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Meeting The Photographer

When we booked our photographer for the wedding back in September 2015 – such a long time ago now, or so it feels – Ross (the photographer) said that if we were going to be in the area on the lead up to the wedding, we should drop him a line to see if he was free to meet up with us.

So, with a trip booked for Shelli to have her hair and makeup trials, and to visit Steve and Jill, I contacted Ross to see if he was able to meet us at Ross Priory when we popped in after meeting up with the Registrar in Dumbarton. Thankfully he was free and jumped at the opportunity to see us and to visit the beautiful Ross Priory again.

To be honest, having looked at his photos online, including an entire wedding shoot at Ross Priory, we were pretty confident we’d got the right guy. This was backed up by the way he came across in his emails – laid back, genuine, a laugh. But, meeting him before the big day would be an added bonus, and would definitely make sure that he would “fit” with what we want from our wedding: definitely not stuck up or pretentious, good fun, and more importantly not boring!

At Ross Priory

The afternoon of the 2nd June came round, and sat out in the sun in the courtyard at Ross Priory, enjoying a cold Magners after a nice spot of lunch, Shelli – sat opposite me – started to wave at someone, which I’m sure you can imagine completely confused me. Who did she know all the way up here to wave to? Steve was sleeping after a hard night shift and Jill was at work!
Next thing I know Ross was standing beside me with a huge smile on his face. He’d literally entered the courtyard, clocked the old couples on the other table – thankfully realising that that wasn’t us! – and just started to wave to Shelli as if he’d known her forever.

Great start! Tick!

Having been told that Ross would be taking some photos while we were there, I’d packed a shirt to wear for the shoot. Okay, I was still going to be wearing my shorts and pumps – there was a heatwave going on in Scotland while we were there – but the shirt was my “effort” to smarten myself up a bit.

That in itself wasn’t really a surprise. What was, and what really made Shelli laugh, was what Ross was wearing…you guessed it: shirt, shorts, and trainers! Hilarious! Add to that some tattoos on his legs and arms, well, you couldn’t have made this up! Tick!

After going to the bar and buying us another beer – tick! – we had a general chit-chat about us, what we like doing etc. All nicely laid back and Ross was easy to chat with and definitely had a great sense of humour. Tick!

During the chat it came to light that before being a professional photographer, he used to be in a band called “Grant Me Revenge”, playing guitar.

Used to be in a band? Likes his music heavy? Tick!

He’d come prepared with some questions about what we wanted from the photos on the day so we went through those, him advising us as we went along, and once done it was time for the photos…gulp!

If you know me then you’ll know that I absolutely hate having my photograph taken! I know that might be hard to believe looking at this site and all of the photos of me on it, but it’s safe to say that there are more photos on here than pretty much anywhere else…ever!

To say that Ross made it easy to have our photos taken would be a huge understatement. He…was…brilliant! We laughed so much as we made our way round the gardens at Ross Priory, him snapping away with his camera. Tick!

We were due to meet up with the manager of Ross Priory after the photo shoot but Ross was having so much fun we overran by quite a bit. Not that that was a problem as Shelli ducked in to check with them as we headed down to the Loch for a few final snaps. Phew!

We already knew that Ross Priory was a beautiful venue but the places he “posed” us for photos, with all of the flowers in bloom and the sunshine pouring through the trees…well, it was absolutely stunning and we hoped and prayed that the photos would come out fantastic, even if I was in them!

After the photos were done we went back to the courtyard for a final chat and to say goodbye. I went to shake his hand but no, Ross wasn’t having any of that. All we got was a “We’re past that; bring it in for a hug!” and a group hug it was!
The view out over Loch Lomond
Shelli and I strolled down to the loch to chat about our thoughts after meeting Ross and having the photos taken. As you may have guessed, we absolutely 100% agreed that we’d made the right decision in picking Ross (Ross Alexander Photography) as our wedding photographer. He made taking the photos an absolute hoot and everything was just so laid back and chilled out that we had zero concerns for our big day!

“Engagement” Shoot Photos

As you can see from the photos below, Ross knocked it out of the park! We both couldn’t be happier and more blown away with the photos he took. Awesome, awesome, awesome!

Oh, and in case you were wondering, those blurred pink/red effects on some of the photos, he did that by holding flowers in front of the lens as he took the photos! No photoshop, actually using the flowers to create that effect! I think I might have a go at that myself some time to see if I can manage to do it…maybe?
Ross: now and then

Ross: Now And Then

As mentioned above, while I was chatting with Ross, sat in the sun in the courtyard at Ross Priory, he mentioned playing guitar in a band called “Grant Me Revenge”. Out of curiosity I thought I’d look them up to see what they – or more to the point, he – was like.

Below I’ve posted the video he spoke about while we chatted. I’m sure it won’t be to most of your liking but seeing this it’s no surprise that we got on so well!

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