Alex Buckland, Wedding Photographer

Wow! I have to share some fantastic pictures taken by Alex Buckland, a wedding photographer covering the South East of England. (See his site www.alexbucklandphotography.co.uk for more information and about booking him for your wedding).

Alex and I recently worked together at Charlotte and Tashi’s wedding at Combe Manor Barns in June 2023, and I had been booked by the happy couple to entertain their guests during the afternoon reception.

This works really well because though the bride and groom can be busy posing for photographs and catching up with friends and family who have travelled to be at their wedding, for the guests there can be a bit of loitering around and making small-talk. This the perfect time for close-up magic because I can go up to small groups of guests, introduce myself and start performing some sleight-of-hand magic, and get everyone interacting with each other; and if curious bystanders are watching I of course invite them over to join the group.

With guests being entertained the bride and groom can relax a little knowing everyone is having fun whilst Alex gets to work with the group photos. On that, when it came to the main group photo Alex whipped out his secret weapon: a drone! Once the guests had gathered into a group Alex quickly got them arranged and looking up to the skies whilst the buzzing drone hovered over their heads, snapping away.

What’s great with the drone is because of it’s vantage point (which I’d guess was 30 foot above my head!) it can see everyone, but also their faces. Often when doing a group photograph their is always one or two guests who seem are behind someone else and only half their head is visible – no matter how much the photographer tries to avoid it! By looking down on the group no-one get hidden by the person stood in front!

Group wedding photo by drone

However, what is really great is as well as the group photos Alex took some fantastic photos of me performing, and managed to capture some fantastic reactions.

It’s really wonderful to see photographs like this because though I am at the centre of the group, my focus is on two main areas: (1) Doing the trick itself – which can involve some quite complex sleight-of-hand, and (2) making it entertaining by making it as interactive as possible. My fingers are literally having to work their magic whilst I’m trying to remember the names of everyone in the group and keep them all engaged. This means I miss the experience of the magic myself, and seeing the reactions on their faces.

Alex has done a great job of not only capturing the reactions, but giving context within each photograph. Therefore in years to come the bride and groom (or anyone else they show them too) can look through their wedding photographs and though they won’t know exactly what trick I was performing it will still be instantly obvious that I was a magician, and the guests are reaction to a moment of magic happening right before them. A picture really does say a thousand words!

Make sure you follow Alex on Instagram: instagram.com/alexbucklandphotography.

Combe Manor Barns is tucked away in rural West Berkshire, so is actually quite local for me, though it has been a while since I was last there. Though Charlotte and Tashi’s wedding was on a (really, really!) hot day in the middle of June, the last time I was there it was for a corporate Christmas party of a very cold, wet and dark December evening. Hopefully I will get back there again soon.

(I was also recognised by one of the guests who saw me at a wedding over a year prior – and that was miles (and miles…) away in Herefordshire!)

I should also give a few ‘shout outs’ to the rest of the suppliers who all played a part in making Charlotte and Tashi’s wedding such a fantastic and memorable day:

Thank you once again to Alex Buckland for the fantastic wedding photos.

And of course check out my wedding packages for magic at your wedding.

Alex Buckland, Wedding Photographer
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