Wow! I tell you what, I hope I am as healthy and happy as Meme appeared to be on her 90th!

A really fantastic couple of hours spent over in Godalming photographing a wonderful birthday celebration. The house (as it was last time I was there, photographing Justine and her family) is still stunning and the weather was, yet again, gorgeous. Some people are blessed I reckon!

Had a ball shooting this event as everyone was there to relax and have a great time. Mission accomplished by the look of things!

The food and the catering looked mouthwatering to put it mildly. It was all laid on by Gilly and her team from The Great Big Event Company (including a very amiable and gifted chef brought in specially from London). It was truly a spread fit for the occasion! The last images I captured before packing up the gear were of a room full of people enjoying a fabulous spread in each others company. Perfect.

Let me know what you think.
Cheers
P.

I dooooo like a good party. Particularly when it’s a group of people I know and like being with – and this is one of those groups of people. Just lovely.

This was Catharine and Jon’s engagement celebration (with just a hint of Catharine’s birthday thrown in for good measure) with their family and it was an absolute ball!

Jon proposed to Catharine in Italy, on bended knee and with an applauding (or, more probably, a-whooping-and-a-hollering) American audience by all accounts. Romantic fool. Puts the rest of us to shame.

Still, I do love the small role that we play in all this – capturing timeless images of families, kids and couples that leaves a wonderful legacy to stay with people for a great many years. At least, that’s my view. Admittedly, I may be just a little biased!

It’s always fun shooting a family gathering as we can get some really nice images out of it without necessarily having to stage the setting in any way. Though, of course, some of these photos are clearly a little more posed than others, they’re still really chilled and natural. And, these types of shots make really beautiful small coffee-table books to relive those moments over and over (or possibly bore your friends with over and over!)

On top of all that, everyone made me feel unbelievably welcome and Catharine’s mum played a wide and varied selection of music from the er… 80’s. Now THAT’s What I Call A Shoot!

Cheers
P.

One of my favourite events of the year (and not for the reasons you might expect – although I do admit I don’t object to an occassional pint!) is the Haddenham Real Ale Festival.

Our home town of Haddenham is an almost perfect location to live (I believe we have the distinction of being voted one of the most desirable places to live in the UK); it is unbelievably picturesque and, more importantly, has a fantastic community spirit. And its brilliant when everyone comes together for one of the numerous village events – of which, I think this is by far the most enjoyable!

This year the sun shone and the place was packed. Awesome. Even with over 60 barrels of ale and numerous ciders/perries/pimms, it was still running out around when we left around 6pm. This has become somewhat of a tradition (if not a challenge!) with the festival – even though the number of barrels has increased dramatically over the years, so has the size of the crowd!

This year we sponsored one of the ales – “Snapshot” which I have to say was a really lovely beer. We sponsored it for the name of course, so the fact that it was an award-winning beer was somewhat of a surprise bonus.

So another great year for the beer festival (they pump all the profits back into village projects which is awesome) and another great community event.

Here’s looking forward to the winter festival!

I wouldn’t describe myself as an event photographer. The idea of instant selection and printing smacks too much of Alton Towers for me (though don’t get me wrong here, I’m as partial to an instant photograph of me looking green and screaming my head off with my kids as much the next person) and this is really not what we’re about.

I’m very proud of the quality of imagery and product that we produce and consequently have shied away from the instantaneous sale that seems so prevailant at balls and events.

What I really like is to take time over each image to create something that is unique and will last a lifetime. OK, so possibly a little self-indulgent but you get my drift. This quality is something we’re continually working on to ensure we always deliver the best that we are able. When you see one of our prints you should a) instantly know it’s one of ours and b) be absolutely confident that you’ve bought something to be proud of for a very long time to come.

But here’s the thing.

We are, like all photography outfits, frequently asked to photograph at events and balls. If, and only if, it’s for a cause I really believe in or it’s related to a client who has been a friend of our business, we might just agree to it. Provided, of course, we can still create the same level of service as we would, say, at a wedding. Something that we can be proud of.

The Sir Henry Floyd School Prom is one of those events. Both Coral and Rory (you don’t have to look far down our blog to find pictures of them – they’re both friends to the business and, through that, to us personally) attended this school. Originally as a favour last year to Coral, we photographed their 2007 prom and, subsequently, we’ve done the same this year for Rory. This time at The Oxfordshire Golf Club – a favourite venue for us. And, just like last year, this year has been an absolutely ball – if you’ll forgive the pun.

We still didn’t provide instant photos though.

Instead, I shot throughout the evening using a huge white backdrop and a handful of lights – and I just captured images as if I were in our studio – but with the added benefit of a full soundsystem pounding away and 150 people seemingly trying to get in front of the camera all at once! By the way, if anyone would like to post the name of the DJ I’ll happily put them up ’cause he was awesome (as he was last year at the same gig).

The images are then provided for sale exactly as they would have been from, say, one of our weddings or portrait sessions. That way, when an image is ordered, we can provide exactly the same high level of quality that I would for any other session – admittedly this doesn’t provide that instant gratification of being able to take home a cheap print on the night (usually battered and covered in champagne mind you) but it does mean you get a beautiful mounted print that you can enjoy for a lot of years to come.

Which is exactly the way it should be!

Here are just a few of my favourite images from the night. Let us know what you think.

OK. It does have to be said, as far as blogging goes, we have a long way to go. Apologies to anyone who regularly stops by to have a look and has noticed not much has changed in the past week or so. I have to be honest I’ve been out doing what I love the most – capturing images. Very cool, but doesn’t help me sit and keep the blog up to date.

Anyway, this shoot was one we did two weeks ago now and was for a family I’m happy to say we’ve done quite a bit with and I really enjoy being around – the Astons. This was Margaret and Martin’s 50th Wedding Anniversary (huge congratulations btw!) and to celebrate they had a fantastic bash in the Judge’s Lodgings in Aylesbury.

Now, on the outside, this doesn’t look the most beautiful building but on the inside…

I love being around this kind of event as, although I’m working, everyone always makes me feel really welcome and I have to say a huge thank you to all the guys at the venue who were working alongside me as they very kindly looked out for me – as well as kept me entertained with stories of the building’s various ghosts!

I have photographed quite a few of the guests before and it was really nice to see everyone again. I know, I know, it sounds weird, but it’s always nice to have people you have a little familiarity with while you’re working – and it also helps in that people trust my photography having been in front of my lens previously.

So, all in all, a fantastic, emotional evening in which everyone looked to be having a really memorable evening – and if you ever want a lesson in romantic speeches, I reckon Martin is your man. Not a dry eye in the house – though some tears were definitely from laughing! Just brilliant.

Well, this one is fairly unusual for us. It’s not everyday we cover a football match!

This was the final of the R.J. Gibbs Cup between St Bernard’s Grammar School and Aylesbury Grammar School held at Bisham Abbey National Sports Centre (quite a place btw). I have to admit that the images are completely and unashamedly biased as we were commissioned by the Aylesbury team captain – so apologies to anyone reading this from the opposition!

Now anyone who knows me will appreciate that I am not quite as fit as I used to be but, with the help of a very long lens, I managed to get most of the action at both ends without having to clatter past the small but vocal crowd. The light wasn’t wonderful (pah – you can tell I’m a photographer not a footballer!) but I reckon the photos look good in spite of the weather.

To my untrained eye, it was a hell of a match with the Aylesbury GS team clearly – and I mean clearly – out in front. However, with just a couple of, how shall I put this, undecipherable decisions by one of the men in black…

…they lost. Just.

Well, by 3-0. Which is a seriously unfair result as they really were the stronger, faster, more disciplined, athletic, coherent and more photogenic team!

Enjoy.