Natasha and Mark’s Wedding, The Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey, Bedfordshire

Posted on January 24, 2012 by Paul
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OK, so I know I’ve been slacking a little recently. Not much on the blog, very little on Facebook – even Tweeting seems to have slid into hibernation for a moment.

However, in the grand tradition of ‘sorry sir, the dog ate my homework’, I do have a bit of an excuse. In fact, far from slacking Sarah, Michelle and I have been working at full tilt to get our new office, gallery and studio up and running (and we’re almost there!) As soon as we have our new framed images adorning the walls, we’ll share some photos but in the meantime, please accept my apologies for the distinct lack of social chit chat.

So, to only the second blog of 2012.

Natasha and Mark’s wedding was the last of 2011 and brought a fantastic close to the best year of photography we’ve ever had.

Shot right at the end of December, with suitably chilly and inclement weather accompanying the day, this turned out to be a simply stunning day. Mind you, I knew that both Natasha and Mark would photograph well given their engagement session but somehow the fact that it was a proper wintery day added a degree of Jane Austen magic to the precedings! The breathtaking Woburn Abbey as a backdrop did much to accentuate that feeling!

Cold? Yup. Wet? Oh yes. Stunning? Absolutely. What a great day to close out 2011 and what a great wedding to write about at the beginning of 2012!

Enjoy!

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Happy New Year (and a quick request!)

Posted on January 1, 2012 by Paul
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Well hello 2012, it’s finally arrived! Woohoo! Happy New Year to you all!

2011 has been monumentally successful for us on every level and I am not sure how 2012 could be more exciting or rewarding though as I sit and write this I am, of course, hopeful that it will be! Yes, I absolutely want my cake and eat it! We have so much news to tell it’s unreal from our new gallery and office, to our involvement with the London 2012 Olympics (no, I am not going to be competing in the synchronised swimming) and the stunning weddings we have in the diary at some of the UK’s most exquisite venues. But all that is for later posts as, frankly, it’s New Year’s Day and I am, well, beginning to flag just a little. Maybe it was the late night, maybe it was the champagne. Either way all that news can wait.

Tonight’s blog is about a resolution I made last year: to run the London 2012 Marathon on behalf of the Hearing Dogs charity. Well, that is still very much on the cards and now that our crazy end-of-season has subsided I am thinking very much about it again – and so I thought I’d give a quick update, something I will be doing much more of from now on.

So, a good place to start is with this guy, Chris Fensom – my ever-patient trainer. Funnily enough it was during the shoot for this magazine image back in March of 2011 that we got chatting about the marathon and I discovered that not only is Chris a formidable martial arts champion (cage fighting to be precise) but is also one of the best personal trainers around. And if ever you were going to listen to what someone is telling you to do (and much of what he is telling you to do hurts!), best choose someone who you wouldn’t argue with. Though I do admit I swear at him a little more than is prudent given his physique. But there’s the twist, Chris is not only one of the fittest and most talented coaches/fighters I have ever met but he is also one of the nicest guys you could possibly work with. Well, most of the time.

Will he manage to keep me on track for the marathon? Oh yes, and whatever happens, my body will never be quite the same again!

And for our eagle-eyed regulars on the blog, this is the same Chris who’s stunning wedding to Julia we photographed late last year :)

We are raising money in various ways and we would love it if you would help sponsor me and help support the Hearing Dogs – one easy way is to click here: JustGiving - Sponsor me now!

Alternatively, you can text ‘PWPH99′ to the number 70070 with the amount you’d like to donate (e.g. £5).

I know this is never the time of year when people have lots of money but hey, maybe one of your New Year Resolutions was to support someone who’s daft enough, in his forties, to decide to run 26 and a bit miles in aid of charity. Maybe I can help you fulfil that resolution!

Thank you!

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Santa Card – The Movie

Posted on December 21, 2011 by Paul
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Thank you to everyone who asked us how we created this year’s Christmas card.

Every year we have a bit of a challenge to come up with a) something we haven’t done before and b) something people will like to put on their mantelpiece. This year was a little more tricky than usual in that we set ourselves the additional (and not trivial) task of making sure that the new gallery and office of ours figured in the message somehow. You gotta love marketing!

So, after a LOT of chewed pens, sketches, test images, more pens, more test images, we came up with the idea of ‘all our Christmases have come at once’ referring, of course, to the new gallery and office of ours which we talk about (a lot) in the New Year.

So one crisp, cold Sunday afternoon came the challenge of actually shooting something.

And this is how we did it.

Enjoy!

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Coral and Friends, White Leaf Cross, Bucks

Posted on November 24, 2011 by Paul
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Three Girls by Paul Wilkinson Photography



Via Flickr:
Tripped over this while sorting through our archive – taken back in 2006 on my D200 (lovely camera – and for the money? Priceless!) as part of a test shoot for an album cover I was shooting for a band. It’s better than I had remembered!
Tech: Nikon D200, Nikon , ¹⁄₃₅₀ sec at f/6.3, Lens at 157 mm, ISO160

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Laura & Rob’s 1st Anniversary Shoot, Haddenham

Posted on November 22, 2011 by Paul
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“Why are you enjoying this season so much, Paul?” I hear you all ask.

“Well, how nice of you to enquire,” I reply, “It is for many and various reasons that this season has, in fact, been one of the most exciting since we set the business up.”

“Really? Do tell!”

“OK, if you have a moment, then let me give you the briefest of overviews.” I ease back and make myself comfortable in the chair. Brief is not usually a word I’d use to describe my ramblings. But, hey, you did ask.

“We have had some of the coolest, most exciting clients this year,” I begin, “ranging from Cadbury to Hearing Dogs, from The Royal Institution of Great Britain to Equitable Life, from Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons to The Crazy Bear Group.”

I can see from your engaged expression that you’re now hooked as I warm to the topic.

“And beyond those familiar names, are the personal clients who we’ve had so much fun with. Our wonderful wedding clients with their gorgeous images all bound up in sumptuous hand-made leather albums; our more fashiony clients who have let us be truly creative with outfits and locations; our bradn-new-parents who have arrived with their most precious new arrivals to create images that just make you want to go ‘ah’ and our lifestyle clients taking home wall art of gorgeous family pictures.”

“Could you give me an example?” you ask, now full of obvious curiosity.

“OK.” I contemplate for a moment as I consider which story to tell. Eventually, with a smile, I recount the story of a beautiful shoot in Haddenham.

“Take Laura & Rob, for example, they came to us to have shoot on their 1st anniversary. A perfect excuse if you ask me.” I take a sip of tea and pause for effect. “Well, they were a lovely couple – and, helpfully from a photographer’s point of view, they were really good looking too! The shoot was in the Turn End Garden in Haddenham – one of our new locations that we having a huge amount of success with – and the weather was simply perfect for this time of year! We wandered through the garden chatting and capturing images before finishing off in our most salubrious of locations: The High Street.”

“And how did the images turn out? Where they good?” I can hear the anticipation now in your voice.

“I though you might ask, so I’ve put some just here for you to have a look at. I think they’re gorgeous, though of course I would say that. And it was great fun to do!”

You smile. I suspect I have talked too much as usual. But, as I leave, I notice you’re flicking through the images, unable to resist.

I love what I do for a living.

Even if I do talk too much.

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Chris & Julia’s Wedding, Oxfordshire

Posted on November 11, 2011 by Paul
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I’d like to introduce you to two people who we like rather a lot round here – Julia and Chris. Of course, we like all of our clients many and varied as they are, but we’ve know these guys for a long time now ever since I first photographed Julia along with her siblings for their band’s CD cover. Now there’s a bit of serendipity for you – one CD cover, three weddings, one modelling shoot, one baby package and two magazine feature spreads later and we’re still working with them all! I guess we’re doing something right then.

Chris is also a remarkably gifted fitness and Karate instructor (obviously, as he’s our fitness instructor – as well as our son’s Karate instructor – then I have to be nice about him!) so if you’re ever looking for someone who, in the nicest possible way, will make you do things you didn’t think were possible (or advisable!) then he’s your guy!

Anyway, to the wedding. Well what can I say? Having photographed both Julia and Chris several times previously, I knew it wasn’t going to be difficult. And it wasn’t. Far from it.

They are so clearly made for each other and that screams out from the images. Best friends and in love. And given the unprecedented weather we had in October this year, the light we had to work with was stunning – which helps a little, at least from a photographer’s point of view! Add to that a wonderful crowd of people, many of whom we knew and it was always going to be an amazing day for us.

Even when the light had gone, everyone was still up for capturing some more images so we grabbed our faithful video light and ploughed on. Perfect.

I absolutely loved photographing this wedding. You can tell. You can see it in the images.

Let us know what you think.

Cheers
P.

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Master Photography Magazine Feature

Posted on November 10, 2011 by Paul
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I am never quite sure how to react when someone writes something really glowing about us – a heady mix of excitement and blushing I think, particularly when it’s as glowing as this article!

I am hugely proud of our images and, more than that, the level of service we offer our clients – and this feature article, beautifully penned by the MPA’s David Kilpatrick, that has just appeared in The Master Photography Magazine seems to agree!

Have a read and see what you think!

Take care
Cheers
P.

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Nicky, Charlie & Jamie

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Michelle
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Just wanted to post an image that I remember seeing of Nicky and her two boys.
What a beautiful picture.

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Sarah and Richard’s Wedding, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons, Oxfordshire

Posted on November 8, 2011 by Paul
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I have utterly loved our weddings this year – it’s been a fantastic 12 months from both a business and creative point of view. And we have met some amazing people along the way! We have even been lucky enough to have sidestepped the worst of the inclement weather (and, when it did rain, we managed to create some really beautiful images under umbrellas!)

And so it comes to this part of the year when, traditionally, things quieten down on the betrothal front – though we do still have a few in this year’s chock-full diary – and we spend much of our time meeting our couples, selecting images and designing our bespoke albums. And this is every bit as much fun as the wedding itself!

Richard and Sarah’s wedding was stunning. The sun shone, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons was, well, Le Manoir aux Quat’Saisons (perfect) and the Oxfordshire was a fantastic backdrop for their evenings entertainment right up to the fireworks. Real fireworks that is, it’s not a euphemism…

Can’t wait to show them the full set!

Let us know what you think

Cheers
P.

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Prom

Posted on November 7, 2011 by Paul
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Prom by Paul Wilkinson Photography



Just tripped over this lovely image while sorting out some of our back catalog (of which there are hundreds of thousands of images!) and it kind of stood out for me. Don’t know why – there is something about the girl’s expression and the gentle light that just appeals.

It was shot at a prom (not something we do very much of except to support our local schools – this one was the brilliant school our daughter goes to – the Sir Henry Floyd Grammar in Aylesbury)

Up to this point, everything had been shot on a (predictably) white background but I turned the backlights off and shot this portrait just using the primary light – an Elinchrom 400FX with a 6ft Octa on it. Lovely.

Tech: Nikon D3X, Nikon 50 mm f/1.8, ¹⁄₁₂₅ sec at f/14, Lens at 50 mm, ISO100

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