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Five things about me
1- Hello! I'm Ditte Solgaard Dunn. My name is a mix of my Danish roots and my Scottish marriage. My first name is pronounced "Dee-tah".
2- I'm passionately Danish. Although I have lived in Scotland for more than half my life I still refer to Denmark as home. I love the Scandinavian ethos of simplicity and quality in design and production. Those are key concepts I apply in my work.
3- I'm married to my best friend. We've made two beautiful humans, who are growing up at an alarmingly fast rate - every time I look away for a minute, they seem to be a year older.
4- In a previous life (in another decade) I also worked in the film industry as a producer, director, casting director and assistant director. Film career highlights included having a film screened at the Cannes Film Festival (I still have that "red carpet" dress!), and sharing a private dram with the screen legend Christopher Lee.
5- Since lockdown I have discovered a passion for organic gardening and growing vegetables. Curiously, the part I find most interesting is soil health, so if you want to talk composting or mycorrhizal networks, I'm your woman.
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Five things about my photography
1- I grew up in the Danish countryside, surrounded by fields and marshland. I had an art teacher who was a passionate painter, who taught us to look at light and how it affected the landscape. I was never that good at painting, but to this day, I am fascinated by the changing quality of light. I love living in Scotland where the ever-changing light can be a photographer's greatest friend and worst enemy.
2- I prefer working in natural light whenever possible. But sometimes the Scottish light (or lack of it) needs a helping hand, so I use reflectors, portable studio lights, video lights and sophisticated flash systems when the weather, season or setting calls for it. I have come to relish the opportunities to create something a little special using artificial lighting. I particularly enjoy the opportunity to create evening portraits with my couples.
3- I'm a real gear geek. I love exploring the potential of my cameras, lenses and lights. My favourite lens is the Canon 85mm f1.2, which will be attached to one of my cameras for the vast majority of a shoot. When shooting weddings there are no second chances to get the shot, so I carry two cameras at all times, and always have back up cameras, lenses, batteries and cards in my bag.
4- My first venture into professional photography was as a "society photographer", capturing parties and events for Caledonia Magazine, and later for Tatler and Harpers & Queen magazines. It was a great way to make some extra money while at university. In 2001 Harpers asked me to photograph a wedding for them, which jump-started my wedding photography career. I've never looked back.
5- A friend asked me recently what I would do if I weren't a photographer, and I genuinely don't know the answer. My heart beats for the next photo I'm going to take. I think about most things in terms of how to light, pose or photograph them - it's just the way I now look at the world. There are other things I can do, like project management, languages, business management, IT and human relations. But then, I use all of these in my job as a photographer.
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Five things about First Light
1- First Light was born from a desire to create a business that would provide high-quality photography and a great personal service to each client. I work with a talented team of people who help me make that dream possible.
2- When photographing weddings I usually work with the amazingly talented Chris Watt, who teaches and inspires me every time we work together. Other than being awesome at what he does, he is also a genuinely nice (and very funny!) human being. The only time I've seen him stressed was when he photographed my own wedding! (He did a great job by the way). When Chris isn't available, I have a stable of tried, tested and trusted associate photographers who deliver to our usual exacting standards.
3- Behind the scenes, I am lucky to work with my editor Olivia Annand and office hero Michelle Forster-Davies.
Ollie puts an amazing level of care into working on each and every photo - she works hard to ensure that every image that leaves our computers has the signature First Light clean, light timeless look.
Michelle looks after our Instagramming, Pinteresting and blogging and makes sure we are on top of all the things we said we'd do.
4- Although I am based in Edinburgh, I am happy to travel for work all over Scotland, the UK and the rest of the world.
5- We update the blog and galleries from time to time with recent work, though if you would like to keep up with my work and life, then come say hello on your preferred social media (links below). I'd love to have your company there!
Your wedding memories are important to us.
Nothing can compare the the feeling of actually holding your beautifully presented wedding photographs in your hands.
But your wedding album is more than just a beautiful book for you and your family to view and enjoy now, we believe these albums become family heirlooms that only increase in value as the years and generations come and go.
We let you pick your favourite photos to go in the album and create a timeless, elegant layout for the album, which will then be printed and bound to create the perfect wedding keepsake.
Only the best is good enough.
We have a wealth of beautiful leather and linen covers to choose from and a range of personalised finishes, which makes your album completely unique to you.
The revolutionary HD printing in our albums can reproduce extraordinary detail in an image, with unprecedented dynamic range, extremely high resolution, deep blacks, detailed shadows and vibrant colours. The prints have a certified lifespan of 300 years(!) giving you complete confidence in the album’s longevity.
We are also delighted with the albums for our families and looking forward to seeing their faces on Christmas Day.
We cannot thank you enough for everything over the last year. From our first meeting we knew we had made the best decision asking First Light to capture our wedding day. The giggles and fun with both you and Chris on our wedding day is something we will remember for years with such fondness. Thank you."
Caroline & Liam
Storybook Albums
Beautifully handcrafted, astounding quality, individually designed – our Storybooks are a fantastic keepsake that will help you relive the memories of your day for years to come. The storybook albums come with thick pages made of HD photographic paper, with the images printed directly on the pages. Each spread can open perfectly flat, so we can show images over a double spread, creating an impactful and very impressive look.
Mounted Albums
Hand-crafted albums with a raised matt/mount around every image to show the images at their very best.
A classic and timeless style, enhanced by avant-garde technologies means this is a product of the highest quality: superior materials, amazing printing quality and accurate assembly make our mounted albums a treasured possession for our couples.
Parents' Albums
Not wanting to leave parents (or grandparents) out, we offer smaller copies of your album, in a smooth hardback or with matching covers.
Liz & Gregor
"...as warm as toast..."
(Nice words by lovely people)
"Obviously you're a huge creative talent, but you're also, genuinely, as warm as toast."
"You have been so completely wonderful and the photos are incredible. They made everyone cry all over again and kept both sets of parents going through our extremely long honeymoon!"
"You and Chris have been the most perfect wedding photographers, I may be biased but I don't think that I have ever seen such good pictures taken by anyone else. You have truly captured the day and reminded us of all the little things that we were too bowled over by to notice.
Thank you so, so much. It means the world to us. And we will never look like that again!" (L&R)
“We have looked at all the photos at least three times now with various family members and we are absolutely delighted with them. You captured the whole day brilliantly and beautifully and they will be a wonderful thing to look back on. You both really impressed with how well you managed with all of our guests and wll the various parts of the day and it was so perfect we can both quite honestly say that you couldn't have done anything better than you did. A friend who wasn't able to come looked through all the photographs and said that he felt like he had been there.
Thank you very very much. We will certainly recommend you to anyone in need of a photographer." (F&A)
“The photographs are absolutely enchanting and amazing. Thank you so very much again. The slideshow is just like watching a story unfold.” (N&P)
"I am in Sydney and wasn't able to make it across the planet to attend my very dear friend's wedding to her lovely man. But you amazing photos have brought the event to me retrospectively. Your skill in capturing every little detail has put me right there on the day. Apart from the wonderful standard of the photography, your energy in being all over the place, and your talent for capturing personal moments between people, especially the bride and groom, is fantastic. I applaud you and congratulate Jo and Ross on choosing you to record their special day" (MA, friend of bride)
“Wow - we love them! We got back from honeymoon last week and your pictures have been a wonderful cushion to soften the blow of coming back to reality. You and Chris are truly amazing photographers and you have captured so many moments and expressions and memories that we will love looking at, and will evoke memories of our wedding day, for the rest of our lives. Thank you so much.” (B&R)
“From the start of planning our wedding last January, up to the big day and beyond we could not have asked for more wonderful people to work with. It has made the whole experience memorable and a delight (not at all stressful as the magazines would have you believe), we feel that we have made friends and would have no hesitation in recommending yourself to future brides and grooms. You and Chris have been a delight.” (A&J)
“We are so delighted with the results and have so much pleasure from looking at them again and again. You and Chris made us all feel relaxed and were both so unobtrusive, which made it lovely for everyone. Thank you for doing such a good job. I will have no problem in recommending you to anyone else, who may be thinking of having a big wedding!” (L&B)
“We've just got back from honeymoon and have been glued to it for hours for our first look, remembering all the details of the day and how fun it was! The photos are fantastic and we are both so pleased with them - thank you very much for the wonderful job you and Chris did. You were so professional and organised, and charming and lovely to have around on the day. You made me feel so relaxed and at ease before the ceremony when you were taking pictures - in fact that was the moment I started to relax and really look forward to the day ahead, having been feeling rather nervous and worried about all the organisation! Your planning was so thorough and impressive, and thank you for doing the recce beforehand to check out all the details.” (L&J)
“So many people commented on how impressed they were by you and Chris, and the great job you were doing. Thank you also for your patience in arranging the family shots, and getting people together for them! It's lovely seeing images of things we couldn't see - the guests' faces during speeches, the photos of my niece trying to walk with my brother, the pictures of the house from the beach during the wedding, as well as the ceremony itself, preparations, and the party. You worked so hard and have really captured the spirit of the day, taken really beautiful (and flattering!) pictures, and picked out interesting and lovely images. You've also really captured the beautiful location which means a lot to me and I know will mean a lot to my mum. Thanks so much for all your and Chris' hard work and professionalism." (J&L)
“The photographs were lovely - I knew they would be. Thank you very much for everything. You were just perfect.” (CR, mother of the bride)
“I just thought that I would write a little note to say a HUGE thank you for taking THE MOST AMAZING photographs of our wedding. It really was the most magical day for us, being surrounded by so many friends and family all letting their hair down and having fun. Not only have you captured a huge number of faces laughing and drinking and dancing, but you have captured the sheer ‘happiness’ that I remember in the air - and I love the arty shots of my dress and shoes, the flowers and cake, the pre-service anxiety and then all smiles for the rest of the day/ evening. It’s going to be very tough deciding what to put where in our house. We’re going to need a very big album!” (R&C)
“Everyone who’s looked at the photos has said they’re the best wedding photos they’ve ever seen...” (N&S)
“The pictures are stunning, thank you so much. I love how you’ve captured all our friends too and love the photos of my flowers. Andreas hasn’t seen them yet, but I know that he’ll love them.” (M&A)
“We all loved having you amongst us at the wedding and very much hope that we see you again before too long. Many thanks again. PS: I’ve two more daughters to go!” (IH, father of the bride)
“Thank you so much for the good work and inspiration from your photographers: a great success!” (GS, father of the groom)
“The photos are brilliant!! You've really captured the whole day, and there are definitely lots of shots we can put up on the mantle piece.” (PM, mother of the bride)
“Just wanted to drop you a quick note to thank you again for the truly excellent job you did on Saturday. You were both brilliant and made all our guests and us so relaxed - we can't wait to see the photos." (F&K)
“Thank you very much for producing such beautiful photographs of our wedding day. The images really capture the sense of enjoyment and warmth that we remember. Your careful planning and preparation prior to the wedding really helped make the photography session run smoothly. You even succeeded in making the groom look relaxed! Ditte, from the first time I met you I was impressed by your friendliness, attention to detail, and professionalism. You took time to understand the plans for our Wedding day thus enabling you to provide the best support possible to us. Thank you so much to both of you." (A&R)
"You will never know the value of a moment until it becomes a memory"