Wanted! Boudoir Brides and Boudoir Beauties

Every winter I look for something I can have a play around with in the quieter months of January and February, and this year I have decided to play with boudoir.

And that's where you come in - I want brides to be, recent brides, and divas extraordinaire who would like to have a complimentary photo shoot at my expense, and you will receive a print from your shoot as a little thank you for your time.

I'm looking for brave girls and shy girls, small girls and tall girls, slim girls and voluptuous girls, in fact any girl who would love to enjoy a fun and fabulous photo shoot - the only requirements are that you must be over the age of 18, and you must be able to make yourself available for a shoot in Southport, Monday to Friday, in January or February 2009.

so if you are interested, then please get in touch by email through the contacts page on my website - I'd love to hear from you .... if you dare!

I met Zoe Photography!

This week I met Zoe Photography - I know what you're thinking, 'this is confusing, you are Zoe Photography!' Well, in Connecticut in the US there is another Zoe Photography and she got in touch with me recently saying that she was coming over to the UK, should we meet! I am so glad she did, because it was so good to meet her. We have both been photographers for about the same length of time, although Zoe is a lot younger than me! Foolishly I didn't take my camera with me, but Zoe had hers, so I hope to add a photograph soon -taken by her friend Alan.

Zoe and Alan were on their way up to York and stopped to meet me for tea, and after York they were going to Stratford to see Hamlet with David Tennant and Patrick Stewart (swoon!). I was so envious!

So, Zoe, when you read this, it was great to meet you and Alan, and great to now have a link to the other Zoe Photography!

A year in the life of Baby Alex

For a year now I have been photographing Alex, from a few weeks old, and finally, this week, just before his first birthday - I can't believe how much he has grown, but it was great to be able to photograph him with his big sisters, Molly and Megan. We went to the Squirrel Walk in Freshfield, near Formby, although we didn't see any squirrels because even though this is a sanctuary for red squirrels, the squirrel pox virus, spread by the invasive grey squirrels, has been found amongst the population of reds. I hope this isn't the end of seeing the gorgeous little red squirrel so near to us.

But anyway, it was a great morning, we kept out of the strong winds and played around having fun on the walk, and stopping for photographs every now and again. Here is just a few that show what a lovely family this is!

Baby Portraits of Milly

Baby Milly is so pretty in pink! She slept nearly all the time I was with her, but you can still see how gorgeous she is. I just love her little button nose!

Baby Joshua

I've been spending time around babies recently, and it's lovely! Now don't worry, I'm not getting broody, but it is nice getting to photograph babies. Here are the photographs of baby Joshua at a week old, and he is just gorgeous!

Liverpool's Met Quarter: Promoting our Portrait Photography!

We are on the mover! On Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 24th - 26th October, we are taking promotional space within Liverpool's stylish boutique shopping centre, The Met Quarter. This is the first time we have done this kind of promotion, and to celebrate we are offering On The Edge portrait photography sessions for just £30 with a complimentary box frame - the retail value of this is £140, so it's quite a saving, and great for Christmas presents.

We are also offering modelling portfolios, training courses, studio hire and wedding photography. If you are in Liverpool come along and meet us over the weekend, and pick up a leaflet about everything we have on offer.

Introducing Pauline!

I would love to be including a photograph here - and as a photographer you'd think I 'd be able to manage that! But as yet, Pauline won't let me photograph her - but let me introduce her to you anyway, and maybe soon I'll be able to persuade her to let me photograph her.

Pauline has joined me as my new Studio Manager - and she is getting me and everything in the Studio in order! We have worked together in the past, and it is with great pleasure that I am able to welcome her as part of the team. She is taking over the Studio and managing it with precision, which means that our systems and procedures are getting tightened up .... hmmm, something that I can only benefit from!

Pauline has a career of managing businesses along with running training courses, and I am sure we will be using all of her skills over time. She has already brought in some new promotions for our clients, and has us booked into The Met Quarter in Liverpool for the last weekend of October with an amazing Christmas offer - I'm sure we'll be telling you more in the next week. And if you are around in Liverpool it would be great to see you in The Met Quarter Friday, Saturday and Sunday, 24th-26th October.

So watch out for portrait promotions, training courses in photography and being photographed, wedding photography, modelling portfolios and studio hire, all organised by Pauline. Please get in touch with her on 01704 544666 for more information.

Welcome Pauline!

Eleven Grandchildren!

I photographed a family of grandchildren on Saturday afternoon - eleven of them! And only one girl! Even though the weather wasn't good enough for getting outside we managed to find somewhere inside to squeeze everyone in and get a great photograph for the grandparents, as well as photographing each family group.

Katie and Thomas

On Saturday I got to photograph two lovely little children - it's always hard to photograph children under 5 because it's hard to know how they are going to react until they meet me. But these two were wonderful - Katie had her own little camera and we took it in turns to photograph each other! She was very cute, and clearly loves her baby brother, who was one of the most placid babies I have met. The photographs look great in black and white so I thought for once I'd just put up a selection of black and white pictures.

Freya and Halle

I photographed Freya and Halle's mum and dad's wedding last year - Freya was there but none of us knew that Halle was too! Kate was pregnant and didn't know. So it was lovely to get to meet little Halle and photograph her with her big sister - aren't they beautiful girls?

She loves it!

Ellie has started college this term to study for her A levels, and it's a relief to know that she loves it! I think she was fed up of being treated like a child at school, and being held back by authoritarian processes. She seems to much prefer the more adult treatment of KGV in Southport. And she has made lots of new friends, which has helped her to settle in quickly.

Ellie has always loved music (she's a grade 8 flautist and is working towards her grade 5 piano exam next spring), so it's no surprise that she has chosen to study Music, Music Technology, and then Film Studies was an obvious choice with her lifelong passion for movies ... but what is a surprise is that she has chosen Religious Studies, and she really loves that. So far she is doing well in her essays, even though essay writing is not a strength for her with her being dyslexic and dyspraxic (and the college also thinks she may be high functioning autistic as well). It just shows how much easier learning is when you love what you are learning, and you like the teachers who are helping you learn.

We're keeping our fingers crossed that she carries on enjoying it as much as she has in these first few weeks - I think the only thing that has got her down has been me not being home much throughout September, but she seems happy to have me home again now.

Mammoth Blogging Session!

Wow, can't believe I have got so far behind in blogging, so tonight, whilst watching CSI, I have spent hours blogging away with updates on recent work. So there is a lot for you to read through and look at there! And I still have this weekend's portraits sessions to upload onto the blog too! But I think that's going to have to be an early morning task as it's getting late now!

As you can see it's been a busy few weeks, and this doesn't include all the album designing I've been doing, and the framed portrait prints I've been organising for clients. I'd love to say that it's now going to be a quiet few weeks, but I doubt it as we are taking a stand space at the Met Quarter in Liverpool to promote some portrait work and the photography workshops in 2009 for Christmas presents - if you are around the area on the last weekend in October, then pay us a visit.

Anyway, hope you enjoy all the features I have put up, and I promise to keep up-to-date in future!

Jules' "Gown Again" Photo Shoot

Now I can't decide what Jules wanted to do most - be photographed again, or wear her dress again .... strangely I think it is more the latter! But I think she also enjoyed being photographed too. So the day after her marriage to Mick, Jules put her dress on again and we went out into Santa Maria, Castellabate, around the hotel where they stayed, so that she could be photographed in a more relaxed manner in her wedding gown.

I'm not big into trashing dresses, but I love giving brides the chance to put their gown on again (hence I call it "Gown Again"), and Jules was brave enough to just dip her toes and the edges of her dress into the sea. We had a lot of fun just as the sun was setting, and as you can see here we managed to get some beautiful photographs. I just love this first one, with Jules looking so peaceful.

Mick and Jule's Wedding, Castellabate, Cilento, Italy

Mick and Jule's wedding was a wonderful affair, in so many ways it's actually quite difficult to pick just a few things out to describe it. I guess the thing we'll all remember the day for is the wind, which managed to grab hold of Jules' veil more than once and toss it straight up skywards! But at least we didn't get the rain of the night before! It rained so heavily that the streets were turned to rivers, but it stopped just as quickly as it began, and cleared up beautifully for the wedding day.

Mick set the day off beautifully with a gift for Jules - a Tiffany bracelet with 'Marry Me' engraved on the heart. Needless to say, Jules shed a tear or two. It's been so hard to pick out just a few photographs from the day, we managed to capture so many, and Mick and Jules kindly let Teri and me spend a bit of time taking gorgeous portraits of them around Castellabate. So, a tiny selection of the many, many beautiful photographs.