I don’t know about you, but I always find buying presents a challenge these days. Sometimes, you know that perfect something for someone special, exactly what to buy for that upcoming 50th or 40th birthday, but other times you rack your brains for days, nothing seeming quite right. Mothers Day is, once again, just round the corner. In years gone by I would be busy helping my boys old primary school, setting up for a Mothers Day plant sale. I used to love doing this. It was a challenge as their old school was huge! working out exactly how many plants you needed to make sure something like 800 children, could buy a plant for their Mum or special person in their life wasn’t easy, but we did it, year after year and the kids just loved it. These days, as the boys have moved schools, I no longer get involved in this but still love seeing the pictures my friends share. For me, something I will always treasure is pictures of my children. Im in the fortunate place that I can take these myself, although that has its issues, of course, I’m never in these pictures and you can […]

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I was delighted to be booked to photograph a friend’s Mum and Dad’s Golden (50th) wedding anniversary party. I hadn’t really shot many events like this before and was really looking forward to trying something a bit different.  When Rachel got in touch, she told me that the afternoon would start with family and friends all meeting at her house for champagne and nibbles, followed by a surprise trip to the church where her parents had made their vows 50 years earlier! She’d spoken with the Vicar, and he agreed to be there to have a chat with them on the day. The last part of the party was a lunch in a private dining room with its own terrace at a lovely restaurant; it all sounded just wonderful. Rachel and I met a few weeks ahead, to have a “recce” of the different venues. With an event like this, I always like to look ahead. That way I can foresee any lighting issues, find a decent spot to park and seek out potential shoot locations. I always take my camera along for some tests shots too. On the day of the party, I arrived in plenty of time so […]

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This bunch were loads of fun. We had booked in this photoshoot quite ahead of time and I was really looking forward to meeting them. The family were a friend of a good friend of mine, and included her husband and two children (with another on the way), her brother and his wife and new baby and Nanny and Grandad, (who the children call Nonno & Nonna). We were really lucky with the weather, a beautiful early autumn September’s day greeted us as we met in the car park at Hall Place.  I love this place as a venue for my photoshoots, especially my extended family ones. There are so many different places to capture wonderful shots and it really is just like going for a nice family walk with me tagging along to capture the day. We started at my favourite line of trees, a perfect straight line that all the little ones like playing peek-a-boo round. I was also able to get some lovely relaxed and candid shots of the adults; they were not paying me any attention as they thought I was busy taking photos of the kids which gave me a great opportunity to snap away, […]

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