My father-in-law Cliff is very unwell at the moment. I had wanted to make this portrait of him for a long time, and spurred on by his illness I did the shoot over the Christmas holiday. Cliff’s life-long passion is time, clocks and clock makers, and here he is in his workshop bringing back to life another old clock…

I have started to do a lot more pre-wedding shoots – I really enjoy them and it’s great pressure-off time to do some creative portraits and get to know each other better.

Aimee and Grant are into their photography, indeed Grant is a photographer. I guess it could go either way with shooting a photographer, we photographers are all perfectionists and we all know what we’re doing! Fortunately Grant is a lovely easy-going guy and enjoyed his time on the other side of the lens. He and Aimee wanted to push the boundaries a bit and loved the idea of a grungy/industrial background for their photos. Grant had heard about a disused station, so after a bit of trying to see over walls and through bushes, we found it and produced this fun and atmospheric set of images.

Just a note to say that we’ll be at the National Wedding Show on the 19th 20th and 21st February at Olympia in sunny London town. We have a stand there every year, and it’s a great opportunity for us to meet our future clients.

So do come along and say hi, whether you are a bride-to-be or one of our lovely existing clients. We’ll have all our latest sample albums to show off, and it’s a good show to source loads of other wedding details. We are on stand C38. See you there.

Here are some pictures from the brilliant couple that are Allison and Richard. I did their pre-wedding shoot only a few weeks ago (see my earlier post) and from that session I knew that they were going to be fun on the day. The wedding was at one of my favourite haunts Fanhams Hall and after a moving ceremony we braved the snow and Ice and went outside. Little did we know how much snow would come down later – journeys of 40 minutes turned into 4 hour cross-country challenges. But I digress – Allison and Richard just had Love written all over them. Here are some photos to illustrate that theme…

Having missed out on the chance to post this when it happened, and everybody is heartily fed up with snow by now, but I’m going to share these with you anyway. When the first snow fell before Christmas, it was accompanied by a spectacular air frost, and the trees here look amazing against the blue sky. This is just a few yards from our house here in St Albans.

We had a beautiful day to shoot Allison and Richard a few weeks before their wedding – more of which in a couple of days. We all met up, donned wellies, and off we went to see what we could see. The idea of a pre-wedding shoot is to get everyone to relax in front of the camera – well, you don’t get much more laid back than this, they were a delight to photograph, and to be with. The lovely thing about a portrait session like this is that we can all make it up as we go along – shall we go here? Do this? Stand? Run? Laugh? Yes, all of that please. Here are a few from that day, and I’ll post some images from their snowy wedding in a few days.

Well, there has been a technical problem. I haven’t been able to post anything since mid-November, very frustrating. It has finally been sorted out, and now I have lots to catch up with, weddings, portraits, personal stuff. I will be blogging a lot more this year, so I’m looking forward to sharing new images and ideas with you, and hopefully hearing back from you too. Happy New Year!

Harriet and Gavin’s wedding took place in London just before Christmas, and involved a drive along the King’s Road, not only thronging with Christmas shoppers, but also thronging with Chelsea supporters gathering for the home game. We had to get to East Sheen for the ceremony, and I think for all of us, guests, bride and bridesmaids, and us, it was the longest drive of our lives! We made it, and it was the start of a warm winter’s wedding, full of sparkle and elegance…

Maddy is doing photography AS Level at school and mentioned to her teacher that her dad was in the business. About three nanoseconds later I was invited to give a talk about my life behind the lens. I was really looking forward to it, and only had a few hand-shakey moments before getting into my stride in front of about 20 seventeen year olds.

I took in lots of old portraits from my magazine days and talked a bit about film and polaroid (blank faces there), but fortunately I have photographed a lot of celebrities who are still current – Robbie Coltrane (Hagrid), Richard Griffiths (Vernon Dursley, also from Harry Potter), Lenny Henry, Adrian Lester (Hustle), Terry Gilliam (The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus), Chrissie Hynde and Anthony Hopkins.

I also talked about the craft of photography – looking for the light and getting the right exposure. Trying to explain f stops and apertures is very tricky!

I have to say I really enjoyed the experience – it was a great pleasure to give a little bit back, and I hope to be able to do some more classes, perhaps at other schools and colleges as well. The two hours flashed by (sorry, no pun intended) and Maddy’s teacher Liz (and Maddy too) seemed pleased and relieved that it had all gone well. In fact Liz was keen that I should immediately sign up for a PGSE course!

Maddy’s feedback? It was really really really good.

I thought I’d try a slightly different layout with photos from this fab wedding. We had a great time with Jessica and Matt, who loved being photographed in the grounds of Fanhams Hall. We had a beautifully clear autumn afternoon, and had time to enjoy the light and colours. And the evening was energetic to say the least, with music supplied by Mixed Feelings. So here are lots of photos to give you a flavour of the day – twas excellent.

Fleur and Simon’s wedding was at the beautiful Temple Church and then on to the Liberal Club, 1 Whitehall, London. A very emotional morning, and a moving ceremony. We are always aware of the need for time and space, and yet still looking to record the moment. Everyone relaxed during a beautifully set reception at the Liberal Club, and the most amazing cake…

We love everything about weddings, and it gets even better when we can run about off the lead! Sam and David are into their photography, and spending time to create new and original images was as important to them as it is to us – this is what we’re about. These photos are just a teaser for Sam and David to see while they’re away on honeymoon – there are loads more, all shot in and around The Baglioni Hotel – very chic! It didn’t take long to do, and as I’m sure you can see, Sam and David had a lot of fun with us and with each other. Can’t wait to show you the rest when you get back, guys…