Simon and Natalie - Pre-Wedding Shoot

Albert Dock was the location for today's pre-wedding shoot - it's a great location, and a beautiful backdrop for two gorgeous brunettes.  Simon and Natalie are getting married in a beautiful area in Northern Italy later in the year, so the Albert Dock is not a patch on such an amazing location, but it was still a fun shoot.  I'm really excited about doing their wedding, particularly after getting such fantastic photographs with them today.

Florence

I've just spent the most amazing week on a course in Florence, learning how to take my photography to a higher level from Jerry Ghionis, an incredible photographer from Australia.  This afternoon I was at a loose end so I photographed Irelands top husband and wife photography team, Keith and Evelyn Woodard to put my new skills to use.  Thanks to Keith and Ev for posing for me!

Florence in the Spring

This weekend I have been to Florence in Italy - what an amazing city!  Sadly the queues were too long for going into the art galleries, such as the Uffizi, so I'll just have to go back again some time when it's low season to do that. But I still loved the whole experience, soaking up the culture and the atmosphere.  I was accompanied by Dawn, who at the last minute decided it would be a good break, and we had a lot of fun together.  Dawn decided she would have a caricature drawn of herself outside the Uffizi Gallery.

It was fantastic to see the sites of Florence, and it was well worth the walk up to Piazzale di Michalangelo - hard work, but worth every step, just for the amazing views of the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio.

On Friday night  we went to a local Florentine restaurant where we sat on a table with 4 Americans, Christina, Mike, Cathy and Greg, and afterwards we joined them to go and sample a few of the local bars - it was a really great night, and so unexpected.  The meal was a steak, cooked the traditional Florentine way ... hmmm, their version of cooked left a lot to be desired!  But the sweet was to die for!

And as you might guess, I have sampled plenty of Italian ice cream!  Yummy!

Greenbank High School Prom

It was Greenbank High School Prom on Thursday, and Ellie and her friends hired a gorgeous old Cadillac from Birkdale Classic Cars (www.birkdalecalssics.co.uk) to take them to the Prince of Wales Hotel.  It was quite something for all us parents to see our children all dressed up in their finery!  How soon they grow up.  In the first two photographs, Ellie, Robyn and Sarah are standing at, and then sitting in, the car with Ellie's prom date, Michael.  And then they join up with the rest of the girls, Chelsea, Hannah and Jessie before going on to the Prom in Southport's Prince of Wales Hotel.

I met Snow White today!

When I was photographing Phoebe today I met Snow White!  Phoebe also made Daisy Chain Soup with bluebells, and she showed me her beautiful bedroom, with Lucy the bear.  We had a lot of fun together, and Phoebe was happy to play and enjoy herself while I took photographs.  And we also managed to snatch few quick photographs with Mum and Dad too.  Thank you for such a lovely time, Phoebe, and for showing me how gorgeous you look in your new Snow White dress.

Here is a selection of photographs from today.

An Afternoon with Sarah

I had a lovely afternoon with Sarah today, baking, gardening, playing on the climbing frame that her Daddy had built for her, and playing in her bedroom with her teddies.  I was also spoilt with a chapter from Matilda, as Sarah's Mummy read to her - that is such a good book!

Sarah was great fun to be around, she is so full of laughter, and very chatty.  I really enjoyed photographing her doing the things that make her happy.  Thank you for a good afternoon Sarah!  I hope you like the photographs - this is just a tiny selection showing a mix of the photographs.  And as promised, I have included the shark!

Emma and Anna in the Garden

Emma and Anna wanted to play in the garden for their photographs - and being May there were daisies everywhere, so the girls were quite happy to be picking the daisies to make daisy chains ... I haven't done that in years!  They were two of the loveliest girls I've met, full of character, and such lovely personalities - and we were really lucky that the forecast rain didn't happen.  In fact, the bright sunshine was more of a problem!

Here is a small selection of the photographs, with Mummy showing off the daisy chain!

Down at the Beach

Rob and I went down to the beach in Formby tonight - we had to drop Ellie off for Sefton Youth Wind Orchestra rehearsals, and the dog needed a good walk, so where better to do it than down on the beach with the sun setting on a gorgeous day.  It was such a lovely evening, and I just loved this scene - the clouds, the dunes, the rider, and the reflection of horse and rider in the water.  I wish every evening was like tonight - it was just perfect!

Lewis

I had a good play today with Lewis round at his grandparents.  He was so cute, and just at the stage of testing out words.  He loved looking at himself on the screen on the back of the camera, and each time I showed him a photograph of himself he pointed, smiled and said his name.  And what a gorgeous smile too!  Here's just a small sample of the photographs we got today.