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.

Nicola and Neil Engagement Session

Sunday it poured down, and to be honest I wasn't in the mood for getting drenched, so I was really glad when Nicola and Neil were also concerned I was going to drag them outside. We decided to stay inside.

The couple have a great home, incredible soft light poured in through French windows into the stunning contemporary reception area, so my job was made easy.

Both were a little nervous, but were soon put at ease and within minutes we had completed a whole range of poses. I tend to use the e-sessions as more of a practice photo session, rather than a dedicated shoot, so we practiced different techniques for getting spontaneous smiles and giggles.

Before long we had acheived just about all I needed to do, so we had a play with some ideas the couple wanted. Best of all Nicola and Neil were happy with the way I operated, and were more confident about spending time in front of a camera.

This was a perfect example of why I include a portrait session with my album packages.

Claire and Adam..........Sometimes its all in the detail

Here are few of my favourite shots from Saturdays wedding that I have processed so far. I was so struck by the location, the light and the fine attention to detail that I had to post a few images early.

Thrumpton Church was simply gorgeous, a perfect example of an old English Church, its tiny interior was subtly lit through some amazing old stained glass. The interior was very dark in places, but was beautiful where it mattered.

A stunning Bride in a simple traditional dress, given away by a very proud Mum, lovely.

A simple service, were the congregation also vowed to support the couple, extremely touching.

The Rose Garden was a stunning location for everyone to chat and mingle, the weather held off long enough for us to shoot the groups in this idillic location.

The Library provided a the perfect location for a few old fashioned portraits of the couple, as well as allowing the guestes to soak up the atmosphere of the location.

All in all, I had a fantastic day, the perfect couple at a stunning location, I could not have asked for better.

Newark Jazz Festival

Canon 1DMKIIN 120-300 f2.8 set to 300mm

Newark has become the location for one of the Uk's premier music events, those of you who have read my previous posts will already be aware that I am a huge music fan. I managed to use the oppurtunity to photograph some amazing artists from all over the Uk and abroad. Artists played in pubs, clubs, bars and restaurants all over Newark, some of the events required tickets, but most were free, opening up Jazz music to thousands who had probably not enjoyed the experience before.

The ultimate experience was the oppurtunity to see the great Jazz Legend George Melly, the wonderful blues singer, who had not been well recently, performed at the Palace Theatre. He was being filmed by the BBC for a documentary, and he was the ultimate entertainer even though he had to perform from a wheelchair.

Canon 1DMKIIN 12-24 set to 12mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 12-24 set to 12mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set to 70mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set to 70mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set to 70mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set to 70mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 120-300 f2.8 set to 300mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 120-300 f2.8 set to 300mm

I won't go into details, but I hope you like the images. More will be posted on my main site later this week.

Jammie Dodgers and Fogburn......

Alison and I decided to take a quick break and make the most of a quiet few days before the busy summer season kicks into gear.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 70mm

We managed to get booked into a very nice little cottage in Coniston in the lake District. As usual with the Lakes the weather was changeable, erring on the side of wet, but on the whole the trip turned out to be the best idea we had in ages. It was a very relaxing and stress free few days away from e-mail and telephones, well worth the money.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 24mm

We spent a few days on the hill, but most of the time we just toddled about the area, wandering around the lakes and mooching around the shops. We did have a wonderful evening on the solar powered Coniston Launch, this super quiet tourist boat took us around the Lake as the sun set, we even enjoyed a bottle of wine. Lucy was very well behaved, especially after we let her look over the side at the water.

Nikon P1 compact camera

Our only really wet day was the day we decided to climb the Old Man, we took the miners track past the old workings to the top. It was quite a site to see the disused buildings that have fallen into disrepair, it must have been an extremely arduous job working moving green slate and copper ore on the mountain, especially when you have to walk all the way up there to start your working day.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 24mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 50mm

Visibility was down to less than 20 metres on the top, Lucy, who had behaved wonderfully on the journey up, had become covered in a fine layer of mist that had frozen on her whiskers. As we sat out of the wind enjoying a cup of tea and a jammie dodger I could feel my head getting warm. When we got down it seems that even though the weather was poor I had still managed to burn the top of my baldie head. I should have put on my hat earlier.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 24mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70mm set to 24mm

Changing Seasons

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set at 70mm

One reason why I particularly enjoy walking my dog Lucy, is getting the oppurtunity to connect with the great outdoors and watch the seasons change. Here are a few images from yesterday, Lucy was doing her thing in the undergrowth, so I took the oppurtunity to do mine.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set at 70mm

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 set at 50mm

What an fantastic job

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 lens set to 70mm

I am always amazed at just how lucky I am, I may not be, financially, the richest person in the world, but I am rich in another respect. I get to meet some of the most interesting, and inspiring, people as well as getting involved in some fascinating projects.

Last week I got to meet Scott, he is an inspiration to all of us who want to better ourselves and do something for their local community. He was a mineworker for 15 years, working a tough physical job, in extreme conditions for long hours and for very little pay. After many years of soul searching he made the decision to do something different with his life and he went back to school. Now 5 years later he now teaches the very course he did, and now inspires others to make the move to improve their own lives.

Canon 1DMKIIN 24-70 lens set to 70mm

A simple decision on his part not only enabled him to improve his own lot, also means that others get to improve their lives. His ability to communicate with, and encourage, others was quite apparent, his friendly attitude proving popular with his students and those he works with. He is someone that we should all aspire to be like.

Good Luck for the future Scott, you are an inspiration to us all.

Rare Night Out

Anyone who knows me also knows just how much I like good quality music, I love to go and see live bands in concert of all genres but I really appreciate good Jazz played in small clubs and venues.

Saturday night was a rare oppurtunity for Alison and myself to go out, as I am usually working, but I had deliberately kept this weekend free as Curtis Stigers was coming to town and playing in our local flea pit the Palace theatre.

I was never a fan of Curtis in the early nineties when he had a string of rather mediocre hits here in the UK. I think it was his awful hair cut(or lack of it) and his bad collection of waistcoats but he was not for me. I was convinced to go and see him by Alison, as she had not had a night out in ages, I must admit I was really impressed, he is a very talented performer, and supported by some extremely talented musicians he absolutely stunned the audience.

He performed a range of tracks from his back catalogue as well as some of the newer stuff on his latest album, but I was most impressed by his covers, most of which were better than the originals.

Unfortunately photography is not permitted at the palace, so I don't have any images to post, but at least it gave Alison a night away from the camera.

Newark is hosting its annual Jazz Festival in a few weeks, something I am really looking forward too, I will be able to get some great images of the performers as they tour a range of pubs and clubs around town. I can't wait.

Two weeks old and oh-so sweet

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

After a busy couple of weeks I finally managed to get to see my new baby niece, Niamh Emma. She absolutely gorgeous, an expert at sleeping, (she must take after her Dad for that one). Brought into this world with the help of a surgeons knife, she is happy, and fitting fit, and keeping her parents, and Grandparents, busy. Mom is also doing fine, with strict instructions to keep still, I arrived to find her power-washing the patio(Mom that is, not Niamh), a bit sore but active as ever.

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Niamh is the families’ first daughter; the two older brothers are very protective of her, even though they themselves are only 4 and 2 years old. I can see her being very well looked after, God help her first boyfriend.

The boys were busy helping their Dad build a new playhouse in the garden, as soon as the roof was on; they disappeared, only to reappear hauling their bedding into the garden. Apparently they wanted to spend the night in the new playhouse.

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 50 mm

Helping Dad whack a few nails in....

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Look at those eyes

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Climbing a ladder, with help from Nana

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 24 mm

New windows

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 70 mm

Must be a bigger hammer in here somewhere

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 24 mm

Out comes the bedding

Canon 1D MkIIN 24-70 mm set at 50 mm

Time for bed, probably not.