Competition - Win your Wedding Photography!

So here it is... the Competition that I've been promising for a while.

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WIN your Wedding Photography and a bespoke piece of Wall Art
– valued at over £1500

The prize consists of:
1 Photographer on your wedding day (up to 10 hours)
1 Canvas/Frame up to 30” x 20”
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I've been thinking about this for some time now, and have decided to launch this competition in time for my Wedding Fair at Danesfield House Hotel on Sunday 24th January, but not to restrict it to attendees only.

Here is a copy of the entry form that I'll be using on Sunday...



...but in case you can't make out all the details, here is a list of what I need from you:

Your Name:
Your Partner's Name:
Date:
Venue:
Email Address:
Phone Number:

Also don't forget to send me your address as well, then I can send you some cards in the post.

The competition closing date is Saturday 13th February, so hurry up and send me an email with all your details to info@liezlcroft.com

All the best of luck!

Danesfield House Hotel - Wedding Fair

It is that time of year again where everything goes crazy with all the preparations for the Wedding Fairs/Shows.

I have been working flatout (to the exclusion of most other things) on getting everything ready for my first Wedding Fair at Danesfield House Hotel in Marlow, Bucks.

It is a fantastic venue with beautiful grounds that lends itself to fabulous photographs. I love doing weddings there!

I will be there from 11am - 3pm on Sunday 24th January 2010 and would hope to see you!

Come and say hello.

I've put a couple of images from a previous wedding at Danesfield House, for you to have a look.

My Branding Excercise - a new me!!

I promised earlier in the week that I would elaborate on my branding exercise that's been keeping me so busy lately, so here goes.

It started back in October with being introduced to Fiona (in all her glory) on Twitter via a friend of mine. Now I've always seen marketing as one of the weakest areas in my business skills, so I was absolutely ecstatic about "meeting" somebody that obviously was an expert in her field and that could steer me in the right direction.

I've gone into this exercise with no preconceived ideas and was intent on starting with a clean slate. I wanted to be open and honest about my good points as well as my shortcomings and I was willing to take advice and criticism from somebody that could help me and show me how to do it right.

Apparently my colour scheme that I was using with my old logo and website was all wrong - firstly the Pink was too "Spring" and the Grey was just plain BAD!
Did you know that Grey has no positive attributes in itself? I didn't!

During my Brand Consultation, I had to describe and answer loads of questions about my business and goals for my business. This was the information (and a good dose of my personality) on which Fiona and her team then based my New Brand Identity.

It turns out that my business' colour palette should have been more "Summer" for various reasons that I have now mostly forgotton. The only three I can remember are my attention to detail, professionalism and quality.
(I found a short summary on the Summer personality on the in:colour website, if you want to read more)

So without further ado, I present to you my new Logo, colour palette and business card design.





There are loads of other things that now go hand in hand with this new identity, most of which are still underway ;-). But as you've seen with the new look for the blog, they will start to appear and form a uniform look and feel over time.

Please leave a comment and tell me what you think, and if you ever need expert advice, I would thoroughly recommend Fiona Humberstone and her team!

Lx

PS: I found all this Colour Psychology Theory quite fascinating and if you want any more information speak to Fiona about the course she and her team did with Bernay Laity.

My first Asian Wedding - Bellhouse Hotel

In November I was lucky enough to get my first booking for an Asian wedding! It has always been one of my goals to gain some experience in that area, and when the Groom phoned me to say that they were getting married in 3 weeks and am I free on that day, I grabbed the opportunity with both hands ;-)

Now as you'll probably notice, I will not be mentioning the Bride and Groom's name, nor will I be showing any faces, for the specific reason that they requested not to be recognisable as they had some family politics and would not want the other half of the family to realise this wedding had taken place.

The reception took place at the Bellhouse Hotel just outside Beaconsfield and although it was a very small and intimate wedding (40 people), the atmosphere and enthusiasm was similar, if not better, than any other LARGE wedding I've ever attended.







The outfits and colours where absolutely amazing and I was in awe for the duration of the proceedings.

The couple where fabulous and made me feel like part of the family. They insisted that I put the camera down during the meal and join them at the table to enjoy the wonderful food.











I enjoyed myself so much that I ended up phoning my husband to say that I will be coming home much later than anticipated as I was having a ball and didn't want to leave.

When the dancing started I was amazed to see that everybody (young and old) joined in and was taking part (and also tried to upstage each other). They dragged anybody that tried to sit out, onto the dance floor and at times I didn't know where to look for there was so much going on.





This wedding and all the people still bring a smile to my face whenever I think back, and I want to really thank my Couple for letting me share in their special day. I learnt so much and for that I would be forever grateful to them!

Maternity Shoot at the last minute

At the beginning of November, I photographed the fabulous Wendy with less than a week to go to her due date.

I wanted to try a few new poses and techniques and my beautiful Mummy-to-be was up for anything! We raided both her and her husband's wardrobes for some stretchy tops and a nice shirt and I brought fabrics for draping, wrapping, etc. along with me.
We even moved all the furniture in the dining room to make some space to maneuver in.

I absolutely love the two images below because I feel they are a bit different from the usual maternity/pregnancy images that are around. I am so pleased (and very proud of Wendy) that we managed to achieve them!


Here is a selection of my other favorites from the shoot...

PS: obviously only the ones that modesty and privacy would allow ;-)