Ian Bursill shot his first weddings as favours for friends and family back in the days of film in the early '80s. A young teenager, he was a keen enthusiast heavily influenced by his father's books on Cartier-Bresson, McCullin, Erwitt & Capa. He became his school's resident photojournalist, carrying his Russian Zorki 4 Rangefinder Camera with him everywhere. Developing his own work in the darkroom that his dad set up in a spare bedroom, he became quickly hooked on capturing & creating his own black & white images.
After leaving school and several unsuccessful attempts at getting an apprenticeship with local photographic studios, Ian settled for several run-of-the-mill jobs before eventually finding himself employed as a reprographic artist & artworker in the print industry, which is where he learned his skills in Photoshop. He then joined a well-known Leicestershire advertising agency as Head of Creative Services and eventually joined the board as Production Director. Ian kept up with his love of taking pictures by shooting the agency's packshot studio work for print and advertising and by covering location PR shoots for clients. Asked by a fellow Director to shoot his wedding, Ian accepted and hasn't looked back since.
In 2008, Ian joined international organisation The WPJA (Wedding Photojournalist Association) and in only his second year as a member, won the title of "UK Wedding Photojournalist for 2009". In doing so, Ian also became the first UK member of the WPJA to finish in the top three of their international competition.
His most recent award was in 2012 when he won the East Midlands region category for "Best Photographer" in the UK Wedding Industry Awards and became a national finalist. He is also a member of the ISPWP (International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers) and is a founder member of PjURE - a collective of some of the UK's finest purist documentary wedding photographers.
He shoots weddings in a pure documentary style with no intervention or direction given at all, apart from a few group formals if requested and 10 minutes worth of lightly directed portraits of the Bride & Groom. This enables his clients and their guests to get on enjoy their day without worrying about the photography taking over and results in a narrative of natural, emotive and timeless images.
James and Gillian’s January wedding at Sutton Bonington Hall is the first of two weddings in a row where my couples have organised the wedding from overseas. James & Gillian live out in China where James works in the engineering industry and Gillian teaches Science and English. It must be incredibly stressful trying to organise everything from halfway around the world so massive kudos to James & Gillian for doing such a great job.
The morning was fairly hectic with me starting at Sutton Bonington, then travelling 10 minutes to Shepshed to catch the guys getting ready, then back to the hall to complete the girls preparations before heading back to Shepshed for the ceremony at St. Botolphs Church. After the ceremony we all headed back yet again to Sutton Bonington for the celebrations, the culmination being a lively dance provided by ceilidh band, Knitters Jig.
“Ian, the photos are fabulous! They’ve made us giggle and reminisce about the whole day!” – Gillian & James.
We have a winner in my image of 2011 competition. The poll has now closed and we’ve had 143 votes in total. The winning shot is also a shot that placed 2nd in the second quarter of the WPJA competition so certainly a great choice by all who voted. It is the shot from Nicole & Paul’s first dance at their wedding at the Didsbury Park Hotel in Manchester last May.
From all the names who left a comment, we entered them into a prize draw for a FREE 2 hour lifestyle location shoot. The winning name was pulled out of the hat by my eldest daughter Neve and I can now announce the winner is Fiona Barber, so congratulations to Fiona and I’ll be in touch to arrange a suitable date for your shoot!
The winning image is below. Thanks again to all of you who voted in this year’s competition!
After the success of last year’s image of the year competition, I thought I’d run the same competition again this year. Vote for your favourite image from the 40 images posted below and the couple whose image wins will get a FREE 12×8 fine art framed print of their choice. There’s also going to be a FREE lifestyle location shoot up for grabs in our prize draw.
After a long day running through and picking out favourites, I have finally selected my favourite images from each of the weddings I shot in 2011. Some are emotive, some are funny, some have layers of depth, and some just have great light. It was heartbreaking to leave some of the other shots out of this top 40, but I’ve gone with my gut feeling and instinct to arrive at the final selection.
Just select your favourite from the 40 shown below and cast your vote at the bottom of the page. The poll will run for two weeks until midnight on Sunday the 19th February and the bride and groom whose image wins will get a FREE framed fine art print of their choice.
NOTE: To avoid any confusion when you vote, the number for each image is directly underneath it.
EXTRA NOTE: If you want to be entered into the prize draw for a location shoot, please enter a comment after you’ve voted. The comments box is at the very bottom of the post underneath the polling options.
After you’ve voted, leave a comment and your email address (I won’t publish it) and you’ll also be entered into a draw for a FREE 2 hour lifestyle location shoot within 40 miles of Loughborough for up to 2 adults and/or your kids if you have them! The draw will be made on Monday 20th February and the winners will be contacted first, then announced here on the blog. The competition is open to UK residents only.
Nadine -All pictures are special to the lovely happy couples and families involved…..for me 13, 19 …the pets are just as important in our new familiesFebruary 6, 2012 – 3:48 pm
Claire Ogden Designs-Enter me in the draw Ian, how could I not vote for Alice!! all the pictures are stunning, you are so talented xxxFebruary 6, 2012 – 7:26 pm
Claire Ogden Designs-I voted for 36!! and you can see my bridal comb!! whoop whoop xFebruary 6, 2012 – 7:27 pm
Jon Mitchell -Fantastic memories of an amazing day…All photos are brilliant but love image 27.February 6, 2012 – 7:51 pm
Suzanne Mitchell -Love all your photos….amazing.February 6, 2012 – 7:55 pm
Wendy -The look of love (and relief) on the groom’s face means that number 24 gets my vote!February 6, 2012 – 8:01 pm
Charlotte Faulconbridge -My beautiful girls, my gorgeous sister and my wonderful mum. What a glorious picture. Thank you Ian!February 6, 2012 – 8:06 pm
Nik -As always Ian, spoilt for choice. 24 really stood out to me though, looks like you captured a real moment.February 6, 2012 – 9:09 pm
Claire Kemp-All absolutely amazing pictures, but I’m going for number 16 not only for capturing Alice’s perfect profile, but also because it features my hand!!February 6, 2012 – 9:41 pm
Emma -I think all the photos are fantastic but the best for me is image 31 – it’s very clever & you have clearly captured a special moment – that’s just my view anyway.February 6, 2012 – 9:45 pm
val core -great picFebruary 6, 2012 – 10:01 pm
David Mitchell -Some great shots Ian but Image 27 captures brilliantly the emotion of the day – Humour, Honesty and Happiness – its all there!February 7, 2012 – 9:20 am
Jenny Mitchell -Thanks Ian for a lovely reminder of a very special day – 27 says it all.February 7, 2012 – 9:31 am
Fiona-That wasn’t easy to choose, your pictures are all so fantastic in different ways but I just love your eye for fun ;).February 7, 2012 – 8:38 pm
Phil Baigent -All great photos, but got to be number 40!February 8, 2012 – 8:30 pm
Amy -All gorgeous – number 1 for me though :)February 9, 2012 – 9:11 am
philippa mower -Image 8 for me absolutely stunning picture of my beautiful mum and nieces. It captures the exciting and wonderful start to my wedding day..the best day of my life. Thanks so much IanFebruary 9, 2012 – 11:32 am
Ben Bennett -Amazing shots Ian!!February 9, 2012 – 4:08 pm
Jacqui Darrington -All wonderful photos but no 36 is a beautiful picture that captures a perfect moment in time.February 9, 2012 – 6:51 pm
Les Darrington -No 16 for me – a stunning photo of my beautiful daughterFebruary 9, 2012 – 7:01 pm
Stacey -All awesome but 36 is just amazing!February 9, 2012 – 8:31 pm
Angela Gerrard -I love Image No. 9 it reminds me so much of the excited anticipation of getting married you captured so well when Adam & Astrid exchanged their vows – they just couldn’t wait to be married!!February 9, 2012 – 10:08 pm
Tim -I was worried she may not like the present (number 14) I think she did!!!February 10, 2012 – 11:29 am
Gemma -That was a very difficult choice – so many fantastic photos!February 10, 2012 – 12:10 pm
Richard Parker -They’re all such fabulous images!!!February 11, 2012 – 6:05 pm
Kathy Patterson -An honest reflection of such a touching momentFebruary 12, 2012 – 12:13 pm
Ruth Johnson -An almost impossible task to choose one above all the others – they are ALL brilliant. I’ve gone for 32 but I also really like 2, which is beautifully quiet and under-stated. Good luck Ian!February 16, 2012 – 9:12 am
Sarah -Wow, what stunning photos as always. So many quality ones.February 16, 2012 – 5:05 pm
Natalie McKay -They are all incredible Ian. I love number 37 just for the sheer uniqueness of it. I suppose I can’t enter for your lifestyle shot, but next time we are over, we’d like to book a session with you!! ;)February 18, 2012 – 6:46 pm
Rich Faulconbridge -Great work Ian, but picture 8 is a classic :)February 18, 2012 – 9:01 pm
Anita Chesterton -Very difficult choice, really loved number 21. That’s got my vote!February 19, 2012 – 4:33 pm
Jess Verity -So hard to choose – there are so man clever photos! Keep up the award-winning work Ian! xFebruary 19, 2012 – 9:15 pm
by Ian Bursill
2 comments
steven carter hewson - Great work – wonderful documentary wedding photography – image 65 in particular is stunning!February 28, 2012 – 10:38 pm
John Price - Ian, Stunning work as always.March 6, 2012 – 2:57 pm