Charm, Birkdale - Fashion Shoot

On a rainy day in early March I took my car in for its service, so I had no transport for the day.  I needed to go into Birkdale in Southport, and from our house that means the easiest way to get there is walking, which normally I wouldn't mind.  But that day it was pouring down and I was soaked through.  As I got to Birkdale Village I passed a gorgeous fashion boutique I had been meaning to visit for months, so, soaking wet, I decided that I might as well call in.  And that was the start of a wonderful new relationship with Keith and Michelle, the owners.

Yesterday Keith and I took Abi, our model and part-time assistant in the boutique, into Liverpool along with a broad range of the clothes and bags from the store to photograph them for Charm's new website (click on the title above to go straight to the Charm site).

Here is a small selection of photographs that we were able to get in the freezing cold weather (Abi just pretended it was the Caribbean!)

This is Keith's favourite photograph - have to agree with him that I love it, but I think the one above, with Abi holding the bag is my favourite ... sorry Keith!
We went over to Sefton Park at the end of the afternoon to photograph the Boutique range - I just love this outfit that Abi is wearing.
The rest of the shoot was done at The Rope Walks in Liverpool - I love photographing there because there are so many different looks in one small square.

Big thanks to Abi for working so hard in such cold conditions, and managing to pull off the pretense that the weather was so much warmer.  My only regret of the day is that we didn't take some photographs on Lark Lane, which we would have loved to do, but we ran out of time.  Maybe next time

Jenny's Portfolio Session Part 2

The weather couldn't be more different than last week - the sun shone almost too brightly!  At least we were able to complete Jenny's modeling portfolio for her.  I think our only problem now will be selecting which photographs to use - there are so many brilliant shots.

Here is a tiny sample of what we were able to photograph today.

Teen Shoot - End of an Era

Today I photographed a group of teenagers who are coming to the end of an era - they leave school next term, after doing their GCSEs, and although they will still be there for each other through college they wanted to mark the end of school in style, so we took some photographs of each of them individually and of the girls as a group - it was bit chilly, but I think the girls were happy to get a bit cold to get the right images!

Rugby with the Boys

Even though it was really cold this morning, I was out on the rugby pitch today with the Ball boys to get some secret photographs for their dad.  And whilst we were there, we got some photographs of mum too.

I love photographs like this one - you don't have to have a person's face in the photograph to know it's them - and the action in this photograph makes a lot of the activity that these two love so much, so it really tells their story.

Tips for Brides 3 - Traditions

There are so many times that people tell me their wedding is different from everyone elses, and then you find that actually it's much the same, largely because of their own, or their mother's, desire for tradition to be followed.  So let's look at some of those traditions.

Did you know that white wedding dresses only became fashionable with Queen Victoria?  Before then brides would wear brightly coloured dresses to celebrate their joy at getting married.  When Queen Victoria wore a white dress, it was linked to what the christian church had taken on as a symbol of purity.  Poorer women would simply wear their best dress, whatever colour it was.  So go on, be brave, and add colour back into weddings, move on from the Victorian imposed 'traditions'!

Veils were originally used in the days when marriages were arranged for the joining of two families (often associated with land).  Quite often a painting (maybe a miniature) would be sent to the groom to show him what his bride would look like, but the painting would not necessarily be an accurate record of her looks (Oliver Cromwell is famously painted as he really looked because he insisted on being painted 'warts and all' at a time when paintings glorified people).  When the bride walked down the aisle she wore the veil to hide her real looks, and it wasn't until they were married that the groom would see exactly who he had married.

The saying 'something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue' comes from Victorian times (those Victorians have a lot to answer for!).  The 'something old' signified the move from the old life for the bride, and the 'something new' relates to the new life that is about to begin.  Having 'something borrowed' is about borrowing something from a happily married woman to encourage some of the same happiness to rub of onto the bride's marriage.  And the 'something blue' is representative of fidelity, as blue represents purity.  The lesser known part of the same at the end is '... and a sixpence in her shoe.' and signifies wishing the bride financial wealth - it's said it should be in the left shoe, by the way. 

Throwing confetti originates from the throwing of rice, and rice is seen as being life giving, and so symbolises the bestowing of fertility on the couple.

The groom wearing a button hole flower comes from the days when he would wear his lady's colours to demonstrate his love for her.

The bride stands on the left of the groom at the altar to allow the groom to keep his sword hand free.

S you're not going to see the groom the night before the wedding?  Well that also links back to arranged marriages where the bride and groom couldn't see each other in case they realised they were not marrying who they thought they were.

I love traditions, but I also feel that you should do what you want for your wedding, which might be to follow tradition, and also could be about you setting tradition aside and doing your own thing, being truly different.

Jenny's Portfolio Session Part 1

The weather beat us today, so instead of a full day shoot as we'd expected, Jenny only had a morning session, but we'll do part 2 next week when the wind isn't blowing a gale, and the rain isn't falling horizontally!  It also felt like it was one of the coldest days of the year, but I guess that was the wind chill factor.

So, here is a small selection of Jenny's photographs from today, taken at her home, the effects in the first one being helped along by Hannah, my assistant for the day, holding a light outside and shining it through the door. I was nice and warm inside, but I think poor Hannah felt the chill in the air!

Fashion Shoot

I was working on a fashion shoot today, and photographed Jade and Jess who came along to help.  More on the fashion shoot when the images are released in a week or so.

Kathy's Birthday Present to Mike

Kathy was my first shoot of the day today, and we had a lovely time creating some gorgeous photographs for her to give to her husband, Mike for his birthday.  I am sure he will love them.  I met Kathy through her daughter, Becky, who owns hair salon Shush on Liverpool Road in Birkdale, Southport.  Becky and I are working together on a number of fashion and bridal fashion projects

I look forward to showing you the rest of your photographs next weekend Kathy.

Kathy and Aidan at Cloghan Castle, Galway

I was over in Ireland at the weekend for Kathy and Aidan's wedding at Cloghan Castle,between Galway and Shannon, supporting my photographer friend, Mike Patterson.    The castle was originally built in the 13th century, although it has now been rebuilt, and is a stunning wedding venue.  All the rooms are full of character, and you can see how fantastic it looks at night, with Kathy and Aidan 

Kathy's colour scheme was beautiful, with a combination of creams, rust, peach, greens and golds that all complemented the feel of the castle with it's stone walls and dark woods.

Experiencing Ireland's Charms!

I have just had a fantastic weekend over in Galway in Ireland, where I was working with Mike Patterson on a wedding at Cloghan Castle, part way between Galway and Shannon - more of that later.  I wanted to share with you the photograph I took yesterday when we went into the countryside - I never take landscape photographs, but I got very excited about the scenery and managed to snap this beautiful landscape.  This is going to have to be framed to go on our wall!

And I was also really pleased to be able to take a photograph of Galway wedding and portrait photographer, Mike Patterson, when we snatched a moment's break during the wedding at Cloghan Castle.

www.mikepattersonphotography.blogspot.com

Big thanks to Mike and Maire for making me feel so welcome - and ensuring I tasted the full range of Irish hospitality, including (of course) plenty of Guinness!  Yummmmmm.