It’s the Paparazzi! Wedding Ideas 100th Issue Party in Taunton, Somerset

Just occasionally, you’ll find me taking off my ‘reportage’ hat for something far more in your face – in this instance, acting as paparazzi photographer for the Wedding Ideas Magazine 100th Issue Party last week at the Somerset County Cricket Ground in Taunton, Somerset!

Acting as ‘paparazzi’ is just as much about the show as it’s about getting the shots. It’s a great way to greet guests at a party to give them the ‘celebrity’ treatment, particularly when there’s a gaggle of photographers jostling for a quick shot of them entering the venue! And that’s what my role was last Thursday, in conjunction with my ‘pap partner’ Paul. It’s very different from working on weddings as a reportage wedding photographer, where the object is to document  and work as unobtrusively as possible. As a pap, it’s about getting up close and personal to your subjects, using plenty of flash photography and doing whatever it takes to find your ‘target’ – and, to an extent, pleasantly hounding them until you get the shot you want! Because of that, pap photography has a very specific, strong look (and a million miles away from the artistic elements I like to employ with wedidng and portrait photography work!)  And, yes, we get to dress up in silly outfits to complete the effect…

Not all event photography needs to be this in-your-face, of course. Most of the events and parties that I cover, the brief is to blend far more into the background and capture more candid shots is on the brief – but sometimes, it’s fun to get to pretend that you’re chasing that key celebrity shot for the next day’s papers!

Wedding Ideas Magazine’s party certainly went with a bang – and how could it not, with a guest list that read like a who’s who in the wedding industry, a great Take That tribute band and even better, topless (and nearly bottomless!) hunky male waiters? Take a look below for a few shots of guests, Wedding Ideas staff and bare bottoms….