Sloppy Dancing ...

This got totally lost at the bottom of another post ... so I am reposting as it deserves it own place here ...

Sloppy Dancing ... An act of getting out of your shell in a public place. Dancing should be original, fun and without music at time of dancing.

I have had the go-ahead to post the 3rd Annual Sloppy Dancing Video ... from the creative desk of JP & Amy Prutch, Randy Kepple and some sidekick bloke called Mark ;)

For those of you who know me, what can I say ... I was in the moment - for those of you who don't, I'm far to sensible to be associated with this sort of nonsense and am not in it. In fact, I'm not in it 7 times in total. Comments welcome ! I think !

HAVE AT IT ! ...

Hmmm ... I thought I was WAY geekier than this !!

Thanks to Randy for pointing out that since leaving my IT job, I am no longer a true geek !

54% Geek

Bridal Fayre Season ...

Just a little post to let you know that I am exhibiting at a couple of fayres over the next 2 weekends ... the first one is this Saturday, at Debenhams in Walsall, then next Sunday I am back in my regular spot at Signal 1's fayre at The Moat House in Stoke !

Thanks to those of you who dropped by to see me at Shugborough - it was great meeting you all and hearing all about your wedding plans :) Thanks to those who booked already, too ! I am really excited to be working with you all !!

Gill x

International Creative Collaboration ...

Otherwise known as "watch out, the Yanks are coming !"

I came back from the convention in Tampa fired up and ready for the season ahead ... but I soon realised that this is a fairly lonely career. While in Tampa, I met hundreds of photographers, mainly from the US, but really from all over the world. In the middle of all the melee, I met Randy Kepple from Vancouver (the American one, not the Canadian one, LOL) and we soon realised we were very similar, creatively speaking, so hey, why not start a creative project together, with challenges throughout the year, supporting, critiquing and generally being "colleagues".

Now, with an 8 hour time difference, this was never going to be easy - but who needs easy, right? Watch out for our new site, coming very soon, with challenges, images, musings and guest photographers dropping in every now and again too ! I hope you enjoy the ride - I know I will !

In the meantime, I'm going to add a self portrait - dedicated to my new creative partner - just because he likes it :)

Oh yeah, the name of the post is NOT a giveaway for our new project name ... but it's close :)

A pretty manic start to 2008 !!!

I always knew January would be a little bit crazy for me but I could never have predicted just how much ... all in a good way.

It seems such a long time ago that I was in full time corporate employment and so I still pinch myself when I get to do cool things in the middle of the week :)

Tampa Convention

I shot my last 2 weddings of 2007 on 29th and 31st December - I had 2 days of chilling out before heading to Tampa for a photography convention - what a blast that was !!! This is an annual convention attended by photographers from all over the world (mainly US) and is a chance for us all to catch up, network, meet people we have chatted to virtually and to attend seminars too.

I had a wonderful time and came back all inspired and ready for the year ahead !!!

I have a few thank you's and so I hope you guys will indulge me ... click on the names if you are curious as to who these people are ...

To Yvonne - for putting up with my sleep-talking and snoring !
To JP and Amy - for looking after me when I was so far away from home on my own !
OK - ditto to the above JP for sloppy dancing ... more to follow ... :)
To Randy - for newfound friendship and sharing creativity ... here's to the 2008 season
To Melissa - well, you know what for, girl !!!

I could go on and on but I would bore you senseless ... so a final few words, thank you David Williams, for all the advice and friendship - invaluable on both counts. Jeff, Gina, Jen, J, V, Chris, I miss you guys so much too :(

And a final word ... Simon, please don't give up the day job - that sloppy dance was total rubbish !!! :)))

London SWPP Convention

As if that wasn't quite enough to start the year off ... I am working as UK rep for a wonderful Australian photographer, Jerry Ghionis (hard G, silent H) and so I headed off to Londond this last weekend to set up a booth and sell some of Jerry's products - these are aimed at the photographer who wants to gain inspiration and raise their creative bar. Check out Jerry's site for some information. We are also exchibiting at Focus on Imaging in a few weeks so come and visit us !

Here are a few photos from the London trip ...

Gill's 2007 Faves and Musings ...

Wow - where did last year go ! The older I get, the more sentimental I get too. Time really does pass so quickly and if you don't stop and look around at times, you totally miss it. That's what is so great about being a photographer - I get to capture moments, for clients but also sometimes for myself.

I got back from a photography convention in Tampa this week, truly inspired by so many people and it got me to musing about the past season and what I did for 365 days. So I figured I would post my favourites, along with a backstory - in no particular order - bear with me, this is going to be a long and slushy trip ...

Night Lights ...
This was a particulary long-winded exercise. Eoin and Lisa had postponed their first dance by a couple of hours, beyond the time I was spending with them, so I wanted to do something for them to replace those shots. I spoke to the building manager and got the staff to go into every room at the front of the house and turn on all the lights. I then rounded up all the guests who had been milling around outside and got them to go indoors. Once I was all set up I brought Eoin and Lisa out ... this is the result ...

Kittie Remembered ...
I shot Tracey and Grant's wedding early in the year. They are cat-lovers, just like me, and one of their little cats had not long passed away. I asked Tracey, as I do all my brides, "what's your something blue". The result was tear-jerking ... Tracey had fashioned a little blue frame around a photo of her cat and fastened it to her bouquet so he could be close to her on her special day ... boy, that gets me every time !

Excitement ...
Nicole and Simon were my first wedding of 2007 - the venue was Coombe Abbey - a dark place at the best of times, but with a 4pm ceremony on 10th February, I had a challenge :) Once the preps were over, I decided to take Nicole up to their bridal suite for a portrait session ... there was a full length mirror in the room which Nicole started excitedly twirling in front of, growing more and more excited about getting married. I carried on shooting and these were my favourites from that session ... they sum Nicole's excitement up perfectly :)

The Signing ...
Kim and James got married in a beautiful old church, with light blasting in through some fantastic windows. Any past brides will know that I don't normally shoot the cheesy, posed, pretend registry signing. I prefer to capture what is happening while the actual signing is going on. This is a particular favourite of Kim, shot in natural light which was streaming in on her ... classically beautiful ...

Makeup Check ...
Stephanie and Lee got married on 070707. I arrived at the hotel to find Steph all on her own ... everyone was running late. We had a lovely, calm time together before all the choas began. Steph was worried that her makeup might look "too much" so I asked her to face me and I took this shot for her to check in-camera. It wound up as a full page in the album.

The kiss ...
I caught a lotta kisses last year! But it isn't all that often I get to move around a church so freely ... I love this - Lee is so keen to get in there LOL and I love the priest's expression too !

Posing ...
Last lot, I promise ... I spent a lot of 2007 posing my brides - at the end of the day they hire me to make them look fabulous, so I try to spend a part of my day doing just that - sometimes to the detriment of a group shot here or there - but always worth it ... here is a small selection of favourites - man, these brides knew how to work my camera !

Stephanie

Gemma
Amy
Thanks to all my 2007 clients for making the year such a blast ! Here's to 2008 and all that it may bring :)

Gill x

The Last Weddings of 2007 !

Happy New Year everyone !

I am flying to Tampa in 2 days and so preparations are taking over everything else ! I will still be contactable by phone and e-mail but please bear with me with time delays in getting back to you :)

I shot my last 2 weddings of the year over the past couple of days and I would like to to share 2 favourites from each wedding ...

The first was Mick and Gemma's on 29th December, in Wombourne. Gemma's grandfather performed the ministerial duties on the day, making it a truly family affair. It was bitter cold and blowy, but thankfully stayed dry until after everyone was seated for the wedding breakfast. We were allowed access into Himley Hall grounds - Mick and Gemma braved the weather for me, as you can see :)

The second wedding was Kathy and Andy's, at Smallwood Manor private school. Kathy teaches at the school and this is the first ever wedding that has been held there. The actual ceremony toook pace in the school's chapel - Dominic was the best vicar ever :)

All in all a very emotional affair, Kathy had to stop a few times during her vows to re-compose, but they got there in the end :)

The school choir were fantastic too ! Here are 2 of my favourites from the day ...

Kathy listening to Dominic ...


And the final shot of 2007 !


Gill x