Abbie

A couple of days ago it was up to Cripwell Farm in North Leicestershire to meet up with Abbie.

I took a couple of wedding dresses (!) and went up with Northampton based photographer Sarah Vivienne for a fun shoot using the farm and stables for a bit of variety. With blustery wind and constant changes in the weather - one minute bright sunshine, the next pouring rain - we had great fun, especially with the billowing veil.

Here's a small selection of images











Abbie, you were a natural, and I can't believe that you haven't done anything like this before!

If you go down to the woods today...

... you probably won't have as great a shoot as I had at this morning's bridal shoot with Ellen.

This was at a location that I've been wanting to try for a little while; a rusty, burnt out, old 4x4 hidden away in the woods. The perfect spot for some bridal shots with a bit of an edge to them!

Ellen was a fantastic model, climbing onto the bonnet and the roof of the car for some great shots.

Here's a small selection of my early favourites:

Shooting in a Winter Wonderland

When Sarah Vivienne phoned me yesterday and asked if I fancied a shoot at Rushton Hall in the snow I thought she was mad (!), particularly as the forecast for Monday night/Tuesday morning sounded horrendous and I thought it would be a bit of a challenge getting there.

However...

Monday night's weather was a lot calmer than expected and today has been a gloriously sunny day, with a fantastic blue sky, and enough deep, crisp snow to give the grounds of Rushton Hall a lovely fairytale look.

And, at very short notice, Sarah had rustled up a couple of gorgeous models, Robyn and Lisa, for the shoot, so I'm glad she talked me in to it.

Here are some of my early favourites, starting with Rushton Hall in it's wintery glory:



Robyn:







And Lisa, who ended up as a snow angel, amazing (!):







Big, big thanks to Robyn and Lisa who did a fantastic job in the snow in the new range of thermal wedding dresses (if only!) and to Sarah, for talking me in to it (how could I doubt your sanity...).

More Trash The Dress

Another chance to go out and get a bit of practice and have some fun today when we went out and had a TTD session in and around Market Harborough with Caroline.

We started at the ruined church of St Mary in Arden, near the station, and then wandered around the industrial estates (I'm sure that some of the drivers went by several times in curiosity, particularly when we were shooting Caroline on the back of a Honda motorbike!) before heading into town.

Some early favourites:

And introducing Daisy the dog (gulp!):

Great fun was had by all and the dress may even have survived for another day...

Pure Weddings magazine - Trash The Dress

The autumn edition of Pure Weddings magazine should be hitting the shelves soon, and it features a two page spread with my images from a Trash the Dress (TTD as it's know) session.

Trash the Dress gives the bride (and groom if he wants to get involved) the opportunity to get dressed up again, have a fun shoot, and not be too precious about the dress. It's not really about destroying the dress, it's more of a non-traditional and artistic way of having a fun time and getting some great fashion inspired images. Honest! Otherwise, what happens to the dress? It gets put away safely in a storage box and may never see the light of day again.

All of our brides have the opportunity of a TTD session, and if they really don't want to get their wedding dress a little grubby they can always look for a cheap one on E-bay!

The images featured in Pure Weddings were from a shoot last October in Edinburgh where Nicky and Scott ended up in the sea. It was a bit cold to say the least, but all in the name of TTD.




Weather permitting (i.e. we don't want it to be too good!), we've got some more TTD sessions coming up shortly, one with the promise of a motorbike as a prop.

Watch out for the posts in the next week or so.

Trash the Dress

Today was playtime, and I joined three other photographers at Sywell Country Park near Northampton for a Trash the Dress (TTD) session with the lovely Jess.

If you've never heard of TTD it's a fun shoot, often held a few weeks or months after the wedding, where the bride gets the chance to put on her wedding dress again and she's not too precious about it or worried about getting it a little dirty... The dress isn't necessarily 'trashed' but it's a chance to take some images in an environment far removed from the actual wedding day.

Today's weather was suitably horrible, wet and grey, which just seemed to add to the mood of the shoot.

Here's a selection of the images:















Many, many thanks to Jess for going above and beyond the call of duty, and to Mark Betts for organising.

If any brides fancy a similar session please get in touch.