From humble beginnings
I remember visiting Dalziel Park Hotel and Golf Club and wondering whether I would ever have the opportunity to photograph a place like it. At that point, I was photographing in community centres, pulling together makeshift backdrops from borrowed cloths, dodging overhead ceiling lights and figuring out what I wanted to do. I was also photographing events in community halls, bowling clubs and miners' welfare clubs using basic camera equipment.
Whenever I got the chance to capture an event at a fancy venue, it was really a big deal. Those small community-type venues taught me the beginnings of my craft: how to move, how to work with imperfection, how to capture in low light and, at times, how to accommodate between natural light and no light in the same venue. When in doubt, I would photograph the cake and take a deep breath to work it out.
To beautiful gardens
Fast forward 13 years and Dalziel Park is firmly part of my portfolio of weddings and events. Each wedding brings something different; each function suite offers a different feel to the ambience of the day and the staff who work there are as much part of the experience as the setting.
The Woodlands Suite offers beautiful natural light from the golf course behind, lighting the couple as they say their vows, basked in gorgeous soft light from the countryside around them.
And occasional birds of prey
The Cedar Suite accommodates larger groups and provides beautiful natural light for portraiture. Both offer incredible gardens, opportunities to photograph on the golf course and honeymoon suites for a more relaxed photoshoot and to connect throughout the day.
Over the years I've photographed emotional ceremonies, confetti-filled celebrations and couples sneaking away for a few quiet moments among the gardens, each wedding adding another chapter to my story with Dalziel Park.
I’ve now graduated to other wedding venues, each having its own unique set of assets for weddings, each offering something different to the others but no less special.
Dalziel is a firm Lanarkshire favourite and a hotel I hope to keep photographing for many years to come.
Looking back, I couldn’t have imagined all those years ago, standing in community halls with borrowed backdrops, that venues like Dalziel Park would become such a familiar part of my working life. Every wedding I photograph there reminds me just how far this journey has taken me and how grateful I am to the couples who trust me to tell their stories.
Coming next
