New Year... New Look

As you've probably noticed, I've not been very active on my blog lately, and that is mostly due to the fact that I've been snowed under trying to Rebrand, Replan and Reinvent my business.

I've achieved a lot in the last couple of months, albeit with a lot of help from some very talented people.

The first I'd like to thank is the wonderful Fiona Humberstone (Guildford Printing.com - soon to be rebranded as Flourish)- she has not only helped me with logo, colours, brand guidelines, copywriting, exhibition strategy etc, but has been an inspiration for me in general.

Then there is Karen Skidmore (CanDoCanBe)- she is showing me the way in so many ways and has made so many things seem less fuzzy in my head ;-). Things like pricing, business objectives, client profiles etc, all seem a lot more manageable now.

And lastly there is my good friend Paul Glavin (Website) who is not only a brilliant photographer and my personal CSS/IT guru, but also my sounding board and sanity check person.

I believe without the people mentioned above, none of this would have been possible! And don't get me wrong there is still LOADS to do, I don't even think I'm halfway there yet, but I feel invigorated and inspired to start this year afresh and with a new supply of energy!

So without further ado... I present to you the new look and colour scheme for my blog, (and the website will follow soon courtesy of Mr. Glavin).

I will be posting tomorrow with some more details on the new logo and brand in general, and I will also be catching up on all the outstanding happenings of the past couple of months.

PS: One of my New Year's Resolutions is to "Blog more!", but more on that later.

Did you know the following Wedding Trivia? - part 2

So here follows the next installment of my research into some of the customs and old wives tales that are closely assosiated with weddings.

Make sure to tell me what you think! Lx


WHITE WEDDING DRESS AS TRADITION

The tradition for the bride to wear white began in the 16th century and is still commonly followed today. This is a symbol of the bride's purity and her worthiness of her groom. The tradition became solidified during the time of Queen Victoria who rebelled against the royal tradition for Royal brides to wear silver. Instead, the queen preferred the symbolism, which is expressed by wearing white. The brides of the time quickly emulated the queen, and the tradition has continued in full force to this day.



THE GROOM'S FLOWER...

...worn on his lapel, usually matches one of the flowers in his bride's bouquet. This tradition goes back to medieval times when knights wore the colors of their lady in tournaments.



BRIDAL SHOWERS

Bridal showers were meant to strengthen the ties between the bride and her friends, provide her moral support, and help her prepare for her marriage. Gift giving at showers dates from the 1890's.


BRIDESMAIDS DRESSES

The tradition of bridesmaids dressing the same as each other and in similar style to the bride comes from ancient days when it was believed that evil spirits have a more difficult time distinguishing which one is the bride and putting a hex on her.




STAG PARTIES...

...were first held by ancient Spartan soldiers, who kissed their bachelor days goodbye with a raucous party.

That's all folks... more to follow soon!

Did you know the following Wedding Trivia? - part 1

Recently I've been intrigued by some of the customs and old wives tales that goes hand in hand with weddings.

I've done some research and have found lots of sayings, interesting facts and some things that are just downright absurd and farfetched!!

I will be posting some of the ones that made me laugh, ponder and gasp in total disbelief over the next few weeks and I hope you let me know what you thought of them.

I'm sure you'll have a reaction some way or another... Lx



Your Wedding Date and Day:

According to an old legend, the month in which you marry may have some bearing on the fate of the marriage:

"Married when the year is new, he'll be loving, kind and true;
When February birds do mate, you wed nor dread your fate;
If you wed when March winds blow, joy and sorrow both you'll know;
Marry in April when you can, joy for Maiden and for Man;
Marry in the month of May, and you'll surely rue the day;
Marry when June roses grow, over land and sea you will go;
Those who in July do wed, must labor for their daily bred;
Whoever wed in August be, many a change is sure to see;
Marry in September's shrine, your living will be rich and fine;
If in October you do marry, love will come but riches tarry;
If you wed in bleak November, only joys will come, remember;
When December snows fall fast, marry and true love will last".

The Day of the week:

Monday for wealth
Tuesday for health
Wednesday the best day of all
Thursday for losses
Friday for crosses
Saturday for no luck at all



Engagement and Wedding Rings:

The practice of giving or exchanging engagement rings began in 1477 when Roman Emperor, Maximilian I, gave Mary of Burgandy a diamond ring as an engagement present.

The reason that the engagement ring and wedding band is worn on the fourth finger of the left hand is because the ancient Egyptians thought that the "vein of love' ran from this finger directly to the heart.



The Oldest Bride:

The oldest recorded bride was Minnie Munro, who got hitched at a sprightly 102 years of age. Minnie, from Australia, wed a toy boy of 82. Britain's oldest recorded bride was just one day off her 100th birthday when she took her vows with a man nearly 20 years her junior. Apparently the age gap was not thought to be a problem for them.


The Longest Marriage:

Sir Temulji Nariman and his wife Lady Nariman were hitched for a grand total of 86 years, although they did have a distinct advantage over most people. Both were aged just five when they got married.


That's it for now, I'll put some more up in a couple of days ;-)

Trialing Animoto on a recent Maternity Shoot

I have been meaning to try out Animoto for a while now, and tonight I finally got round to doing just that.

It is only a little 30 second video which I'm sure will lead to me signing up to the "whole 9 yards".

Let me know what you think!

PS: The proper blogpost on the above mentioned maternity shoot will follow soon ;-)

Image on the cover of my local NCT Magazine

My local NCT magazine is published every quarter, but this time round it is worth mentioning on here that one of my images is adorning the cover.

In fact, there is a good scattering of my images throughout this issue of the magazine. All the committee images were also taken by me as I mentioned in a previous post (which you can see here).

They have also used one of my pregnancy images to illustrate one of the articles in the magazine.

It is such a great feeling to see one of your images on the cover of a magazine, and it is something that I will always get excited about.

Here is a copy of the cover of the magazine... what do you think?

Henry's Naming Day at Stoke Place

A couple of weeks ago I had the pleasure to photograph Henry's Naming Ceremony (and first Birthday celebration) which took place at the fabulous Stoke Place.

It was an intimate group of family and friends that gathered to share this special day with Henry, and they were blessed with a glorious mild autumn day that allowed everybody to mingle outside in the immaculate grounds curtesy of Capability Brown.

There was a big hammock that captured the imagination of all the kids (and some of the adults too) and needless to say, it was never left unoccupied ;-).

The food was presented beautifully and looked mouthwateringly scrummy, and I just couldn't resist spending some time taking some photographs of all the little details.

Below are a few of my favourite images of the day.

I had a lovely time with you guys and thank you for letting me share your day.

Portraits of Alfie

At the beginning of the month, Alfie's Mum won a Mini Shoot and some prints in a raffle draw that I donated at a local coffee morning and table top sale for the Iain Rennie charity. She was very excited to have won the prize from me, and promptly scheduled the shoot for the following week.

On the morning of the shoot Alfie was not feeling too well (probably teeth) and you could tell he was not 100% himself just by looking at him. It took alot of joking and being plain silly before he decided to trust this funny lady with the big camera, but eventually we made it.

We played inside and outside, and we even went to visit the magic tree!!

I had a great time playing with Alfie, and here are a couple of images from the day...

Wedding in Winchester Town Hall

In August I had the priviledge to go and help out a friend and fellow photographer - John Blythe - to one of his weddings in the Winchester Town Hall.

The delightful couple very quickly made us feel at home and part of the family. They were extremely laid back as a couple, although there were a few frayed nerves before the ceremony began ;-).

Here are a few of my favourite images from the day...

PR shoot for NCT Beaconsfield Committee

Recently I joined the committee of my local NCT branch, and having never had the time to really read my newsletter properly, I never noticed the "pick and mix" nature of the images of the committee members in the front.

When I did however notice it, I couldn't stop thinking that I should volunteer to do something about it.

The photo shoot didn't have to include hair and makeup artists and glamorous poses, just a uniform/consistent look, where people were (preferrably) smiling.

I felt that the images should be informal and relaxed and not have a corporate polished look and feel to them. Afterall, we are mums volunteering and having fun while doing it. ;-)

So I did a 15 minute shoot, one evening before we started our meeting. I asked everybody to sit on the floor just outside the front door of the house where the meeting was taking place, and quickly took some pictures while we were chatting like only a bunch of mums can do.

Below is a selection of the images...
(ladies, I hope you understand that I couldn't show all of you! ;-) L)

Market in St Antonin, France

I went to the market in St Antonin today. What a wonderful vibe!!

Everybody was so friedly even though I can only just about manage Bounjoir, Merci and Au Revoir!

We've only got a few more days left before we return to "the Grindstone", and in a perverse sort of way, I'm looking forward to it.

I've loved my time in France, and I will be back really soon ;-)

Here are a few images I wanted to share with you...

My visit to Carcassonne, France

I've been very quiet recently and I suppose I can only blame that on being very busy getting everything done before we left for France for our holiday.

The weather down in the south has been absolutely fantastic... I've read some books (not done that for a long time), we've been to the beach and had lots of ice creams.

To be perfectly honest, I wasn't planning on blogging while we were away, but we visited Carcassonne yesterday. Only one word springs to mind - WOW!!!!

I just had to put some pictures on here to encourage everybody to visit it when they are next in this part of the world.

Have a look below...
(They are all chocolate toned as I felt it suited them best) ;-)

Malmaison Oxford - wedding setup and details shots

On Sunday 26th July I headed out to Oxford again to go and photograph a wedding setup and detail shots for use on some marketing material that the Hotel are planning to produce in the near future.

Timing was of the essence, as I had to take all of the shots I needed between the staff putting the finishing touches on the rooms, and the bridal party and guests starting to turn up.

At the end of the day, I finished just in a nick of time, because as I walked out of the Visitors Room, the Groom and some of the guests stepped out of the lift.

Here are a few favourites...