Wedding Photography Fellowship David Bostock (FMPA)

Awarded the Master Photographers Association Wedding Photography Fellowship

David Bostock of Kings Sutton, Banbury, Northamptonshire has just been awarded a coveted Fellowship qualification from the Master Photographer s Association (FMPA) with a stunning panel of images of black & white Wedding Photography, which is David’s specialty.

The judges commented on the unique style of the images within the panel (all shot on a Canon EOS 5D3 or Canon 5D4 or Canon EOS R5 or Canon EOS R6 mirrorless cameras) that when viewed together formed a cohesive body of work. The commitment to producing photographs of sheer quality was obvious to every member of the judging team.

Fellowship of the MPA is a very difficult qualification to achieve within the photographic profession, as this takes a great deal of time, work and dedication to your art to reach this level. Many photographers entering the Association remain at Licentiate level, so reaching the required high standards of this qualification is a massive achievement. There are only 4 master photographers with a Fellowship in Wedding Photography in the UK and David is now one of them.

Not only do you have to submit an extensive panel of photographic images, which are displayed and judged in front of 5 highly respected Fellows of the industry, but you also must produce an in depth working profile, about your work and business practices. This document covers essential elements such as Health & Safety, that must be understood when dealing with the public, and also documents a photographer’s creative approach and future ambitions.

This is the reason why the public should only book a qualified professional photographer to record those precious memories in life; their wedding, pets or family and children, as it’s the only way they have of knowing they will get the best creative photographs and personal service possible.

Upon being awarded the Fellowship, David commented:

It’s been a goal of mine ever since I became a professional photographer to obtain the coveted Fellowship qualification. Fourteen years of professional photography, honing my skills week in week out at over 500 weddings have brought me to this point and I was completely over the moon to be awarded my Fellowship of the Master Photographers Association in Weddings in September at The Photography show. I have always loved black & white photography since the days I had a darkroom in my teens and did my own processing and my black & white imagery in both the reportage/documentary and fine-art/fashion areas of wedding photography along with my colour work very much represents my signature style. Having been awarded this Fellowship means I can get more involved in training & mentoring other photographers and provide wedding couples with the highest level of photography on their special day” David Bostock (FMPA).

David Bostock has used the Canon professional series of camera bodies, lenses and accessories since entering the world of professional photographer just over 14 years ago.

David commented “I started off using Canon’s Film SLRs (the EOS3), then moved onto digital SLR cameras in 2008, starting with the original full frame Canon EOS 5D then moving onto the Canon 5DMk2 followed by the Canon 5DMk3 (which I still use for my Underwater Photography) and the Canon 5Dmk4. Last year in 2021 I moved over to Canon’s professional mirrorless camera system with the R6 and the R5 -I now carry two of the Canon R5 flagship camera bodies and matching RF series of lenses”.

View David’s successful Fellowship Portfolio here https://www.thempa.com/david-bostock-fmpa

Below are the 20 images that gave David his Fellowship. A huge Thank You to all the couples whose weddings featured in them.

wedding photography fellowship image - bride and groom in rachway at Cliveden House
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride smiling with blowing veil in the wind
wedding photography fellowship image -bride and groom standing in doorway at Hedsor House
wedding photography fellowship image -bride holding flowers lit by last rays of sunlight at The Langely Hotel
wedding photography fellowship image -Married Couple driving by in a Fiat 500 at their Caswell House wedding
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride and Groom in the archway outside Belle Epoque at Le Manoir in Oxfordshire
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride on one of the double staircases at Ardington House in Oxfordshire
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride lifting her veil to look like a pair of Angel wings
wedding photography fellowship image -Groom reflecting at the window before his wedding
wedding photography fellowship image -wedding photography fellowship image -Bride and groom in embrace on the steps of Hedsor House
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride with her train laid out in the window at Hedsor House
wedding photography fellowship image -Bride in reflective pose seated at the window
wedding photography fellowship image -wedding photography fellowship image -Bride standing on the stone steps next to the water at Le Manor
Couple standing in the stone arches at Eton College
Bride laughing with her groom on a bench in the park
Bride and groom with vintage white rolls royce convertible outside The Savoy in London
Couple doing their First Dance at Hedsor House
bride and groom standing in the centre of the round entrance at Rhodes College Oxford
Bride and groom standing together in a tender moment at Hedsor House
Bride with feet up on the table smoking a cigar in the bar The Langley Hotel
The Image below shows how the Panel was displayed in 2 rows of 10 Mounted Prints
Fellowship Panel Order wedding photography fellowship image

David’s Final Thoughts on his Fellowship panel:

Whilst I obviously shoot all images in colour on the wedding day, I literally know the moment I take the photograph whether it will be a colour or black & white image that I end up showing to the client.

Black & White imagery is what I really love and many of my awards to date have been for my monochrome images. I tend to use NIK filters Silver Efex Pro to initially create my black & white imagery and then approach each image in post-production as I used to do, when I had a wet darkroom many years ago, with selective dodging and burning to achieve the final result. 

The monochrome work of photographers such as Bob Carlos Clarke and the 1940’s and 1950’s work of fashion photographer Horst.P. Horst for Vogue along with the backlit smoky jazz images of Herman Leonard and the pure photojournalism of Jeff Ascough have provided inspiration in terms of composition and lighting. There are so many amazing photographers that continue to inspire me including the work of Trevor & Faye Yerbury who were kind enough to offer me mentoring and advice for this panel. I hold them both in the very highest regard.

This FELLOWSHIP panel of images represents what I believe are the best 20 images I have created over the past 3 years (excluding the COVID year). Without doubt there are another 20 images and many more that I would have loved to include from earlier years, many that I have won grand awards for, but the rules of the submission exclude these. 

All the images here have been hand printed by The Print Foundry on my favourite photographic paper Hahnemühle Photo Rag 308gsm. Probably the best photographic paper you can get in my less than humble opinion. Of course, it’s expensive but just like the man from Harley Davidson once said ‘If you’ve got a ten-dollar head then buy a ten-dollar helmet…’

Special Thanks to:

The Print Foundry

Loxley Colour

The Master Photographers Association

To view more of my Wedding Photography or to enquire about me photographing you wedding please visit my website here https://davidbostockphotography.co.uk/

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