23 April 2010

As with any industry or job, we all need a little boost, or proverbial “kick”, to keep us on our toes and giving of our best at all times. So when I was invited to attend a seminar by the UK’s leading wedding photographer Jeff Ascough, I jumped at the chance and headed to Watford to hear what he had to say.

To say I was not dissapointed would not begin to cover it. His philosophies, his business insights, thought-provoking questions, marketing advice and of course his wonderful imagery, left us all feeling inspired and ready to come back into our own businesses and implement !!

Presenting at these seminars is full on and exhausting … enough to put many a speaker off repeating the experience … however, Jeff is considering another round of seminars and I would seriously urge you to not hesitate when hitting that booking form, this is not something to be missed if you are serious about improving your business in any way, shape or form.

I had a lot of fun catching up with some friends who also attended … I also had some time to shoot a couple of simple portraits in the bar (I know, I never stop !!).

Kevin Mullins …

Josh Archer …

As an added bonus, Jeff had invited along another leading light in the photography industry, Edmond Terakopian, winner of countless press photography awards. Ed added some humour, as well as some incredible sadness through his images of war-torn regions, countries recovering from devastating catastrophes and one particular event which happened much closer to home, the 2005 London Bombings. As some of you may remember, I shot a wedding at Christmas for a client who had been there that day (Paul Dadge) and had ended up on the cover of Time Magazine … I had not realised at that time that Ed was the photographer responsible for that iconic image until it came up on his slideshow. It truly is a small world at times.

Photo: © Edmond Terakopian www.pix.org.uk

Oh, I almost forgot, I also got to hang with my good friend Peter Prior who made the trip up from dan sath … and a final shout out to Helen at Snapperstuff for my new camera bag which I will be reviewing once I use it this weekend !

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 !

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)

13 January 2010

I am so excited ! I attend the SWPP Convention every year and it is a great way to network and meet other photographers … this year is extra special as Jerry Ghionis is a convention speaker ! My friend Melissa Tirado is also coming across from the US and hanging with me for a few days after the convention too, so a double whammy of excitement !!  For the first time ever I am attending the awards dinner on Sunday night, so the new killer heels will be getting an airing … watch out, dance floor, here I come LOL

So, a heads up to clients … I am out of the office from 14th to 19th and will only be available via email (iPhone). Photographers … if you are heading to London for the convention please say hi ! If you’re not attending, I’ll be posting some photos no doubt on twitter and facebook so watch out for the fun.

See you all on the other side … let’s hope this snow doesn’t hamper my travel plans !

30 December 2009

I am so excited about my new “look” … it has literally taken months of planning and weeks of coding, choosing images for the galleries, purchasing some nice music etc…

I am really chuffed that the website is all my own work and design, but I admit I had to employ a blog geek to help with that side of things … massive thanks to Paul Glavin for all the wonderful work and for putting up with my constant idea changes and niggles (I’m very particular haha).

So, without further ado, I am inviting you to take a little look around and let me know what you think … there will be more content added, to the galleries and of course to the blog, but for now I was just too excited to get it all up and running, so have at it LOL

I’ll be blogging some recent weddings and engagement sessions in the next week or so, but in the meantime you can still access the old blog (check out the Links section above).

I look forward to hearing your thoughts … and just because no first blog post should be without a photo (well, this is a photo blog after all!), because it’s Christmas and because she’s a cutie … here you go !

Gill