A summer wedding at St Hugh of Lincoln in Letchworth, covered from the preparations through to the evening.Most of the day is documentary: I stay back and let it happen. The only parts I direct are the group shots and twenty minutes with the couple, which is where frames like this one come from.Full wedding galleries are delivered within seven days.

A summer wedding at St Hugh of Lincoln, covered from the preparations through to the evening.

Belinda and Jon

A spring wedding at Cambridge Registry Office, kept small and photographed without interruption.Short ceremonies leave very little room for a photographer to work, so I shoot quietly through them and save any direction for afterwards. This was taken under the blossom a few minutes after they came out.

A spring wedding at Cambridge Registry Office, kept small and photographed without interruption.

Patricia and Sharon

Twenty minutes away from the reception while the light drops is worth more than an hour of posed portraits earlier in the day.There is no shot list for this part. We walk, they talk to each other, and I keep the camera at a distance until something happens.

Twenty minutes away from the reception while the light drops, which is worth more than an hour of posed portraits.

Golden Hour

Straight out of the ceremony, no direction asked for and none needed.Couple portraits work best when they are barely portraits. I pick the position and the light, then leave the two of them to it.

Straight out of the ceremony, no direction asked for and none needed.

The Walk Out

Race day through the centre of Cambridge, shot from the barriers as the field came past.Event work like this is about anticipating rather than reacting. You pick the spot, read the light, and wait for the runners who are enjoying it.Event galleries are delivered within 24 to 48 hours.

Race day through the centre of Cambridge, shot from the barriers as the field came past.

Cambridge Half Marathon

The ribbon cutting at the Memorial Day service at Cambridge American Cemetery, covered alongside the ceremony itself.Formal moments have to be photographed without becoming part of them. Long lens, quiet shutter, and no stepping into the middle of anything.

The ribbon cutting at the Memorial Day service, covered alongside the ceremony itself.

Memorial Day

A fiftieth birthday that carried on into the garden after dark, fire performer included.Parties are the easiest thing to over-photograph. I work the room early, then let people forget I am there, which is when the frames worth keeping turn up.

A fiftieth birthday that carried on into the garden after dark, fire performer included.

A Fiftieth

Conference coverage shot from the back of the room so the speakers could get on with it.For talks and panels I work on a long lens and no flash. Nobody in the audience should notice the photographer, and nobody on stage should have to look for one.

Conference coverage shot from the back of the room so the speakers could get on with it.

World Sepsis Day

An outdoor headshot on natural light, made on a street rather than against a studio backdrop.Natural light gives skin tones and depth that a studio strobe flattens out. It also means the session takes about twenty minutes and can happen a short walk from your office.

An outdoor headshot on natural light, made on a street rather than against a studio backdrop.

City Backdrop

A team session run on location, one person at a time.Team headshots only work if they match, so everyone is lit and framed the same way. Each person is in front of the camera for as short a time as possible, because nobody enjoys the queue.

A team session run on location, one person at a time.

Office Light

Natural light and a quiet lane, which is most of what a good headshot needs.No stiff poses and no fake laughing. A few minutes of conversation gets a better expression than any amount of direction.

Natural light and a quiet lane, which is most of what a good headshot needs.

Side Street

Hotel photography across the house and its grounds, shot for the property's own listings.Property work is about rooms reading clearly and honestly. Straight verticals, no heavy wide-angle distortion, and exteriors shot when the light is on the right side of the building.

Hotel photography across the house and its grounds, shot for the property's own listings.

Willingham House

A short-term rental in Cambridge, photographed for its listing.Guests scroll listings in seconds, so every room needs one frame that explains it. Bright, square-on, and styled just enough to look cared for.Property galleries are delivered within 48 hours.

A short-term rental in Cambridge, photographed for its listing.

St John's Court

An Airbnb listing on Mill Road, shot bright and square-on so the rooms read at a glance.Small rooms are the hard ones. The trick is choosing the single corner that shows the whole space, rather than trying to force all four walls into frame.

An Airbnb listing on Mill Road, shot bright and square-on so the rooms read at a glance.

Mill Road

Photographed at Tesco Fulbourn for The Grocer, with the whole team out on the forecourt.Commercial shoots run to somebody else's schedule. You get the group together once, you get it right, and you let everyone get back to work.

Photographed at Tesco Fulbourn for The Grocer, with the whole team out on the forecourt.

Tesco Fulbourn

From the same morning at Fulbourn: one portrait, outside, between deliveries.Brand and commercial work is quoted per brief rather than by the hour, because no two of them need the same thing.

From the same morning at Fulbourn: one portrait, outside, between deliveries.

Richard Howell Photography, Cambridge photographer for events, headshots, interiors, weddings and commercial work