As I look back on 2025, this post feels like a small but meaningful pause to reflect on a year that held a lot of work, a lot of growth, and a lot of gratitude. Most of these photos were taken in and around Banbury and the Cotswolds, while photographing weddings, families, personal brands and professional headshots for some truly lovely people. This year was not without its health challenges for me, which makes simply getting through it and continuing to do this job I love feel especially significant. Being able to show up for my clients, create work I am proud of, and keep building my photography business through it all is something I don’t take for granted. Thank you to each and every client who has booked me, and especially to those who have taken the time (I know we are all so busy and our attention is in so many places) to write lovely kind reviews to help me reach even more people via searches. It means so much – THANK YOU!
I realised this year that, much like in life in general, I like simple, authentic things. When I started photography, I took much more heavily posed, “epic” kind of photos, that were beautiful maybe, but weren’t natural moments at all. Nowadays, as I changed as a person too, I prefer to focus much more on general prompts and simpler guidance (if any at all) and I think you can tell that my top 10 are all either completely candid moments, or very loose prompts with the subjects doing a natural action instead of holding one careful pose. It’s not as immediately showstopping, perhaps… but that’s my view of life, reflected in my work, I think. The quieter, but truer, moments. I hope the photos will resonate as such with some of you reading this.
1. Bride and groom in front of high altar
The dramatic light on the couple, along with the beautifully ornate high altar at St Kenelm’s church in Enstone, made this an instant must-take shot for me when I saw the scene. Dramatic side light like this and soft colours are always a winner for me.
2. Autumn family scene in the Cotswolds
Autumn is the best time for family photos I think, and this family NAILED the styling so it went perfectly with the warm tones of the season combined with the Cotswold stone features of Bourton on the Water. Their energy and the golden sunlight makes this cute composition basically postcard level for me.
3. High energy, colourful wedding dancefloor
I just love the contrasting, blocky, vibrant colours, the joy and fun on everyone’s faces, the dynamic angle, and the 3D light. Everything just comes together making me fel like I’m right there with them, dancing to the 80s TUNES they had going at Primrose Hill Farm!
4. Polished City executive portrait
I love a challenge! The logistics of what Chris from Stratus Vista Advisory needed (a variety of setups and photos) meant it wouldn’t have been practical for both of us to travel to London to hire a location just for this one photo; yet he works often with City clients and does spend time there so this “hero” shot needed to reflect that. I photographed Chris on a white background, lit to mimic what we’d have if we were on location, and then I edited the London skyline in behind him! I’m proud of all the photos we got, but this one is the one I was the most satisfied with.
5. Dramatic wedding ceremony scene
The dramatic light is back! In addition to the light on them showing the lovely details of the bride’s dress, I also love how the couple are framed by the trees on the left and their guests on the right, with the little girl in blue looking at their whippet ringbearer whose head is just outside the frame, showing there is more to the story than what this one image can show.
6. Worried groom with worried painting
This was a moment I spotted as the groom chatted to someone during the reception – they must’ve been talking about something he had worries about (nothing to do with his partner, don’t worry, they’re fab together!) and his facial expression mirrored the painting so much that it still makes me chuckle! I always challenge myself to notice such small details/moments during what seems like “downtime” at weddings, and this was my favourite one in 2025.
7. Relaxed yet polished corporate team photo
Posing and lighting a group this large – in a relatively small space – is a fairly challenging thing to do, when you have to make the composition look interesting, balanced, and with everyone looking their friendliest. There was a mix of warehouse and office staff in this one for Mobio Distribution, and the environment was also important to include – I was glad to say that with some careful planning, I’m 100% happy with the result and I think it’s one of my favourite team photos I’ve ever taken, not even just this year!
8. Siblings racing in a pastel sunset
The joyful moment of friendly sibling rivalry, beautiful soft light and warm pastel tones with this stunning countryside background in the Cotswolds hills, just speaks to me as a parent myself – I’d love to have a photo like this on my own wall if these were my children!
9. Proposal & engagement photoshoot at Wroxton Abbey College
The pastels of an early summer sunset are hard to surpass in terms of aesthetics, but this photo also has an emotional vibe for me – the couple flew in from New Jersey in the USA for a few days, and I was beyond honoured that they trusted me from so far to nail the moment of the proposal (I did), as well as the engagement photoshoot in the grounds of Wroxton Abbey!
10. Networking over coffee at the Manchester Rare Disease Showcase
Event photography is often unpredictable, and it’s out of my hands where people stand, so when there was such beautiful light, AND two animated, lively ladies chatting over coffee during the morning break at this Beacon conference… I could hardly believe my luck! I think this photo looks like a staged stock photo, in a good way – it looks natural yet beautifully lit and flattering to the main characters in the photo! Let’s ignore the lady int he background with the bonus slightly funny hand position, I could’ve edited her out but that would’ve felt like cheating, and this way it shows that this was genuinely not a planned photo at all!
+1 Adorable Doggy Ringbearer
The first dog ringbearer in my 10+ year wedding photo career, and he’s one of my favourite breeds too (whippet)! A supremely good boy ❤️I was very proud to get this unposed photo of him during bridal prep, and he just HAD to feature in this post!
In summary…
Thank you for being here and for taking the time to scroll through this small snapshot of my year. If you are searching for a wedding photographer, brand photographer, family photographer or headshot photographer in Banbury or the wider Cotswolds area, I hope this gives you a sense of my approach and what working together can result in. There are some exciting new directions ahead for me in 2026, both creatively and professionally, and I will be sharing more as they unfold. If you would like to follow along, the best place to keep up with what is coming next is over on Instagram.
