After a small disagreement with my Sat-Nav (iPhone TomTom), I found the farm tucked away in a very picturesque part of the Thames Valley.

I met the Bride who was busy preparing everything but she was kind enough to show me around and discuss matters of the wedding day.

I did spent some time going around the farm checking out possible locations for group and couple shots.

If you want more information, check out the Common Leys Farm website.

Wedding Photography is hard, there is no doubt about it. I have met many established photographers in other photographic fields who won’t “do a wedding ever again!”. I for one believe them.

The pressure and the expectations are enormous. But even so, competition is fierce. My peers are not only the well established veterans of photography who really hone their craft and skills, but there are those who are just starting out with only a basic knowledge of photography, a amateur camera and a simple website; it is these amateurs who I take the most seriously and whom as an experience photographer have to distinguish myself from.

One of my [many] ideas of how to do that is create a catalogue of venues I have photographed.

One of the most reputable and long established is Notley Abbey, which is less than 5 miles away from my home so I chose that venue as a prototype page. It takes alot of time to create and assemble a page like this so I have to know if it’s worth it.

Notley Abbey has a distinguished reputation. I am confident a venue review can be useful to a Bride and Groom doing their Wedding research, at this stage I am figuring out how to put it together.

Please look at the page itself and give me your comments below. You have an influence over how I develop my website, after all I do this all for you!

YOU CAN view the page on http://www.terrylee.net/venues/notleyabbey/

Take care.

Terry.

I will be back at the Great Barn in late August and I just cannot wait!!!

The meeting with the couple went well. I had my camera with me but decided not to pack it away because there was one shot I really wanted and that was the quarter mile driveway into Notley Abbey; I didn’t take it while I was coming in but I wanted to capture it before I left.

Now, bare in mind this was taken in my car, through my windscreen and my Nikon not properly calibrated, I don’t think this photo is that bad!

Come September, I hope the couple want to get a shot down there, it’s just amazing and would be a welcome addition to my Wedding Photography portfolio.

I was fortunate enough to visit Notley Abbey today because a couple who I am photographing in September were visiting for a food and wine tasting, (I was not invited to eat or drink anything however… Boooo!!).

While I was there, my imagination just went wild. It really is a Wedding Photographers ideal location. There are some fantastic places to do the shots. Inside, it is a small maze of corridors and rooms which just begs me to photograph it!

Of course I took my Nikon along and took some shots. I just can’t wait for September and seeing what Notley Abbey can reveal to me.

Good fun, good venue, good photography day!