A year in weddings {2011}

A little late in posting this but small things, such as completing my tax return, got in the way! I thought that I would take a look back over the past year to remember the fun, the laughter, the emotion, the sun … and the rain! Hope you enjoy the recap of my wedding photography year – I’m really looking forward to what 2012 brings!

We started off the year at Cooling Castle Barn in January at the celebrations of Chris and Kelly. Chilly winds but sunny smiles and amazing food too!

February saw me both in Essex and in Kent – weddings only days apart but such different weather. First in February were Vikki and Mark and the Lords Country Club … it was chilly indeed!

And then on to Hever Castle for Kinga and Ian’s celebrations … with blue skies!

And then a little break (but lots of work in between) and May found me local to Faversham, in Oare with Gemma and Charlie, poppies, a cat, Canadians and lots of gossip …

June brought a truly rock ‘n’ roll wedding with James and Sarah. Classy outfits, fabulous car and tattoos too!

August brought a wedding at Salmestone Grange in a chapel with Vicky and Cliff … and saw me nearly fall into a pond …

And the following day saw me at the iconic Chelsea Register Office with Amanda and Rob, a Red London bus, a trip on the London Eye, hailstones and a double rainbow!

Early September saw me at St Martins Acrise and the Pines Calyx with the very happy Elaine and Roger and magician with tricks that I just couldn’t work out …

And Bonnie and Barney’s amazingly colourful, fun filled and happy celebrations at St Margaret’s Church and Thanet House …

And then Andy and Jimmy’s celebrations at the Chapel Down Winery where we got a bit sunburnt …

And I was a guest at Emily and Anton’s wedding later on in September, but I sneaked a couple of pics …

Sadly (for me) Charlotte and Rhys got married in Cyprus but, luckily (for me) had their reception at East Quay in Whistable … where we set up a photobooth …

And then, as guest and photographer, I listened to Mike sing his vows to Kathryn in an intimate ceremony near Faversham … an amazing lady in red!

And then my final wedding of the year in November when Karen and Dan celebrated at Hadlow Manor near Tonbridge and it rained so hard that it bounced back up to knee height … did they mind, not at all!

What a year. I thoroughly enjoyed being part of each and every wedding celebration and am very much looking forward to 2012.

An example of online proofing and a final wedding album

I offer beautiful bespoke albums as an optional extra to my wedding day discs. I use a UK album company who pride themselves on exceptionally quality and fast turnaround times … just like me, in fact! I currently use an online proofing system which has worked well for clients who are not local to me for proofing and for the odd amendment here and there. Most wedding albums just “fall into place”. Clients choose their favourite images and I put the album together. Once the proof (with any amendments) has been approved, it’s off to the printers! Here is a full album I designed for one of my couples from earlier in 2011 …

A disc of images is fine … but a bespoke album is something to keep for the future and to delight over again and again. And there are smaller versions for parents too and even as gifts for bridesmaids and ushers. So do consider having an album made after your wedding – it’s unique and will serve as a lasting memory of your wonderful day.

Product photographer for Grace and Home

Now that the internet makes products so visible and comparable, like for like, it’s great to be able to work with a local supplier to produce clean and well lit images for her website. The company website is still under construction but I just wanted to share with you one or two of the lovely items and show how professional images really can sell your products …

I used a mixture of natural light (as is in the image above), off camera lighting and also an infinity table. It always gets consistent, great results.

I’m looking forward to seeing the website in all its glory. Also, Grace and Home will be at the Speciality and Fine Food Fair in autumn 2012 (more details here).

If you are running an online business, why not take a look at other product photography that I’ve undertaken this year for Red Ric Rac and also for WashiTapes. My prices are competitive with a fast turnaround and quality, as always, guaranteed!

Photoshoot collaboration with Shirlaw Style and Playful Promises

It’s always lovely to be involved in photoshoots and I was delighted to receive an email from my good friend Natalie at Shirlaw Style asking if I had time to join her for a photoshoot for Playful Promises. You can read more about the reasons behind the photoshoot on Playful Promises blog but here are a couple of montages from the day. Sinead, our beautiful model, has a very vintage styled house which was just perfect. She was very recently a bride herself (although sadly, not one of my brides …) and we also had time to take a sneak peek at her wonderful wedding images too!

Sinead’s house lends itself to photographs as whilst Natalie was doing the finishing touches on Sinead’s hair, I set up a simple off camera lighting set up and got these shots …

We needed to have step-by-step images so that readers of the Playful Promises blog could attempt the styles themselves and also a good variety of images of the hairstyle in its finished form …

Natalie then set about creating another look with Sinead … but you’ll have to wait to see those pictures in another blog post! It was great working with Natalie again, seeing the Yogi hair products in use and meeting Sinead. I think that I may have mentioned, once or twice, that I love my job!!!

A walk by the seaside and a chance for some {time out}

It’s been super busy lately. Don’t get me wrong, I am not complaining at all! Taking beautiful and memorable images is part of my daily life and I decided, on this wonderful day full of sunshine, to take some time out … just for me. Alfie, my little Tibetan Terrier (boy has he changed since that picture …) joined me on the beach, just five miles from where we live.

And here’s what I saw …

As we walked along, it amazed me how much detritus there is on just a short section of the beach … but beautiful shapes and shadows and textures too.

And yes, that is a skull in the top left hand of the next montage …

I just took one lens with me, my lovely 85mm f1.8 … it makes you think more about setting up the shot rather than just clicking away …

And here’s an up-to-date pic of our little one …

He’s almost fully grown now and celebrates his first birthday in December. What a year it’s been … and it’s not over yet! Enjoy the sunshine wherever you are – it’s back to work for me now!

Free photo studio at All Nine Maternity at Chalkpit Farm Rural Shopping near Canterbury

On this gorgeous bright beautiful day, Christmas seems so far away. However, if you are stuck for gifts and would like to have some professional and fun photographs taken, why not pop along to my latest joint venture with All Nine Maternity. We have set up a studio and the session is free. Digital files are available for purchase on the day for £15 and there is absolutely no obligation!

All Nine’s website is here: and directions are all on the website.

Do pop by and say hello and whilst you’re here, you can visit all of the other shops and get some inspiration too!

Karen and Dan – the story of their wedding day

To see this sign waiting in reception made me a little bit sad …

You see, the day before had been quite glorious, but Karen and Dan’s wedding day dawned with drizzle. But there was a specific reason why they had chosen this day to celebrate their love. It was the fourth anniversary of the first time they met … there were photographs throughout the venue, memories of happy times together and family members no longer with us …

Karen and her gorgeous bridesmaids were in the throws of final preparations when I arrived. The boys were … late!

But the rings were in safe hands

And the boys were looking rather dapper …

But back to the girls … and THE dress!

Karen, you looked absolutely stunning!

And so did her bridesmaids, twin sister Fiona and best friend Vicki

The time for the ceremony was fast approaching …

And kissing …

And love … lots and lots of love …

And the bank of photographers for the signing of the register – there was a lot of competition!

Time for the formal photographs (inside because the light was fading fast and it was raining) and also some not-so-formal formals!

And then onto the wedding breakfast and time to circulate and chat to their guests …

And the speeches …

And the cake cutting (the cake was made by Karen’s mum and was superb!) …

And the first dance, and the sparklers … but one of my favourites was a quick grab shot of Dan’s guess at the dress …

And then to close, a final sparkler shot and time to leave the party, with a very popular photobooth in the corner and a great disco, I am sure that they partied long into the night.

Congratulations again to you both and hope that you had a lovely honeymoon – please feel free to leave comments for the lovely couple! xx

Outdoors photoshoot … {sneak peek}

I was asked by a good friend of mine to shoot her sons. In the nicest possible way … Michele didn’t want the cliched photographs in a studio against a white background. She wanted a representation of her sons … so we went to the woods …

Using a mix of available light and off camera flash, we had time to be a bit more creative.

I think we also managed a bit of “rock star photography” …

Different characters, different looks

So I hope that we fulfilled mum’s creative brief without a white background in sight! Thanks for all your help boys and for climbing that tree, too!

Protected: Claire and Gavin {maternity} photoshoot – sneak peek

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Protected: Katie, Greg and bump – a maternity shoot {sneak peek}

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