Our day with Brett Harkness!
We’ve been looking to develop our flash work at weddings for a while now, so when the opportunity came up to spend a day with the master himself, Brett Harkness, we jumped at the chance to join his flash training course at Arley Hall yesterday in Cheshire.
If you don’t know it, Arley Hall is a stunning Grade II* listed building, built in 1832 and is in the heart of the gorgeous Cheshire countryside – what a perfect place for a wedding!!
We rocked up nice and early to be greeted by Brett and James (his hilarious assistant) with coffee and pastries, and sat down anxiously waiting to hear what Brett had to say, wondering just how much our mind would be blown over the next 8 hours! We started out looking through Brett’s portfolio on the big screen, discussing how he got the shots and Brett openly told us all about his business model and how he has become one of the best photographers around – It was awesome – He answered everything completely honestly and openly with nothing to hide as everyone picked his brain to pieces hoping to gleam a little gem of information to take away and apply to our own businesses.
After lunch, we went outside to work with our models to do some shooting – this ranged from natural reflected light, to fill flash, to using a Elinchrom Ranger for overpowering the ambient light for some dramatic effects. This is what we came to learn, and we got so much out of it. With Brett over your shoulder while you shoot, it makes a great learning environment as he pointed out little tips and tricks to achieve the perfect shot.
We cannot thank Brett and James enough – We were a little nervous about what to expect, but it was such a fun, relaxed day and we’ve come away buzzing with ideas that we can’t wait to implement into our weddings over the next few months.
If anyone is considering a course to learn more about flash and weddings, this is the course to book – Brett does a few different courses throughout the year, and I have no doubt that they will all give you everything you need! Here’s Brett’s training page: www.brettharknessphotography.com/training
Here are a few of our favourite shots from the day…
James taking a breather after spending the last 10 minutes shaking the blossom out of a tree!