Community Update has the pleasure of awarding Ryan Cox Photography with our Commitment to Excellence Award.
Ryan Cox has been photographing weddings for 25 years in the UK and across the world. His eye-catching reportage style captures the wedding day as it unfolds, from the private moments of the bride getting ready to the more exuberant wedding reception revelry. We caught up with him from his Guildford-home to chat more,
“My job is to capture the wedding narrative – to tell this beautiful love story in gorgeous, natural photography, to be treasured for a lifetime. Weddings are full of emotion: a bride perhaps mourning the loss of a deeply departed parent to the groom not believing he is marrying the love of his life. I’m there to photograph all of it, with sensitivity and empathy: the wedding photographer has the role of documenting one of the most important days in a couple’s life.”
Ryan shoots with his trusted Fujifilm cameras, producing a full set of both colour and black & white images on an electronic portfolio for the couple. We all associate weddings with colour: the distinctive blue hues of the bridesmaids’ dresses or the ruby red roses in the wedding bouquet but black & white photos add a surprising sophistication.
“Black & white photos are the wild card – they add depth of character and really accentuate facial expressions- jubilation, humour, pride and adoration. Couples are often bowled over by the sheer beauty of these images.”
From the moment of booking, Ryan builds a quick rapport with the couple in question. Spending time with them, getting to know their individual personalities and familiarising himself with their love story. He often visits the venue beforehand where possible, to see why the couple chose and love the venues and look for beautiful or unusual backdrops.
Ryan has photographed wedding couples through the generations and receives the majority of his bookings through previous weddings, friends and family recommendations. Venues speak highly of his work, with wedding organisers confidently endorsing his service.
The Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers is a long-established worldwide association and selects only the best members for accreditations, vetted for their high-quality work. Ryan is a proud member, adding this to his list of professional attributes, “I keep an eye on the weather forecast for outside photography, so I know exactly how to use natural lighting and also see if it’s not sunny, to capture more dramatic images. I carry a spare cameras and lenses at all times and as soon as the wedding is over, I upload my work to a Cloud-platform and my computer. The couple can only access the catalogue through a password, giving my couples peace of mind.”
To view the stunning range of Ryan’s work, see the website and Instagram details below:
T 07977138522