I’m currently sat in my hotel room, on the 30th floor of the Cordis Hotel in Mong Kok reflecting on what has been a truly amazing week in Hong Kong to photograph Laura and Aaron’s wedding celebrations.

Firstly, I would like to say a truly heartfelt thank you to Laura and Aaron for inviting me here to capture part 2 of their wedding (part 1 was their wedding in December at Thornton Manor – an amazing day). During my time here, they, together with their families and friends have made me feel like a friend, not just a photographer. I couldn’t have been made to feel more welcome. Even on my first day, Laura and Aaron came to meet me at my hotel to give me a guided tour of the city – such a nice thing to do and made me feel instantly at ease here. Laura and Aaron, you are an incredible couple and I am pleased to now call you friends. It again proves how lucky I am to do this as a job, traveling the world and getting to know good people who go out of their way to make you feel welcome. It’s really humbling.

I must be honest, Hong Kong was never a place I had been desperate to visit. I’m not really a fan of big busy cities – and Hong Kong is the definition of busy. I’m always much happier in wide open, quiet places. I’ve also preferred natural landscapes to that of man made cities. But Hong Kong has proved me wrong, it’s made a massive impression on me and I’ve loved my week of exploring.

Within a few minutes of leaving the airport, I was struck by just how crazy (in the nicest sense of the word) Hong Kong is. The buildings are huge, and I mean HUGE. And it’s not like you see one huge building, a few smaller ones, then another huge one. Every building it seems is ridiculously tall. Hong Kong isn’t a massive place but they lack in land they make up for in height! So many times I’ve found myself looking up in amazement at the sheer scale of the buildings.

I was also struck by how clean the city is. You see virtually no rubbish anywhere. Walking around, regardless of what time it is day or night, feels really safe. I’ve spent days walking around with my camera, including visiting 3 housing estates, and never once have I felt in the least bit worried. When you consider that 7 million people live here, the fact it feels so safe and clean speaks wonders for the people here.

During my time I have tried to visit as many places as possible – something which is pretty easy to do as the MRT (underground) system is so easy to use. I’ve been staying in Mong Kok but have also visited Kowloon, Victoria Peak, Kennedy Town, Quarry Bay and many other places. There were other places which I would have liked to have seen but I ran out of time. Next time hopefully.

This post is all about my personal photographs which I have taken whilst traveling around Hong Kong. These photographs were not the reason I came, that was all about capturing Laura and Aaron’s tea ceremony and amazing celebrations (such a fantastic experience) as well as their engagement shoot in Hong Kong, but I wanted to share them to show the incredible side of Hong Kong which I was unaware of before I landed here a week ago.

So before I sit down to edit the wedding celebrations, I wanted to share 30 photographs which I have taken whilst exploring Hong Kong. I’ve loved taking these photos and I know I will look back on them, and my time here, with very fond memories.