So I'm a little late posting this, I know, I'm sorry about that.

I've loved 2009, I've met some incredible people, learnt some good lessons, ate some wonderful food, attempted to dance with the best dancers to the worst and best music, seen some incredible bands and taken some killer pictures.

I can't wait to get wait to shoot my first wedding of 0'10.
It already promises to be an even more successful year than '09.

Thank you to all my brides and grooms who have chosen me over other photographers, I've really enjoyed meeting you all and getting to know you.
We've had fun.

And finally, thank you to my amazing wife. None of this would of been possible.
You really have no idea how patient she is with me!

Enjoy my look back at 09.

First, I shot our close friends, the Hornby's as an anniversary present for their parents.
Gorgeous weather in Bristol on that day!
Look out for Sabrina, she's just booked me for her wedding this year!


Then came the wedding of Debby and Craig, this was a biggy for me for many reasons.

I can't believe this was in 09! It feels like years ago!
Mark and Laura are a wonderful couple, I loved shooting them.

This is my brother Phil, and his wife, Hannah.
They're allot of fun and awesome family to have.
This shoot was a little embarrassing for me as I had to tell my brother how to kiss photogenically! Mmmm!

Then came a really great wedding!
Ian and Grace
This by far though was one of my favorite ever bride portraits.
(I was also very pleased with the edit!)

Bianca and Jimmy came next, I did an engagement shoot with them in Knighton. For those who don't know where Knighton is, it's no where near anything.
Bianca and Jimmy are great friends of ours, I was really looking forward to shooting their wedding!

I did a few child portraits around Bristol, mostly in the Ashton court grounds.

Then a Bristol photoshoot with this couple, Mark and Laura are allot of fun to be around.

Then their wedding came, I forget now but by the looks of it, the photoshoot was either 1 or 2 days before the wedding!
A great wedding, and a beautiful bride.

Some familiar faces in there? I should think so! And look out for Rowan in the middle here, I'm shooting his wedding this year too!

Paul and Cassie, what a great couple and super good looking too! People like this make my job very easy.
Another engagement shoot where the wedding was just a couple of days later...



By Far, my favorite groomsmen portrait of '09.
I would never usually edit an image like this, but with such awesome faces, I had to push it to the extreme.
Without the expressions, this picture would be a flop.
FYI, I had a bride book me because of this picture.

Right, I've been looking forward to posting this one. For sure, a favorite engagement shoot. This was text book.
1) Luke and Jasmine both put allot of effort into looking good for their shoot.
2) Both start the shoot quite nervous.
3) But, chose some great locations with personal attachments
4) Light was perfect
5) Did a little trespassing
6) By the end of the shoot, I'm sure Luke and Jasmine forgot I was taking pictures, they felt so relaxed.
7) Shot roughly the same amount of images on this shoot as what I do at an average wedding.

Bianca and Jimmy's Wedding. Loads of fun!

Another experimental groomsmen shot.

Then my first wedding of many at Clearwell Castle. Thanks Will and Cindy

Luke and Jasmine got married. Of course, with one of my famous Joseph Yarrow Engagement shoots, Jasmine and Luke were totally relaxed in front of the camera! Book now!

Then a really fun Engagement shoot in Badminton with Adam and Lucy. Their wedding is in the summer. Remember that season?

Then I tried something that I've not really done before. A baby shoot. Harvey was easy to shoot, as were his parents, Becki and Ben.
Looking forward to doing a few more baby shoots this year.


Certainly one of my favorite shots from the shoot.

Followed by an engagement shoot in Sheffield!

And a wedding at Clifton Mansion house in Bristol. I can't wait to shoot there again this year!

This also was a text book shoot!
Great looking couple.
Awesome locations.
Both started off nervous.
Ended up dancing by the end.
True story

A few weeks before, I had been inspired to change my equipment to make my pictures better.
This part of the shoot was at dusk... well into dusk actually. This was shot with totally natural flash.
I was nervous about changing my equipment, but shots like this made me confident that I had made the right choice.

I'll keep this one short and sweet.
I was contacted by this lady, she asked me to take some pictures of her and her husband in their wedding attire for the wedding anniversary.
Sure, no problem at all, but why?
She was so disappointed in her images that she had to have them done again.
I hear this sort of things very often.
Do not book a photographer that you're not sure about.
I personally know people who have cried because their wedding pictures were appalling.
Your wedding pictures are one of the only things left from your wedding, so don't mess around.
Anyway!...
This shoot was allot of fun!

Matt and Annie got married.
Hands down, one of my favorite weddings of '09.
You should of been there!

I don't think I'm doing this couples wedding, but they were guests at a wedding that I also was a guest at. Tried my best not to be an Uncle Bob

Got this great shot of Jessica with her two brothers Micah and Keir

Strictly speaking, I didn't take these pictures. Jessica did, so although I set up the lighting and camera, she takes full credit for the shots.
Unfortunately, she doesn't plan on taking any more shots as she doesn't think she's good enough! Crazy I know, but I think we'll do a few baby shoots together, with Jessica entertaining and assisting!

Amazing weren't they!!?

Really looking forward to Chris and Victoria's wedding in March, that's going to be allot of fun.
This shoot was loads of fun!

On my way up to this wedding, I got an email from the WPJA saying that they wanted me to join their organisation.
This was the best wedding/business related news I was given all year.
I was so glad that I could shoot a wedding the very next day!
Thanks for booking me Andy and Julia!

Hands down, the hardest engagement shoot with Paul and Rebecca.
We had so much fun though!

Another wedding at Clearwell Castle. Thank you Dave and Paula!

Nathan and Vicky's wedding came next. Fun!

Matt and Yvonne had an engagement shoot by the harbor. It was here that I realised that the evenings were getting darker, so this shoot was quite a challenge for me. Great couple though, they made it much easier.

Jimmy and Louise chose our favorite city of Bath for their engagement shoot!
Another text book shoot!

Then Matt and Yvonne got married!
Nothing...I repeat Nothing, beats the expression of the guy behind Yvonne! Brilliant!

Then for my last wedding of the year, Jimmy and Louise got married at Clearwell Castle.

Whoa!

That was a busy year on reflection!
My original draft of this blog had about 200 pictures in!

A huge thank you goes to all my Bride and Grooms, past and future.
You've treated me like a King and I've eaten like one (Although I'm sorry I'm so hard to feed with my food intolerances!)
Thank you also to all the great comments on my blog, I love receiving them, they always make me feel so great!

Keep on visiting and commenting!
I can't wait for this year to get moving!

At the beginning of this month, I shot the wedding of Jimmy and Louise at Clearwell Castle in Gloucestershire.
If you didn't check out their Engagement shoot, make sure you do!

We had loads of fun in the fog and the cold on that day.
Unfortunately, Jimmy and Louise wern't exactly blessed with good weather for their wedding either, but what I love about Clearwell Castle is that if the weather is poor outside, then there are so many rooms to discover!
In fact, embarrassingly, I didn't realise that there was a downstairs to the castle, full of a dance floor and even more rooms!
I've always finished shooting before the dancing starts at the other Clearwell Castle weddings I've shot.
I much prefer these longer weddings, sure they're far more physically exhausting, but I enjoy it as I really get to know the guests and they get to know me.

This was the biggest wedding I've shot at Clearwell and certainly the most fun!
It was also my first Chinese wedding, so plenty of new sights I've not witnessed before, like the tea ceremony which I found fascinating!
I'd love to be there for their Chinese wedding in Hong Kong, it sounds loads of fun!

Friends and family flew in literally from all over the world to see Jimmy and Louise get married, so the atmosphere was amazing!

This was the last wedding of the year which is a bit sad, but I've had an incredible year.
I'll be posting some of my favorite images up on here later on in the week!

Thank you so much Jimmy and Louise for choosing me, I was so flattered!
Enjoy these pictures!

With light pouring in like this, you know it's going to be a good day!

And with this level of military precision, not much could of gone wrong!

So many friends and families flew over from Hong Kong.
This was just Jimmy's luggage though.

All day, there were smiles like this, everybody was so happy!

And so many cute faces!

Although, some were either clearly jet-lagged, or just not that crazy about weddings! 


Jimmy and his boys. 

Louise with her bridesmaids, Jo and Rachel.  

A few last minute tweaks!


On more than one occasion at Jimmy and Louise's wedding, I attempted to use other peoples camera flashes to enhance my own image.
I've never seen so many cameras at one wedding, so this was quite easy.
Also, the gentleman checking the image on the back of his 5d mk II is Bristol photographer Jordan Chung




And now the tea ceremony. It's a chance for the older members of the family and important relatives to give gifts and advice

I really took a shine to "Uncle Joe"... not sure he realised it though!

I don't know what this friend was saying but I'm sure its profound.

Glad I'm not washing up!

And so begins the toasting!

Another two not overly fussed by weddings! Or just knackered from jet lag!

Another use of other peoples camera flashes to get a cool cake cutting shot!

One of the smartest and cute kids was sat on my table.

And the lovely couple themselves!
Thank you so much Jimmy and Louise!
You could've chosen anyone to take your pictures, so I'm so grateful you chose me!

Finally, the laptop is back and I can get on with my life (actually, I had more of a "life" without my laptop, lets just call this reality!)
I'm so sorry for all the guests who have been patiently waiting for these pictures.

You'll remember Matt and Yvonnes pictures from a few weeks back, that was a pretty long journey for us. We drove down one more time for their wedding a few weekends back.
The weather was pretty questionable to say the least. We had gale force winds, thunder and lightning and horses strewn across the road!

But i'm doing my best not to be a walking cliché here when I say "the bad weather was no match for the smiles on everybodys faces!" (sorry)

I met up with Yvonne in the morning whilst she was having her make up done by Melissa, I then met up with the rest of the guests at the Beaufort Arms.
Goodness me! It was like the annual "past, present and future bride, groom and guest at a josephyarrow.com wedding" there!

It was weird to know or recognise so many people just from my weddings that I've shot. It made me feel so proud inside! (thanks D&C)
The pub was gorgeous inside with allot of low autumn sun peeking through the storm clouds coming through the windows. Loads of noise, excitement and general merryment! Lovely stuff!

The guests (not I) walked to Beaulieu Abbey, an incredible building that once acted as a dining room for the monks there. It was a little bit like your dining room at home, but a bit bigger.
It was a very relaxed and personal ceremony with friends giving readings, singing and performing songs for Matt and Yvonne.
The guests moved over to the Abbey Domus where the party started.

Enjoy the pictures!



I love me a real chuckle!

And here's the man of the hour, looking slightly windswept, but ever-so-awesome.

L>R Best man, as well past guest on www.josephyarrow.com and future groom; Chris.
Groom; Matt.
Best man; Chester. What a great name and a lovely guy!

It was great to see Craig again


I really love this series of four pictures here, especially the first one of the car.
It's my job here to tell a story, and I think that I've done what I needed to do.

Eagerness:

Freedom:

Suspense:

And excitement:


Playing it cool! Smooth

Ah, not so smooth now!







This Gentleman's voice was so soft yet powerful and filled the whole Abbey.





Remember Victoria?
The weather was all over the place!

There was a gap in the weather long enough for a few shots in the beautiful grounds.


Great looking couple aren't they? Even when they are battling with the wind!




Just in case!





An incredible room, mostly lit by candles.
At one point, the open log fire at the back of the room started really smoking and the visibility was actually pretty terrible!
Smoke poisoning put nobody off though and the party carried on like nothing happened!


Such a cool wedding cake! I love all the details on it!





I love taking pictures of people using their cameras. I don't know why, perhaps it's because I enjoy looking at how other people capture their own memories. (and the poses they get into!)






Our Deb!






Yvonne's Mother is Polish and also gave a speech. At the end, she said that it wouldn't be a real wedding without this drink. Then almost the whole room broke out into this Polish song whilst knocking this back, which just topped it all off! I loved it!

I think Yvonne looks amazing here!

The Abbey by night

And a very cool choreographed first dance! Loved it!


The live music was provided by one of the best bands I've worked along with.
They're called Grouper and played loads of Pop-Rock stuff, from Razorlight to Snow Patrol










And that's about it!
What a wedding, I really enjoyed this one!
It was very tiring, but looking back at these images, I'm thrilled with what I did!

Matt and Yvonne, thank you so much for asking me to be your photographer, I felt so honored to be included and treated so well by yourselves and your amazing guests!