I had the pleasure of doing the wedding photography for Grant and Sarah’s wedding earlier this month. Shortly after their wedding I spent a day with them photographing them again at various heritage railway sites in Cumbria.

I hadn’t visited the locations until Grant and Sarah mentioned to me their ideas for having a second day of wedding photography with a heritage railway theme. I loved the idea and did some research and visits to check out the locations ahead of their shoot.

On the day of the shoot we met up with Sarah and Grant again and set off for the first location. The weather forecast was for a mixture of light cloud and showers.

Wedding Photography at Stainmore Summit

First stop was the Stainmore Summit sign. It’s located alongside the busy A66 dual carriageway near Kirkby Stephen. We had been granted access by the land owner and we were met there at the agreed time. Access was made tricky by the A66 having a roadwork contraflow so we had to drive on. A few miles later we turned back and made the return journey. The final hurdle – a locked gate that we had to climb over. Well done to Sarah, it can’t have been easy in a bridal gown and wellies!

01. The sign at Stainmore Summit. 1370 foot above sea level and breezy enough to prove it!

It was very windy and threatening rain while we were at the sign. I took a few photographs but I wanted one that would show both the location and the weather condition in one image and I think this photo does that.

Wedding Photography at Warcop Railway station

We next travelled to Warcop Railway Station. It was still quite cloudy but the weather was just starting to improve. I had a few ideas for photos since my earlier visit to have a look around. We had permission to photograph on the tracks so that was the first photo I wanted to get while at the station.

02. Wedding photography at Warcop station

I wanted the tracks to provide nice a lead in to the image while also showing some of the rolling stock. The sky was just starting to clear but I wanted to keep some of the cloud detail in the photo as it wasn’t quite blue sky just yet.

The next photo was one on Grant and Sarah’s list and it was to feature a freight locomotive. The bright colour was a perfect contrast to the grey skies so I took lots of photos here.

03. The bride and groom with a freight locomotive

The locomotive shown had quite a few uses when it was in commercial use. It had been built in Lancashire in 1962 and was eventually sold for preservation in 2011.

After leaving Warcop we headed to Kirkby Stephen East Station for the last part of the day. The weather was improving and it was quite a bright, sunny day by this time.

Wedding Photography at Kirkby Stephen East Railway Station

The trolley and old suitcases where on the station platform and I had spotted them on my earlier visit as a possible scene to photograph. This is the scene I planned before the photo shoot.

04. I couldn’t resist using these as props!

Steam Locomotive 2084 had originally been painted in Peckett Green but had been repainted in BR black in 2011. Later renamed ‘FC Tingey’, 2084 had been cleaned and polished in readiness for our visit and it looked stunning. It was under cover and I chose to do a few black and white photos here to evoke a nostalgic feeling for these images. There were other items in the image and if there are lots of colours in the scene it can be distracting. Black and white photos can reduce these distractions to help focus the viewer’s eye on the important area of the photo.

05. I wanted to create a nostalgic feel for this photo with the steam locomotive 2084 ‘FC Tingey’

We were given permission to photograph on the tracks at Kirkby Stephen East. Once the service had stopped and everything was in safely in storage we could begin. I took a mixture of colour and black and white photos here, this is just one of many.

06. Wedding photography on the railway tracks at Kirkby Stephen East Station.

I would like to say thank you to everyone that helped out before and during our visit. The teams at Warcop and Kirkby Stephen East were extremely helpful in facilitating the photo shoot.

You can find out more about the Stainmore Railway Company at Kirkby Stephen East Railway Station and Eden Valley Railway at Warcop Railway Station on their web sites. Their sites contain details of the rolling stock as well.

If you would like to see more of my photography you can visit the wedding page or the portrait photography pages on my web site. You can also see my most recent photographs and occasional special offers on my Facebook page.

Paul Holland is a full time, professional wedding and portrait photographer based in Kendal, Cumbria.