May Portraits!

May has so far been my busiest month this year. On top of the weekly weddings, I’ve squeezed in a few studio and location portrait shoots. I’ve been playing around with different lighting and post production stuff and have worked with a make-up artist to get variety to my portfolio. Here’s a few of my favourite shots taken.













Thanks to my willing models Micah, Claire, Natalie and Emma for letting me order them about on the days. Thanks to Jodie Dean for the excellent make up work on Claire and Natalie. Thanks to Len at Elegance Photography Studio in Bury (www.elegancephotography-studio.com) for allowing me to mess up his studio and thanks to The White Room in Whitefield (www.whiteroom.uk.com) for allowing me in before they opened up to do the shoot with Micah.

New Exciting Promo Stuff!

I attended a marketing workshop yesterday to try and get some new ideas for promoting my business. Right at the start of session, the lady running the workshop asked who had business cards. I was the only person to put my hand up. She asked me to show her my card and as I was getting my wallet out, I felt a shiver of embarrassment run through me. This was because I knew full well that I’d given my last business card to a close up magician I'd met in a Parcel Force collection office the previous day. Anyone who is friends with me on Facebook may have noticed that I've had a bit of a running battle with Parcel Force this week over their 'Express 1 day service' that I eventually received 3 days late after 3 phone calls, 2 visits to the depot and a strongly worded letter! Anyway this magician did a trick for me whilst we were waiting to be served and was quite good so I said I'd recommend him to my clients where necessary. He didnt have a business card on him so said he'd email me his details through, which he is yet to do.

Anyway, I’ve digressed into a babbling and ranting idiot now. Back to the marketing workshop. So I didn’t have a business card and felt quite ridiculous admitting this after just saying that I had one. The workshop leader gave me a mild dressing down and instructed me to never leave the house without them! I wanted to tell her that I was leaving to pick up a batch of business cards (at a 3rd attempt) immediately following the workshop. But I didn’t as this would have made me look like the a schoolboy (that I used to be) making excuses for not doing his homework.

Here they are anyway, I love them! I got 13 different photographs printed onto the front of the cards. It's like carrying a mini portfolio around in my pocket. I've simplified the contact details on the back going for a 'less is more' look. The print quality is superb and I couldn’t be happier with them. (Which is more than I can say for these poor quality iPhone photos of them.)


Pics!


Lots of pics!


Back of the cards


The postcard front


Postcard rear

The only problem I have now is that I really don't want to give them away!

Terri and Rik Get Married at The Bolholt, Bury

Last month I covered the wedding of Terri and Rik over at the Bolholt Hotel in Bury. I’ve worked this venue a few times now and have enjoyed every single event covered here. The venue seems tailor made for weddings and the highly professional coordinators work tirelessly to make sure everything on the day runs smoothly.

I started off at the madhouse that was the bride’s mothers to capture the preparations. Loads of people crammed into a terraced house, loads of noise, kids fighting, champagne flowing – ACE! Terri seemed cool as the proverbial cucumber as I followed her and the bridesmaids about whilst they sorted themselves out. I had to capture the bride making the final adjustments to her dress in the smallest space imaginable. All good fun.

I headed off to the venue around the same time as the bridesmaids and met up with Rik and the lads, struggling to find an open bar at the venue to sneak a cheeky pint in before the ceremony (unsuccessfully I might add). The venue was dressed up in spectacular fashion by Organza Occasions. The room truly was breathtaking. If you want to see anymore of their work check out www.organzaoccasions.co.uk

Anyway, I’ve known Rik for years from working together in the past, and he is generally a cool customer. But seemed to be bricking it a bit before the service (haha, sorry lad). Rik and the groomsmen pre-warned me about a trick that they were to play on Terri during the exchanging of the rings (switching his wedding ring for the one you’ll see below).

The trick was played and taken in great humour, setting up what was to be a great day. Weather was a bit windy, but the rain held off. We had a free reign of the entire venue as no other weddings were due to arrive until later on so took full advantage. Highlights below…

































The photos probably tell the story of the day better than I can, great venue, great people and a great laugh. Thanks to the pair of you for allowing me to be a part of your special day. As Rik said in his speech, PARTY ON DUDES!

Sharon Maternity Shots

As she was coming to the final month of pregnancy, my friend Sharon wanted some shots taking to document how she looked before giving birth. We went out over a few different days and locations and took some nice pictures of her looking all lovely and… well pregnant! We finished the shoot at her home with her husband Pete getting his hands in on the action on the final picture below.















And about a month after I took these shots, I went round and took this one!



Congratulations on the birth of the lovely Leila Mae Owen! We’ll get a proper family shoot sorted for you as soon as possible.

URBAN BEEYATCHES!

I went out a couple of weeks ago with Cecelia and Becky for a fashion style photoshoot on the streets of Manchester. I found a few decent locations and we headed off out for about an hour with the theme of Urban Bitches! Some results below.

Bryanna

I've been desperate to get out and take some photographs since the snow fell in Manchester this week but have been unable to until today. So before it went dark this afternoon, I grabbed one of my neighbours to come for a walk and have some photos taken. The light wasn't the best and I hadn't brought any flash gear, but got some good shots anyway.













Thanks to Bryanna for being a willing and freezing model for half hour or so. Hope you like the pics.

Manchester

Man, I love this city... so here are some photos that I have taken of it!