Posts Tagged lifestyle portraiture
Ben & Barbara’s pre-wedding session in Southampton
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on March 2nd, 2010
Is it just me, or do I appear to laugh for a living?
I don’t mean to sound criminally chirpy (believe me I’m really not – I do like to think I have a cool, dark and mysterious side though, admittedly, I could be well wide of the mark here) but there aren’t many things that make me happier than being out with a client and a camera. Being with my family is top of the list of course, just ahead of photography and closely followed by (in no particular order) Guinness; roast dinners; curry; snowboarding; skiing; loud music (Lady Gaga’s Fame Monster 2009 sounds pretty good at the moment with the volume pumped way too high); a hot beach (to be precise, a good book with a beer on a hot beach); Single Malt; mountain biking and maybe just a little traveling around the globe thrown in for good measure.
Actually, that now sounds like a very very corny CV. Still, it’s irrelevant as we’re working flat out at the moment and photography is pretty much the only thing I get to do. It’s a good job it’s high on the list then!
Ben and Barbara had the full force of me being chipper I’m afraid. I can’t help it. The weather for this, their pre-wedding shoot, was dire, but they’re very funny to be around so we just laughed a lot. And occasionally stopped to take a picture or two. Both Ben and Barbara (‘Bird’ to her friends – I had to refrain from using her nickname as if anyone overheard me pointing a camera and saying ‘that’s it Bird, you look perfect’…) are ultra-fit. I don’t mean kinda normal go-to-the-gym-once-a-week-and-play-squash-when-I-can-be-bothered sort of fit. I mean international yachtswoman (Barbara) and alpine mountain bike guide (Ben) fit. Which left me feeling embarrassingly out of shape. Still, I can take a good picture so, given both Ben and Bird are into their photography, maybe they forgave the eagerness with which I accepted a cup of tea after a couple of hours’ shooting!
It’s really nice when our clients are fun to be with like this. Makes the trip down to Southampton completely worthwhile. Even in the pouring rain.
Loved the shoot, love the images, can’t wait until the wedding!
Amy & Jonny: Pre-Wedding shoot at Wendover Woods, Buckinghamshire
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle, Pre-Wedding on February 21st, 2010
OK, so you may have noticed our titles are quietly getting longer (and distinctly less ’snappy’) well, this is due to a push to help our rankings on web search engines. We recently won a couple more weddings at The Crazy Bear simply because the client searched for ‘Crazy Bear Photography’ and this blog came up on Google’s first page which is always good. We’re also recommended by them which is an additional help of course!
We don’t advertise anywhere (though look out for our new soon-to-be-branded Land Rover Defender!) so it’s always reassuring to hear that people are finding us online as well as through the many recommendations we get. And modifying our cryptic titles to be something a little more, well, useful is just another small step we’re taking!
Anyway, onto the subject of this particular blog: Amy & Jonny’s pre-wedding session at Wendover Woods. This Buckinghamshire setting (d’you see what I did there?!) is almost certainly our most-visited location along with Coombe Hill and our home village of Haddenham. I must make an effort to find something more industrial this year for our fashion clients but, well, if you have beautiful locations right on your doorstep then why not go with it?!
The weather wasn’t exactly easy to deal with – but it was suitably dramatic! Although the snow wasn’t sticking, it was coming down at quite a pace for a period!
Amy & Jonny are getting married at Nether Winchendon House later this year and we’re unbelievably excited about working with them both. So early this Saturday before the crowds arrived (actually, given the weather, I’m not sure there’d be much in the way of crowds except for dog-walkers, mountain-bikers and photographers but still) we found ourselves on the hillside of this amazing forest.
The session was brilliant fun (they brought their two very lively pet labradors with them!) and the photos are just what I’d hope for. Lots of character and a lot of fun. Can’t wait for the summer to photograph the whole family in such a wonderful setting as Nether Winchendon. Perfect.
Krystina, Ryan & Jacqueline (with Max & Jet) at Little Marlow
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on January 3rd, 2010
Well, a very happy new year (and new decade) to everyone! As I write this I’m sitting in a particularly early (and consequently deserted) Saturday morning train clattering lazily through a frost-bitten Chiltern landscape into London for the first shoot of 2010 – very excited to be starting the year at a run and the weather is simply gorgeous!
My new year’s resolution this year (actually, just one of my new year’s resolutions. If I’m being honest, of course, there are numerous including the obligatory lose weight, spend more time with my family/friends, sleep more, talk less but hey, who’s counting?) is to get on top of our blog. I should make it clear at this point that I love writing the blog. It’s like talking. But without the requirement that anyone stop and listen. It’s just that it takes time and time seems to be one commodity I never have enough of.
That is, unless, I happen to be sitting on a train whipping past the frozen pastures and woodland of this glorious landscape that we’re blessed with around here in Buckingamshire. Quintessentially English and breathtakingly beautiful. Maybe not as awe-inspiring as my native North Wales, but we really do take this gently curvaceous scenery far too much for granted. And, on a crystal morning like this, it’s tear-jerkingly pretty.
As it was just before Christmas (nice link huh? D’yer see what I did there?) when I set out to photograph Krystina, Ryan and Jacqueline – and two unbelievably well-trained gun-dogs: Max and Jet – on their family farmland above Marlow.
I’m not normally known for photographing animals but we’d been asked to create some images for Christmas presents – and I do like a challenge. And thank goodness or I would have missed some truly unique images.
The weather had been truly awful all week but, for this particular afternoon, the muddy grey December veil lifted briefly to expose that wondrous raking winter sunshine that you only get on a few days of the year. Couple that with three siblings who were fantastic company (no, seriously, we just laughed for two hours!) and two dogs that were the epitome of health and contentment (and, alarmingly, better behaved than my own kids) and we were on for one of those sessions!
Utterly stunning!
Caroline, Ray, Emily and Lily at Coombe Hill
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on September 27th, 2009
Ah, now this was one of those sessions.
The light, the location, the family. It all just fell into place and we had a ball.
Lily was clearly the star of the show and played for the camera from start to finish (it was hard to know when to stop as we could have carried on getting stunning images until it went dark!) but we have really lovely images of everyone both individually and as groups.
One of the reasons we like Coombe Hill so much (apart from the fact that it is generally a very beautiful place to be) is that there is so much variety in which we can capture images, from the grassy area as you go into the National Trust area, to the woodland, to the high almost moor-like area on the top to the deep forested area reminiscent of many a Hollywood Sherwood forest! And to top it all nicely, the last shot was taken in the carpark itself! No opportunity wasted!
Oh, and there’s nearly always an ice-cream van parked up there somewhere which keeps the kids and adults alike happy!
As I said earlier, this was one of those sessions!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
The Krauze Family
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on September 10th, 2009
It’s late and I’m writing a blog.
I’ve just spent a very happy 20 minutes trying to get my head around my own Facebook profile and, much to my embarrassment given my technology background, failed miserably. I think have just asked quite a few people I know (and possibly one or two I have absolutely no knowledge of whatsoever) to be ‘friends’ of mine. If only real life were so easy huh? Just login and say ‘be my friend’. Actually, come to think of it, my boy Jake does exactly that – he simply walks into a situation – any situation – and excitedly makes new friends. Oh for the confidence of youth!
Anyway, unsurprisingly, I’m digressing. Back to the job in hand. (Is it any wonder I get behind with my blogs when I spend so much time talking about anything but the topic I set out to write about?!)
So, where was I? Ah yes, the Krauze family.
I wasn’t sure quite what to expect with this shoot as it was in a location above Nether Winchendon that we’ve never photographed before. I shouldn’t have worried though as the light was beautiful up there and we found an absolute wealth of locations in which to work.
At the end of the day this job is all about the light as that is, technically, all a photo is. A split second of light reflected from whatever it is your capturing. You’ve got to love photography for that utter simplicity.
I love these images for the characters in them though as much as the light. This was a fantastic session, full of energy and life and I think that it shows in the images. And just when I thought we’d caught everything, one of the lads pulled off the perfect ‘Dick Van Dyke’! A good day by anybody’s standards!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Oliver Peyton in St James Park
Posted by Paul in Commercial, For Website on September 8th, 2009
It’s not every day you get to photograph a restaurateur. Particularly not a great one like Oliver Peyton.
I have to admit I wasn’t certain who he was initially but when you real off the fantastic restaurants he’s been responsible for (Mash, Coast, The Atlantic Bar and Grill, Admiralty, The National Gallery dining rooms, Inn the Park – the list goes on) that you know exactly who he is – and I have had many a good night in the venues he’s been responsible for. Ah, those were the days! He’s also one of the judges on the BBC Great British Menu programme so if I ever sat down to watch the telly…
Anyway, I met Oliver at his Inn The Park in St James Park to get some images for use in Owner Manager magazine – the official magazine of the Small Firms Association in Ireland.
Before I had met him, I knew his time was tight but when he arrived 15 minutes late, it rapidly became a shoot that we’d need to complete under a load more pressure than I’d hoped. Still, it was a gorgeous day in a London park so I just sat and soaked up the fantastic atmosphere. All good.
When Oliver bowled up we had an extremely rapid session (I think it lasted a total of 20 minutes) and we created 40 diverse images ranging from the cover image on a black background through to some really enigmatic images of the man himself on the balcony of his restaurant. Fast, yes, but creative. The images have turned out exactly as I would have wished (and they’re now in the magazine) even allowing for it being such a short session.
And Oliver is an absolute character – the man is a live-wire and very funny! So it was 20 minutes of photography with chat! And he seemed most pleased with the fact that I had only ’stolen’ 20 minutes of his valuable time.
And who can ask for better than that?
Let us know what you think!
Cheers
P.
Erik, Nicky, Holly and Ellis at Coombe Hill
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on August 3rd, 2009
I have photographed Erik, Nicky and their family a couple of few times now and it just seems to get better each time!
We chose Coombe Hill for this particular jaunt and it was a great choice. The light up there is always different, always exciting and this day was no exception. You can see it in the photos we have (note that the bluey green images are created using a hi-power video light. A neat little gadget that gives us some wonderful images!)
I love these images – particularly the really panoramic wide-crops. I have always had a thing about cinema-style images and somehow these photographs just lent themselves to it. Beautiful.
We’ve just finished designing a gorgeous album from the images from this shoot and I’m hoping to be able to show it online later. We’re hugely proud of it the way it’s going to look – it’ll be an absolutely stunning family book!
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Neil & Nikki Pre-Wedding Session
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on August 2nd, 2009
Ah, this was just magic. One couple very much in love, their wonderful character of a boy and some beautiful weather. Marlow is always a beautiful town but, when you’re having such a ball it seems somehow even nicer.
Neil, Nikki and Tom were fantastic to photograph – very easy going and very much a close family unit. Tom, in particular, loved being in front of the camera and the photos we have of him are just stunning. It’s going to be an absolute pleasure to photograph their wedding!
PS. I should just add that we had the pleasure of photographing Neil and Nikki’s wedding on Saturday (we’re a bit behind on our blogging – but I didn’t want to miss this one out) and it was every bit as gorgeous as we knew it would be!
Elizabeth and Dave bring some California sunshine to Haddenham
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle, Pre-Wedding on July 11th, 2009
Ah, so you may have noticed. The blog has been quiet recently. Sorry about that. Been busy having fun with a camera!
And the irony is that we have sooooo much to talk about it’s untrue! We have a load of sessions and a load of fantastic clients to show you.
And so we start with Elizabeth and Dave who, it should be noted, live in California. And have elected to get married later this year at Notley Abbey deep in the heart of ’sunny’ Britain.
Hmmm. Given the typical British weather, you do have to ask why would someone would trade Californian sunshine for Britains inclement lottery? Well, I can’t entirely answer that – except to say that getting married in Britain is magic (there’s something hugely romantic about it!) and Notley is a stunning venue. And, whatever the reason, I am hugely glad that they have chosen this as their location because I have the opportunity to work with a couple who are simply fantastic to be around.
It doesn’t help that Dave is the spitting image of Lee Mack, a very funny comedian/actor. I can’t help it. Every time I’ve met them we have sat and laughed. And this session was no different. We spent a very happy hour or two in glorious sunshine messing around and capturing images. Something that is not entirely straightforward when you have to stop every two minutes to wipe your eyes from laughing so much.
So a heady mix of hilarity and utter romance (I think you can see it in the images) and add to that the excitement of a wedding day and this is one amazing day that I think everyone is going to remember!
Absolutely loved this session. Can’t wait till September to photograph them both again – along with their Californian guests who I hope don’t arrive thinking the British weather is always like this. Though for Elizabeth and Dave? I think it’ll turn out suitably perfect!
Let us know what you think of the images
Cheers
P.
Susan & Family – Bucks Herald Competition Winner
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 28th, 2009
You never quite know what the outcome will be when you run a competition. After all, you really don’t have any control over who will win and what it is they are looking for in a shoot. You hope that the winner will be thrilled with the prize and will be a really nice person to work with. But you can’t be sure.
So it was, with naturally some degree of apprehension, that we ran a competition with the Bucks Herald – the prize being a session with us and a not inconsiderable quantity of prints/frames of the winner’s choosing.
And then we waited to meet the winner.
We should not have worried. It was with a great deal of satisfaction that Susan, the lucky winner, turned out to be another wonderful client. I know I bang on about this all the time, but I can’t stress enough how proud I am of the client base we’ve built up over the years. This is an utterly people-oriented business and it only works because we have a lot of very personable clients that make my job the pleasure that it is!
We held the session at Susan’s family home in Chilton on the most gorgeous day. You have to say that the weather this season has been stunning so far – albeit with the odd serious storm thrown in (we arrived back last night during the most monumental thunder storm to discover water pouring across the floor of my office from one side to the other – no idea how it got in and absolutely no idea how it flowed out again!).
Anyway, on this particular day back in April, with glorious sunshine and a stunning location up on the hills, how could this be anything other than a wonderful session?
And it was exactly that. A wonderful session.
Three generations of the same family and a set of pictures that will be treasured for a lifetime. Oh, and a mental note that competitions are definitely a good thing.
Just perfect.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Catharine and Jon
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on June 28th, 2009
Ah, for the eagle-eyed out there, you may have spotted that we photographed Catharine and Jon’s engagement party last year – and we’re thrilled to say that we’re going to be photographing their wedding later this year.
There’s something particularly magical about photographing a couple’s pre-wedding images partly because it’s such an honour to be involved in the build-up to the big day but also because I think there’s a real emotion to the images we capture. And this seems especially evident in the pictures we captured from this session!
I’m not sure why, but you can really feel the excitement and romance between them both. And how nice is that?
Just brilliant.
And if this is just the pre-wedding session, you can only imagine the images we’ll capture on their wedding day in September. And I, for one, can’t wait!
Cheers
P.
Emma, Oliver & Henry at Wendover Woods
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on June 14th, 2009
I love this time of year – though, yes, I do freely admit that I probably say that throughout the year. Can’t help it. Every season – and particularly the changes between the different seasons – seems to bring a new perspective on the photography and a whole new set of interests for us.
This session was up in Wendover Woods, possibly one of our favourite haunts. It works for us on so many levels – the light, the woodland, the freedom etc. (oh, and you can get a nice cup of tea at the end!)
Oliver and Henry seemed to thoroughly enjoy the shoot from start to finish and we have an absolute bucket load of gorgeous images of them having a great time. I lent them one of my cameras to have a go with which, inevitably, means I also have quite a few pictures of me taking pictures of them!
Loved this shoot. Lovely client, (eventually) fantastic light and ultimately, great photos. Oh, and a nice cup of tea. Perfect.
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
Jane, Michael, Katie and Sophie in the Bluebells at Christmas Common
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on May 16th, 2009
Well, it’s Saturday morning as I’m sitting writing this and we’re (gradually) catching up with ourselves on the blog front (it was the Waddesdon school prom last night and, having got back home in the small hours after shooting several thousand photos I do admit to typing this at a considerably slower rate than normal!)
Anyway, this shoot was a gorgeous session we had a couple of weeks ago over in the Bluebells at Christmas Common.
It’s always an ‘interesting’ place to shoot up there because it’s invariably crowded – particularly when it looks as pretty as it does at this time of year. But, with a little bit of scouting around, I managed to find a spot that had beautiful light and was really quiet.
Jane, Michael, Katie and Shophie were absolutely lovely to work with and I think, in particular, you can see the spirit of the two girls in the images. One of the reasons I love this job so much is that I get to meet so many different characters and personalities and I can happily report that, after a brief (and I do mean brief) moment of uncertainty, Katie and Sophie got right into it and probably suggested more images to take than I did! Fantastic! I really love it when that happens because it shows that no-one felt uncomfortable or under pressure in front of the camera. Just a lovely afternoon, great company, stunning light and a bag-load of beautiful images.
Life is good. Busy. But good!
Cheers
P.
Helen, Alf, David, Joe and Naomi
Posted by Paul in For Website, Lifestyle on May 15th, 2009
Why is it that I always seem to be writing our blog at some ridiculous hour in the morning? The Mac clock is reliably informing me that it’s nearly ridiculous-o’clock and I really should be asleep. However, it’s been another full-on week and tomorrow we’re photographing the Waddesden ball so I just know I won’t get a chance to sit down and do an entry.
This shoot was an absolute ball. Helen contacted us a while back to arrange the session with her brothers and sisters. And then rearranged it rapidly when one of them (no names, no pack-drill) double booked and went off to some far-off climb. A holiday in Rome I believe. Some people have no sense of priority. 
So it was with some degree of anticipation that we eventually did this session – you know what it’s like: the weather was stunning, the location is the ever beautiful Haddenham, and all five of the guys were great company and easy to photograph. It was all well worth the wait! And so, as usual, I’m a very happy bunny. Ah, how the summer will simply sail on past!
I love these pictures. You really don’t need very much to create images like this – a good eye for light I suppose (particularly when the conditions are as bright this) and, crucially, a relaxed client. It seems, on this occasion, we had both. I know I’ve gone for black and white images here but I’m still having an ongoing love affair with monochrome. Even though the colours on this particular day were stunning, there is something about the simplicity of these black and whites that works so well!
Let us know what you think!
Cheers
P.
Claire & Iain’s Pre-Wedding Session in Wendover
Posted by Paul in For Website, Pre-Wedding on May 8th, 2009
Or should I say, Claire, Iain, Joe, Saskia, Imogen and Heather’s session in Wendover?
I think you can see from the photos here that, well, we had a reasonably good time. Possibly. Just a little. Laugh? No. Not really. Oh go on then, I admit it. We laughed. A lot. Actually, I don’t think we did anything other than laugh.
Not a bad day at the office then!
I loved this shoot: lovely family, beautiful location, stunning weather. Best job in the world. And we have soooo many images to choose from it’s unreal.
We’re well and truly into our wedding season for this year and we’re having an absolute ball – but I can’t help but think that Claire and Iain’s will be one that might well be a highlight of the year!
I’ll keep you posted. 
Let us know what you think.
Cheers
P.
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