We seem to have a fair few images that win featuring a wedding couple in a breathtaking landscape and I think there are several reasons for this.

• 1. Isn’t the world just so impressive sometimes? There’s so much sheer grandeur in nature and all around us. It can be a natural choice to enhance wedding day imagery.
• 2. Our photographers are often quite adventurous in spirit and attract equally adventurous couples who don’t just want a smiley photo of them signing a register in their local town hall.
• 3. Weddings do not have to be all about pleasing everyone else, they can be just about the couple and their emotions and celebrating that by creating something artful and heartfelt.

Sometimes these images look effortless, as if the subjects just happen upon this spot and the photographer just happens to catch them in the frame. But when we scratch a little deeper we usually discover the technical expertise that a high level of experience brings in getting a composition just right and not letting the stunning scenery take over.

Achieving the delicate balance between showcasing the landscape and highlighting the couple requires a nuanced understanding of both wedding portraiture and landscape photography.

This is one of the reasons why I love to get the background story to these photos from our winners. To see that effortless is often only achieved by being extremely effortful.

I salute you Rachel and Tonie because this is truly exceptional.