Melissa | Fashion Inspired Portrait

I was clearing out some memory cards the other day and came across some I had completely forgotten about from my time in Florence last year. I had the privilege of spending a week with Jerry Ghionis and whole bunch of very talented photographers, learning new things, including posing, lighting and necessary business skills, fabulous advice and a wonderful experience.

A friend and DWF colleague of mine, Melissa Tirado (herself a very talented photographer, from Boston) was one of the models as we mooched around Florence. I had decided to hang out with Jerry's beautiful wife, Georgie, but grabbed my camera at the odd chance of a cool shot (well, why wouldn't you LOL).

This is one that grabbed me ... I absolutely love it, and so does Melissa !! Enjoy ...

Random Image | G10

I was flicking through my G10 this afternoon and realised my husband had taken it out with him while on a walk with Tess yesterday. They came across a swan that literally hissed and spat at Tess ... apparently she just looked at it as if to say "I have a cat at home that does that, mrs birdie, you don't frighten me" LOL

I am pretty impressed with this and so I thought I would share ... John has been picking up tips on how to take better shots ... clearly he's taking my lessons on board :)

Emma & Rob | Wedding | Sandon Hall

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of spending the day with Emma, Rob and their family and friends. They had flown in from Dublin the previous week to finalise all the details, pick up their wedding rings, and of course to get married ! Many of their family and friends had flown in for the celebrations ... I have to say I felt very at home surrounded by so many people from my homeland.

The day started off pretty wet and miserable, so we all got it into our heads that we would be rained on ... well, nothing could have been further from the truth ... the sun soon came out and shone on us all for the whole day, just glorious !

I was accompanied for the day by my friend Matt Wagster, who had travelled down from Manchester to shoot the wedding with me. We had a lot of fun and hopefully that shows in the images.

The day started when I dropped Matt off with Rob at The Swan Hotel in Stafford, before I headed off to Emma's parents home in Hixon. The ceremony was beautiful and the church was packed to the rafters with guests. The incorporated an Irish tradition of lighting candles (the idea is that the 2 initial candles represent the bride & groom ... they light a master candle then blow these out, signifying their union). The vicar, Philip, was very cool and his sermon was interesting and funny.

Then it was off to Sandon for reception ... one of my favourite venues, the staff are fantastic, the grounds are vast and, of course, the venue itself isn't too shabby !

Here, as always, are a few favourites of mine from the day ... I hope you enjoy them :)

Emma & Rob, thank you so much for having us for your wedding, it was a joy ... wishing you all the best for a wonderful future together.

A Surprise Restoration ...

My mother gave me a small photo of my late grandmother, Lydia, a couple of years ago, and with one thing or another happening, it sat in my to-do folder all that time. Mum completely forgot about it, which made a surprise perfect.

This is what I had to work with ...

After a LOT of work in photoshop, this is what I managed to do ...

I framed it in a lovely black frame with cream double mount and posted it off, to be signed for. Of course, Dad was at home and phoned Mum at work to tell her something had arrived (oh poo) and she told him to open it, thinking it was something else I was sending ...

The voicemail I received was so worth it, she was completely and utterly delighted :)

Emma & Rob | Wedding Preview

I had the privilege of shooting Emma & Rob's wedding at the glorious Sandon Hall in Staffordshire. More to follow but I wanted to share one image of Emma that really showed off her vintage inspired look ...

See you at the fayre in Crewe Hall later today :)

Crewe Hall Bridal Fayre | 26th April 2009 | Cheshire

I am getting very excited about this weekend ... I am again exhibiting at a bridal fayre at one of my absolute favourite venues, Crewe Hall, Cheshire.

Please feel free to drop by and see me, check out my albums and other products and have a sweet or two !

I have some very exciting show offers and will be running an exciting competition too !!!

I look forward to seeing you there :)

Gill

An Eye for Detail

Just a bit of fun today :)

Can you guess who it is? LOL

OK, here's a proper portrait of him ... check out his new wedding ring too :)

Have a great Wednesday, everyone ... midway point to the weekend and I have a fab wedding this week too !

SPAM !!!

Sorry for the drama in the title LOL

It has been brought to my attention that some of my emails are landing in spam folders ... until I can get to the bottom of it and get it sorted please check your folder if you have contacted me recently ... I am pretty quick to respond, so if you haven't heard from me, go check that spam !!

Sorry for the inconvenience and thanks for checking :)

Have a great Sunday, everyone !

Gill | Portraits

It's not often that I get the opportunity to be at the other end of the camera, so I jumped at the chance to help my friend Yvonne, of YBPhotographic in London, test out her new portrait studio space at her home. Yvonne has some beautiful antiques, gorgeous wood floors and high ceilings, all perfect props for some truly unique portraits. She was keen to push her creativity and use some different lighting techniques, which was great fun. I had a lot of fun and now know what it feels like to be one of my clients :)

Here are a couple of faves from the shoot ... I hope you like them as much as I do ... thanks Yvonne !

Images copyright YBPhotographic ... Yvonne's post can be viewed here

Bijal & Ankith | Wedding | Crewe Hall

Last Thursday found me at Crewe Hall in Cheshire (again ... LOVE that venue !) shooting the wedding of Bijal and Ankith, and the celebrations with their friends and family. I asked Steve Sutton, another photographer from Stafford, to come along and shoot with me ... we've been meaning to get together for a long time and as this was a Thursday he was free.

Bijal & Ankith decided against a traditional Indian wedding (although they had a small, private Indian ceremony the previous week) and instead went for a traditional ceremony, but with a twist ... the clothes and traditions of India shone through, with Bijal's wedding dress having been made to include some material from a dress her father had bought for her when she was little. The materials and craftmanship were just stunning, along with all her little details and beautiful shoes ! Ankith looked very smart as well, of course :)

They opted for a different approach to the day, seeing each other before the ceremony and having family portraits taken in advance, before getting hitched at 4pm and then on to the party !

Everyone had a wonderful day and I was made to feel like part of the family. Thank you all so much for having me and for making me feel so welcome ... I hope you both have a wonderful honeymoon in Thailand and I'm really looking forward to seeing you when you get back :)

Here, as always, are a few favourites from the day ... you can also view their pre wedding shoot here ...

Getting ready at Theo Georgiou's salon ...

Those shoes ...

A little bit of Indian tradition ...

Bijal's makeup was applied with absolute precision and looked fantastic all day ...

Ankith ...

Seeing each other all dressed up for the first time, followed by plenty of time for some portraits ...

The ceremony ... Bijal's brother and uncle gave her away ...

The hilarious thrice-attempted bouquet toss !

Everyone ...

Their first dance as man and wife ...

Check back soon for the photos from the reception in London on Monday night.

Tess

Isn't she beautiful? And getting sooo big !

Floating Away in a Hot Air Balloon

Random shot for you!

We have the most beautiful balloons floating around overhead all summer in Stafford, and I managed to capture one of them this week ... enjoy :)

For the photographers ... Canon 1D IIN, 70-200 (at 200) with 1.4 extender.

Louise & Richard | Wedding | Ingestre Hall

Louise first met Richard when she was brought in to temp in his office ... he was her boss ! He fancied her right away but thought it would be unprofessional to ask her out while she was working for him ... with thoughts of sacking her in his mind (LOL) he held off until she was about to move to another temp position and made his move. A few short years later, we were at Ingestre Church and Hall, with friends and family, to celebrate their wedding.

Richard is a club DJ in his spare time, with gigs all over the UK and, most recently, Miami, under his belt. He proposed to Louise over the radio (using the legendary DJ Norman Jay to do the work for him) during the Good Times set at Notting Hill Carnival on the August Bank Holiday in 2006 ... their engagement was announced on BBC London Radio ... too cool !

And that pretty much sums up Louise & Richard for me ... fun-loving, music-loving, cool, chic couple, totally in love, with each other and with life.

Thank you for allowing me into your lives for this special celebration, guys, it was a pleasure :)

Here are some favourites from their day ... enjoy !