OK, so that does sound a little ‘sales-y’ but it’s really true! We get just as excited as our clients! We’ve spent a long time finding albums that WE love (this is kind of important – if we don’t love them then how can we expect our clients to?) and the guys we’ve picked really do produce the most beautiful albums in the world. At least in our opinion. Feel free to pop by the studio and have a look!

Anyway, here are just a few spreads from another lovely wedding album (Nancy & Phill’s) at The Crazy Bear near Oxford. Can’t wait to give them the finished product!

Take care
Cheers
P.

Sammie and Gareth are a truly lovely couple and we had a lot of fun on their day (with a copious amount of heckling from the crowd – why is it that someone ALWAYS shouts ‘Health and Safety’ the minute I climb our steps to take the big group shots?!) Just as well it was fantastic really as we’d had it booked for a couple of years – and we were pretty excited about it from the minute they rang us!

Burnham Beeches is a great venue for a big wedding like this as there is plenty of room to play (and loads of locations for photography – not that we really worry too much: we just need a nice patch of light and we’re happy!)

Executive Summary? Lovely couple, gorgeous venue, beautiful weather, friendly crowd (with the odd safety-conscious character for good measure!)

Can’t wait to show them the full set of pictures!

Now, where are my hard-hat, mask and safety glasses. I guess I’d better take them next time…

Take care
Cheers
P.

Yesterday I was awarded my Associateship qualification with the Master Photographer’s Association (MPA). And I am very VERY pleased about it! It’s a good thing. It means we do actually take some great pictures. I’ve always thought we take great pictures but when 7 (or maybe 8 or possibly 6 – frankly the judging process was all a bit of a blur) of your peers say you take great pictures – and are sufficiently convinced to let you stick another set of letters after your name – then great our pictures must be. And I am, if I may be a little candid with you here, very pleased about it! I may have mentioned that already.

Anyway, that’s it, a short blast on a little self-promoting trumpet. I promise to shut up again now. At least for a while. Feel free to tune back into our regular blog!

Take care
Cheers
P.

PS. These are the pictures that we used in the qualifying panel. Enjoy!

So it is with a great deal of excitement (I know, I know, I get excited about all weddings but nonetheless) that we’re photographing Nicola and Alex’s wedding down there. It’s a truly beautiful part of the world – and I couldn’t ask for a nicer couple to be photographing in it!

This was a pre-wedding shoot which we did at their wedding venue and down on the beach at Instow. Ah, it was just like being on holiday. I had a camera, sunshine and a beach – and, unusually, some people who were actually willing, nay paying, to be photographed. OK, I admit, it was a bit weird not having two small(ish) children asking for ice-creams or somewhere to charge their iPods, but momentarily at least, it didn’t feel like working! Still, sand is no respecter of professional status and proceeded to get into every single available part of the camera. How does it do that? I have just cleaned some grains out of the inside of the view finder! How on earth…?

Anyway, a truly lovely session that involved a lot of chat, some stunning locations and, yup you guessed it, a very good cream tea. All is well with the world!

Let us know what you think.

Take care
Cheers
P.

Ever since our first encounter with Tom and Sophie in a bar in Tring (a meeting at which, I should point out, we spent more time laughing than we did going through pictures!), we’ve been looking forward to this day. And it was spectacular to put it mildly.

So many funny moments from the day there are too many to mention – when you bring together a large English family and an equally large Irish contingent, it’s always going to be funny (notice the flying of the Irish Colours above the door – the first time this has ever happened in the building’s 800-year history!)

So a huge thank you to everyone for making this one of those weddings that we will remember for a lifetime – and a particular thank you to Sophie for, even on her own wedding day, cooking possibly the best scrambled eggs we’ve ever had! Apparently the secret is fromage frais. Make of that what you will!

Take care
Cheers
P.

PS. I had to pop back quite late on to pick up some of our kit and found a very exuberant (and pretty decent!) rendition of Irish Rover (I think) being energetically delivered by none other than Tom, the groom, who appeared to have staged a bloodless coup as the band’s lead singer! Brilliant!

This session had been in our diary for ages as a surprise for Kim and Cara’s mum, Jenni. I really hope she wasn’t disappointed when I turned up (I think the girls may have been winding her up about what the surprise was) but we had a really wonderful couple of hours messing around in the most stunning locations.

I’ve worked with Kim quite a bit (she is the manager at The Cotswold Grange in Cheltenham – runs a very tight ship!) and it’s always a pleasure to see her. She’s one of those people who you just can’t help liking and enjoy working with. And, having met her mum now, I can see where she and her sister get it from!

A very entertaining, relaxed session resulting in some very beautiful (and very funny!) images.

Can’t wait to show them the rest of the pictures!

Let us know what you think.

Take care
Cheers
P.

I always feel a little guilty when we have such a good time working at a wedding – our client is, after all, paying for our services. However, everyone was absolutely lovely and we couldn’t have asked for a nicer day!

The only slight glitch was one very small page boy who really did not like being in front of the camera. And no amount of distraction tactic could change that. In the end Kate, our ever-hard-working second camera, had to go on a long run to see if we could gently get a shot of him with the wedding group in the background (something she did pretty well!)

Let us know what you think!

Take care
Cheers
P.

This shoot was absolutely perfect. The weather, the location and, of course, a fantastic client. We chilled, chatted, meandered and captured little bits of magic with the family. Beautiful. My idea of a good day at the office!

Let us know what you think.

Cheers
P.

Anyway, the last time we photographed their family was a few years ago and Grace and Martha were significantly smaller (though no less willing to play to the camera!) and we had an autumn session in the golden leaves of Wendover. This session, however, was on a sultry summer’s Sunday afternoon – even up in the expected cool of the woods above Marlow Bottom it was still sweltering – but the speckled light drifting down through the canopy was beautiful.

A really gentle sociable session with a family who are lovely to be around (even the pet pooch was laid back!)

Let us know what you think

Cheers
P.

But, down here at least, it’s been, well, one of the nicest summer seasons I can remember.

And it’s not just the gloriously atypical weather that’s made it so good for us – though, clearly, it has helped just a tad – no, it’s been as much the variety of lovely clients and locations that have made it such a ball. I realise I sound like I’m on some kind of ‘happy pills’ (I always feel like we have the best clients ever) but I do think this year will be a classic for us!

This session was a case in point. Tiffany is the sister of Shaun, the groom whose astounding wedding we photographed in the Dordogne last year but who, sadly, couldn’t attend the ceremony as she was very heavily pregnant with her first baby, Iris. So it was with some excitement that I made my way down to deepest Hampshire to capture some images of the two of them.

The weather? Scorching (as it had been all week) which makes it a little more of a challenge with small babies as you can’t simply plonk them out in the middle of a sunny lawn and hope for the best. Not that we would anyway, of course, as this wouldn’t create the most interesting pictures. Luckily Tiffany’s garden was full of walkways and shady avenues that we could work in – as well as a gorgeous country house that was simply full of the most resplendent light.

And, as if things couldn’t be any better, both mother and daughter (and faithful mutt for that matter!) were supremely chilled and happy to be photographed as much as I was thrilled to be there!

If the summer continues like this we’re going to have an absolute nightmare picking out images for 2010′s portfolio!

Life couldn’t be better!