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DUDLEY

Posted on March 13, 2012 by admin

Today we had to say good bye to our beloved Dudley.

He was number one ‘tography dog, and had been my assistant for the last 10 years, coming to work in the studio most days and out on loaction when shoots allowed it. It is probably cliched to say he was a character, but he was very opinionated, very vocal and you always knew what he thougth about any situation. He never, for one moment, thought that he was actually a dog!!

He had been suffering from an auto-immune disease since last October and had started deteriorating. Eventually, his kidneys couldn’t cope with the amount of steroids he was taking to fight the disease.

Below is a small motage of the 100′s of images of Dudley taken over the years. None of them are works of art, often just grabbed on a phone or pointy/shooty camera as we were going about our daily business. But they are priceless.

At the risk of getting all “preachy” – do not put off getting those photographs taken of friends, family and other loved ones. They are a precious commodity and, whilst hard to believe sometimes, will not be around for ever – don’t miss your chance.

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Wedding Photography, Norfolk – Nicky & Ian at St Peter’s Lingwood

Posted on March 3, 2012 by admin

A bit of a mixed day weatherwise for my first wedding of the year.

It was very sunny as I drove to Nicky’s house to shoot her preperations, but had gone quite grey and misty by the time the wedding was due to start and in fact was raining by the time we left church. Things picked up by the time the wedding party had travelled to Lenwade Country House Hotel and we were able to enjoy some time in the sunshine down by the river.

I hadn’t been to Lenwade House for some time and the new owners have put a lot of time and effort into updating the property. They still have a whole wing to complete but it is looking good.

After a break I always find a wedding extra stressful as it essential to “get up to speed” straight way – there is no going back or re – shoots. This was added to slightly by being under the watchful eye of Simon from Keepsake Wedding Videos. I have worked with Simon on many occassions and he is in fact my preferred videographer, but this time he was attending as a guest, being the groom’s brother in law.

As it turned out the day went very smoothly and a great time was had by all. It’s great to be “back in the saddle”. Whilst holidays a great to be able to catch up with personal projects it is good to be doing what I love most – shooting weddings.

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Elephant Man spotted in Lake District

Posted on February 27, 2012 by admin

I’m just back from running a photography course in The Lake District on behalf of The Field Studies Council. I do these a couple of times a year and the next one is at the end of August if anyone fancies it.

This weekend we were blessed with fairly mild weather for this time of year and we were able to be out and about all weekend without any rain – possibly a first!!!

As we were going about our business we arrived, mid morning Sunday at a location called Surprise View. Having got the students set up, I noticed a couple walk up and the lady had her dog tucked under her arm. I started chatting to her about “taking the dog for a walk” and as we were joking I glanced up to the man who was with her to realise it was the amazingly talented actor, John Hurt.!! Once I had got over my OMG moment we ended up chating about this and that and I had just the best time. John Hurt was just so pleasant to be around and I was amused that he was so gracious that as we were shaking hand he said ” Hello , I’m John” !! Truly a gentleman.

Here a some pictures from the weekend of the guys getting busy. I have arranged for them to forward their favorite few pictures from the weekend and will post them as soon as they arrive.

Finally here is a team photo of the guys taken at the edge of Derwent Water.

Featuring from left to right:- Hilary, Pete, Tom, Captain Fantastic, Ivora, Nick, Helen, Rachel

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Rachel & Marks pre wedding shoot at Winterton

Posted on February 11, 2012 by admin

It was a bright but chilly morning when I met Rachel And Mark at Winterton Beach for their pre wedding shoot.

I have been to this beach many times before for shoots but never tire of the place. In fact it is a family favourite. Rachel and Mark, despite living reasonably locally, had never been before so it was a pleasure to be able to share it with them on their first visit. It was quite strange to be on a beach with blue skies and sunshine but with snow covering a large proportion of the sand – it made for an unusual look.

Posted in Pre Wedding Shoots | 2 Comments

Gt Yarmouth, Pre Wedding Shoot : Nicky & Ian

Posted on January 31, 2012 by admin

Today saw me heading out to the coast for a pre wedding shoot with Nicky & Ian. We met up in Great Yarmouth on what was a sunny , but absolutely freezing day. I managed to keep my chatter to a minimum and we had a quick but productive shoot around and behind the Wellington Pier. I always find there is something fascinating, albeit a little depressing, about seaside resorts out of season. I was mightily impressed by the old guy who who going through his Ti Chi [sp?] moves on the beach – proper hard core in the wind that blowing off the sea!!

After we headed to the warmth of a pub [ when we gave up trying to find a coffee shop that was open] and went through the arrangements for the wedding which is happening next month.

Posted in Pre Wedding Shoots | 1 Comment

Parents

Posted on January 25, 2012 by admin

.. a precious commodity, cherish them.

Posted in Studio Portrait Photography | Leave a comment

The Chair continues

Posted on January 22, 2012 by admin

Chair shots, following my recent photo shoot with Ria & Victoria.

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Private Dancer

Posted on January 19, 2012 by admin

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Victoria, a professional dancer, who needed some new images for her pulicity material. Although Victoria hadn’t done any modelling she was a natural in front of the camera – full of grace, poise and altheticism… she is also frighteningly bendy!!!

Throughout the session we shot a number of different looks to show different aspects of her dancing.

For her final look, Victoria wanted to try something dramatic, so Ria went to town with makeup and I got crafty with my lighting.

I was also grateful for the opportunity to play with different lighting ideas. Victoria was a true star, happy to go along with my mad ideas and really got into character.

A big thanks go ,as ever, to the fabulously lovely Ria for the hair, make up, plastic cigarettes and banter!!!!

BEHIND THE SCENES

Ria going above and beyond the call of duty for a MUA!!!

Ria doing what she does best

Getting into Character…

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Breydon Water

Posted on January 19, 2012 by admin

Whilst in Gt Yarmouth creating images for a clients website, I was asked to take a shot of Breydon Water. Here is what I produced. It is a combination of 27 images in total. The shot was taken on a 24mm lens with the camera in portrait orientation to give more foreground and sky detail after the end crop. Each segment of the shot was taken at the camera metre reading then with +1 exposure and -1 exposure. Each segment was then made into it’s own HDR image before being stitched into the final image. Beyond removing the odd plastic bag or bottle from the shore edge no further photoshop was carried out on the image.

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Breydon’s Solicitors

Posted on January 17, 2012 by admin

Today I headed out to Gt Yarmouth to take some staff head shots at Breydons Solicitors for their new website. The brief was that they were to be less stuffy than the usual “Lawyer in front of bookshelf” type pictures. In order to add something a little different we have also gone for black and white. Experience has taught me that lawyers are amongst the people who least like having their photograph taken. So well done guys.. you’re looking fab!!