Prayers please ... (update)

Just a short post to let you know that my husband, John, suffered a heart attack tonight. I am staying with my best friend who lives a short walk from the hospital, so that I can be close.

Please keep him in your prayers, but also please note that I will not be monitoring emails for a few days. I appreciate your patience and understanding.

Special thanks to Matt Pereira and Yvonne Blume, more to follow, thank you.

Ever the photographer ... my husband ...







-- Post From My iPhone

***Update*** I have spoken to John's medical staff this morning and they have confirmed that he has had a heart attack, but thank God, a minor one. John is only 49 and has rarely had a sick day in his life ... there is no history of heart disease in his family and so we are thrown completely by this. John is completely shell-shocked and TBH the look in his eyes in the ambulance last night is something that will stay with me forever.

I would like to thank everyone who has contacted my with offers of help, best wishes, hugs and love, from all over the world ... you are keeping us going through this time. A big BIG special thanks to photographer, Jon Rouston, who has stepped in to shoot my wedding tomorrow (Roz and Phil) at Packington Moor ... I don't even know where to begin.

It is looking like we will be spending Christmas Day in hospital this year, the timing sucks, but I would rather have him there, being well looked after, than take him home too soon.

With much love and appreciation to you all.

Gill x

Training Tess ...

I'm a massive Dog Whisperer (Cesar Millan) fan ... that guy is, like, the GOD of dogs ! So, in preparation of getting our new puppy, I started watching every single episode. John and I decided that if we were to end up with a well balanced, calm, submissive dog, we'd need to be synchronised in our thinking and that we both needed to be "pack leaders". So, of course, every decision in her upbringing is discussed and we both exercise, discipline and shower affection exactly the same

OK, she does have her moments, but on balance she's really growing up to be a beautiful little dog, with a gorgeous nature and she's still just so damn cute !!

Our latest venture is getting her used to being calm in the house, wherever we take her. We had started off just allowing her the run of the conservatory, but my intent has always been to have her curled up in my office while I work. Nightmare, to start with, cats to run after, various pieces of clothing and footwear to run around and steal / chew ... so we bought a slip lead, specifically for using in the house. The difference is amazing. She knows she can't escape when she's tied to something, so she doesn't try ! She sits / lies down calmly and just enjoys our company, and us hers :)

So, today, she's been in my office with me while I work on some client albums and reprints, the odd bit of photoshop and backing up Saturday's wedding. She loves it.

As no post from me should be photo-less, here is a little portrait I took of her earlier, as she was sitting in my leather armchair, just chilling out :)

Enjoy ...

For the photographers ... 1D IIN, 85 1.2 (at 1.2) Daylight from office window :)

Print Orders ... Extended Deadline !

Hi guys ... just to let you know I can offer an extended deadline on reprints ... the deadline for orders is Monday 15th December !

You can come to me direct, or go through the ordering system in Client Area, right up til Monday's deadline :)

Gill

Winter Wonderland ...

Every Sunday we head off to The Chase ... we are very fortunate to have this wonderful piece of countryside and woodland right on our doorstep, considering we live in such an urban area of the UK ! Tess absolutely loves the stomp, getting muddly, drinking from streams, running through them and watching the ducks. Actually, she managed to get through a hole in the duck pond fence yesterday and nicked a piece of their bread ! We also came across one of the gamekeepers, walking a ram ! Boy, she really didn't know what to make of that one LOL

The frost was thick on the ground where the sun had not hit, but we were wrapped up in our winter woollies, hats and gloves, big thick socks and walking boots, so we really enjoyed the fresh air and beautiful scenery ... then it was on to the chippie for a rather unconventional Sunday lunch of fish, chips and mushy peas ! Yuuuuuuum ...

For the photographers ... I was putting the new Canon G10 through it's initial paces and am really delighted with the results. Shooting in RAW proved a challenge to process (read: LR is not compatible yet - grrr) but I got there in the end with ACR plugin for PS4. the camera is small, discrete and packs a punch of 14.7 mp's :)

London DWF GTG :)

I decided very last minute to join a few other photographers for a get-together (GTG) in London on Tuesday. The plan was to meet at the National Portrait Gallery (NPG) then on for a few drinks and a chat about photography, no doubt !

I decided to treat myself to a First Class trip (honestly, book in advance on thetrainline and save LOADS !) on Virgin's pendolino train ... absolutely marvellous ! Those things actually lean into corners !!! (Best to ignore the Heat magazine ... moving on ...)

An hour and a half from Stafford (I know) I got to Euston an hour early and was delighted to meet up with my friend, Yvonne Blume. We mooched along The Strand to check out a church (St Mary Le Strand) she is shooting at on Saturday and all I can say is WOW ! Absolutely beautiful and slap bang in the heart of London, surrounded by stereotypical buses and phone boxes ! I had my little Canon S5 with me (the bloomin' Canon G10 hadn't turned up yet - booooo) and so took a couple of photos while there (the exception is the iPhone photo in the NPG).

No visit to London would be complete without the tiniest bit of sightseeing ... whilst I have seen a lot of London, there are bits I still have yet to experience ... so we dropped by Somerset House which is set up in winter with an outdoor skating rink, and got a shot of the front of the Waldorf Hotel :)

Then it was on to the NPG for the Annie Leibovitz exhibition. I'm not a mad fan of Annie's work, with the exception of the David Beckham portraits and probably the Demi Moore pregnancy shots, but was curious as to what else I was missing. Needless to say, I didn't stay long and didn't buy the book either. That said, I did pick up a gorgeous book by someone I am a HUGE fan of, Mario Testino "Portraits", full of inspiration and just beautiful images.

Here's Yvonne studiously admiring Annie's work ... sorry, I mean, being bemused, then mildly irritated by the amount of shots out of focus !!!

Some of the guys were a little more enthusiastic :) (taken with iPhone due to gallery security lurking around LOL)

The group were heading to The Salisbury pub for a few drinks but Yvonne and I side-tracked to a little Italian restaurant for a girlie chat, some great pasta and wine, of course. Then it was off to meet the others for a couple of hours catching up on all things photography, before heading back to Stafford on the late train :)

A great day out, as always. Lovely to see everyone again and meeting some new faces too.

Client Testimonial ...

I love my job. Have I ever mentioned that before? Love it with a passion. I get to work with really cool people on the happiest day of their lives (my wedding clients, of course), with people who want me to make them look good (model shoots or corporate head shots), at locations wide and varied, all over the UK and abroad ... I mean, let's face it, there aren't too many other jobs with such job satisfaction and variety.

I am especially happy when my clients just LOVE the images ! One of the best parts of my job is watching clients look at the photos for the first time, reliving all the memories of the shoot, whatever it was. And I feel all warm and fuzzy when I get the feedback, too :)

I received a lovely thank you card from a wedding I actually covered for another photographer ... remember David Pearce's little baby who died 2 days before? I guess this one was especially poignant for me as they had gone to the trouble to find out my information and get a hand-written card off to me.

Dear Gill, thank you for the amazing photographs you took of our wedding day. They are truly fantastic! So many people commented on how great the photos are and how much fun you were on the day. It really helped make our day so special. We LOVE the photos and are struggling to choose our favourites, there are so many good ones ! Looking at them brings back great memories of some of the poses and fun we had :)

Sarah & Mark, Kent, July 08

You can read their blog post and the full story here.

Wedding Photography IS real ... Poll Results !

So, the votes are in and it is definitely unanimous ... Wedding Photography is REAL ! 21 votes for "Definitely" and only 1 "unsure" ... I'm so pleased with this result and thanks to all who voted.

I'd love to hear some comments (see link below) as to why you all felt that way ... my thoughts are this: what we do is take photos of real people, celebrating with friends and family, on the happiest day of their lives (so far !) ... years of planning and choosing all those little details which make their day unique makes it clear why so many choose a good photographer to record it all ... the day after, everything is gone, forever, the wonderful dress gets boxed up and forgotten in an attic, the shoes are trashed (I know mine were), the food has been wolfed, the cake cut and eaten, the flowers are dead before long ... you get the point ! All you have left are the photos, that's it.

Thanks again for confirming my belief :)