Archive for March, 2011
Queensberry wedding album – James & Vikki
I have just a couple of albums left to blog from my winter 2010 wedding clients. This is the first of those, for James and Vikki who chose a 14×10 inch flushmount Queensberry album.
The sleek flushmount album is the most popular option amongst my clients at the moment and I think that’s because it has very clean lines which makes it feel both contemporary and timeless.
The cover is ‘amethyst’ buckram. Buckram is an incredibly hard wearing cotton which was originally developed for library book binding. Perfect for an album that needs to stand the test of time. It has a woven texture and a gorgeous sparkle to it. They also chose to have their names debossed on the front cover.
Oh and the mini replica albums are just adorable. James and Vikki ordered three – one for each of their parents and one for Vikki’s handbag. Love that girl’s style!
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A taste of things to come
I consider myself quite new to photography still. But to be honest I’ll probably always feel like a newbie because I want to always be learning and finding ways to keep my work evolving and looking fresh.
I’ve always been led by how and what I see rather than the technical stuff. Indeed that’s the way I came into photography. I’ve always seen the world in pictures but then learnt how to use an SLR to actually be able to create those pictures. And not being the most technically minded person (hubs will testify to that!) I’ve been a little scared of using flash in any way other than on top of my camera, with one setting that I knew worked every single time. I suppose that’s not a bad thing because being able to guarantee that a picture will work is important as a wedding photographer. But now that I’m doing more and more bridal fashion photography the time has come where I want to add another dimension to what I can offer.
So last week I went on a workshop to learn more about using flash: off-camera, creatively, and triggered wirelessly. This gives a completely different look to blasting the flash directly from the top of the camera. And creates the directional lighting style with lots of contrast that I really love. You’ll regularly see me use window light to create a strong look in a picture, but now I want to up the stakes and be able to create an even bigger level of drama, at any location.
Here are a few shots from the day…
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Holdenby House wedding photos – Robert & Sarah
These pictures follow on from my last post with the photos of Robert and Sarah’s ‘pre wedding Bride & Groom’ shoot at Holdenby House.
The day of their blessing was very relaxed and started with Sarah getting ready in the beautiful white room at Holdenby. Isn’t that peacock wallpaper just divine? It was really light and airy too; perfect for photos. There’s usually a lot of nervous (but excited) energy during the preparations. But already having married in the US nerves were nowhere to be seen today. Just Sarah being so excited to marry Robert again and to spend time celebrating with all her UK friends and family.
The blessing was held at Scaldwell church, a typically quaint English village church and just the perfect setting. We hotfooted it back to Holdenby House for the reception as timings were really tight (hence the Bride and Groom pictures being done earlier in the week) but there was time enough to get the all important family photos and for Robert and Sarah to mingle with their guests.
My job was largely to capture the story of the day as it unfolded. Usually during a reception I’m doing a Wacky Races Roadrunner impression trying to get the group and couple photos done, so it was great to be able to just observe and work in a pure documentary style for a change. I wanted lots of pictures of the guests but at the same time wanted more than just pictures of people. Watching and waiting for moments of fun and interest and using the venue to add context to the story was almost therapeutic.
♥ Venue: Holdenby House
♥ Flowers: Julie Anna Flowers
♥ Catering: Portfolio Events
And just because I always find it so hard to choose favourites there’s a fuller set of photos on my facebook fanpage
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Holdenby House ‘Bride & Groom’ shoot
Robert and Sarah, the lucky pair, had two weddings. Their actual wedding was in the US, which is where they live. And they also had a blessing here in the UK, which is where Sarah is originally from.
Sarah found me through Julia Anna Flowers and I’m so glad she did! I’ve had such a great time working with her and Robert. They’re just the loveliest couple. And so in love.
They flew over to the UK the day after their US wedding and I met them for the first time on the day of this shoot, which was just three days before their blessing.
Since they were already married Sarah had suggested doing their pre-wedding portrait session in their wedding outfits. This was largely to save the time of doing any couple pictures on the day of their blessing, because the timings for the day were really tight and they wanted to spend as long as possible with their UK friends and family that they hadn’t seen for ages. What a good idea thought I! Because this meant plenty of time to create some amazing pictures for them, in my now renowned bridal fashion style.
Attention to detail is so very important to me in my pictures. I can be quite OCD about hands being in the right place, dress looking good, ties being done up neatly, face at just the right angle to the light, no distractions in the background … This takes time of course but the end results are worth the investment. I also wanted to show off the amazing venue, Holdenby House. Even with two hours it was hard to do justice to the extent of the location. So I tried to pick the most iconic and English feeling aspects of Holdenby.
Everything just came together for this shoot: fabulous couple, amazing location, great light and plenty of time. It was simply a dream.
Pop back next week for part 2: pictures from the blessing. Oh and there’s a few more pictures from this shoot on my facebook fanpage if you’d like to see
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Photos of Rory’s Baptism
You might remember little Rory from his newborn pictures. He’s just as adorable at 1 year old as when I first met him. These photos were to celebrate his Baptism.
I often find at weddings there’s someone that keeps spotting me and looking at the camera, despite my best sniper efforts to capture them unaware of me. Today it was the guest of honour – Rory!
The service was just lovely, surrounded by family and friends.
And then everyone headed to the local town hall for some lunch and of course, bubbles …
The cake cutting was probably my favourite moment of the day. As soon as he was close enough to reach, Rory leaned straight over and pick up a piece of the cake that had just been cut. It was the best bit too: the corner with all the icing! Rory is one clever little boy!
♥ Venue: Towcester Town Hall
♥ Catering: Towcester Tea Rooms
♥ Cake: The Cake Shop, Banbury
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