Luna Bea Bride – A Gothic Bridal Editorial Inspired by Ways of Seeing
This editorial came from one of the shoot sessions at Thrive in Edinburgh, concepted and led by wedding photographer Joanna Brown from Joanna Brown Studio. Joanna had spoken at the conference the day before about Ways of Seeing – the idea that photography begins long before you press the shutter.
It starts with perception.
In her keynote, Joanna talked about learning to see like a photographer. Not just noticing subjects, but noticing light, shape, relationships, emotion – the subtle things that exist between people and the spaces they occupy.
Developing your visual language, she said, is about understanding your own perspective. Your voice is the emotional fingerprint behind your work. It’s what connects one image to the next.
This is one of the reasons Thrive works the way it does. We don’t just sit in a room listening to talks all day. The inspiration from the stage gets taken straight outside, where we work in small groups with the speakers and see how those ideas translate into photographs.
It’s one thing to hear about perception. It’s another thing to practise it.
For her shoot, Joanna brought gowns from Luna Bea Bride, the Lewes-based designer known for creating pure silk bridal pieces entirely by hand in a traditional British atelier.
There’s a real sense of quiet integrity to Luna Bea’s work. These are heirloom garments – dresses that feel timeless without being overly precious. The silk moves beautifully and holds light in a way that makes it perfect for editorial photography.
Joanna leaned into the contrast between that softness and something darker.
The styling direction was gothic winter romance – texture, layers, femininity with an edge. Rather than placing the dresses somewhere conventionally “bridal,” Joanna chose a churchyard as the location and embraced the atmosphere that came with it.
Stone, shadows, bare trees, winter light.
It created a tension that worked beautifully with the delicacy of the gowns. The models, Annie and Emma, brought the brief to life effortlessly, moving through the space in a way that felt intuitive rather than staged.
The Finer Details
LUNA BEA GOTHIC BRIDAL EDITORIAL PHOTOGRAPHY
Nurturing Creativity
Watching Joanna work was fascinating. She wasn’t chasing perfect compositions. She was building relationships within the frame – between the models, the environment, the light. At one point she said to me that it felt like A level photography, which I loved.
I think it’s important to stay connected to the reason most of us picked up a camera in the first place.
For many photographers, that beginning looks something like this: taking pictures of friends, inspired by images in magazines, trying to recreate something ambitious with absolutely no budget.
That discovery phase is incredibly creative. You’re experimenting constantly. Breaking rules without even knowing what the rules are yet.
Joanna’s session tapped straight back into that energy. It was about storyboarding ideas, taking risks, pushing beyond comfort zones and trusting instinct.
Not every frame had to work. The important thing was to explore
Lessons from the Session
Working with Joanna up close was incredibly inspiring. Some of the ideas that stayed with me most were:
- Planning shoots through storyboarding rather than rigid shot lists
- Injecting narrative into images regardless of subject matter
- Letting instinct guide you once the shoot begins
- Exploring how non-romantically connected subjects inter-relate
- Finding ways to bring your own perspective into every frame
Perhaps the most interesting part for me was Joanna’s focus on relationships beyond romance. In wedding photography we’re used to photographing couples, but her work often explores other connections – friendships, parallels, contrasts between people and place.
It opens up a different way of seeing.
Creativity in Motion
What I love about our Thrive conference is that learning isn’t theoretical. It’s active. Ideas move quickly from conversation to experimentation.
Joanna’s session reminded me how valuable it is to step outside routine and look at familiar subjects differently. Bridal gowns in a churchyard. Gothic atmosphere with soft silk. Narrative built through observation rather than direction.
It’s that willingness to keep exploring that keeps photography interesting.
Hasselblad Frames
I also used the session as an opportunity to put my Hasselblad X2D digital medium format camera through its paces ahead of another wedding season.
Medium format requires a slower workflow. It encourages intention. You think about the frame more carefully, and when the elements come together – texture, fabric, light, gesture – the result has a depth that’s hard to replicate.
In a setting like this, with silk gowns and winter light, it felt like the perfect tool. And it was a huge pleasure to edit these.
