Duomo di Amalfi wedding photography

The Cathedral of St Andrew stands above the main square of Amalfi at the top of a long, steep flight of steps — sixty-odd of them, rising straight out of the piazza. The striped façade and the bronze doors are the town’s single most recognisable image, and the Cloister of Paradise alongside gives interlaced white arches around a small garden, a completely different space from the church itself.

The steps are the photograph. A bride climbing them, a couple coming down them after the ceremony, confetti thrown from the top — these are made from below, with the façade above and the square behind, and they are among the strongest pictures available anywhere on this coast. They are also made in public. The piazza is busy from mid-morning until late, and a wedding party on those steps has an audience.

Knowing that in advance changes how the day is planned rather than whether it happens. An earlier ceremony means a quieter square. Allowing a few minutes at the top of the steps before going in, rather than hurrying through a crowd, is what makes the difference between a snatched frame and a composed one. The interior is dark and gilded, which is available-light work, and the cloister is bright shade — three quite different conditions within thirty metres.