The Oak Barn Frame Farm Wedding Photographer

I WORK QUICKLY, QUIETLY & UNOBTRUSIVELY;

CAPTURING THOSE CANDID MOMENTS YOU NEVER KNEW HAPPENED.

A KENT WEDDING VENUE TO FALL IN LOVE WITH

“Matt,
You were an absolute legend! Thank you so much, I had so many comments about how nice you were and that you fitted in perfectly to the day. I can’t recommend you highly enough.”

— Mrs & Mrs Ellis

When Emma & Bradley first contacted me and asked me to be their wedding photographer, back in January 2021, I asked the same question as always; “where are you getting married?” Often the answer is one i’m familiar with or at a venue I have already worked at.

However, The Oak Barn, Frame Farm in Kent was not one of those venues. Actually I’d never heard of it, let alone worked there before. So the first thing I did was look at their website and it looked lovely. So I was very excited when they booked me as I knew it would be a special place for me to work.

I was not disappointed...

The wedding day itself went really well; lovely guests and great weather, which is always a bonus when it comes to the unpredictable English climate & even more lucky for the helicopter pilot!

I started the day as I normally do - candid photos of the the bride getting ready and then it was a quick 25 minute dash through the countryside to the church for their ceremony. I say a quick dash, it was more like a hair raising race through lots of twisty small country lanes trying to follow the brides wedding car…

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After some light refreshments it was the Bride & Grooms time to go and catch the helicopter and meet us all back at the venue.

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Play the music photo-film below and turn up the volume…

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If you would like to book your Award Winning Wedding Photography contact me HERE for more information

Suppliers below:

Venue: @theoakbarnff - Website here

Hair & Make up: @makeupangelcouk

Ice Cream van: @indulgent_ice_creams

Dress Alterations: @bridalalterationsmaidstone

Sax Player: @davebraziersax

Photography - Me! @mattrockprophoto

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DOCUMENTARY EVENT PHOTOGRAPHER - GOODWOOD REVIVAL

Watching people - seeing how they act, react & interact… & in the case of The Goodwood Revival - how they dress up!

“Photography is a way of feeling, of touching, of loving. What you have caught on film is captured forever… It remembers little things, long after you have forgotten everything”

— Aaron Siskind

Early morning fly-by - Goodwood Revival - September 2019

When I left my house in the early hours of a beautiful September morning I knew the day would be a good one. Having an early start meant the drive to Goodwood was traffic free. I turned up in the field and was greeted by the happy & smiling parking attendant, he showed me where to go and I knew it was going to be a good day at Goodwood.

I was one of the first people there that morning and couldn’t wait to get my cameras out and start shooting.

Whilst walking across the field to the entrance, there was an old fashioned kind of feel. It made me think of my grandparents going out for the day on their motorbike - he had a Brough Superior - I imagined my Nan & Grandad, a sidecar & matching goggles setting off with a hearty picnic of roughly cut bread and lumps of mature cheddar, all stuffed in the panier.

Goodwood has many events throughout the year and the Goodwood Revival is one to remember and to look forward too. It’s like stepping back in time watching all the people dressed up in vintage clothes, smoking pipes and wearing neck scarves and cheese cutter hats.

This iconic motorsport event first appeared in the calendar back in 1998 and is now regarded as one of the biggest historic motorsport events in the world and apparently the only one to be staged entirely in period dress.

The Ford GT

Trackside was an exciting place to be. Not just watching these cars on their test laps but the whole experience and sensory overload of the familiar yet overpowering racetrack smells and the sounds of the tannoy systems - They are often a little too loud or just that little too muffled as the cars roar past...

It’s one of those experiences that takes you back to when you were younger. For me it would be back to the memories of Brands Hatch in Kent, sitting uncomfortably on the often wet grass bank watching cars or motorbikes going round and round the track and then the sudden excitement and noise of the crowd as one of them spins off the track.

The cameras were all rolling too, trying to catch the action, the noise and maybe the crashes...

There was lots to see and do at The Goodwood Revival and I walked all day, all over the place, looking for weird and sometimes bizarre things I wanted to photograph.

Documentary wedding photography and portrait photography are my main income alongside being a documentary event photographer, so observing the normal stuff and trying to make it interesting to view is fun and challenging. Especially somewhere like The Revival as there is so much going on and it’s like going back in time, a different kind of normal. Seeing things that we just don’t see now-a-days in our modern, everyday life. The old fashioned clothes, singers, dancers, oh, and there are the amazing cars and motorbikes too of course. The thing is, I knew all that stuff was going to be there, the cars, the motorbikes, the people dressed up in their old fashioned clothes, the racetrack, I knew most of it beforehand.

But I didn’t expect there to be such a great atmosphere, the feeling of almost seeing my grandparents, and my parents (metaphorically speaking of course) walking around this time-warp of a place - Being able to get a tiny glimpse of seeing the world how they would have seen it when they were young. That was the thing that brought it all together for me, to create one amazing experience!

Apart from the price of beer that is! That was a very modern experience - you could say almost futuristic!!

As a portrait photographer who loves to work in a documentary, candid style, I wanted to go to The Goodwood Revival mainly to photograph the people who attended it. To soak up the atmosphere of this event. See what people do, how they dress and to see the amazing cars too of course.

Within the last couple of years I have switched camera brands & started to use the Fujifilm X system full time. I love the way they feel in my hand, their size & simple looks really helps you blend in for this kind of work. The image quality is beautiful too and after 18 months of testing I finally added another body and a couple of lenses to my kit bag and now use them for all my work since the end of 2018.

I hope you enjoyed a little taster into this great event from goodwood.

if you are planning an event or team building day out for your company and need to document it with a dedicated, professional photographer, get in touch with me and we can see how I can help you.

If you are interested in this event see the official website here: The Goodwood Revival 2021

Kent Wedding Photographer - The beauty & power of one image

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I made this wedding portrait a few years ago. 1st August 2015 to be precise.

It is a beautiful yet simple image of the Grooms Nan looking up at her grandson on his wedding day. It’s an image that can not easily be recreated or posed. It’s a powerful candid image that started out as a standard group photo.

This one image has had more than a dozen people in tears in front of me when viewing it at wedding shows.

(I have a very large framed print of it)

It’s normally the mother of the ‘groom to be’. Not because they know the lady in the photograph but because they see their own mother in the image and wish that she could be at her sons wedding.

Images can be powerful for all sorts of reasons. Some beautiful and some not so beautiful. But when you can see & feel the emotion in a photograph it can be a magical thing.

When I made this image, there were others too of course that were very similar. I’d call them a series of images which led to this one standing out as ‘the one’ for me to use.

Here are some of the other images that lead to this beautiful moment…

Although I consider myself a candid, documentary wedding photographer, (which is why I believe I was able to see this happening and then record the image) and I do still shoot group photos. As the first image shows, they are an important part of the day and who knew that I would get the result I did if I hadn’t started with this image below.

So, it started off as a typical group photo of the bride & Groom with his Nan and just evolved from there. I had stopped talking long before i’d stop shooting.

And this is the last in the series that I made.

I think that there is a kind of cheekiness to this lady and a look of pure delight and love on her face and I believe she approved of her grandson getting married that day!

Below are some other candid photographs that make me smile from this wedding back in August, 2015…

Being a recommended Kent Wedding Photographer...

In this BLOG I take a closer look at two great wedding venues that I am lucky enough to be recommended by. I will showcase another two soon. Most of my wedding couples find me through their friends recommendations. Another way I get clients is being recommended by many Kent wedding venues, which is a real honour to be trusted by them. These venues are places I like to work at as they all have their own look and style. Here’s a look at the first two on the list - venues who recommend me: The Boathouse, Bexley and The Darenth, Sevenoaks. - Alphabetical order.

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“Have you worked at my venue before?”

Being recommended by a venue is great and if you are getting married in Kent, Essex and London, the chances are I have worked at your venue.

But there are so many I haven’t yet had the opportunity to see. Which is why I love wedding photography; because shooting at a new venue is very exciting too and as an experienced photographer, working somewhere new is a great opportunity to make photos that no one else has in their wedding album. So I am always looking to work with other venues in Kent, Essex, London too.

In fact I can work all over the UK! So get in touch and we can chat about your plans

Danson House, &

The Boathouse - Bexley, Kent

They make the perfect combination…

The Boathouse is the closest wedding venue to me and I grew up only a couple of miles away, so I know it well. Set in the beautiful Danson Park in the Borough of Bexley, Kent gives you and your wedding guests lots of outside space with lake views & lots of photo opportunities. There is a terrace out the back of The Boathouse too, which offers a great space to relax after the wedding breakfast and the speeches are all over. You do have the option to hold your wedding ceremony at The Boathouse too. However, lots of wedding ceremonies are held at the nearby Danson House, which is a beautiful Grade 1 listed Palladian villa built in 1766 by Sir John Boyd and is a historic landmark in Bexley.

You can learn more about Danson House - here.

It’s just a short walk from The Boathouse too, which is why they make the perfect combination.

** Look at this BLOG about my NHS & Emergency Services - SPECIAL OFFER **

The Darenth, Shoreham, Kent

You can hold your ceremony inside or outside at The Darenth

Attention to detail… This venue has been constantly improving and changing over the last 4 years and is almost unrecognisable. Kerry & Jason have really made this Kent wedding venue one to see. This should, without doubt be one to consider for your wedding. Every time I go there, something else has been improved, changed or been tweaked. The Darenth is just a short country walk from Shoreham, so when the time is right, you can take a few moments away from the party. It’s a lovely walk down to Shoreham & so we can make those special couple portraits I love to make - the best bit is, I work fast and discreet, so you won’t be away from your guests for long.

So if you haven’t seen this Kent wedding venue for a while speak to Kerry on 01959 522944 and take a look around.

You can see my last BLOG here from a wedding at The Darenth last December - 2019.