Cotswolds Wedding Photography - A little about me and the start of The Lemon House Wedding Photography, Gloucestershire

Cotswolds Wedding Photography

Hello. I'm Paul, the person behind The Lemon House Cotswolds Wedding Photography based in the Gloucestershire town of Minchinhampton. Perhaps you have just booked me and want to learn a bit more about why I started The Lemon House? Maybe you are interested in booking me and want to learn a little more about me and the values that are at the heart of what I do before picking up that phone?

I’m a Cotswolds Wedding Photographer and I wrote this with you, my customer or potential customer in mind, to tell you just a little bit about where I came from, how I got into the industry and why I started The Lemon House.

I was born and spent my formative years in Northumberland, a beautiful, unspoilt and still relatively undiscovered part of the UK. It has dramatic coastlines, sweeping moorlands and to top it all, lots of Harry Potter'esq castles. It is this landscape that started my love for photography at an early age.

Having left Northumberland, I moved on to live in many different parts of the UK. I trained in Electronic Engineering and then IT Management where I developed a long career in the corporate world, consulting to global pharmaceutical companies. I was lucky enough to travel all over the world with my work. It also meant that I would often have a camera bag with me, along with my laptop bag.

Today, I live in the Cotswolds town of Minchinhampton with my wife Sarah, my teenage son Jack, our dog Dougal and our two cats Mimi and Lottie. Minchinhampton is our forever home; it is a part of the country that we fell in love with more than 18 years ago.

I am passionate about photography, I always have been, and I always will love telling stories through imagery. I do have other passions though, family being top of the list. But the love of music, of all types, has recently piqued my interest in learning an instrument. My son plays the violin, my wife plays the piano and sings in a choir. Until now, I have been just a listener. So, I have taken the, perhaps foolhardy, step to pick up a guitar. At the time of writing, I'm just about to start guitar lessons with my oldest friend, a very talented player, who has been brave enough to offer to teach me.

So how did I start in the wedding industry? Well, all that travelling around and the relentless pressure of corporate life eventually led me to reevaluate my future. I was missing out on my son's early years. So, we, as a family, decided it would be a good idea for me to change my career altogether and start my own business. Photography was a very natural and obvious next step for me to take. Hence The Lemon House Photography was born back in September of 2012.

Many people ask me why I chose the name The Lemon House? I was going to go with the usual and call my business after my name, but to be honest, I wanted something a bit more memorable and a little more interesting. There is a field behind our house which dates back to Roman times; it was a lambing field back then. The name has evolved over the years, and it is now called the lemon field. I always liked that name, but as The Lemon Field Wedding Photography didn't seem to have quite the right ring to it, it became The Lemon House.

Gloucestershire wedding photography at Middle Stanley Farm, Cheltenham

Having started out doing all types of photography - family, newborn, maternity, product, event and weddings - it became apparent, very quickly, where my true passion lay. That was, of course, weddings. There is something so magical about being able to capture the story of a couple's wedding day imaginatively. To create something for them to cherish, look back on and be able to share memories with friends and family. It is about capturing a part of history - that families history. I love every part of it, and I feel privileged to have been asked to capture beautiful wedding stories for so many couples. It's part of me, it's what I do, and I believe what I was always destined to do.

Manor by the Lake Photographer Cheltenham, Gloucestershire

Couples who book me to capture their day are very special to me, their day is special and what I produce for them has to be very special indeed. I am proud to be able to have so many great testimonials from couples who've weddings I've captured. Each wedding is unique, the wedding story is unique, and the story I tell through my photography captures all of that - and more.

My ethos at The Lemon House is simple. I treat everyone with respect and kindness. I do not get in the way at a wedding. Instead, I work alongside it, observing and documenting the day in all it's beauty and never forgetting to capture the funny moments along the way as well.

Cotswolds Wedding Photography by The Lemon House

The future for the Lemon House is looking great, yes it has been a tough period for us all in the country, indeed the world, dealing with a global pandemic. But I am ready and excited to be out there capturing wedding stories again. I have had the pleasure of capturing several small wedding ceremonies in the last few weeks and bookings for next year are looking healthy.

I'm looking forward to things getting back to the new normal of course, but in the meantime, I'm working on my business, so it is fit and healthy to continue capturing weddings for many more years to come.

If you'd like to talk to me about your wedding and how I can capture your story for you, then please do get in touch.

Cotswolds Wedding Photographer Manor by the Lake Cheltenham Gloucestershire

Gloucestershire wedding photography, based in the Cotswolds operating throughout the UK.