Winter weddings, planning for the worst!

This weekend saw myself and my glamorous assistant (my wonderful second shooter Ian) photographing the wedding of Aisling and Robin. This wedding, like most others, has been some time in the planning and when planning in the winter months it does become a whole load more tricky and absolutely vital to get it right!


In the initial plans I could see that we were going to be VERY tight on time. The ceremony scheduled for 1.30 was unlikely to be finished for 2.30. We also had five locations to deal with. Bridal prep at the couples house, groom prep at an hotel, the boys were then making a pit stop at a pub prior to arriving at the church and then onto the reception. Now that is not too demanding on a nice warm summers day. On a winter day with four inches of snow and sub zero temperatures it becomes a different ball game!

I was glad to be allowed to attend the rehersal on the Tuesday night and to meet Father Stephen who conducted the ceremony. An exceptional man and we hatched a plan between us that would keep the congregation indoors if we needed to. If we were at all late or the weather bad then that is what we would have to do. There was no way I could rely on getting to the reception venue in time to shoot anything in daylight! It is eight miles from the church. There was also the not inconsiderable fact that my scheduled second shooter was stuck in Barnsley with both roads over the hills closed due to snow and ice. Ian was an absolute star and stepped in to help for which I will be eternally grateful!

So Saturday dawned cold, crisp and clear with a decent snow fall. Thankfully Ian and I both had access to 4x4's so, having liberated those from our respective families, off we went. Ian did a great job with Robin and his family, even managing a snowball fight with his brother Simon. I was a little more conservative with the girls not wanting to trash the dress just yet! The road was like an ice rink and I could not even get the Land Rover to reverse into the drive!

We got to the church just about on time and I arranged with Father Stephen that we would indeed take up his kind offer to shoot the larger group shots in the church. I had already prepared an A5 notice which was put in all the pews to let the congregation know that we would be going this so they could be ready. Father Stephen also kindly announced at the recessional for the congregation to wait behind for a moment. We shot the 6 large group shots inside the church and headed out.


When we got out of church it was minus 4 deg and the light was going fast! So off to the reception we went.












Arriving at the reception the light was plummeting over the horizon at an alarming rate so poor Aisling and Robin dashed off out into the snow.

Time for the Wedding Breakfast so back indoors for some very,very welcome hot food! Downloaded everything we had shot thus far, backed it all up, changed cards, checked batteries and set up some lighting to shoot the rest of the smaller family groups.

Speeches made, it was time for the families to adjourn to the other barn where we had already set up the lighting and we shot the family groups there. Back outside for the last few Bride and Groom shots in the dark before cake cutting and first dance.

It was now minus 10 deg and WAY too dangerous to have anyone outside, not that it was ever very comfortable at minus 4! It was time to leave these two lovely families to celebrate into the night. 12 hours of work completed :)

Thanks to Ian for the valuable assistance and...

Aisling and Robin, thank you :) xxx

Hmmmmmmm new album :)

and it's rather scrummy. Just managed to get home today in time to get some pics done in daylight.

It's a fairly weighty tome and the quality is just great. So good I phoned the supplier this morning just to say thank you!

I am really looking forward to working with Jorgensen. :)

Christmas has come early!

Thanks to the UK supplier of Jorgensen albums. My lovely new Jorgensen sample album has arrived. I'm really impressed because it has been delivered bang on time and at their busiest time of the year. Not only that but it looks and feels terrific and I'm really happy with the assembly too. Great quality album and one that I will look forward to showing clients next year.

Now to get it photographed so I can get some lovely pics on the website and on here.

Can't wait.......but it will have to wait till I call the supplier in the morning to say thank you. I'm looking forward to being able to offer that quality service to my couples. :)

Watch this space

I have been busy this last few weeks. Busy sorting out hardware in terms of setting my office up with dual monitors so I can process better and faster. Been doing some training with the wonderful Dave and Emma Nunn on post processing and album design so working my way through several thousand files in the last week sorting out the archive and a few albums still to finish. The graphics tablet is next!

I also have some new albums due to make an appearance. It's something I have been working away at quietly in the background for the last couple of months but they new lineup and pricing will be ready for the new Year and I have new sample albums to design and order in time for the new year.

So watch this space, lots of changes and all of them good! :)

Alison

Just finished processing the images for Bramall Hall for their wedding brochure. I love doing this kind of photography too. OK so it's not a real "live" wedding and there is less pressure in one sense but then there is a slightly different pressure to get the images that the venue managers want to portray the venue the way they would like it to look. Of course it also leaves a little room to play around and get some images for our lovely model Branka and some for myself and my fellow partner in crime David Goodier. It's not every day you get a "closed doors" venue and a talented model to play with. Hair and makeup provided by the amazingly talented Danielle. Her details are on my website for anyone who is in need of a real professional! Enjoy, we did :)

Wedding Slideshow fun

Have been playing with making a slideshow for Clare and Paul so let's see if it works here!

Wonderful Welsh Wedding

I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of Clare and Paul at Gresford Parish Church and Ruthin Castle in wonderful Wales this weekend.

Friday saw a dry run from Gresford to Ruthin, a recce of the castle only revealed that the only problem was that we could spend all day shooting there and not run out of ideas! The rehersal at the Church was great and the Vicar positively lovely. Saturday saw a gorgeous September day, clear and cold. Our bridesmaids all in the most gorgeous yellow. A huge thanks to both families and to Paul Brown for coming all that way to work with me. Providing customer service is often as important as good images and Paul helps enormously in both, even if he does sing down the headset of my radio!

Refreshed and ready

Been off to Skye for a few days to recharge the batteries and sit on a hillside breathing fresh air. Fabulous little road trip in the camper and saw a part of Scotland I'd not been to before.




Shot the wedding of Martina and Stephen at Leeds Cathedral before I went and it truly was an amazing day. Two wonderful irish families getting together to celebrate was always going to be a good day and we had a ball. Much hugging and happy families is just how I like to leave at the end of the day. :)

Busy bee

Like a lot of my colleagues it's a busy time of year. Two consultations with brides in the next few evenings, one wedding on Thursday and another long one on Saturday that I'm really looking forward to because they are a lovely couple and I want to squeeze every ounce of style out of the venues.

Also just been asked to shoot the new brochure images for Bramall Hall and I've already agreed that my images can go into the Stockport Town Hall one too.

Hoping to go and see Trevor and Faye Yerbury again in November when it's a little quiter and booked a great model for quite and edgy outdoor shoot.

Off to Scotland next week to go and play with landscapes and plan to catch up with John Baikie of Captiv8 Photography to do some shooting up on the North Coast. Now can I have some good weather please? :)

How annoyed am I right now

I went to see a venue today. One that I have shot at a few times and I have further bookings for. The management are the most awkward characters to deal with and today I had to put my foot down. Not content with asking me to pay for advertising and not content with me supplying them with 2 albums (one of which they lost) they had the utter nerve to ask me for a kickback on any weddings I book through them.

Their grand plan is that I increase my prices for their venue by 20% so I can pass that 20% back to them as a kickback. So not only do the couple have to spend £10K on their wedding venue, the venue want the photographer to get even more money out of them.

So no. I won't be subscribing to that thank you very much. I pride myself in supplying top quality products to my couples and that certainly does not involve stitching them for more cash on behalf of the venue!

I'll be cancelling my advertising with them, demanding my album back and sending them the invoice for the one they "lost" If their wedding planners are only going to recommend certain photographers via a kickback then there is no point in me advertising and certainly not a venue I wish to be associated with. The link to their website will be removed in the next few days. I cannot and will not condone that kind of behaviour and I have no wish to be associated with them. I feel sick!

It's city time

Finalised the details with Martina and Stephen for their Leeds city centre wedding in three weeks. Martina and Stephen are a fab young couple from Ireland who's families enjoy a laugh so that should be fun :) Leeds Cathedral and Malmaison are our venues for the day with a 10 min walk in between the two. We are indeed blessed with this one because there is no shortage of locations. The church is stunning the city centre is amazing with everything from BIG columns to black marble facades. Traditional meets cool and funky. Talking of funky Malmaison is unbelievable. The designer has created a photographer's dream with accent lighting everywhere and cool things like mirrored lifts!

Can't wait!

You can paint a rainbow!

Jo and Darren had the most awful luck because it started raining right at the end of their ceremony but thanks to my car breaking down and having to wait for the RAC I spotted this one brewing and they were kind enough to dash outside once more before the heavens opened again.

I hope there is a pot at the end of their rainbow :)

Some from yesterday's wet wedding. We were lucky to get some breaks in the clouds and I'm off to process some rather tasty rainbow images. :)

Still busy!

Although I have had a very pleasant weekend of catching up on sleep! Just finished processing and order for a certain young lady's boudoir shoot prior to her wedding and run through the first design of a very expensive Loxley Apertura album. Shooting a wedding with Jamie on Wednesday, one of my own next Saturday and a pre wedding meet in Leeds on Sunday which I'm looking forward to.

Also been having a little play with some of the images from last week and starting the think about a little photography trip mid August with some ideas for that.

One from last week.

Dana and Francois

Had a brilliant wedding on Wednesday. Dana and Francois at Crewe Hall in Cheshire. A truly special day with a lovely couple and a super location. I had the pleasure of the company of Mark Pearson and we could have shot there for a week and not run out of ideas so having Mark keep me on the straight and narrow was much appreciated. I have a number of images I need to process but hopefully I'll have them all done this week and I'll ask Dana if I can share one or two with you. I'm still buzzing! Another booking on Friday and a couple to see in Leeds later. :)

Aisling Ennis

I had the pleasure of shooting Aisling and "Minnie", her amazing harp on Monday night at Shrigley Hall. Minnie is an Italian harp, 6ft tall and made of wood with 23 carat gold inlay. Did you know that harps have pedals? They allow the harpist to play sharp and flat notes just like the black keys on a piano, I didn't know that! Aisling is a very talented musician who has recently relocated here in Cheshire from Ireland and we were very lucky to get a slight window to do this shoot between a trip to China and a PR meeting in London. Aisling, you are a star :)

Wedding of Karen and Rob

Had the pleasure of second shooting with the lovely Sheila from Dove Photography yesterday. A scorching day in Blackpool and two nicer families you could not wish to meet.

One thing I will not make excuses for!

I have to admit to getting a little tetchy with some photographers these days. Not everyone, just some. The ones in question are of the opinion that it's OK to attempt to shoot a wedding using equipment that is totally unsuitable for the job and that you don't really need any skills or training to do so. The "Give it a go" brigade. It's just not acceptable to be encouraging someone who has neither the equipment nor the skills to do the job, in fact it's downright irresponsible.

I make absolutely no apology for attending training courses, I make no apology for going to work with other more experienced photographers so I may pick up some ideas from them. These people have a lifetime of experience and if I can walk a few short steps in their footsteps and learn something from the experience then why is that such a bad thing?

I take training seriously and I go on as much as I can find time to do. It does not have to cost a fortune but from Mark Cleghorn's Monkey Business tours to travelling all the way to Edinburgh for a day with Trevor and Faye Yerbury, I will put myself out to do it. I have a week's residential training with some very knowledgeable folks from the MPA next March already booked.

And if I pick up one skill, one tip, one bit of experience passed on from each and every training opportunity then it makes me a better photographer. Each skill goes into my own toolbox and it allows me to pull them out when I want to use the technique. That develops me as a photographer and allows me to offer my clients a better product. And for that I make no apology at all!

Big Dog don't bite

Had some fun on a training seminar with Damian McGillicuddy (also known affectionately as Big Dog) this morning. The brief was shooting beauty shots anywhere anytime. So we found ourselves in Warrington Royal British Legion where Damian ably demonstrated on the stage (all 18 inches of it!) how to shoot a well lit shot with the minimum of equipment. 4 Fold down panels, 2 flashguns and a DMG beauty dish and this is what we got.
Also great to see DPM Wallbank there with some cracking news on storybook albums, definately a case of watch this space.
Thanks to Damian, his team including the lovely Rebecca Amy, great to see you again after your bout of tonsilitis, nasty things! And thanks to all the photographers who came along, so lovely to see some folks I've not seen in a while and wish I had more time to stop and chat. Alas the bank and database tech support saw to that but all sorted already.
See you all soon.
x

Saturday wedding

Had a great day with MPP (Mark Pearson Photography) on Saturday. Mark is a hugely experienced wedding photographer and I'd be mad to turn down the chance to shoot alongside someone who has probably seen and done just about everything there is to do in wedding photography. (He'll tell you he's not THAT old, just started young)

It's great to shoot alongside someone so experienced because he is one step ahead of what is happening the whole day. He knows where to be and when, what is likely to happen at any time and I certainly learned a few things. I learned the value of communication with our two way radios,it did not matter if we were several hundred yards apart, one click of a microphone and we could talk to each other ensuring we missed as little as possible. I learned some very valuable things about image processing that will save me literally hours going forward. There is a huge amount to do to select and process the images from any wedding and there are other things I could do to add more value for my couples if I freed up a little more time in front of a PC!

I'll ask for permission to post a few pics when our couple return from honeymoon. :)

Thanks Mark, can't wait till we do it again!

The lovely Dana and Francois

Fabulous weather and a great couple.





We did have a blast for an hour yesterday down at Salford Quays. It's a great little location with a fair bit of variety in the kind of shots we can shoot in a relatively short time. We are going to have such a fab time shooting their wedding next month. Thanks guys! :)

Where did the weekend go?

Quite a tough week this one. My long suffering other half J had to be rushed into hospital on Wednesday in utter agony. Shot full of morphine the doctors worked their way through the list of possibles until finally settling on a diagnosis of kidney stones. Got him back home on Friday night and he's comfortable and resting up on painkillers and hoping that anything remaining goes away....soon.

So I had some catching up to do work wise and the weekend was a busy one anyway. I was shooting a wedding with the wonderful Mark Pearson in Harrogate on Saturday and had a pre wedding shoot with my lovely couple getting married in July, Dana and Francois. I did comment to Dana that now I understood why she was marrying a Frenchman as Francois beamed at the prospect of kissing Dana once more. She informed him that he was out of kissing rations for this week. lol I am really going to enjoy shooting their wedding and delighted that Mark can join me too. Stunning location, stunning couple and a fab colleague, what more can I ask for?

Worked a little in lightroom today developing presets that can be applied on import to cut down on the post processing that the images need. I've only just started working within lightroom but already I'm starting to see the power it has to offer. Very much a case of learning a little bit at a time and applying it as I go along.

I'll try to get some images for you this week, it's understandably tedious to read blogs with no pictures and I am, after all, a photographer!!

back from hols and getting cracking!

Had a lovely little break in Cornwall last week and with the batteries recharged it's a case of "Here we go!"

Saturday I am second shooting for the wonderful Mr Mark Pearson at a wedding up in Harrogate. I love my time second shooting and although it can be tiring I still learn every time I work with other photographers and Mark has a wealth of experience so I'll be working and watching and learning. Wedding photography is a real craft and I'd be mad not to take the chance to work with photographers at the top of their game.

Sunday sees me doing a pre wedding shoot with the lovely Dana and Francois prior to their wedding next month. I'm really looking forward to their wedding, it's going to be different to most and that will give me some unique challenges. So I'm off to their venue on Wednesday to start some serious planning. I have to produce a different range of images at this one so planning and practice for the next three weeks should hopefully result in something a little special.

Catch you again soon
x

Brilliant couple of weeks

Booked some lovely brides and grooms for weddings both this year and next and I'm really excited about my new clients. I get such a buzz out of meeting new people and being involved in their wedding day is a huge privilege. Every wedding is a little bit special and I have some very special ones to shoot and I can't wait!

The new database is working well and although it will take some time to configure it fully it's up and running at a basic level that allows me proper contact management and email, letter and quotes are all set up. Invoices are on the to do list as is rationalising some of my literature to make it easy to send out. One pdf with everything on it :) All the component parts are in word at the moment so a little adobe trickery is called for.

Shot some lovely boudoir images on Monday too. There were for a bride who's wedding I'm second shooting in August, as a surprise for her hubby. We had a great time shooting them and the PP work took longer than the shoot! I really need to speed up the rate for PPing boudoir images so I'll be getting the Lightroom books out in a week or so.

That's all for now folks :)

What people can do

It's amazing what people can do with a little nudge in the right direction and the opportunity to do good.

A photography forum that I'm a member of had a fairly new recruit who is disabled. That's great, everone is welcome regardless of age, sex or ability. Now this chap had been dealt a bit of a triple whammy. He was disabled in a motorcycle accident, then suffered a stroke and as a result had become less keen to go out in public. His speech is impaired though improving all the time. He also has a wife and two children so life right now is not as easy as it is for most of us.

He was out one day taking pics with his stroke charity and smashed his camera. His insurance refused to pay because it was not at home. So the one thing that had gotten him out and about was denied him. That is until a certain serving Army photographer found out!

So we had a whip round last night to see what we could do about replacing that most valuable camera. This morning the whip round stands at £1500 and I'm sure there is more to come. We can get him a camera with a swivel screen that will allow more shooting opportunities. Changing lenses can be a problem for our friend so one 18-200mm lens has been specified so he doesn't have to!

Then one of our camera suppliers stepped in and offered all the equipment he needs and will give us a discount, allowing us to buy more. A special clamp and arm so he can mount it on his wheelchair instead of a tripod has been added to the list.Insurance for his camera has been suggested and people have been raiding drawers for extra batteries, chargers and memory cards.

It's going to be the most valuable camera on the forum because it's the one that J needs right now. It has brought a little photographic community on t'interweb together in a common purpose and that is to give a fellow photographer a lift when he needs it.

Rob Knight is the "Hard as nuts" complete softhead who is putting this together and it just shows how much of a caring side our armed services have despite the things they have to see and do. Rob, you are a softhead and a gent. :)

Survey time

A recent survey of wedding photographers showed that we don't actully spend our time sunning ourselves in between weddings. In the last couple of days I have donned various hats. IT manager, sales person, admin bod, fleet manager.....



I have visited a Bride and Groom and their respective parents, I have installed and backed up a new 1TB backup drive and installed a program that backs up any changes on my hard drive at a set time every day. I have booked my car in for a much overdue service and to have the aircon fixed before I melt! I have follow up calls to make, literature to send out. I have model shoots I'd like to do, a colleague coming to look over and discuss various albums and I did manage a little mini shoot with the RPS too. Not bad for a couple of days. I still managed to do the laundry, cut the grass, wash the cars and generally avoid any domestic crises.

So what DO we do when we are not swanning around?

More Animoto

Having another little play with Animoto today. I can see the use for this and although it may be better suited to portraits I thought I'd run a few wedding ones to see how they come out.

Like any other product though I am starting to think that you would almost have to shoot more images with that specific product in mind. With these kind of slidshows I'd probably like to shoot more tight head shots. Lots of practice required methinks.

New slide show that I've done for RebeccaAmy of her modelling for our boudoir sessions.

Hope you like it ;)

To matt or not to matt?

Up till now I have pretty much avoided matted albums, mainly because I had never produced one and I have always thought that anything you need to stick together is the remit of Blue Peter presenters rather than photographers. :)

But I have had rather a number of brides asking for matted albums so something had to change and that something had to be me. So I went to see the man who knows all about albums, Gordon at DPM Wallbank in Stalybridge. "Gordon, I need a matted album but it needs to be big and simple, like me!" With the expert on hand it was a very painless process and I am now the proud owner of a matted album.

All the prints were done at DSCL and today I put it together. Easy as pie actually and it has distinct advantages over digital in some respects.

One is that it is quick to do. A week to get the album and the prints are done in two days so I can do a really quick turn around. If I do make a mistake I only need to get one print redone and the entire album is not at risk. It's also big, heavy and looks good!

Gordon has also very kindly offered me the loan of a quite amazing album, it's huge! Called the Pano and it opens the way a laptop does. That means I can do really big prints without having to have a crease which always causes a problem so matter which manufacturer. So with another two wedding fayres booked I'll be grabbing a Pano :)

Four enquiries so far this week too, one album off to Italy and another advert sent to the brochure producer. Next up will be database and email integration. Interesting eh? ;)

Wedding fayre fun

Had a great day yesterday at the Llyndir Hall Hotel wedding fayre.
Great to meet some of the other suppliers and photographers. The dresses from Ashley's bridal box were stunning and the detail on them quite superb.

I'll do a proper write up later as I've not even downloaded the pics yet!

I have lots of information to send out to some lovely Brides to be which will be done by Wednesday. :)

In praise of suppliers

It's all too easy to shout from the rooftops when suppliers let us down and there have been a few here and there but altogether I have very few complaints about most of the suppliers I've used in the last few years.

But a bit of praise for a few this week :)

Loxley Colour, where I got 200 trifold leaflets printed. Not only is the printing and material utterly superb but I called them to ask if they could send it to my office rather than H/A. Not a problem, delivered next day. Thank you Loxley, great job.

JT Hughes in Stockport who did my shirts (sorry I'm a laydee that should be blouses) double checked my logo because it's a bit awkward and actually sent me a photo of what it looked like embroidered before doing all 10. Superb.

Vistaprint. I had the rather late idea of doing some decent contact cards for this weekend and who do you turn to when you need last minute orders? Vistaprint! Not as heavyweight or glossy as Loxley but for decent quality quickly from a template you really can't beat them.

Ebay! Yes I forgot one thing. When I ordered my bannerstand I forgot the lighting. So I hit ebay and 2 days later it's delivered. The folks who do my business cards could not get one for 5 working days. They should try ebay! :)

So it's all here, all looking good and I'm ready.

Thanks to lots of other people.

The Postman always rings twice

Well he'd better ring a bit more than that :) Waiting for a light fitting for my display stand, trifolds from Loxley and contact cards from Vistaprint, oh and that ink I ran out of on the admin printer!

Tomorrow's job is to compile a list of everything I need for my wedding fayre on Sunday and start packing it into boxes. I have more flyers to print too. Thanks to some prudent planning about 6 weeks ago nothing is too rushed, I just need a few deliveries to arrive on time..........

producing flyers

I decided I wanted some flyers for an upcoming Wedding Fayre. I wanted to make the flyer by way of a collaboration between myself as a photographer and the venue. Co promoting each as a partnership because it is a lovely venue and one where I could happily shoot on a regular basis. The very kind of venue I want to establish a good working relationship with. So these flyers I can use for the Wedding Fayre and I can also ask the venue if I can leave some with them.

So how to go about it? Yes I could use my local source where I get my business cards done but a bit pricey especially with the design fees. I could go to Loxley where I'm getting trifolds printed, again a bit pricey for what I want as a limited run.

So off to do some research and bingo! HP do a brochure paper, double sided glossy and perfect for the job. £12 for 50 sheets. Now we are talking! So having designed the trifold leaflets myself I'm getting a bit better at designing marketing material in Photoshop so off I went and an hour or two later emerged from my office triumphant.

One slight snag is that I really have to print them on my photo printer, an HP B9180 and the ink for that baby is not cheap. I tried it on my admin printer a Canon and the grass on the front page came out positively luminous and the bride had a bit of an orange glow to her!

I'm a happy bunny though being able to print my own :)

I've been busy again. Trifold leaflets today. I decided it was time to get some trifold leaflets from Loxley Colour so I've designed two today, one for weddings and the other for boudoir.

Off to the printer's tomorrow, onwards and upwards!

Monkey Business

Well, I've been edificated :)

Mark Cleghorn was in good form today and with a room full of photographers we were treated to some great content. The business of photography with some cool new marketing ideas that I'll be working on. Shooting window lit portraits in a setting mocked up so we know how to shoot some lovely dramatic shots if we have a wet wedding to contend with. Last but not least workflow and a real treat, a preview of Photoshop CS5.

Content aware fill is AWESOME!

I didn't upgrade CS3 to CS4 but I think I might have to raid the piggy bank in a few months once any initial bugs are ironed out :)

Content aware fill is basically a function where I can fill a frame with something that is missing. To explain when that may be handy. Shoot an image of a bride and groom in portrait orientation and it's not straight. Yep, I can straighten it but then I need to crop out the white bits so I lose the piece of the image diagonally opposite. Now that bit could be important if I had framed it correctly and it can be a real problem. Content aware fill is a little piece of magic that can fill in the white bits with what should be there. Unbelievable!

For anyone not yet with Mark's Phototraining4U online training. Join. Now! The first year is £199 but with over 300 training films (most around 20 mins) available with such subjects as shooting skills, photoshop skills and business ideas. Lighting tutorials, kit reviews...... It's about the price of a cup of coffee a day. And you get a £100 credit to spend at Loxley Colour.

Year two is cheaper at £99 and still fantastic value. Training where and when you need it and on the subjects you want. It really is a no brainer!

http://www.phototraining4u.com/dap/a/?a=461

More edification

Off to a seminar on Wednesday this week. Mark Cleghorn's "Monkey Business"

It's a great format. About 30 photographers in a room and Mark presents business ideas, shooting ideas and usually one specialist topic each tour he does.

The whole thing is cost managed and that's done with the generous help of his sponsors including Loxley and On One software along with Lastolite and Quantum. So they bring along all the latest goodies for us to play with as well.

I'm usually lucky enough to meet up some some of my photography buddies who are among the most generous people you could hope to meet.

So not much photography from me this week but more to come soon.........promise! :)

And a little bit more Boudoir

To be perfectly honest, I could be here for some time uploading the various images of Rebecca from Wednesday.

In total we got through two make up sessions and an unbelievable 7 sets between 9am and 4pm. It's that work ethic that really sets apart the professional models. That and looking damnably gorgeous :)

The new Boudoir section of my website is now live and populated with these images and more. A huge thank you once more to Rebecca and Sarah for their patience hard work and not killing me for turning the wind machine on! www.alisonbaileyphotography.co.uk

Boudoir

One reason for the collaboration with Rebecca and Sarah on Wednesday was to shoot some Boudoir style shots for the new section of my website. I took some lovely pics at Trevor and Fayes but I do think it a little disingenuous to go using pics that other people have set up as marketing material. I did like shooting with Rebecca though so forgive me Trevor and Faye for pinching the same model.

The new section of the website can now go live with my own images.

OK I promised you tigers and here she is!

Rebecca Amy lit by a projector with tiger stripes. Another advantage of shooting with the Nikons. High ISO images that look like this! These were shot at ISO 3200 at f2.8 and 1/50 sec. The timing had to be spot on with Sarah guiding the projector on Rebecca's body, Rebecca moving slowly through some great poses and me just hitting the shutter at the right times.

I got this idea from a training session that Mark Cleghorn did on http://www.phototraining4u.co.uk/ which is a fabulous resource for photographers.

So I adapted Mark's idea and asked Sarah to make me a tiger. Cat like eye makeup and hair like a mane was perfect for the look I wanted. Rebecca was a star as usual, even when I put the wind machine on. Photographers, please don't use a wind machine for more than a minute on a nude model, they will freeze!

One with the wind machine on.

The studio was InFocus studios in Marple, it's a great location and with a huge infinity cove and two black fully curtained walls and more lights that anyone could use in one session. Great facilities and the best bit is that it's only a few minutes from my house. :)

Another image from yesterdays shoot with Rebecca Amy. I really ought to say a big thank you to our MUA (Make Up Artist) Sarah Morten without whom these would have been a whole lot more difficult. Sarah mucked in quite happily looking after Rebecca and holding video lights and projectors for me.

Truly, the unsung heroes (heroines) of a photography shoot, the MUA is the person who applies the style, the vision that I had in my head to start with and has the vision themselves to pull it together.

Thank you Sarah. x

Good photography is worth paying for!

Thankfully that's not just my opinion but the opinion of 22% of Brides in a recent Shutterfly survey.

Unfortunately the good ladies didn't realise it until the wedding was done and dusted! Sorry Ladies it's too late then!

Shutterfly asked ladies married in the last 12 months and 19% said they should have spent less on the dress and the food and 22% said they should have spent more on the memories.

To that end I have a handout that I will be giving out at Wedding Fayres from now on. It's three volumes, Vol 1 is FAQ's Vol 2 is a guide to getting married and Vol3 is why you should consider a pro and what to expect to pay and just as importantly what you should expect for the money.

The average spend on a wedding is some £22,000 and the only things left after the champagne has gone and the car has driven off are you wedding rings, your marriage certificate and your photos.

Treasure them all well.

I had the pleasure to shoot the gorgeous Rebecca Amy today. Boudoir in the morning and in the studio in the afternoon. The studio shoot I really enjoyed because I could give free reign to my thought process in there without having to make the best of a location as we do shooting weddings. It's a different process in the studio but I stick to the KISS principle, Keep It Simple Stupid! So this is shot with just one light. For the techie among you, that was a Bowens 500W head on full with a spot attachment. High and left to camera. Very very little work needed doing on images with Rebecca, at times I was struggling to get focus on closer shots because her skin and Sarah's make up skills had given me such a smooth surface I could not focus! I was having to get focus off the edge of her eyes where I could find some contrast. And that's with 51 point AF!

Thank you so much ladies :)
Lots more to come including the boudoir shots and the tiger stripes!

Why should I book a pro?

It's hard to put that one into words without appearing somwhat either snobbish or deluded!

If I tell you that I spent more on cameras, lenses and flashes than I did on the car then I run the risk of appearing to say that so long as you have that big black camera you can do the job.

If I say that it takes years, not months and certainly not a one day course to be become proficient then I appear to be what some call protectionist. After all, we all need to start somewhere right?

When I found this article I thought "Brilliant!" it illustrates perfectly, using pictures, why a well intentioned friend with a big black camera may not be the best person to capture your wedding day.

Kindly reproduced with the permission of Seattle Bride Magazine.

http://www.seattlebridemag.com/ME2/Audiences/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications::Article&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=4BFD6D878E9541A0BA4ECDFFB23704C9&AudID=2A616914A2194119BFE70CB02436B2F6

Fun and games in the dark

So the D700's had their first official wedding workout yesterday with Alan and Neil's civil partnership. An absolute hoot with Neil's family coming down from Scotland for the occasion, lots of laughter ensued.

And how did I fare with the D700's? Well pretty good for a first day and a lot more to come I'm sure. Tried out auto ISO and still fluffed a few exposures here and there due to the indoors/outdoors nature of these events but nothing that was a mile off and certainly not the woeful underexposure I have suffered from in the past. Someone has switched on the light!

The 105mm macro also got a good run out shooting details so here are a few from last night. I could shoot all of these in a dark hall with no flash and none of them have had any noise reduction. In fact they are not even sharpened from RAW!

The champagne bottle is shot at ISO 6400, no NR, nothing.....yet it is quite acceptable quality and prints up at A4 with no problem. A good test for forthcoming album images.

Macro shots too

All in all a really good day. I am going to love shooting available light bridal prep with these. Oh yes I am! :)

Just home from a cracking day working with Jamie. Shooting a civil partnership and Alan and Neil were fabulous. They both got through some some lenghty vows with no mistakes. Unfortunately the registrars have a no photography rule. We could shoot them coming in and going out but there is a blanket ban on photography during the ceremony. We had a very good chat with the registrars and I can fully understand their stance. They have a very important job to do and it is not best served by a photographer resting a len on their shoulder. So thay have a no photography rule. That impacts negatively on those of us who have respect for the occasion, who can pick a shot or two without having to adversely impact on the registrars. So we were very limited in the shots we could take but the lead registrar did let me take some pics of them actually signing which was most welcome.

It will live with me though the image of Neil's face, over Alan's shoulder, embracing after they exchanged vows and rings. It was an image that just begged to be taken and I was not allowed to take it. It will never be replaced, it can never be replayed. All I can do is hope that photographers learn to behave so we don't all end up being penalised.

Here we go here we go........

Batteries all charged and the first wedding of the season beckons. A civil partnership on Saturday with Jamie (weddings by James) First chance to put the D700's through their paces and being a civil partnership means different setups for us. Done my homework and I hope I have a few good ideas that will help Jamie on the day. Sounds very much like we should have some fun and integrating on the day is all part of the job. There is a balance to be had between being a wallflower to get those candids and being in the thick of it to get some order out of chaos. A bit of both is usually required and it's knowing which to do and when that helps make the day go smoothly.

Here we go, here we go, here we go.....:)

More boudoir on the way

Booked the gorgeous RebeccaAmy for a shoot on the 14th so looking forward to shooting some more classic boudoir images.

Also booked a studio for the afternoon and have some ideas I want to explore that involve tigers!

Watch this space! :)

I have my very first wedding fayre coming up in May so as usual my preparation started early. I don't do last minute! I have worked at some really big exhibitions in the past that cost hundreds of thousands of pounds. Huge efforts that took up serious acreage at the NEC. So I'm kind of used to this kind of thing. But it is a little funny when doing it for yourself. I have got my roller banner delivered, six sample albums from all three suppliers all sorted and will be finished in the next week or two. I have been busily preparing pricing schedules, contact forms and bought a large photo frame that actually makes a very good job of showing off photos! Beats my laptop hands down!

Looking forward to my own little mini exhibition, all I need now is mints and customers :)

Boudoir Albums too

Having shot some really good images of the lovely Rebecca at the Yerbury Seminar, I was keen to practice putting them together in a coherent album. I always find that it is one thing shooting the images and working on them in post processing but as a relative novice to album design I like to practice as much as I can with sets of images to work them into the finished product.

I've found some great 8x8 and 10x10 albums that I think are going to suit this style very well so have more on order. Time to go and shoot some more images!

It's album time

For this coming year I wanted to source some different albums that I thought would appeal to my customer base so I have been busy with album design after Focus in March and I have the samples at the printers for the printed albums and I have been busily working on the design and printing for the others. Here is one that I've just finished and I have to say it's looking rather good.

And another from the Boudoir Workshop with Trevor and Faye Yerbury.

Another one from the brilliant Yerbury workshop :)

Many, many thanks to Trevor and Faye Yerbury for a wonderful Boudoir Workshop at their home on Sunday. Thank you not only for the terrific training but the lovely hospitality too. And I can't possibly forget the lovely Rebecca, our very patient model for the day.

Phew, been to Birmingham to Focus on Imaging. HUGE exhibition of the best photographic products available. I was very good! After the major expenditure on the cameras, lenses and flashes I had to. :) But I did sign up for some really rather nice sample albums and I bought a new video light.

A video light is a much under rated piece of equipment, usually by those who have never used them though. The good ones are not cheap being between £200 and £450. What they bring to the party though is instant lighting. At a wedding you don't often have time to set up complicated studio lighting setups. It would be nice but there is no way I can lug it all around with stands, cables softboxes reflectors etc so quick and easy does it ...every time.

The video light can be pulled out, switched on and bingo....instant light. You can direct whoever is holding it to step in, step out, barn doors contain the beam of light so I can get it just where I want it. It comes with a little flip up soft focus attachment and a halogen attachment. That's a really neat little creating trick all of it's own. Pop that on, set the camera to 3400K et voila, daylight just went blue while my subject is perfectly lit. All in a package that fits neatly in a little shoulder bag. A very useful addition to the two flashguns I carry as standard.

New sample album design on the way and two new roller banners to order. I'm away the last two weekends in March with some excellent shooting to do with Trevor and Faye Yerbury and John Baikie. Two trips to Scotland back to back, but these guys really are worth it. :)

Busy again :)

Been working a lot on the website and getting the hang of all the new website settings. HTML meets bludomain template? I know just the wizard to help that go as well as it can so thank you Mr Mark Pearson. Mark runs his photography business just outside Leeds and is just about the most dedicated photographer I know. His customer service is the best you can get and it is real pleasure to spend time with him. And the coffee is good too :)

Booked a wedding fayre with a fresh young company http://www.idoweddingfayres.com/ and ordering some new banners and new albums from graphistudio and a new supplier too. Going to see some new albums at Focus at the NEC on Monday with the lovely Jamie and Sheila so I will be making the decision on a second supplier by Tuesday of next week.

Got some new software for both album design and the design of leaflets, fliers, banners etc so I have some exciting new designs to work on before my new wedding fayre in May. Those few weeks will go rather quickly.

I have a boudoir training day booked with the amazing Trevor and Faye Yerbury, only the world's best photographers of this genre. Really looking forward to spending a day being put through my paces with the new cameras.

Add to that a day shooting with Mr John Baikie at the end of March and it's a busy but very productive month.

Wedding Photography Advice

Neil Redfern who is a very good wedding photographer has recently launched a great new resource for those new to shooting weddings. So when Neil put the call out to his FB photography buddies to write some articles for the new site I thought it would be nice to share some of the things I have learned, even if I don't yet have decades of experience. So I've written one on shooting and practicing bridal prep shots. The new site and my small contribution is http://www.weddingphotographyadvice.com/2010/02/bridal-preparation-photography-by-alison-bailey/

Plans, I have plans...

Got a couple of shoots I need to arrange in the next couple of weeks. One hotel themed shoot with the lovely Branka and Temi that I need a trip into Manchester to arrange for April and I want to shoot some boudoir images. I'd like to have a shoot here at home because it's a great setting anyway and I have a seminar booked at the end of March with the fabulous Trevor and Faye Yerbury who are probably THE finest exponents of boudoir photography I've ever seen. So I'm really looking forward to a trip to Edinburgh in March to do that :)

Also at the end of March is another trip North where I hope to be able to hook up with the inimatable Mr John Baikie. Two northern shoots in two weeks and this is supposed to be my quiet time of year!

Oh who am I kidding? I would not have it any other way! :)

Shiny!

Just had my new cameras delivered and I have to say that I am really impressed! It's going to take me a little time to get used to them but then, that's why I bought them at this time of year. It gives me time to get a few shoots under my belt before they are called into use in anger.

Some fabulous features on them which will bore most but my fellow photographers will understand and nod sagely. I can happily shoot with these at ISO 6400. That means a very dimly lit room to most of us and you can easily see the application for that particular feature at a wedding. It allows me to keep higher shutter speeds and get real clarity in the images and that's what counts to clients and why I've just spent £8.5K.

At the moment it's one body and one lens till I get the hang of it and I'll start adding the other lenses and finally the flashes until I'm 100% with it all. I know of one brilliant photographer who loves this camera so much he only has one camera and one lens and he shoots everything on that one lens. So I'll constrain myself until I'm happy that I can get the results I want in terms of quality before I go off exploring the rest of the kit. It could be a little while!

What camera is it? The Nikon D700. One reviewer cited it as the best professional camera ever built. Good enough for me then! ;)

New website and music

Finally finished the design of the new website and I'm really liking it. It will take a couple of days to migrate over to the host and when it does I'm hoping that it will start to become a little more visible. Got to sort out the Google Local Listing tomorrow too. One of the things I like about it is the music. I was really pleased to find some music by a local composer, Dan Phillipson. He's a really talented young composer from Preston and I am delighted to support him by purchasing the music for my website. I can easily see him having a very successful career writing music for film and television. So now you know who wrote the music on the site. Thanks Dan :)

It's Album Time

This week I will be mainly creating albums. I have one of my favourite weddings from last year to create the album for and I have to say I'm actually looking forward to it. It will be a fair bit of work because I need to go through each image from scratch and just make sure it is as good as it can be. The time spent doing all those little details like removing fire exit signs and just taking care of detail is well worth it. Especially when you get to see the final albums. I have two coming back from Graphistudio any day now and that will complete last year's assignments once this week's is designed. I can't wait to see their face when I can deliver it. :) Those are the times I really love doing this. I also need to contact two couples about up and coming weddings and then there is the small matter of ordering £8000 of equipment. I've bought the advanced book on the D700 so I have some work to do to get fully up to speed before I need to use them in anger. I have the Canon 1Ds booked in for a service tomorrow and I'll be keeping the Canon equipment until I have all the Nikon bodies, lenses and flashes I need to do the job properly and I'm familiar with it. So the house really will look like a camera retailers for a few weeks. I also need to get a shoot arranged with the lovely Branka. A great model and I have some really good ideas that involve a very innovative dress designer from Manchester, a quality hotel and a dash of creative lighting. It may have to wait till the dear lady is back next month, but I do need to get started on the organisation for a March shoot. Yes they do take that long to get together but oh so worth it. Want to get shooting again with David once I get the Nikon cameras here. In fact I want to be shooting full stop. One of the things that a lot of people don't realise about doing this is that there is an awful lot to do that does not involve having a camera in your hand, but it's all worth it int he end.

Busy Busy Bee

Wow! What a week! It started on Sunday this week and a Virgin Pendolino to London. Stayed overnight at Euston and out to Hammersmith in the morning. The reason for my visit was a rather handsome Australian gent. Namely one Jerry Ghionis. Oh he's only one of the best photographers I've ever seen so it was well worth the trip too. Funny, touching and truly inspirational. He had me both laughing and crying and that's highly unusual! Came away with lots of ideas and very very inspired.

Got back to Manchester late on Monday night and off to Bath on Tuesday and another overnight. The reason this time was a trip to see the lovely people at the Royal Photographic Society. I had submitted a panel of images to be judged for a Licensateship and I had a very nervous few hours waiting my turn. Thankfully the judges saw fit to award me the qualification and I am delighted to be able to say that I am now Alison Bailey LRPS :)

Finished building the website and I've hit the go live button on it so hopefully in a couple of days I will have a nice shiny new website.

Also been out to test drive a Nikon D700 and I was really impressed so decision made and a huge step to change all my photographic equipment is under way. It's a major step as it means changing to a system that will take a bit of time to learn properly and means changing not just the cameras but lenses and flashes too. Even the way I use flash will have to be changed and it will take a bit of time to start getting creativity into my shooting rather than looking at buttons and menus!

A busy week in all but one that's been well worth it.

Ahhh at last. I've got my new website just about built and this blog is linking into it nicely. It's amazing just how much you can do these days with websites. I've been really lucky putting mine together. Other than one little problem locating exactly the right information to link the email into it, it has been a relatively painless process. :)

Just got another couple of pocket wizards too which will come in very handy especially for interior lighting. Often folks don't realise what goes into lighting an interior but those flashes get hidden everywhere! And pocketwizards are just the thing, I like no cables :)

Currently adding up the costs of upgrading one of my cameras. Either upgrade a 5D to a 5DII or go for two D700's which means changing just about everything aarrghh. I do rather like the feel of the D700 the weight is fine, the controls fall neatly at my fingers and I think for shooting manually it could be just the ticket. Lots of sums to follow and gnashing of teeth especially if the tax man puts a halt to it. Perhaps I should just go and buy the lot before he gets a chance to get hold of any of it? :)