sincere thanks for all the support you gave me – you all know what you did which means so much…

Emma Draper

Pete & Chris Draper

Jo, Paul & Megan Pike

Katie Draper & Anthony Roberts

Clare Draper

Keith & Pauline Latham

Jane & Jason Thompson

Olivia Jones

Jonathan Harris & Christine Ware

Ella Warhurst

Andy Cheetham & David Bell

Julia Gaffey

Bridget Pelicias

Tom Harrington

And last but certainly not least – all of my amazing brides and grooms and brides and grooms to be!

Here’s to 2011!

xxx

Here you go Rach! A little sneak preview to keep you going! Today I spent the day with the very lovely and beautiful Rachael shooting some images for her portfolio around Manchester – we got some very cool stuff despite a day of constant drizzle (typical Manchester weather!)

Rachael was an absolute pleasure to work with, very easy going, hard working and committed to every single shot – great work Rach!

So for now, a little look at what we shot – loads more coming soon!

x

Wow – what a week since this shoot! Emma & I are frantically packing our bags ahead of our trip to New York tomorrow to shoot Karey & Kate’s wedding – I really can’t wait! But before we head off, I wanted to do a ‘proper’ post about this shoot last week.

I wanted to organise a shoot that would result in a set of seriously inspirational images for those brides that want something truly unique on their wedding day. Those girls who want something cool and contemporary, but aren’t afraid to weave a tiny bit of tradition in every now and again. Something that would make brides to be really get thinking creatively about their own wedding day. I love working with brides and grooms who embrace every little detail of their day, who are excited about every single element, who are discerning with the suppliers they bring in to help them realise their wedding day aspirations. And I’m a very lucky photographer who seems to get to work with these kind of brides and grooms every single week!

First up was getting a venue on board. Second up was thinking that shooting for one day in one venue would be far too easy to organise, so I decided I wanted to shoot in two venues in one day. Two contrasting venues from a visual point of view but with the same underlying passion and commitment to hosting and catering truly magnificent weddings. So I went knocking on the door of Twelve Restaurant & Lounge bar in Thornton and The Great Hall at Mains in Little Singleton and explained my vision and why I wanted them to be involved. Huge thanks to Caroline from Twelve and Adele from TGHM for immediately agreeing to open their doors to us and being so enthusiastic and excited about being involved.

So the venues were sorted. Next on the agenda, some magnificent gowns were required. Cue more knocking on doors! I went to see my very good friend Nikki Graeme, the owner of The White Closet vintage bridal boutique in West Didsbury who immediately agreed to lend us some beautiful Charlotte Balbier, David Fielden and Claire Pettibone gowns – wow. These are some serious names.

Next up, girls to wear said dresses. Two of my very good friends, the very beautiful Olivia and the equally beautiful Emily were recruited to be models for the day – shooting ‘real’ girls on a shoot like this is really important – that’s what brides are after all. They’re not models, they’ve not been involved in shoots before, so it’s great to use girls that brides to be can genuinely identify with and actually realise that they can look as amazing as they do!

I also recently met the owner of bespoke jewellery company, Coco & Me, Amy Rhodes, who by complete coincidence is also a model! In contrast to what I wrote above, it’s also great to have somebody with experience involved in a shoot like this. Amy could really push her posing to the extreme which is really important when you’re shooting images meant to inspire.

So we’re almost into the images now, but there was somebody else I knew I NEEDED to be involved. The ultra creative and talented Jane Thompson from Flower Design. This shoot was all about pushing the boundaries and creating images and details that inspire and I knew Jane would supply us with something extraordinary. I wasn’t disappointed…

My amazingly talented wife was brought in to look after make-up and wardrobe (you’ll see just what an amazing job she did a bit further down the page) and I also invited along my great friend and the only videographer I recommend, Tom Harrington from Silk Wedding Videos to shoot a ‘behind the scenes’ film for us.

Finally, I invited some of the North-West’s most exciting and talented wedding photographers to come and shoot on the day – to work with them shoulder to shoulder, to bounce ideas off each other and to work together to create something really special.

Here’s a few of my favourite images I shot on the day…

I love this David Fielden number that Amy is wearing – very cool and just that little bit different…

Olivia looked amazing in Charlotte Balbier’s ‘Flo’…

The Great Hall at Mains – what a venue!  (unfortunately we didn’t get any exteriors of Twelve as it bounced it down in the morning!)

Emma doing her thing!

Another Charlotte Balbier gown (Marilyn) for Olivia – and again, something just a bit different for those brides who really want to do something a bit edgy when it comes to their dress – love it!

How awesome are those Flower Design pedestals?  And what about that bouquet!  Truly amazing and truly different!

Emily looks soooooo cool – VERY greek goddess in David Fielden’s ‘Wallis Simpson’ gown…

And finally, Olivia just couldn’t leave Charlotte Balbier’s dresses alone!  This is ‘Morgan’ and is ultra cool and contemporary in what is quite a traditional pose and setting – which shows you don’t have to go completely over the top with every single set up – sometimes simple is the best way to go, especially when you want the venue to lend it’s natural impact to the image as well (which TGHM does in bucket loads!)

What a fabulous day it was.  I’m fortunate enough to work with some of the very best wedding professionals and suppliers in the UK on a regular basis and it was fantastic to be able to work with them on our own project where we didn’t quite face the same time pressures as we do on a wedding day (although I was quite strict with getting us to the respective venues on time!)

Huge thanks once again to everyone involved, especially everyone at Twelve and The Great Hall at Mains, Flower Design, The White Closet, Olivia, Emily and Amy, Tom Harrington and last but no means least, Emma for doing an amazing job with the makeup and wardrobe and for assisting with every other little thing that needed doing on the day!

x

A little sneak preview of a VERY special shoot that took place yesterday at Twelve Restaurant and The Great Hall at Mains – two of the North West’s very best!  Alongside some of my very best wedding friends, including Jane & Jason Thompson from Flower Design, The White Closet Bridal Boutique and Tom Harrington from Silk Wedding Videos, I invited some of the brightest talents in UK wedding photography to join me shooting some amazing bridal images – big thanks to Olivia Jones, Emily Martin and Amy Rhodes for working tirelessly all day and to Emma Draper for ensuring they looked stunning all day!

Massive thanks to Caroline & Paul at Twelve for making us feel so welcome and looking after us so well and equally massive thanks to Adele & Roger (and Lizzie & Charlotte!) for welcoming us into The Great Hall at Mains that had been beautifully set up for us to shoot!

For now, a sneak peek at our models giving it both barrels yesterday…

More images along with the full story coming soon!

x

A great day today ahead of what is going to be a killer shoot next week (more details coming soon!)

Olivia & Emily are going to be wearing some awesome wedding dresses next week for this shoot, so after an afternoon of dress fittings at The White Closet in West Didsbury (thank you Nikki!) we spent a little bit of time ‘warming up’ in Fletcher Moss Park ahead of the shoot – and I can tell you, these two girls are going to look amazing!

More coming soon – but for now, a little sneak preview of the totally equally gorgeous, Olivia & Emily…

x

…coming soon…something VERY cool…

The very gorgeous and lovely Ella (below) and I are working together again on a very exciting project! Watch this space…

x

Always good to go and see other photographer’s speak about how they do things – today I had the pleasure of listening to American photojournalist, Rick Friedman. He was fronting a session at Calumet in Manchester on ‘getting the best out of your speedlites’ (flash guns to us ordinary folk!) and had lot’s of interesting things to say, as well as demonstrating a number of techniques.

I’m a big fan of using my canon speedlites, particularly at weddings – but in a creative way.   Dramatic skies, amazing suns, real high-fashion images can be achieved with just one little flashgun! Just like these two images I shot today with the model who was there – one flash gun, set up to the left of the model, boom – pretty cool and dramatic hey?  Especially when you consider we were on the carpark of an industrial estate in Manchester!

Lot’s of fun today and a reminder to myself that even during a massively busy wedding season, it’s still important to always be shooting different things, trying different techniques and learning constantly.  I don’t think photography is there to be mastered – it is a forever evolving discipline and it’s my job to always experiment and to understand different ways of shooting and producing stunning images.  Can’t wait for Saturday’s wedding after a little bit of mid-week inspiration!

x