John and Michelle

What do you do, as a photographer, when you arrive one evening to stay in Yorkshire prior to a workshop with the fabulous David Williams (post to follow later), when you walk in to the pub and find a small wedding reception with no photographer?

Well, John and Michelle had arranged their wedding at relatively short notice and had been unable to organise a photographer to capture their big day. With the help of Teresa, from the Coach House, High Bentham, I persuaded John and Michelle outside for a few photos on the basis of 'you give me 10 minutes of your time, and I'll give you 10 minutes of mine'.

The result was some images for them which I hope they enjoy when they're back from their honeymoon.








Congrats to you both!

Susie and Chris

Susie and Chris had a small, quiet wedding the week before last, on Wednesday, followed by lunch at Hambleton Hall, and a few days later a church blessing and dinner and dance for 150 or so guests on the Saturday. After dinner the guests were entertained by the fabulous Dicky Hart and the Pacemakers, whilst inside the hall there was a mini casino in full flow.

Here is a compilation of a few of the images:


It was great to photograph your celebrations, and we wish you well for a happy future.

Pre wedding sessions

This week seems to have been a week of pre wedding sessions as we head towards a flurry of summer weddings.

Firstly, last Sunday was over to see Kristina and Chris, who are getting married in the Cotswolds in early August. We had a look at their church and then over to their reception venue, the superb Manor House Hotel in Moreton in the Marsh. You wouldn't believe that it suffered extensive damage in last years floods when you see it now.









Then it was up to Nottingham to see David and Debbie who were let down at a relatively late stage by their photographer for their early July wedding. After a few emails and phone calls I went up to see them on Thursday evening, they agreed to book me, and it was off to see the church and reception venue, the imposing Bestwood Lodge Hotel, whilst taking a few pictures of them.









And today it was the turn of Angela and Wayne, who get married in late August. Thier venue, the Sketchley Grange Hotel at Hinkley, is much nearer to me so we went up to Bradgate Park and tried to avoid the crowds.









And I couldn't resist snapping the deer in Bradgate Park, as it's probably the closest that I have ever got to them!



We're looking forward to all of their weddings over the next few weeks, although you all know what kind of weather I want...!

Am I going deaf?

Last week I bought a Nikon D300 to supplement the two D200's I work with, and I've been waiting for the right opportunity to test it at a high ISO setting to see if it lives up to the rave reviews it's been getting.

That chance can yesterday evening when I helped out friend and fellow photographer Paul Winterton at the annual shoot he does at the St Joseph's In The Park school in Hertingfordbury, at their Parents Fellowship Summer Ball.









After Paul and I had captured all of the glamorous guests arriving I shot one or two images around the marquee before leaving him to it.

The images below, of the band in action, were shot using available light in the marquee, at an ISO setting of 1600, on a 70 - 200 f2.8 lens. I think the camera absolutely lives up to it's promise when you look at the lack of noise (hence me querying whether I'm going deaf!) in the enlarged section of the image of the double bass player in action.







All I can say is WOW!

Strike a pose!

Had a fun portrait session recently with Helana, Daryanne and Ashlynne, who certainly weren't shy about posing for the camera!







And then a few more 'standard' portraits, without a white backgound in sight...







Mum and Dad, Lisa and David, came round to see the results today and, I hope, will have a difficult choice!

And a very happy birthday to Helana. whose birthday is today.

The Florence connection - even more!

Okay. Some people have been asking to see images from the Jerry Ghionis workshop. Well, if we're photographing your wedding later this year hopefully you'll see the difference! If not, here is a small selection of images taken on the workshop, set up by Jerry.

Firstly, Sylivia on the terrace at the wonderful Villa il Poggiale, where we were based:



And Melissa and Renee (well, mostly Melissa!) in Florence:








And Sylvia in front of the spinning carousel:



It was a fantastic five days, packed full of learning. Thanks for all your energy, Jerry!

Any photographers wanting to find out more about Jerry's workshops can check them out here.

Ssssshhhhh................

Coming soon ...



'Do Not Disturb photography'.

Watch this space for further details over the next few weeks...

Clarkson, Captain Slow and The Hamster

I'm not especially into cars and can't confess to being a fan of, or even watch, Top Gear but I couldn't help but go to Stanford Hall today for the Italian Car Concourse.

It was a chance to take the mickey out of my old friend and colleague John 'Alfa Male' Griffiths - and hopefully get a shot or two of him in typical 'pose' - but also Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were there filming for Top Gear.

Firstly, Alfa Male in action:

Then in more recognisable, 'tea-pot', pose:

The Top Gear boys hard at work:

Okay, they were working really:

Oh, and there were some cars there too!