Mark James Turrell Photography

Hi, I’m Mark, the calm guy with the camera.

I know those wedding days can be a fairly stressful time, so I want you to think of me as your calm wedding best friend. I’m not just your wedding photographer, I’m a button hole fixer, dress re-arranger, out-of-place hair checker, bouquet holder, in fact, everything to make sure you have the best day and the most beautiful, timeless images to look back on in future years. I came to photography quite late, I wanted to go into Graphic Design and studied it at school, but after ‘falling’ into the hospitality industry, spent over 20 years in management, learning to manage and understand people on a close basis. I think this is a big part of what makes a good photographer. Not only the ability to see and capture what others don’t but being able to coach, organize and put those around you at their ease

Fast forward to 2016, working in London, I wanted to pursue a more chilled way of life so upped my sticks and moved to the south of Spain. Sun, sea, and the Mediterranean lifestyle have been here ever since, and wouldn’t change it. I started out photographing for fitness and bodybuilding, building a healthy client base, but every time I was asked to shoot a family occasion or intimate event I realized how satisfying it was to see the joy and emotion on the faces of the families I was photographing. So, wedding photography, it’s the perfect companion for my calm, relaxed approach. I genuinely love to get to know my couples, love weddings, and want you to have the best time. I want to capture the essence of your day, so when you look back on your photographs you can remember exactly what you were thinking, the sounds, the excitement, the anticipation like you're still there. If you want to know more about my approach to your wedding day, head over to the ‘My Approach’ page for more info.

My approach to photographing your wedding 

So, you want to know how I work, and how I go about documenting your wedding day? Although I may appear calm and relaxed on the surface, you should know that I’m incredibly focused and driven to create images for my couples. I won't stop watching, observing, moving, or documenting, and I always just go with the flow of the day, there’s generally a shot list (if you want one) for the family portraits but for most of it I follow my gut and get involved. The light, location, the people, the moments, the speeches, the laughs, the tearful moments, each and every one is unique to that day. Moments like this can’t be staged or re-created, they just happen, and I love that I get to capture those moments. I completely immerse myself within the day, becoming more of a wedding guest than “the wedding photographer”. 

 Documentary and reportage, fine art, creative or natural light?

I find it really difficult to pigeonhole myself into a particular style or genre, but for me, there are elements of each one of those tags that could apply to my work. I see my photography as an artistic collaboration, a collaboration between myself and my couples, and a relationship that means far more than just being a wedding photographer.

From the second I step out of my car on the morning of a wedding, right through to the moment I get back in at the end of the night, I don’t stop making creative decisions. That next image might be an obvious one; the bride and groom sharing a kiss, the father of the bride seeing his daughter in her dress for the first time. I’m always hunting those moments, the in-between moments, the ordinary interactions between people, the little things that happen before or after the obvious, the people around you, and the people in the background. I don't really pose people I might go so far as to suggest where a couple goes and stand, but I’m a big believer in just allowing couples to be themselves on the wedding day, I want my images to reflect them, their personalities, and the landscape around us.

What I love is the creative process and documenting of the unknown, I get to spend a day with great people, having the time of their lives, and with complete creative control. And at the end of it all, I get to present my couples with an incredible set of images to remember their day by.