Hello! We are Penny and Martin, a pair of professional photographers based in Eastbourne, near Brighton, East Sussex and covering the whole of the South East, including Sussex, Kent, Surrey and London (and sometimes beyond)! Our focus is photojournalistic wedding photography, fun and natural family photography and impactful commercial photography.

Welcome to our little photography blog, where you can get to know us- see our latest news and updates, and a few behind-the-scenes goodies along with our favourite shoots! If you are looking for something specific, try the following post categories;

Wedding Photography
Portrait Photography
Commercial Photography
Wedding Photo Albums
Wedding Photography Tips
Get To Know Us
Offers
Wedding Photography in Sussex
Wedding Photography in Kent
Wedding Photography in London
Wedding Photography in Surrey
Wedding Photography in Brighton

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Wedding Treasure Trove: ”A homage to all things wedding! Wedding inspiration for DIY, handmade, vintage, retro, funky, alternative, quirky or just down right stunning!”

Our Home: ”We are interior design addicts… ultimately we will be designing and building our own forever home, but for the time being we can dream…”

Scrummy Party Spreads: ”Swoon and salivate! Amazing wedding cakes, cupcakes, cake pops, wedding buffet ideas, sweetie tables, you name it, we’ve found it!”

*WARNING* Pinterest is highly addictive and may cause sleep deprivation, lack of attention at work, day dreaming and truly inspired weddings.

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We spent Sunday fighting the London traffic so that we could set up a stand at The Alternative Wedding Fair in Piccadilly. Boy was it worth it! Not only did we meet some lovely, enthusiastic and quirky couples, but the venue, the Piccadilly Institute, was unique and rather entrancing – we kept spotting unusual decor at every turn! Check out the naked people looming out of the walls and hanging from the ceiling!

(A good tagline for Martin?!)

It was great to listen to the inspired wedding ideas of our visitors – all of your weddings sounded truly remarkable, and we are utterly envious of anyone who gets to attend! It was definitely the place for someone to find an alternative wedding photographer. In between chats with all the other lovely exhibitors, we managed (with great difficulty of course!) to convince the couples we spoke to that our fabulous giant jar of Smarties might be worth winning, should they correctly guess how many Smarties were actually sitting in it! Well we finally managed to tot up the little blighters and are pleased to announce ***Holly Wild*** as the winner! Congratulations Holly – we’ll be in touch very shortly so that we can get those Smarties to you asap!

Thanks again to Heidi at The Alternative Wedding Fair – we had a lot of fun (in between the crazy traffic) and hope we can be at the next one!

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Vintage Wedding Photography? We both started out photographing with film – in fact the rather lovely Rolleiflex camera you see in our website’s menu was used to take the two photos below! We’ve been asked if we use our film cameras for our business, but as of yet it just hasn’t happened – it’s hard enough to keep track of all the digital cameras dangling from your neck let alone a fifty year old mechanical wonder that may or may not break at any time! Given how fashion is very vintage and retro-orientated at the moment, it’s no surprise that there is also a movement in alternative wedding photography that is fixated on offering that retro or vintage film look in their wedding photos.

Some photographers, like Jose Villa, are actually using film, as their wedding services come with a premium price which can cover the enormous cost of processing and scanning the film. For the majority of photographers, this isn’t an option, but digital photography has opened up a whole world of opportunity for all photographers, especially when it comes to colour, and we’ve seen loads of vintage film effects popping up all over the place! The funny thing is its really hard to mimic a lot of films like the Kodachrome that my parents used – there’s an inherent (and beautiful) look which everyone seems to have spent ages trying to recreate, but can’t quite reach. We tried too, but eventually we said sod it, lets just do something completely new! Of course, if anyone does pull off that perfect Kodachrome effect, count us first in the queue!

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It’s not only the couple-to-be that are investing themselves in their wedding day, it is often the input of family and friends that really bring it to life. We were we made to feel incredibly welcome at Brighton couple Emily and Simon’s stunning clash of Deco and punk, and Simon’s dad actually painted the panelling on his beach hut cream and blue, especially for their wedding day, just for the photos. Need we say more?!

The love story…

We asked Emily&Simon to describe each other in three words.

Emily said; Huggable, sensitive and hilarious

Simon said; SQUIGGLEY, caring and selfless

Simon and I went to school together… “I knew him through mutual friends and I also went out with one of his friends! We got together just before I went to university over a shared love of travelling, he had just visited the Amazon and I had spent a long time in India. Our friendship and relationship grew despite being miles apart for several years.”

Simon proposed over cheesecake… “We had chosen the ring together so I knew it was coming, he cooked us an amazing meal and homemade desert. Who wouldn’t say yes to cheesecake that good!”

I love Art Deco… “Art Deco. I love Art Deco architecture and 1920s and 30s style. I have always loved the way women dressed in really old movies, particularly the early ‘talkies’. Living in Brighton was a huge inspiration, I would wander the flea market and the lanes and charity shops my head buzzing with ideas! My Nan and late Auntie Vera influenced me a lot as they would always dress up for special occasions, looking really glamorous. I always loved looking at pictures of them when they were younger. My Nan kept a huge dressing up box of dresses, gloves, handbags, hats and fascinators which I would prance around in at every opportunity as a child! I wanted our families to be part of the decorations as they are so important. So many of our guests commented on the decorations and old photos, it was really special.”

The soundtrack… JUNO… “I walked down the aisle to Barry Louis Polisar’s song “All I Want Is You” from the film JUNO, it was magical. Our first dance was Anyone Else But You by The Moldy Peaches, also features in JUNO, love it. Adam, Lisa and John played it which made it extra special. Near the end everyone got up and joined in. I will never forget that feeling of having everyone around smiling and just enjoying being there with us.”

♥ Photography is obviously their passion and not just a job… “Originally we came across Penny and Martin (aka Tino&Pip) at a wedding fair… [and their] album really caught our eye. Having chatted to them briefly Simon and I were struck by how normal and easy to get on with they were. They seemed happy just to listen to our ramblings about what we liked and didn’t like. After looking at their website we were convinced that they could deliver the experience we wanted, a relaxed day capturing all the special moments without having to say ‘CHEESE’!

Penny and Martin are incredibly talented, photography is obviously their passion and not just a job, this comes across in every image they produce.

We are so happy to have captured such beautiful memories and are looking forward to sharing them again and again in years to come. I also cannot wait to get them printed supersize and put them all over the house!”

Venue: St Augustine’s, Westgate-on-sea, Kent. “The Chapel is just such a stunning room. Once the venue mentioned that we could sit down to eat and have the evening party all in that one space we were sold!”

Dress: Joanne Fleming Design, in Brighton. “I had always been convinced that i was born without the ‘bride gene’. Having not spent any of my childhood fantasising about this dress I found it very hard picturing what it might be like. I went to several traditional bridal wear shops to get some ideas but I found myself rushing to exit feeling really rather squeamish! I have always had a love of all things old fashioned, I guess because if someone else has created something classic and stylish why try and re-invent the wheel! Joanne was fantastic, I told her what sorts of things I liked and how I wanted the dress to fit my shape and gradually over several appointments the dress took shape. It felt wonderful knowing that this dress would be mine alone and that it would fit so perfectly. It surpassed my expectations, I felt truly amazing in it and I will treasure it forever.”

Shoes: Iron Fist. “My shoes were the second pair I got, the original ones were plain and safe and completely not me. I loved the idea of having a pop of colour under my dress.”

Accessories: “A couple of weeks before the big day I decided not to wear the lace headband I had bought and completed changed what I wanted to do with my hair. I was beginning to panic over what to have on my head! Two days before the wedding to kill some time in the evening I started to play around with some netting that my soon to be mother in law had brought for 25p! I added a brooch from Accessorize and voila! The earrings were my something borrowed from Simon’s mum, they were her 21^st birthday present. My underwear was FAUV, my step mum Liz helped me get this, they really did finish the outfit off perfectly and felt amazing to wear.”

Wedding present from Simon to Emily: “The necklace that Simon got me (the skull one) is from the Jewel Thief in Brighton, the crown was my present on the day.”

Wedding present from Emily to Simon: A slideshow presentation of photographs of the two of them throughout their time together that reduced Simon and his entire family to tears on the morning of their wedding!

Hair & make up: “Dannique from Beauty Call was lovely, really easy to chat to and gave lots of great advice.”

Groom’s outfit: Suit from John Lewis, accessories from Kurt Geiger.

Bridesmaid’s dresses & accessories: “The bridesmaids dresses were from Monsoon. The same night that I was making my own veil I put some ideas together and out popped the girls hair accessories. I hadn’t wanted to ask the girls to wear anything in particular so I made them as keepsakes really, hoping that maybe one of them might wear it. I wanted to make sure the girls all had something to keep that said thank you for supporting me. I brought them a necklace each from Etsy.”

Flowers: “The Secret Garden in Cliftonville, Margate, did my bouquet, the button holes and bridesmaids flowers as well as some of the large glass bowls dotted around the venue. I wanted to keep it local and had had several bad experiences of other florists telling me what I should have and the quoting ridiculous amounts of money. Liz was able to make up examples as I gave her ideas so I could really see what it would look like. I chose succulents because as a child I used to grow them in my bedroom and I loved the idea of being able to keep them.”

Décor: “We used peacock feathers pretty much everywhere. In the lounge bar I used some fresh flowers and vases from Simon’s parents house as well as a few succulent plants potted into glass wear I picked up from various flea markets and charity shops. The typewriter and cameras were Ebay purchases and the picture frames were family heirlooms given to me by my Nan, I believe my great granddad made them! I wanted the tables to be a bit mix and match. The general idea was peacock feathers, Deco and black and white film noir glamour. I think it was more a collection of random things I liked the look of! Decorating the tables was one of my favourite parts of the wedding preparations.”

Cake: “A friend of the family made it. It was simply fantastic. The cup cakes went down a storm on the night!”

Entertainment: “Adam, Simon’s brother agreed at the last minute to step in and entertain us. John Perry sang us a sea shanty, which was a surprise for Simon. They played our first dance which was superb, such a perfect song for us to remember the day by. We will be eternally grateful for their performance it really made the perfect atmosphere.”

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Rustic charm meets English elegance… Louise&Tom threw a dream wedding bursting with colour and handmade wonderfulness! And what better way to celebrate than for this lovely couple to disappear off into the real inspiration for Frances Hodgson Burnett’s ‘The Secret Garden’, and spend a few quiet moments together before the real party began?! For Louise and Tom, this was an incredibly emotional day, especially so since they had been working right up to the last minute to perfect the decoration of their barn reception venue! Result: amazing day to be a wedding photographer!

The love story…

Love at first sight? “We met at uni almost 10 years ago! Tom told me it was love at first sight when he met me, but it unfortunately took me a little longer to fall for his charms!”

The perfect setting for a proposal… “14th June 2010 Tom proposed about three days after his brother’s wedding in france.  We went for a little mini break in Ile de Re a small island off the west cost of France, after the wedding and it was a huge surprise and massively unexpected!! I’d amost given up hope! Very romantic by the seafront in the harbour town just before we went out for dinner.  It was the sunniest, warmest evening of the holiday and the perfect setting for a proposal! I loved the ring tom had chosen himself, couldn’t have asked for a more perfect moment.  Of course I burst out in tears and couldn’t answer for about 5 minutes so just nodded profusely!!”

I wanted lots of colour… “I think the styling and theme all fell into place once we chose the barn venue.  I wanted lots of colour – hence the flowers bridesmaid dresses etc and as little white as possible!  Rustic and relaxed feel which hopefully came through and just for everyone to have fun!”

The soundtrack… String trio for the ceremony; God Only Knows by the Beach Boys for the procession and Jason Mraz to walk out to. “It was fun, happy and upbeat. The only problem was that a I was an emotional wreck that day, as soon as I heard the trio start the song, it was so beautiful I burst out in tears seconds before I got to the aisle, it was all so perfect and I was so happy!  They were happy tears!!” First dance; ‘You are the Sunshine of my Life’ by Stevie Wonder. “I always wanted that as my first dance song for years before, and as we didn’t have a song that was ‘our song’ it worked out perfectly.”

♥ We were over the moon with the photos!… ”Penny and Martin were fantastic, we loved their laid back contemporary style of reportage photography.  Their website and photos of previous weddings were just what we were looking for, they captured those special moments from the day perfectly.  We were over the moon with the photos!  Can’t wait to see the albums!” Louise&Tom

Venues: Great Maytham Hall, Rolvenden, Kent followed by The Great Barn, Rolvenden, Kent. “We fell n love with the barn first as it was so rustic and in a gorgeous rural location – it fitted our needs exactly as we had the freedom to treat it as a blank canvas and put our own stamp on it.  A LOT of work, but worth it! Great Maytham Hall was a perfect contrast – the two couldn’t be more different! The gardens and views in particular made us fall in love with this venue!”

Dress: Pronovias (style: Adela) bought from Teokath, in Canterbury. “I searched online for all pronovias range and then hunted down shops that stocked the styles I liked.  Adela was one of the ones I really wanted to try on as it had such a romantic feel to it, the neckline and cap sleeves were gorgeous! When I tried it on I fell in love with it instantly, started crying, and knew it was the one! It was the only dress I had tried on that I could instantly imagine myself in at the wedding, and I knew for certain Tom would LOVE it!”

Shoes: Rainbow Club Couture

Accessories: Hair pins from Liberty in Love (designer Leigh-Anne McCague, Headcorn) “Pearl string beads were my own, and these were attached to the pins.” Earrings from Chez Bec, and Swarovzski bracelet from best friend. “It was a civil wedding so I didn’t want to be too formal and wear a veil, but I just wanted a bit of sparkle!”

Hair & make up: Hair was done by Sarah at Viva in Goudhurst, and make up by Harriett Rainbow. “Both girls were fantastic, enough said!”

Tom’s Outfit: Italian Connection, Tunbridge Wells

Bridesmaids’ Dresses, Shoes & Accessories: Asos and Monsoon (adapted by mum!)

Rings: John Wyatt, Hatton Garden & Toulson Jones, Tunbridge Wells

Flowers: Lara Hayes from Darling & Wild. “Lara did such a wonderful job with the flowers – I absolutely loved everything she did.  I had a theme of sunflowers which I thought would go well with the barn and rustic style of the wedding.  As the adult bridesmaid dresses were so vibrant I picked colours which I thought would go with the dresses and the general theme, so yellow, purple and green were the main influences. I chose terracotta round low pots for the table flower decorations, which went well in the barn, and we had bunches of sunflowers all over the barn and grounds, and flowers in old coal scuttles.  Tom got hops from a local farm to decorate the barn with too.  I wanted my bouquet to be pretty and informal, so opted for filler flowers.  I chose purple Scabious, wax flower, flowering mint, Statice and Hydrangea.”

Cakes & Sweeties: Homemade by mother of bride and sister of groom & remainder from Cook and Jeremy’s Homestore in Tunbridge Wells. My mum put sooo much effort into the cakes, and prepared about 9 in total, in addition to little biscuits.  She’s German so cakes are a must in every celebration – the more the better for her.  I didn’t want one traditional cake which we cut, so we had an assortment of cakes and sweets for pudding instead of a formal dessert. Vicky, Tom’s sister, made cupcakes and brownies which were delicious also.  After this we had local cheeses and biscuits.

Venue Decor: Mostly decorated by us with help from family. Hops purchased from nearby farm. Authentic vietnamese hanging lanterns hired from Carolyn at Chicks that chop, Sandhurst. Vintage crockery and props- mother of the brides own and Rosebud Vintage, Ashford. Bunting made by mother of the bride. Further accessories such as hanging hearts – Jeremy’s Homestore in Tunbridge Wells.

Favours: Made by Bride, and her parents one very long weekend just before the big day! Tom and I have a black cat called Smudge, and we wanted her to be part of the wedding in some way, so we decided on cat-shaped biscuits as favours.  Also, black cats are lucky so it was that sentiment that we wanted to get across to gets as we set out on our new life together!  It was a LOT of work, but worth it to see people’s faces when I told them we made them!  Wrapped in cellophane bags with coloured tissue paper and decorated with raffia.

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Bringing some video into the mix – a few of our very favourite photos from next week’s featured wedding!

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….(“how much for the two chairs?”, “free?!!”, “um, ok then!”) but we’re now really close to Brighton, and browsing the Brighton Laines is the perfect way to keep our creativity stimulated (especially with our own wedding coming up!).

One thing we loved hearing last year was advice from our couples on how quickly the last few months of planning flies by – made us realise we’re really all one big family of wedding folk sharing the experience together! Having a giant about-turn on how we were going to do it has really spiced things up though. We had originally wanted a woodland wedding, and were actually quite far into planning it before realising that the practicalities to make our venue livable were a bit beyond us. All was not wasted however, as the many, many treasures we had collected from boot fairs and charity shops (which currently live in boxes sprawled over our dining table and across the living room!), are actually perfectly suited to our new wedding too!

We’re so excited about the weddings we have coming up this year, and utterly tickled that we’ll be photographing them as Mr & Mrs! We feel like we really had a ‘Eureka’ moment when it came to our wedding photography last year, and we’ve taken a hard look at Tino&Pip and think we’re going to come back even stronger this year. We cannot wait to get cracking on 2012′s weddings and give our couples their finished photos!

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2011, The Best Yet! Part 3: Love & Laughter

The big question though; which is our utmost favourite, remains unanswered. We certainly wouldn’t agree on one! We love them all for different reasons; the emotion, the beauty of the detail, the composition, the light… what is it you look for in the perfect wedding photograph? Well this is where we hand over to you! Your thoughts are invaluable to us, so as a thank you for your input…

…we are offering 50% off our top wedding photography package to the winning voter!

♥ and ♥

The couple whose wedding photo gets the most votes will receive a £25 Tino&Pip voucher as a thank you for being so fabulous! The voucher can be used to purchase beautiful prints, or even put towards a Treasure the Dress, couple, bump or family shoot!

Our top wedding photography package, ‘All in the Detail & Then Some’, includes the following;

♥ a super-fun engagement shoot (aka pre-wedding shoot),
♥ up to 8 hours wedding day coverage, documenting everything from the excitement of the morning’s preparations, until your first dance,
♥ all consultations, chats and venue visits,
♥ a password protected online gallery to show your family and friends,
♥ every image lovingly retouched,
♥ and a disc of up to 300 photographs at high resolution, allowing you to print away to your heart’s content.

All this for just £825 for the winning couple!

So you wanna win half-price wedding photography? Here’s how:

1. ‘Like’ our Facebook Page and help spread the word by ‘sharing’ the following Facebook update: CLICK HERE

2. Leave a comment on our ‘2011, The Best Yet! Part 3: Love & Laughter‘ blog post, telling us the number of your favourite photograph and why it speaks to you. (The image number will appear when you hover over the thumbnail). Do also let us know in your comment, that you have ‘liked’ our Facebook page and shared the aforementioned update.

Wondering how will the winner be selected?

The old-fashioned way! Each comment is numbered. We will put the numbers into an {uber-stylish} hat, mix them up and pick one out!

The fine print:
1. All entrants must be over 18 years of age to enter. 2. The closing date for receipt of all entries will be midnight on Wednesday 29th February 2012. 3. The wedding must take place between March 2012 and March 2013. Wedding date subject to availability. 4. The winner will be notified by email by Friday 2nd March 2012. Should the winner be unable to claim their prize, another winner will be drawn. 5. The pre-wedding/engagement shoot and the wedding itself can take place in any location, in any country. Travel expenses must be paid if the location is further than 25 miles from Eastbourne, East Sussex. Overnight accommodation must be provided if deemed necessary due to journey time. 6. Offer only applies to Tino&Pip’s ‘All in the Detail & Then Some’ package. 7. Copyright of the images will belong to Tino&Pip Photography. The winning couple will be granted a license to use and reproduce the images for personal use. 8. Couples should agree that their wedding photographs could be used for advertising purposes. 9. Only one entry allowed per couple. 10. Email addresses and personal details obtained via this competition will NOT be passed on to any third party. 11. The winner will be awarded a 50% discount on Tino&Pip Photography’s ‘All in the Detail & Then Some’ wedding photography package. The balance will be requested in accordance with Tino&Pip Photography’s standard wedding photography contract.

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