Jess's portfolio

It feels like ages ago that I photographed Jess!  We had a lovely afternoon together with her friends acting as great photographer's assistants, looking after me and carrying my bag.  All of these photographs were taken at Jess's home and in the garden, which shows how you can get great images at home.  Jess has a great look and has the potential to be a model with such a strong look - I love that she has such porcelain looking skin.

Baby Alex

In April 2006 Rob and I photographed Jenny and Nick's wedding, and now they have a new addition to the family, baby Alex who I was recently invited to photograph.  We're going to make a record of his first year, and here are the photographs that I recently took when he was 1 month old.  The next series of photographs will be when Alex is 3 months old, and then again at 6 months, 9 months and finally his first birthday, just in time to make Christmas cards with the family portrait for 2008.

Ellie passes her grade 8

Our daughter, Ellie, started to learn the flute from the age of 6, and has worked her way through the grade exams, including her music theory exams since she was 7.  In November she took her Grade 8 in her flute at just 15, and we have just heard that she has passed!  We are all over the moon for her, and want to thank Hannah Horn, her teacher, for helping her to get there in just 6 months.  Thanks also to Kate Warriner who play the piano accompaniment for her in her exam.

Now Ellie is working hard on her piano in the hope that she passes her grade 5 in that this time next year, and she is starting off working on her Flute Diploma too.

Good luck Ellie - we're proud of you, and wish you so much success in your life as a musician.  Wow!  You amaze me!

The Hughes Family

Just before I fell ill I had a great afternoon with the Hughes family and their dogs in the pine woods and at the beach in Formby.  We were working on getting a photograph of the children for grandma's birthday, and also managed to get loads of other great photographs too on our walk - I think we were out for about 3 hours in total.

Photos for Mama

I was really lucky to photography Beverly and Nicola's children for a christmas present for Mama.  The kids were great fun, and I think we got some great photographs of them all.

What's been happening?

Well, I have been poorly for the last few weeks, and am just recovering, but I thought that as I sit here wrapped up on the sofa, watching a rom com with Ellie with the fire keeping us warm, it would be an idea to share some of the work I have done recently.

Hope you enjoy.

Semi Finalist in Photo Contest

Exciting news!  I'm still recovering from a really nasty bug, but had to post my exciting news.  I have just found out that I have got through to the semi final of an international photography competition!  I am one of 10 semi finalists in the 'Couples' section (there are 3 sections in all, Weddings, Couples, and People with 10 semi finalists in each section), and the finalists will be announced at an international photographers convention in Tampa in the USA, on my birthday, 5th January! 

The first stage was judged by 5 eminent international photographers, and now the semi finalist images will be voted on by around 10,000 photographers from around the world.   Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Not well

Zoe has asked me to post just to let everyone know that she is unfortunately not well at the moment with a nasty bronchial infection.  She hopes to be back on top form in the next week, and will be posting some of the images she took before she fell ill.

Rob

Alison's Maternity Portrait Session

Alison is due to have her baby in 5 weeks, and I can't believe how amazing she looks - I think my belly is larger than hers and my baby is 15 years old! More motivation to get out there and get fit! We had a great morning in the studio shooting Alison's maternity pictures, and I was assisted by Rose who did a great job as stylist for the shoot. Alison has the most beautiful shape to her body, as you can see in this first photograph.



I just love how serene mum's to be look just before they are due to give birth.

Some Photography Fun in 2007

Hope you enjoy this slideshow - it's a compilation of just a few of the photographs I have taken this year. I've had such a great year, met loads of lovely people, won 9 awards, taken some amazing photographs, had an article published in a national photography magazine, and another in a regional bridal magazine, been to Italy for fashion shoots and weddings, and generally had a really good time! I'd love you to leave a comment about the slideshow telling me what you think of it. And the year isn't even finished yet!

A Christmas Gift with a Difference for 2007

Thinking of getting something different for someone special in your life this Christmas?

Then how about buying a Photo Shoot Gift Certificate? The person who receives the Gift Certificate will have £165 credit for your outlay of just £75 for the Family or Child Portraits, and with the Fashion Shoot, the Gift Certificate provides a credit value of £215 for your outlay of just £95. Purchase any 2 Gift Certificates and receive a further discount of £10.

The Gift Certificate pays for the photo shoot along with a 16x12in fine art print ready for framing, along with the option to upgrade with the remaining credit. Please rest assure that this is not an opportunity for hard sell from me afterwards though - I am confident that whoever you buy the Gift Certificate for will love their photo shoot and the photographs that I take, and if they want to purchase more I will show them the options available to them; equally if they simply want the photograph from the gift you have bought them, then they won't be forced to buy anymore.

You can choose from the following 3 Gift Certificates:

Fashion Photo Shoot for the woman or teenager who would love to be a model for a few hours.


Family Lifestyle Portrait - enjoy a morning or afternoon out at a favourite place whilst having your family portraits taken - we can go to the beach, go up into the hills, visit a local park, or anywhere else that is important to you as a family.

Child Lifestyle Portrait Session - photographs taken in a studio environment are great, but how much better to have a portrait of your child (aged up to 18 years old) surrounded by things that tell their story. Are they into music, sport, horses, art, cycling, shoes or shopping? Then let their photograph tell the story of who they are with the Lifestyle Child Portrait Session.

Photo shoots must be booked by 31st March 2008, and the shoot will be arranged for any time from February to October 2008 to fit around your family. Special arrangements can be made for family who live away from the area, so if they are all visiting at Christmas I will work with you to see if we can arrange something when everyone is together - please talk to me about your particular needs.

Farnborough Road School Ladies Night

Recently I was invited to join in a Ladies Night at a local school, Farnborough Road Infants School, where mums come along and buy Christmas presents in a relaxed atmosphere, enjoying a glass of bubbly. So last night I went along and had such a lovely time. I met loads of really nice people, got some fantastic compliments for my photographs and style of work, which was so nice, and made some contacts that I think will be really great fun.

One of the contacts I made was with Paul, a personal trainer, who challenged me to get off my butt this morning and go for a run ... and just to make sure I did it he told me I had to text him to let him know I did it! Well, at 8.20 precisely this morning, I donned the running shoes and went for a (short) run - ok, ok, it was only half a mile! But I have to get back into running somehow. I was doing really well earlier in the year, until I broke my big toe on one foot, and then 6 weeks later I broke a toe on my other foot! No more excuses now, so thanks Paul for getting me motivated!

And I've also been asked to go into the school next week to take photographs of each of the infant classes for their annual calendar. I'm really looking forward to photographing the children, it should be great fun!

Nick

Nick was great to photograph - we shared the same tastes in music which was useful for the studio session because I forgot my iPod! Thankfully he had his. And although it was a bit cold we went down to the sand dunes and got some fantastic photographs. I love this first one where he is looking all thoughtful.

Anna

Just a small selection of photographs of gorgeous Anna from a recent photo shoot. We had a great time in the studio and out on location at the sand dunes at Southport beach. Anna is training to be a makeup artist, and did a great job with her own makeup.

Steve Smith, Olympic Medal Holder and Inspirational Speaker

I was really fortunate to get to photograph Steve Smith recently. Steve is an Olympic Bronze Medal holder for the high jump, and his high jump record of 7'10" still stands today. I photographed Steve in his successful role today of being an inspirational speaker, and although I was at the event where he was speaking simply to take photographs, I found his talk very motivational and inspirational. It was a real privilege to be able to take his photograph.

The Suffolk Wedding Show Bride Guide

I have an article along with one of my photographs featured in Issue 2 of The Bride Guide for The Suffolk Wedding Show . You can take a look at the article here. It's all about choosing your wedding photographer.

http://www.thesuffolkweddingshow.co.uk/brideguide-issue2.pdf

Andrea

I had a lovely time photographing Andrea. She is an Irish dancing teacher, and I hope she will let me photograph her in action some time, for now though, here are some photographs of her looking simply gorgeous!

Urban Bridal Session in Manchester

I had great fun this evening in Manchester with Layla where we did an urban bridal session - almost a trash the dress session, but not quite - though I think the dress did get a bit trashed! Layla had a spectacular pink underskirt with her dress, and the touch of secret colour looked amazing! Considering she isn't a model, Layla was so easy to work with, and she understood everything she needed to do to help create a great photograph.

This is just a little taster of some of the photographs that I took of Layla, more will follow shortly on the website. Thanks Layla!

St Georges Hall Liverpool - Wedding Fair

I had great intentions to take my camera with me so that I could post up what our stand looked like at the Wedding Fair this weekend - but I forgot it! Unbelievable that a professional photographer could forget their camera!

It was a really good show again this year - and it was nice to meet up with old friends from last year's show - Joseph's the Jewellers, who made my wedding ring for me (been married 20 years and never had a proper ring, so Joseph designed and made me a ring using the gold and diamonds from my nana's rings), and Sophie and Jen from Daisy Hill Cakes in Thornton Hough, and Ling from Dragonfly couture stationary, also based in Thornton Hough. And of course we made new friends too, such as David at Speke Hall, which is such a beautiful venue to get married at.

Here are a couple of pages from one of the albums that I displayed at the Wedding Fair.