Maz and Alex, a wonderful weekend..

This weekend I travelled to South Wales to photograph Mariam and Alex. I arrived a day early to shoot a few portraits, then I spent the whole day with them and their families enjoying a wonderful service and glorious sunshine.

A vintage Double-Decker provided transport for everyone, and was intended to keep everyone together, even so someone(John!!!) went missing. Nothing important, he was only giving the Bride away!!!!

Here are a few of my favourites,

The boys on the way to the pub...

Nervous Bride....no way, Maz was full of it.

A quick smile as Maz arrives...

The first Dance, boy can they move...

Faye and Matthew ....VW camper and Creme Brulee.

Here are a few from Faye and Matthews wedding at Rowton Castle Hotel near Shrewsbury. I have been looking forward to this particular wedding for quite a while now. Faye and Matthew are a wonderful couple, childhood sweethearts that were obviously meant for each other.

Faye hired a vintage VW camper van to collect Matthew(just to make sure he turned up!) and the boys. The van made for a great portrait, using my favourite Lumedynes and a 1/4 CTS filter to warm up the foreground.

As ususal I kept the formals to a minimum, just capturing a few shots on a long lens while the couple strolled around the lovely ponds at Rowton.

Then it was out to the lawn for Pimm's and Croquet, very English.

I have to thank Kate from Rowton Castle Hotel, she made a special effort to make sure I was fed and watered, not essential by any means, but very much appreciated. The Creme Brulee was absolutely outstanding.

Anyway, I hope you like the images, enjoy your time in New Zealand and see you when you get home.

Melissa and Tim sneek preview.

A wonderful day at Stapleford Park Hotel, near Oakham. The weather was glourious, but thankfully not too warm

Melissa and Tim tied the knot at Oakham Castle, an ancient hall right in the centre of town, you wouldn't know it was there unless you were looking for it. Followed by a ride back to the hotel courtesy of a horse drawn carriage.

To mark the day, Melissa and Tim, aided by their son Ollie, planted a Purple Beech tree in the grounds of the hotel.

Here are a few of my favourites.

Check you out.....

The kids......

A moment of laughter....

The next Grand Master...

Planting the tree...

Swords and Flowers - A few of my favourites.

This last weekends wedding went extremely well, the weather held out and the traffic was relatively light, which was good because there was quite a bit of running about.

Neill and Louise can be considered as the ultimate couple, both being extremely attractive, polite and so relaxed, my job was a dream.

Here are a few of my favourites from what can be only called the perfect day.


Last minute hair alterations veiwed through a "cracked" mirror.

The girls getting ready.

Loving Mum...

Words of encouragement from Dad...

Exchanging rings..

Climbing that hill...

Handsome chap.....

Neil and Nicola Sneek Preview....

Nothing could have spoilt today, a wonderful couple, a beautiful location, amazing guests, stimulating conversation and the most stunning dress.

Neil and Nicola had a lovely intimate civil ceremony followed by a very moving blessing at Doddington near Lincoln, only very close members of family and dear friends present, making this extremely simple service even more special.

We had been expecting to be drenched (I had brought along my white umbrellas just in case) but thankfully the worst of the weather held off until we were safely inside, and even then we were very lucky.

Anyway, here are a few images that I am particularily proud of, all have been treated with Platinum Split Tone Process.

Dad missing his cufflinks.....

Nicola slides into that dress....

Flowers, simple yet very effective...

Good job I brought those white umbrellas....

Entering Church together for the blessing...

A walk in the grounds of Doddington Hall...

A couple from the photo booth I set up at the reception venue.

Cangratulations you guys, I hope you like the photographs.

Shopping Cart Upgrade

Just a quick announcement to all my regular customers, that I have finally managed to upgrade my shopping cart system on my website.

The new system allows secure payment via Paypal or Credit Card. All existing customers will still be able to use their old passwords, just register your email address, create your own secure password and you will then be able to view the galleries. Just log-in using the password you were originally issued with.

If anyone has any queries, just send me an email, or give me a call.

Cheers

Paul

Alan is Free

Amazing News, not 24 hours after I posted my thoughts about Alan Johston, the kidnapped BBC Journalist, the BBC announces that Alan is now free.

Alan was released after 114 days in captivity, although he spent most of his time in captivity frightened to what might happen to him, he is well and in good spirits.

See the first BBC broadcast about the news here.

I will keep the link to the campaign on the Blog for the next few weeks, as the site is a mine of information about Alan and his collegues work in the Middle east.

We wish Alan and his family well and all the best for the future. I would like to thank all those who signed the petition as a sign of support for his release.

Freedom of Speech

Throughout my life I have always believed in the right to comment, whether your views are cotroversial or not the right to speak out is a right that should be fought for.

This freedom is probably best demonstrated by the incredible journalism demonstrated by the men and women who work for the BBC. The quality of their writing and broadcasting is second to none, being unbiased and totally professional whether reporting at home or away in foreign countries.

This quality can best be demonstrated by BBC Journalist Alan Johnston. Alan is the BBC's Reporter from Gaza in the Middle East. Some time ago Alan was kidnapped and is being held by terrorists under threat of losing his life because of what he does: telling the truth.

In an attempt to raise the profile of Alan's case and convince the terrorists to release Alan, a petition has been started to show public opinion in favour of his case, and gain his safe release.

To show your support please sign the petition, maybe together we can help get Alan home safe.

Kelly and Paul Engagement Session

This weekend I had the pleasure to meet Kelly and Paul again to shoot their engagement session. A few simple photos in their backgarden, playing with their lovely dog Piper and we were done in few minutes.

I got to play with my portable lighting rig again, here a simple one-light set-up in the garden. The light from the flash dominates the shot, but exposing 1 and a half stops under the ambient still allows a small amount of rimlight to separate Paul from the background. Who needs a studio?

Kellys skin glows naturally so I had no problem lighting her. One light and a spaceblanket reflector creates beautiful soft light and lights up her eyes.

Piper, what a sweetheart, she was perfectly behaved, I could have taken her home.

Civil Ceremonies and photography

In some areas of the UK, registrars have taken it into there own hands to abolish photography during wedding and civil partnership ceremonies. This unneccesary infringement of the couple's rights to have their ceremony recorded for prosperity has caused a huge amount of upset for thousands of couples across the country over the years.

Many Registrars state that they prevent photography during the ceremony to preserve the dignity of the ceremony, yet they will allow friends, family members and other guests to photograph the event while restricting the professional photographer employed by the couple. Registrars also allow videography during most ceremonies, yet prevent still images being taken.

In response to the infringement, many photographers have now signed a petition to ask the Government to instruct Registrars to allow photographers to record what can be considered a couples most important moments together. If you would like to support the petition, please click on the link below, and add your name to the petition.

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/ceremonyphotos/

Thank you for your kind support.

Damp Dog Day

Canon 30D 120-300mm set to 120ish!

Just a quick note to say hello to all who we met at the ICC Dog Fun day at Wilsford at the weekend. We had a great time, even though the weather was a little damp at best. Dog owners from all over the region got together to test their dog handling skills on agility courses, flyball racing and talent contests. I am sorry I missed the fastest sausage eating contest, that sounded great.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set to 70mm

Those of you that had your pets picture taken will be able to view the images on my main site, hopefully later today, I am having a few issues with the slideshows at the moment but all being well the images will be available to view by this evening.

The slideshow is here , (or will be as soon as possible) the password is dogfunday

NOTE : I HAVE NOW CLOSED ORDERS FOR THE CHEAP PRINTS, PRINTS CAN STILL BE PURCHASED BUT AT OUR NORMAL RATES

Thanks

Paul

27/07/07

Jacqui and Martin......girls and chocolate

Little Evie gets as much attention as her Mum.

Those of you who regularly visit here will remember Jacqui and Martin from their engagement shoot a few weeks ago. Gale force winds and a blizzard short of put a dampner on that day, but the subsequent wedding was blissfull.

Martin was bouyant as he prepared himself.


A stunning Bride

Just to fill you in, Jacqui and Martin had been given a wedding package by Gaynor who had won my services in a prize draw I had donated to a competition run by British Forces Broadcasting Services(BFBS).

The boys are back in town.

The wedding was quite a simple affair, and probably the shortest I have ever attended, it was all over in less than twenty minutes, but the service was touching and heart felt.

Exchanging rings.

The wedding party retired back to the venue to indulge in copious amounts of chocolate and strawberries, alot of my pictures involved children with gooey faces, great fun.

Big kids like chocolate too

I hope you guys like the pictures, I had a wonderful time, and look forward to speaking to you soon.