About Gavin Chapman A Wedding Photographer in Bordeaux & SW France
I’m Gavin, a British wedding photographer living in Bordeaux with my wife Julie, our twin boys and Scooter the Frenchie, who thinks he runs the house.
Family is everything to me. Photography might be my passion, but it’s also how I provide for the people I love most. Even when I’m away shooting a wedding, I miss them. That reminder keeps me grounded and makes me work hard for every couple who trusts me with their day.
People usually describe me as reassuring, warm, funny and approachable. I’m 6’4” and built like a rugby forward, so blending in isn’t easy — but people tend to warm to me quickly, which helps when I’m around all day. Guests tell me they loved having me there, and that matters, because I’ll be with you from the first coffee to the last questionable dance move.
If you’d like to see how I photograph a wedding day, head to the homepage for a closer look.
Scooter, the real boss of the house
Photography first hooked me in my twenties at London Zoo, in the butterfly enclosure. My little Sony camera couldn’t keep up, and I left annoyed that I couldn’t capture what I was seeing. I went out, bought my first DSLR, went back, and finally got the photograph I wanted. That one butterfly set off twenty years of obsession.
Since then, I’ve photographed models in London studios, food markets in India, street life in Hong Kong, and reflections of the Eiffel Tower in Paris puddles. I’ve bought up more cameras than I care to admit (enough to fill a drawer), and a freezer drawer of film that’s probably worth more than gold these days. Some people hoard ice cream. I hoard Kodak Portra.
Before weddings, I worked as a senior management consultant and agile coach for some of the biggest companies in the UK. My focus was always on people: reading a room, knowing when to step in and when to step back, keeping things moving without anyone noticing. It turns out that’s exactly what I do at weddings too.
I share more about life in France and photographing weddings here on the blog.
A Life of Photography & Travel
Why Weddings
What I love most about weddings is the joy and optimism. For a day it feels like the outside world stops spinning and everyone is there for the same reason: to celebrate. That atmosphere never gets old. It is full of humour, emotion and energy, and I feel lucky to be the one trusted to photograph it.
I also enjoy the challenge. A wedding moves quickly, the light changes and the emotions shift without warning. No two moments are ever the same. For me, that unpredictability is what makes the photographs so rewarding. They are not staged or manufactured. They are real, and when couples look back at them, they can relive not just how their wedding looked but how it felt to be there.
You can see more of my work over on the portfolio.
Travel photography has always shaped how I see light and colour — which feeds into how I photograph weddings.
Film is one of my favourite things. I don’t use it for every wedding, but I often bring it in when it fits. It adds a depth and character that digital rarely matches, and it shapes the way I see even when I’m shooting digitally.
The truth is, I just love it. I love the cameras, the look, and yes, even the ritual of keeping a freezer full of film stock. It’s part of who I am, and it’s part of how I photograph.
Film Photography
Some people stock ice cream. I stock Kodak Portra.
What it’s like to have me around
On a wedding day I am grounded, approachable and hard-working. I talk to people, share a joke and help where I can. I will guide when it helps, then step back when it doesn’t.
I am not the kind of photographer people roll their eyes at. I want to be someone everyone warms to, part of the day without getting in the way. And if that means I end up fetching a drink for someone’s uncle before the group shots, I am happy to do it.
At the end of the day, I want couples to remember me as the guy who fit in, worked his arse off and gave them photographs that feel true to the wedding they lived.
If this sounds like what you’re looking for, you can check my wedding photography packages and see how it all comes together.