3 March 2010

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of spending a little time with Kat and PJ at their beautiful home in Newtown Linford … we also took the opportunity to go and take a look at all the venues and locations we would be shooting at on their wedding day, and of course to take some photos ! We didn’t have too much time on the latter, at least not with PJ, as the rugby was imminent !!

Their beautiful marquee wedding is coming up in April and I can’t wait !

As always a few photos from the shoot … starring their babies, sorry, doggies haha …

See you soon guys!

22 February 2010

I recently had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with some past clients of mine, Gemma and Mick, and their new little baby girl, Charlotte.  I shot their wedding 2 years ago, a beautiful Christmas wedding in Womborne, and so it was fab to be meeting up with them again and to meet their little angel.

The session started really well, with Charlotte sleeping through most of it, but it soon turned tricky when the little beauty decided to scream at the top of her little lungs LOL

We hung in there and managed to capture some cute facial expressions … and so, a few from the session, including some lovely little details from her bedroom …

2 February 2010

Twitter truly is an amazing little social media resource.  I have “met” so many great characters on there, people who can make me laugh, make me think, make me sad, make me happy, all in the space of 140 characters.

A few weeks ago I exchanged a little banter with Cris Mitchell, founder and owner of a wonderful online resource for professional photographers, ProPhotoResource.  I hadn’t had the time to really check out the site, but as soon as I did I was drawn into the content … the contributors are all working pro photographers, all with a variety of experiences, all sharing some snippets of knowledge gained through the trial of fire that is being a professional photographer.  Gripping stuff.

Imagine my surprise and thrill when I was asked to become a regular contributor !!  Cris had gone off and taken a look at my work and liked what he saw.  I immediately said yes then thought “what on earth am I going to write about” LOL

So, I took a look at what I do, what I specialise in, I guess.  As many of my clients know, I specialise in winter weddings, with December being my second busiest month of the year.  Of course it made perfect sense to write about my experiences and show a few photos which illustrated my points.

And so, without further ado, my article has been published … you have to register with the site (its free) in order to get access to the member area and newsletters, but honestly it is so worth it. Click on the link I provided and go for it.

Oh, comments on my article are most welcome here … ideas for future articles are equally welcome.

29 January 2010

I opened my post the other day and found to my delight a gorgeous invitation to the meal of an upcoming wedding. The invitations are obviously handmade and very vintage … gorgeous enough to share with you. This is for Claire and Jon’s wedding coming up in April at Shugborough Hall.

Really looking forward to seeing you guys soon … hope all your last minute planning goes well !

22 January 2010

Last October I had the pleasure of shooting K in an Intimates session … I could not blog until now as the session was a gift for her husband-to-be (they got married this month).

I made sure the session was a great experience, starting with professional hair and makeup, complete with champagne, followed by a relaxed portrait session and on to the boudoir session. K brought her girlfriend along for moral support, but actually felt so relaxed during the session … her friend is going to have her own session done soon !

And so, without further ado … Intimately K …

If you could like your own Intimate Experience, please don’t hesitate to contact me soon !

21 January 2010

I guess this particular post is mostly aimed at the many professional photographers who read my blog, but maybe clients will be interested too.

I recently read a very interesting article on the Internation Society of Professional Photographer’s blog … they had carried out a survey of what professional photographers actually do all day / week … the assumption being that we party like rockstars, travel loads and shoot photos ! Of course, we do all of this (LOL) but the reality, especially for someone like myself (self employed with no staff), could not be further from the truth.

In my business I am the following (please excuse the titles, I’m trying to big myself up a little haha):

Business Manager, Sales Executive, Cashflow Consultant, Design Executive, Photographer, IT Geek, Purchasing Guru, Spendaholic, Marketing Manager, Cleaner, Chief Tea Maker, Dog Walker, Cat Cuddler, Chef, and on and on …

I realise this is a little flippant, but the fact is I am everything, from initial marketing right through to finished product and everything in between.

I sat and thought about this at the back end of last year and decided I needed some help. After my usual meticulous research on various products, I decided that Light Blue: Software was just what I needed.

My friend and fellow photographer, Tom Catchesides, designed the software around the needs of his girlfriend Helen Bartlett. Helen has reviewed the latest version on her blog (here). To say that this is going to revolutionise how I run my business is an understatement. At the push of a button I will have reports, will be able to link shoots (eg, pre wedding shoots, weddings, babies …), schedule meetings and shoots, create branded invoices, contracts at the push of a button, do my tax returns … man, this is going to make life sooo much easier !

A huge thanks to the team at Light Blue: Software … massive congrats on such a great product !

20 January 2010

Well, what a week we had in London !  It was so cool to get to hang out with some great photographers, to meet up with old friends and to make new ones, too.  Thanks to all who came by to see me, including facebook friends, twitter pals and blog stalkers LOL

I got to hang out with my great friends Jerry Ghionis and Melissa Tirado for much of the week. The icing on the cake was when Jerry won quite a few awards on Sunday night … Photographer of the Year as well as Fashion Photographer, Wedding Contemporary Print, Wedding Traditional Print, Overall 16×20 Print of the Year, Wedding Photojournalist Print, Wedding Album and Wedding Photojournalist ! Phew !!! I felt like a very proud big sister, let me tell you.

So, without further ado … Jerry, Melissa, Tamera and me with all those awards … really looking forward to next year everyone (I know, already LOL)