Limeleaf Media » Manchester photography - Award winning corporate, events and portrait photographers.

Leukaemia CARE fundraising event

With only weeks to go until the London Marathon, we are stepping up our fundraising efforts and as part of this, came up with the idea to offer our photography for donations. We set up a mobile studio at our good friends, The Royal William Bakery and offered couple and family photography to those visiting; as well as amusing portrait photos which really brings out the characters of people.

The time we spent at the bakery was really fun and we met some lovely people, with everyone managing to raise just under £300 for Leukaemia CARE. A big thanks to all who donated and took part it’s really appreciated and we hope you love your photos.

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Leica Akademie and street photography in Mayfair, London

Recently we travelled up to London to attend the Leica Akademie: a workshop for users of Leica Cameras to help them get the most from their rangefinder, and we also wanted to pop in and view the Ansel Adams exhibition in Greenwich. Previous to this London visit we had visited the Leica store in Mayfair and met with John Dooley, a Leica instructor who is also an Architectural photographer and previously the photo editor at The Daily Telegraph. After chatting with him over a coffee and playing with a 50mm Noctilux lens (yes please), he mentioned they ran workshops for Leica photographers so I got myself booked on as a good excuse to drink more of their coffee, hang out with other Leica users; and just get in to London to do some street photography which I don’t get much of a chance to do.

The workshop was three hours in total, mixed with people new to Leica along with those more familiar with them. Part of the workshop was heading out on to the streets to take photos for half an hour. It was good fun walking around with the sole intention of taking photos and nothing else.

Below are a few photos from the street part of the day, under pressure to get a few photos within half an hour or so. For those interested, my street photography setup is a Black Leica M9, Gordy hand strap and 50mm Summicron (very occasionally I’ll use a 35mm Summicron). I also use a Sigma DP2 Merrill for certain conditions, a Leica M6 with 50mm Summicron (HP5 film) or a Canon 5D mk3. Most of the time I actually use my trusty mobile phone (Nexus 5X as of 2016) and really enjoy it.

Our thanks go out to John Dooley for a great day and some golden tips; and everyone else at Leica who spent a lot of time to just talk photography with us, it was a great pleasure and we hope we didn’t take up too much of your time. For anyone with a Leica looking to familiarise themselves with the nuances, I recommend getting on the workshop. They are also extending this soon to include more specialised areas like black and white photography.

Tree in fountain outside of the Connaught Hotel

Dripping in jewellery

Workmen under sneering poster

1 comment

Prashant - amazing article I really enjoyed.

Ashley and Alan’s Autumnal Orangery wedding in Holland Park

Ashley and Alan are such a charming couple, from the moment we met them we slipped into easy conversation and Ashley’s meticulous and extensive planning and research for the day meant her excitement and energy about her wedding day was truly infectious. As the day neared, all the emails back and forth with the details of the day between Ashley and I meant it felt like going to the wedding of dear friends, and on the day it was really exciting to see her vision come to life.

Both Ashley and Alan got ready at the very elegant Melia White House Hotel in Regents Park. Ashley had this as her base for a few years when she first moved to London from Singapore so it was the perfect choice for the wedding day preparations as it held a special place in her heart.

I’ve just re-read what I’ve written above and am amazed I’ve taken this long to tell you about how beautiful Ashley looked on the day. As she slipped into her chic custom-made Stewart Parvin gown, there was an audible gasp in the room as it fitted her like a glove and when teamed with her floor length veil, radiated elegance reminiscent of a classic movie star. Alan couldn’t hide his emotion and joy at seeing her.

The couple had opted for an intimate and cosy day with their nearest and dearest at the very scenic Orangery in Holland Park, acres of beautiful sculpted parkland in the very heart of London. Holland Park is peaceful and beautiful at the best of times, but on a crisp sunny afternoon in autumn, it really is spectacular. Before the ceremony we managed to take some time to walk through the park including the impeccable Kyoto gardens with Ashley and Alan and get some couple portraits making the most of the beautiful golden sunlight.

The ceremony always is a very poignant part of the day, but with the golden light streaming through the glass walls and ceiling of the orangery, and the autumnal colour scheme Ashley had opted for there was a real feeling of nostalgia and magic in the air.

After the post ceremony drinks, canapés and group photos, events moved on to the poignant speeches and then dinner lit by candles as the sun set on a truly special day.

Ashley had chosen some brilliant wedding suppliers, special mentions have to go to Jeff Woods Visuals, Elliot Bassila at Rossano Ferretti who was Ashley’s hair stylist, Mary Jane Vaughan for the beautiful flowers, Louis Mariette for the beautiful side tiara and Maggie Hunt who was Ashley’s make up artist.

Below is a narrative of their day, you may notice there’s two shots of the fountain couple shot. Myself and Henley couldn’t agree on which to include and ended up shaking on adding both. My favourite is the colour, his the black and white. Let us know which you prefer, extra Limeleaf points for saying the colour version!

– Laura

3 comments

Ashley Wong - Dearest Laura and Henley

Ever since we stumbled across your website in 2010, we have felt that you would be the only photographers we would trust with our own wedding because you have a unique ability to make every wedding look special.

So we are immensely happy with the photographs and slideshow you have delivered to us. They captured the day and elevated it into a series of images that have drawn enthusiastic compliments from all our family and friends who we have shown them to. We especially like the way that you transform an undistinguished background, such as an autumn tree or a small fountain, into a dramatic backdrop to a romantic moment. Not to mention that you make us, two ordinary people, look and feel like honoured celebrities. We will have many fond memories just looking back at these pictures in future years.

Having you as our wedding photographer and friendship was truly an honour and a treat. We will not forget the guidance, support and advice you so generously provided us in the run up to the wedding – and we hope we did not bombard you with too many emails! For all that you did (we saw through a guest’s video how hard you were working while everyone was having fun) and what you are, we will always be grateful. Thank you so much for making our September 29 2012 such an electrifying occasion and bestowing us with such beautiful keepsakes. We will always cherish it.

Your no. 1 fans

Ashley and Alan

PS: In response to your fountain query, we just cannot make a call between the colour and black and white shot! We love both.
Zarenah B - What fantastic photos! They all clearly captured the joyous moments for both Ashley and Alan, It makes me want to re-do my wedding day!
Ashley and Alan's chinese wedding at The Mandarin Oriental in Singapore - Limeleaf Weddings Blog - […] Ashley and Alan had originally booked us for their wedding ceremony at the Holland Park Orangery in London back in 2012, and as Ashley is from Singapore, she wanted a traditional Chinese wedding back home so she could celebrate with friends and family who were unable to attend the wedding ceremony in London. Having never been to Singapore before, we were both struck by the beauty of the city, the iconic and modern buildings mixed with the colonial designs of Raffles Hotel and the symbolic Merlion to give a really unique feel and ambience. […]

Dillington House Wedding with Sarah and Nick

Sarah and Nick rarely get to see much of each other with Nick being in the Marines and away more often than not, and with Sarah running her own tea shop they’re never together for long. However, in the time they’ve had together they managed to put together a very grand yet elegant and beautiful wedding right in their quaint English home town of Illminster in Somerset. In fact, even the grand Minster church was just a few minutes walk away. This beautiful building has a lot of atmosphere and a really lovely feel. Dillington House, the reception location and another grand site only minutes from where they live was also superb.

Sarah has been running around Dillington House for a while now, not just because of the wedding but as she’s a keen runner, she uses the grounds as a place to train. With herds of deer, open grassland and beautiful oak trees we could both definitely see why Sarah would not only love running there but also bring their family and friends to celebrate the love for each other.

Seeing them on the day, it was great to watch and document them being able to just relax and unwind from their hectic lives as their day sailed along gathering speed, the formal photographs and speeches began to slip away and the reception rolled in like a tiger in a cattery. Sarah and Nick are no wall flowers, owning the dance floor with their fantastic ‘Great Balls of Fire’ first dance choice. With the dance floor heated up for their guests, the party got started and there were few that shied away.

– Henley

2 comments

Gary Greenwood - Really love this type of photography. Really powerful, a lot of style… awesome!
David Stubbs - Love your use of super wide shots! Which lens is that? Enjoyed looking through. 🙂

First Weekend in the Slaughterhouse Bakery

As previously posted, ‘Our Bakeries’ recently moved not far from their old location and we covered the photography of the new bakery being built and moving in equipment.

We were asked to return to photograph on the first weekend they were open, we decided on the Sunday as the local market was on and wanted to get a few photos with this in place. Without even advertising, not even a single sign outside, the bakery was nearing full capacity. With two of us moving around, documenting the ambiance and hustle of a fresh October day we were able to seize the moment and bring it across in our photography.