Last weekend I got to shoot Kelly and Tom’s wedding in Kidderminster.
We had a typical British summers day again, it started out fine, then cloudy, then a few spots of rain and then brilliant sunshine. Thankfully they all happened in the right order so they didn’t affect any aspect of the day.
The ceremony was held at Far Forest Church on the outskirts of Wyre forest , the reception was at Rock Village Hall. Both venues were set in the beautiful lush green country side which complimented Kelly and Tom’s relaxed, informal wedding.
The party lasted well into the night with the groomsmen making full use of the karaoke microphones most of the night with varying degrees of success!
I had a busy weekend just gone, shooting two weddings back to back is a tiring business, especially when your there for over 12 hours each!
The first wedding of the weekend was at Sandon Hall near stafford. I had been recommended to Emma and James by Rebecca and Damion (see earlier post in blog for photos) Its always nice to get a recommendation as no matter how good your advertising or how many wedding fayres you go to, nothing can beat a recommendation, especially from a close friend.
The day started out with angry skies threatening to rain at any moment, fortunately other than a few light showers the rain held off until the wedding party were having their wedding breakfast. The wedding ceremony was held at St Thomas’s Church in Walton on the Hill, the same church as Rebecca got married in. we had just enough time after the wedding to shoot a few portraits and the confetti line then on to Sandon hall.
When I got there it was just starting to rain but we had enough time to shoot the group shot before we headed inside. Emma and James took the weather in their stride, I think they were on cloud nine all day, they looked so happy.
As I had met a lot of the crowd before I knew we were in for a lively evening and they certainly didn’t disappoint. We had dance-offs, a group ‘I will survive’ line dance and a lot of jumping up and down! I must say the band, Pure Orange, were top class and really whipped the dance floor into a frenzy (not that anyone needed much encouragement).
All in all it was a fantastic start to my weekend.
It has been a while since I was able to get out and shoot some personal work, so Saturdays trip to the Severn Valley railway was a good opportunity to take my camera. The privately owned steam engines and track run from Kidderminster, through Bewdley, Arley, Highley, Hampton Loade and terminates in Bridgnorth. The tracks also pass right along side the West Midlands Safari Park.
The old trains are majestic and it takes you back to the 30’s and 40’s thundering down the tracks with the smoke billowing from the engine. I was also aware of a strange compulsion to stick my head out of the window!
The weather couldn’t have been better, bright blue sky, a smattering of clouds and the temperature well into the 20’s
I had the pleasure of photographing Simone and David’s wedding on Friday 5th June at Hogarths Hotel in Solihull.
The weather wasn’t perfect but the rain stopped and the sun came out long enough for us to complete the group shots in the beautiful hotel grounds. Although the rain meant that the Bride and Groom’s portraits needed to be done inside we weren’t short for suitable locations within the hotel itself.
It was a fantastic day from start to finish, full of smiles and laughter and I felt very privileged to have been there to capture it all.
I just wanted to let everyone know that our flash new site is up and ready for your visit.
The site is designed to show full screen images up to 1600 x 1000 so if your used to small images in the middle of the screen your in for a surprise! so maximise the browser, turn the speakers up and enjoy.
New website screen shot
I have been working on this site for quite a few months and I’m really happy with how it looks but I would love to hear your comments too! I think this new site is more in keeping with my style of photography and even though I was still getting compliments on the old site this new one is a big step forward.
I even have a new look blog, it still has all the old posts and comments so you can still catch up with my latest weddings and thoughts. Now the new site is live I might even get chance to put some new content on there!
I shot Jennifer and David’s wedding on Saturday up in Liverpool. The ceremony was held in the beautiful Saint Mary’s Church in West Derby Village. You can see how the church looks from the inside, I love working in these surroundings!
For the reception things moved on to the “Hard Days Night” hotel in the centre of Liverpool. The Beatles themed hotel was far from kitsch, quite the opposite. Its an elegant, modernly decorated hotel that Liverpool can be proud of.
The day itself was a joy to be a part of. Both the Bride and Groom were relaxed in the run up to the ceremony and during the reception they were positively buzzing with excitement.
I was recently made aware of “Photographers for Charity”.It was started in the UK by Andrea Lane, A photographer in Hertfordshire. The whole idea around Photographers for Charity is to raise money for different charities by offering a couple free wedding photography in return for raising money. This year the chosen charity is Cancer research UK. To tie the whole thing together the organisers want people to nominate deserving couples, so If you know a couple that you believe deserves free wedding photography, either because they’ve been touched by cancer in some way or maybe in these hard times would not be able to afford a photographer then head over to their website for more information but do it quickly as the closing date for nominations is 30th June 2009 with the lucky couples being informed by 14th July.
Each photographer has agreed to offer photographic coverage and, as a minimum, a high resolution disk to the winning couple completely free of charge as long as they have raised a minimum of £300 for the charity. If I am available to cover one of the weddings I will also be donating all profits raised in the sale of prints from the couples online gallery.
I have been involved in raising money for different charities since I was at school, organising talent shows, quizzes and karaoke parties but by donating my services I am going to be able to help the charity and give a couple some wonderful memories from their wedding day who may not have been in a position to afford a photographer for themselves.
I have been asked by a few clients to post a sample of how my digital albums will be presented. I have prepared and uploaded a movie to vimeo, you can watch the video here, HD version and download available here.
I have written here before about social networking sites attempting to hijack photographers images and claim rights over them because they have been posted on their servers. This worried me to such a degree that I have now been forced to include a ‘non-social network’ posting clause in my contracts to try and keep the rights to my photographs.
A few weeks ago I read an article in one of the trade magazines that some highly regarded photographers were being consulted by the government with the view to updating the copyright act. This at first seems like an ideal opportunity to tighten up some loop holes and clearly define what is acceptable and what is not in the digital realm (the current copyright act, last updated in 1988, makes no reference to digital display at all, in fact in 1988 the UK internet was only really used by some Universities and CERN to store and transfer documents) but with the current trend of government taking a good opportunity and doing more harm than good I await their findings with bated breath.
This morning, while I flicked through my RSS feeds, I read an interesting article over on Vincent Laforet’s site. It talks about Time Life and Getty images releasing their work for free viewing over the internet. Like the governments willingness to ratify the current copyright laws, at first free viewing of Getty images seems like a great step forward but when you think about the precedent this sets the outcome may not be so rosy. Vincent asks is this move is further devaluing the printed image and giving social networking sites Carte Blanch over our digital images. I’m not sure the move goes that far yet but as with everything, the seemingly good intentions are easily twisted into something less palatable.
The value of the printed image greatly outweighs an image on a monitor or screen, the investment you have to make both in time and money to display a photograph or print gives it an inherent value. It is very easy to load up a memory card, slide it into a digital photo frame and let it cycle through hundreds of images but compare that to picking out a single image, getting it printed, choosing the correct frame then placing it in a prime location or hanging it on the wall, the two do not compare. This is the very reason I do not offer ‘digital only’ packages for weddings. I know a lot of photographers offer this service (no printed photos or albums, just the images on a disk) and they can make a lot of money from such a package as they tend to charge the same amount as they do for a package that includes an album but without the associated costs. Those types of packages, for me, devalue the printed image as well as the skill of laying out a beautiful album, not to mention the skill in crafting a bespoke, hand made album. I think the digital only option is embracing wedding photographs as a commodity and not celebrating it as an art form.
I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had been asked to help out at Chillington Hall’s open day this coming Sunday. We’re open to the public from 11am through to 3pm. I will be on hand to show people around the hall and to discuss their photography requirements. I will also have a few albums and the projector with me so you will have a great opportunity to see the hall and myself.
We are aware it’s mother’s day but what could be better than a Bride to be and her Mom spending a few hours together without the boys? We have arranged for a gift for each Mom that comes along.
I have been selected as a preferred partner for Chillington hall. If you haven’t seen the Hall, it is a wonderful venue in the middle of the country between Wolverhampton, Telford and Stafford. I am really excited about our partnership and look forward to shooting lots of weddings at this top class venue.
I managed to get up there today while the weather was so great and took a few shots. I hope to see some of you this Sunday.
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