A Cottage Road Cinema Engagement Shoot: Projector Beams and Purple Seats in Headingley
A beam of light poured from the projection window, a soft haze glittered in it, and Lauren and Jon stood right in the middle of it. Their engagement shoot at Cottage Road Cinema in Headingley, Leeds, was one we both loved, and it was all Lauren’s idea.
Cottage Road Cinema: a 1912 picture house in Headingley
Cottage Road Cinema sits just off Otley Road in Headingley, and it has been a cinema since July 1912, when it opened as the Headingley Picture House. The building wasn’t built for the purpose: it dates from the early 1900s and was a motor garage before it became a cinema. The name Cottage Road came later, when a new owner added a balcony.
It came close to closing in 2005, until Charles Morris stepped in to save it. Today it still runs as a traditional single-screen cinema, and it’s believed to be the oldest continually operating, independently owned cinema in the UK.
Despite living just a few hundred yards from Cottage Road when we were at uni, our shoot with Lauren and Jon was actually our first visit there.
Projector beams and purple seats
We both loved everything about the cinema. The auditorium was dark apart from the glow of the screen and the beam from the projection window, which gave us light you could never find outside. We stood Lauren and Jon in the beam, with the haze lit up all around them, and let it wrap them in a halo of light.
Then we sat them together in the rows of purple seats, small against the big screen with the Cottage Road Cinema logo glowing above them. Personally, I loved shooting from the projector room, mainly because I’d always wanted to have a nosey around one! From up there we framed them through the little projection window: two tiny silhouettes in front of the red and gold stage curtains far below, with a light glowing at their feet.
Lauren’s idea, from start to finish
Usually we’re the ones to suggest locations for engagement shoots, but this time Lauren not only suggested Cottage Road, she arranged the whole shoot too. We definitely owe her, and Cottage Road, a big thank you: the cinema were so accommodating, and it’s definitely a shoot we both loved.
We photographed it in the winter months before the wedding season got going, when we were busy looking for new ideas to make 2015 our best year yet. That’s exactly when an indoor location like this comes into its own, and exactly the kind of creative push we were after.
Why we love an engagement shoot at Cottage Road Cinema
If you’d love an engagement shoot somewhere with a bit more character than a park, here’s our honest take:
- It works in any weather. An indoor location is a great choice for a winter shoot, when the light outside disappears early.
- Arrange it with them first. A working cinema has screenings to run, so get in touch and agree a time, just as Lauren did.
- Use the light. The projector beam and the glow of the screen give you dramatic, moody light you can’t get outdoors.
- Choose somewhere with character. A local cinema, a favourite café or a pub you love can say more about you as a couple than a field.
Planning an engagement shoot in Leeds?
We love a couple with an idea of their own. See more on our Leeds wedding photography page, browse our Yorkshire wedding photography, or get in touch to plan your shoot.
See also: Wedding at Lauren & Jon – in Yorkshire.
