An Engagement Shoot at Wollaton Park, Nottingham | Sarah & Christopher
A Sun Bursting Engagement Shoot at Wollaton Hall
On a sunny Sunday in May I headed across the country to meet Sarah & Christopher for their Wollaton Park engagement shoot. I’m booked for Sarah and Christopher’s wedding at The Walled Garden in Nottingham later this year so it was up to Nottingham for the practice run this time before the real deal.
Sarah chose Wollaton Park for the engagement shoot because she used to live just a short walk from it as a child. She mentioned how she had photographs from many moments in the park over the years. It felt only right she capture another defining moment at this most cherished country park.
Myself and Sarah crossed paths many years ago now at a random Jewish Summer Camp in Pennsylvania, USA. We weren’t attending. You see we both aren’t Jewish but for some reason the camp took on so many English teenagers and young adults to help populate their staff list for the summer. Myself and Sarah were lucky enough to be invited along and have known each other since. It was great to catch up at Wollaton Park especially with the responsibility of capturing some personality full portraits for them to remember their engagement by.
Sarah and Christopher’s relationship was great to photograph and I really managed to capture the uniqueness of them. Especially Christopher who loved being a joker but to be honest was super easy to direct.
A Pre-Wedding Shoot at Wollaton Park
As I often say, engagement shoots are great as you can really have a decent chance of getting the best kind of weather. Checking the forecast on the day can save both parties from wasting their time especially when it was around an hour journey for both myself and Sarah and Christopher to get to this Wollaton Park engagement shoot.
Being a Wollaton Park photographer is a really refreshing experience. The Wollaton Park Elizabethan Hall was built in the 1500s so all of the surrounding area shows it’s age. The hall is obviously a sign of architectural times gone by but for myself it was the trees which most amazed me. The first thing was the vast variety of different species within Wollaton Park and the next thing was the age of the trees. Standing mighty they sure do look incredible dominating the landscape with their sheer size. This is why when it came to the photographs for this engagement shoot their was no way I was going to overlook them.
Being so vast I was keen to get to see as much of Wollaton Park as possible and then finish the engagement shoot in the fields at the front of the hall so we could take advantage of the natural light creeping down and then beyond the perimeter boundary.
We wandered around the path ways first stopping off by the small lake before then heading back up to the formal gardens and the Camellia House. Once up at the Hall we captured various photographs on walls, fountains and the steps at the front of the building before slowly edging toward the fields which hold the deer which reside at Wollaton Park.
Nottingham Engagement Shoots
As a child my parents took me to some really culturally exciting places close by and further a field overseas. England is so beautiful though that one could easily spend a lifetime exploring places nearby for a lifetime. Engagement Shoot locations are often in and around us all but it’s just about seeing them in a unique way. Obviously a Wollaton Park engagement shoot is always going to have a little bit of awe inspiring amazement to it but it’s also going to hold a special place for Sarah because of her many years spent there. I seriously think a fond memory would trump any gorgeous location as photographs are such a personal love.
I urge you if you haven’t already to check out Wollaton Park next time you’re in Nottingham. It’s open late and has heaps of parking just a short drive from the bustling city centre. See if you can create similiar memories to which Sarah holds dear.