100 Weeks of Scotland: a Scottish wedding

Week Forty Seven

It’s something I am always happy to do but I always find myself becoming more nervous and more stressed in the days leading up to the event. You quite simply cannot afford to get it wrong and knowing it is for friends or family just seems to make the whole thing worse. I do not know how wedding photographers can do it week-in, week-out. Put me in front of a CEO of a multi-national company with my camera and I am fine – put me in front of a wedding party with my camera and I am riddled with nerves.

That said, the moment I turn up and begin shooting I am fine. They are, after all, happy events and most of the time go completely smoothly. Once the group shots are over (never a favourite of mine – there is always an errant uncle to be found and by the time he has been tracked down granny has, with deceptive speed, shuffled off) I find myself drifting into taking quite inappropriate shots at odd angles, with strange lighting effects before I remember again where I am, and trundle off to track down a missing granny.

I have been to many weddings; beautiful village church weddings in rural England, rip-roaring Irish affairs, posh ones, small ones etc etc. My favourite of them all is a laid back, informal, Scottish wedding and these images are from exactly that type of event. Taken in a small village midway between Biggar and Lanark, I wanted these images to give a feel for such a wedding. I wanted to avoid the traditional wedding images and try for something slightly different, but which would hopefully capture the mood of a Scottish wedding.

And if I haven’t succeeded, well believe me, I had a great time trying…

• Alan McCredie began the ‘100 weeks of Scotland’ website in October last year, and it will conclude in Autumn 2014. McCredie’s goal is to chronicle two years of Scottish life in the run-up to the independence referendum.

McCredie says ‘one hundred weeks...’ is intended to show all sides of the country over the next two years. On the site, he says: “Whatever the result of the vote Scotland will be a different country afterward. These images will show a snapshot of the country in the run up to the referendum.

“The photos will be of all aspects of Scottish culture - politics, art, social issues, sport and anything else that catches the eye.”

You can follow the project at www.100weeksofscotland.com. You can also follow Alan on Twitter.

All pictures (c) Alan McCredie/ 100 weeks of Scotland