Archive for June, 2008
Sophie & Friends
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 30th, 2008
Another fantastic friends-shoot (and yet another bout of hay-fever!)
I love getting photos out in the grass at this time of year but it does mean I have a permanent relationship with Benadryl (as the BBC would say, there are other antihistamines on the market – it’s just that they send me to sleep, instantly and irrevocably!), however, it’s worth it.
Sophie asked us a while ago if we would photograph her and her mates for her birthday – who would say no? As ever, though, when doing a shoot like this, I am a little apprehensive as I am never quite sure what to expect but, unsurprisingly given Sophie’s character, her friends were brilliant!
For this shoot we wanted to both capture the kind of images we’re well known for (that’s why people come to us in the first place) and something just a little bit different. So, after a quick hunt around, we were very kindly 
allowed to use a couple of industrial units in which another client of ours stores scrap metal (and the odd forklift or two). So, after a careful briefing on safety (just in case our insurance company is reading this of course!) we spent a very happy couple of hours capturing images that are just a little different to the norm. Fantastic. I have no doubt at all that one or two of these are headed for our portfolio.
One thing I really love is when people change their outfits as we go through the shoot and it’s something we really encourage as it dramatically increases the variety of images from which to choose the final images. These guys did exactly that and, coupled with the change in location, it means there are plenty of different looks to choose from which is great.
Easy shoot. Lots of laughing. My type of day.
These are just a few of the images we captured – let us know what you think!
Rachel & Matt
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 28th, 2008
I like the Oxfordshire Golf Club. It has a nice atmosphere about it and (apparently – I don’t know much about golf) it’s one of the top courses around. I would have to say that my experience of it is that it’s always one of the most windy. Seriously, the wind whips over the top of the hill and takes anything in its path with it.
Matt is one of the managers up there – I’ve bumped into him on various occasions while I’ve been photographing weddings and balls (funnily I was up there again last night – more in a later blog) and through that we’re going to be photographing his wedding. Brilliant!
We held the pre-wedding shoot on possibly the windiest day I’ve ever known in June. It wasn’t just breezy, it was blowing a gale! Even Yahoo! weather had a little symbol of autumn leaves being blown around – definitely weird for this time of year. Still, we had the run of one of Britain’s top courses and the sun was shining which was just amazing. Being able to sit a couple on a golf green in the evening sun with no danger of being knocked unconscious by a small white ball was just brilliant.
I love these photos. There is something really chilled about them – says a lot about both Matt and Rachel who are both really easy going and seemed really comfortable with whatever I threw at them. Ignoring the fact it was sometimes like taking photographs in a wind tunnel, the only fly in the ointment is that both Matt and I suffer from hay-fever. And if there was ever a venue guaranteed to leave my eyes streaming for the rest of the week, this would be it. I know Matt had been dosing up to the limits in the days preceding the shoot to try and keep it under control – possibly an additional factor as to his chilled nature!
Anyway, back to the photos. Great shoot, fantastic light, really lovely couple (who photograph just brilliantly!), amazing location. Heaven. Can’t wait till the day itself! Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Jenna & Friends
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 26th, 2008
It’s that time of year when the 5th form comes to an end. OK, so I admit I’m old enough that our O levels were in 5th form and then, bizarrely, we spent two years in 6th form before we did our ‘A’s – not the current exceedingly logical, but exceedingly dull system of starting your school life in year 1 and finishing in er… some years later. Oh no – we had the unparalleled excitement of being in Junior School Years 1-5 followed by Secondary School Forms 1-6 (parts i and ii) and consequently never being quite sure how long was left. A veritable lifetime inevitably.
So it’s that time!
Wimbledon, Glastonbury, the end of another Dr. Who series (does anyone have a clue what’s going on in the current two-part episode? weird.), chronic hayfever (is it just me or is it a particularly bad season this year?), the Haddenham beer festival (we’re sponsoring a barrel of beer this year – it’s called “Snapshot” and I’d appreciate everyone trying it and emailing us with your thoughts) and the moment when groups of friends who have been together for a long time head toward the first real possibility they may start to go off in different directions after their GCSE’s. Oh, and most importanly for Jenna at least, it’s her birthday!
This shoot was with one such group of friends who clubbed together to buy the session as a birthday present for Jenna – very cool present! Mind you, I would say that…
For those of you with photographic memory (and are nosey enough to have been watching the blog regularly of course) you might recognise Rory, who we’ve worked with previously, in this session.
It was an absolute ball. There is nothing I like more, except possibly a nice cool pint next to a sun-kissed beach of course with palm trees and the gentle sound of lapping water, than spending a beautiful sunny day capturing images and having a laugh. It’s all good.
Everyone seemed to be up for it and we have a load of fantastic photos – would make a great book! Myself and Sarah have been arguing over what our favourites are as it’s hard to choose from this session – let us know what you think!
Incidentally, does anyone actually read my daily, well, almost daily, ramblings or does everyone just cut to the photos?
Anna-Maria and Neville
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 23rd, 2008
‘Tis the season to be jolly…. Well it is if you’re a photographer anyway.
We’re buzzing now with the wedding season in full swing and lots of sessions of one sort or another taking advantage of the uncharacteristically nice weather (yes, I know it is June, but given last summer we take nothing for granted!) Touch wood the weather stays this way through the rest of the season!
We met Anna-Maria and Neville a couple of months ago as they had been recommended to us and I have to say I’m really glad someone pointed them in our direction ’cause it’s going to be a really interesting wedding to photograph (with just 13 guests, it’s going to be very exclusive!) and both Anna-Maria and Neville are just nice people to be around!
The ceremony is going to be in Ilmer church, followed by the reception at Anna-Maria’s brother’s converted barn which just couldn’t be better! The church is absolutely beautiful – possibly the smallest that we will ever have covered which is absolutely in keeping with day. For anyone who hasn’t been to Ilmer (it’s at the very end of a road that leads, well, to Ilmer) it’s very much the quintessential picturesque English village.
We shot some really cool images during the pre-wedding session a week or so ago. Both Anna-Maria and Nevile photograph really well so you just know it’s going to be a wedding that will produce a stunning album (and quite unusual with the setting and the restricted guest list.)
Really looking forward to it! Do I sometimes sound more like an excited guest than a photographer?!!
Jess & Dan’s Wedding
Posted by Paul in For Website, Weddings on June 12th, 2008
It’s been a fantastic week photographically speaking (and here’s hoping there are many more to follow!)
Jess and Dan’s wedding was a real excitement for us – not only have we known Jess for nearly 10 years but both our kids (Jake and Harriet) were pageboy and bridesmaid respectively (and both Sarah and I were guests – something of a rarity for us!)
However, exciting as it may have been, being part guest, part photographer is always something of a double-edged sword. I reckon I am possibly the worst wedding guest on the planet, constantly leaping up to grab a shot I’ve seen or to check what the light is like outside. Must be a nightmare to sit with at the table (I know Sarah finds it hugely frustrating when, half-way through an interesting conversation I’ll suddenly leave her muttering something about having seen a perfect shot!)
Anyway, irrespective of my complete disregard of conventional table manners (I do apologise to Joss and Sue who I was sitting next to for at least some of the time), we had a brilliant time and captured hundreds of beautiful images. And hopefully, I didn’t offend too many people by constantly leaving them mid-flow.
The only slight glitch in my day was, on arriving to photograph the bridal party getting ready, I was met by my little girl looking a million dollars in her bridesmaid’s dress and a simple tiara. I couldn’t help myself. The sight of her looking soooo radiant (and several years older than she normally would!) choked me completely and I had to take a moment before I could take a shot. Kids huh? They just get you don’t they? Now I know how some of our clients must feel when I show them the images of their family.
Once I’d managed to get a grip (didn’t take long – Harriet just looked at me in utter disbelief) we had a day of capturing lovely moments. It was such a relaxed and informal day (even the service was a really chilled affair!) – that we have hundreds of pictures of people just laughing and having a fantastic time! Everything that wedding photography should be.
Nigel & Vanessa’s Blessing
Posted by Paul in For Website, Weddings on June 10th, 2008
Ah bliss. There is nothing more exicting to photograph than a really good wedding or, in this case, blessing. And one that translates into gorgeous images of course.
Everything about Nigel and Vanessa’s blessing was stunning – from the exquisite location to the fact that almost everything about the day had been achieved through a network of friends and relatives (even the amazing venue had been kindly donated by a friend – now that’s true friendship!) Somehow that just made everything all the more special.
We’ve been friends with Nige and Ness for a lot of years now and were hugely flattered to be asked if we would photograph their blessing. We have photographed them previously as a family, creating one of our most memorable sets of images to date and were very excited about the prospect of their big day and were not to be dissapointed. Stunning.
The sun shone, the alchohol flowed, there was laughter, the alchohol flowed, there were tears, the sun continued to shine, still more alchohol flowed. An awesome day.
There are so many moments that I could talk about that it’s difficult to know exactly where to start. So let’s start with the speeches. There were tears. Seriously. Lots of tears. It was so abundently clear that Nige and Ness (along with their kids Joe and Nya – we have some great photos of these two mini-me’s!) are seemingly loved by everyone who has met them. Every speech brought this home – including two from close friends of Ness – and, although the best men, Steve & Ian, gently poked fun at Nigel it was all done with no small degree of affection (ahem - in a very manly way of course chaps).
The blessing itself was held at the end of a line of a walk of lime trees which was the most sublime summer’s setting. Justine (Ness’ friend who owned the venue) I know had spent a very happy day trimming back the branches so we could get underneath the trees. Her efforts did not go in vain however, as the location for the ceremony was something else.
The images we have captured reflect a gorgeous summer’s day celebration of an immensely popular and loved family. I couldn’t ask for more than that.
It’s raining, it’s pouring…
Posted by Paul in For Website, General on June 4th, 2008
OK, so this post is simply a quick one to plug the fact that sometimes it pays to have the best equipment there is.
If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between semi-pro and pro gear, Monday was where it showed. We have always invested heavily in our equipment and my faithful Nikon D3 and 70-200VR lens (both top of the range professional bits of kit with unfortunately hefty price tags to go with them) proved their worth. Toward the end of Clare and Matt’s the wedding, the rain came clattering down and both me and the equipment got absolutely soaked (and I do mean soaked). And all without so much as a murmur (well, my equipment didn’t moan anyway…)
Just as well as I would have missed some of the really cool and romantic wedding shots had I been worrying about keeping my gear dry.
So take note when someone informs you that you don’t need the best equipment (and not just the best equipment but backup cameras and lenses as well) to be a professional photographer: they may well be right for 90% of the time (it is, after all, the photographer NOT the equipment that sees and captures the magic of a moment) but what about that extraordinary 10% like Monday? The equipment wasn’t a concern even for a second – and that, I think, is the way it should be.
Clare & Matt’s Wedding
Posted by Paul in For Website, Weddings on June 4th, 2008
Did I miss something? Has Rhianna released a 2008 remix of “Under my umber-rella ella ay ay” or something? A couple of my clients have just been over to our studio muttering that roads are shut through flooding! Blimey, it’s June! Please, not another summer of Rain ‘n’ Rhianna…
There are sooooo many areas of photography I could have chosen – indoor studio portraits; Venture (cough) -style; interior-design photography even product photography – and so, bearing in mind our location, what did I decide to specialise in? Yup, environmental social photography. A.K.A. outdoors-and-often-getting-wet photography.
I do have to come clean and admit to not really minding the weather one bit – and to thoroughly enjoying Clare & Matt’s wedding which went without too much precipitative interruption. At least, that was until it came to capturing the post-wedding ever-so-romantic shots of the newly-weds: just me, the Happy Couple and two of Le Manoir’s finest umbrellas then. Luckily, neither Clare and Matt seemed to notice the rain (isn’t that a line from Four Weddings?). Seriously, they just seemed to be totally caught up in the moment! In the film, of course, a horribly corny moment (come on, it’s the only bad scene in the entire thing) but in this case, it was so genuinely romantic! Consequently, we have some truly beautiful images of the two of them together – even though it was bouncing down around them – and Clare and Matt possibly have stories to tell over dinner!
Le Manoir is cluttered with intriguing hidden-away gems to photograph and, looking on the bright side, I think the inclement weather has helped create some images that are not the stereotypical Le Manoir shots we’ve probably all seen before. Admittedly, Clare and Matt do look momentarily like they might be getting married in a far-off tropical rainforest…
Anyway, this wedding was absolutely amazing – both to be at and to photograph – as it was a truly small and intimate affair involving two really nice families in one of the world’s most salubrious venues. In fact this was – and by far, I should add – the single most exclusive wedding I’ve had the pleasure of capturing. With so few people in fact, my biggest concern was trying not to be quite as talkative as normal. I suspect I only partly succeeded on this front as, anyone who knows me will attest, I fear I am not averse to chatting with anyone who will listen. And a good proportion of those who won’t listen as well. Still, judging from the really nice text message from the bride’s mother this morning, no-one seemed to mind too much.
Doesn’t get much better than that – whatever the weather.
Deborah, Jonathan & Alice
Posted by Paul in For Website, General on June 1st, 2008
Apologies to anyone keeping an eye on the blog and wondering what order I’m posting things – ideally the posts should always be in chronological order however, we’ve just been away this week and it’s somewhat messed up my system (I kept on top of things from a hotel lobby in Spain – one euro per 10 minutes!) but I didn’t quite manage to get this post up in time which is a shame ’cause it was a shoot that I really wanted to show everyone!
I photographed Deborah, Jonathan and Alice (and the two canine family members, Lucy and Sam) up at Coombe Hill on the most gorgeous hot and sunny afternoon. Blooming lovely – the indigo and violet curtain call of this season’s Bluebells, dappled light drifting lazily through the new leaves and the dulcet tones of people yelling “Rover come, come. Rover, ROVER, ROOOOVVVVVEEERRR”. Ah, halcyon days indeed.
Anyway, the stage was set for capturing magical images and we were not to be disappointed. Alice in particular was, to put it frankly, an absolute star.
Whatever shot we were trying to get, she tirelessly worked the camera throughout the session. I don’t think was much that she couldn’t do, from those heart-warming grins that would melt any parents heart to the more serious expressions with real depth behind the eyes that will translate into framed pictures that seemingly magnetically draw you in. And all of it done as if it were the most natural thing in the world. Just stunning.
Our approach for capturing images that are relaxed and informal is, funnily enough, to purposely make the session relaxed and informal (with a big pot of invigorating tea midway through – well, we are in England after all) however, you can clearly see in the images that a small degree of staging (I prefer the term to ‘posing’) is used to structure whatever look we’re searching for. And, with Alice’s ability to translate requests into different looks and poses, and a remarkable confidence in front of the camera – along with particularly unnerving enthusiasm for climbing trees – we have a load of gorgeous images.
Other than to fill an album, I really am not sure how we’ll whittle this lot down!
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