Portugal - In Words and Pictures ... Part I

“Live to live and you will learn to live”

(Portuguese Proverb)

When I came into 2008, I vowed to have a great year and so far it is really shaping up to be just that. This quote sums up how I feel about my year, that I am living it and learning to enjoy every moment as they happen.

If you have been following me this year, then, you will see a recurring theme ... travel ! This time last year, I was terrified of flying, I was the WORST air passenger on the planet ... you know the sort who have to take valium before they can be cajoled onto a plane? Yep, that was me. I braved the trip to Tampa in January, however, a direct 8 hour flight, and LOVED it ! My feet have hardly hit the ground since then - a week in London, then Vegas and finally, this weekend, I was fortunate to have been hired to shoot a villa in South Portugal (the Algarve).

Having spent 5 days there, I won't be able to do the trip justice in 1 blog post, too many photos I want to share, so I will split into a couple - bear with me :)

We headed off to Liverpool Airport early on Friday morning (veeeeery early!) and noticed, while we were waiting for the flight, that there was an exhibition by renowned photographer, Harry Goodwin, entitled The Legends Exhibition ... of course, it included images of the Fab Four, but there were also loads of other famous faces, all timelessly captured in black and white ... I just had to stop and take a look, of course :)

Soon after, we boarded our Easyjet flight bound for Faro airport. A short hop, just over 2 and a half hours, and we found ourselves in a chilly Portugal, with some rain, thinking "WHAT?"

For this trip I decided to hire a car, as the villa is situated 65 miles west of the airport - also, I wanted to be able to mooch around the local area and take some location shots of interest for my client. There was one small design flaw with the car provided - the steering wheel was on the left ! How odd ! Haha - man, it's been 14 years since I drove a left-hand car on the right hand side of the road - a MAJOR learning curve all over again, not fun to start with, but not so bad when you get the hang of it.

The weather did not improve as we headed west and I was thinking that maybe we should have come during the summer for this, but we were in for a treat as we drove in past all the massive villas and came up on the one we were staying at, the one I was shooting.

Nice, huh? I have posted a slide presentation of the villa shoot and so if you really want to, you can view the lot of of them here.

By the time we arrived, the weather was starting to behave and by Saturday, when this photo was taken, it was a scorcher ! Of course, we managed to get some sunbathing in, but there was no way on this earth I was getting into that pool ... there would need to be a whole load more sunny days to warm that baby ! Brrrrr ...

And here is the evidence to prove that I did, indeed, rather fooloshly fall asleep in the sun, with my bikini top firmly in place :)

Naturally, wherever I go, I am a complete geek, so John couldn't resist grabbing one of my cameras and proving that point ! Yes, that IS my shiny new laptop and iPhone haha

And of course I got friendly with one of the resort's many wild cats - he's smiling at me, honest :)

Well, that's as far as Part I goes ... til the next installment, avid reader :)

April Showers ...

Or should I say ... snow, in April?

I do love snow, especially right after a fresh fall, when it is all crisp and clean and white, love wakening to look outside to see everyday items transformed into snow sculptures.

Tigger decided that he would brave the cold this morning and trundled off for a look around, his little legs completely dissapearing into the snow, while I rummaged around to find my macro lens to see if I could capture a snowflake or two :)

Have fun while it lasts - the sun is out and it will soon be slush !

Image is Everything ...

"Image is Everything, in the Image Business"

Jerry Ghionis

Anyone who knows me at all knows that I am nothing if not a geek, I love love love shiny new technology and a bit of bling !

Well, I finally got around to buying something that has been on my mind for a long time ... hang in there, it's coming !

In trying to justify the spend (us girls are so good at justification, right?) I turned to Jerry's words of wisdom, pulling out the following card from my picpockets ...

Well, how could I NOT have my new toy after reading this, it is all about image after all ...

And here it is, straight out of the box, introducing ... my new 16gb iPhone !!!

So, now you know that when you call me, I will be speaking to you with style :)

Wedding Day for Maggie & Malcolm

I first met Maggie when I was shooting her friend, Sandra's, wedding in 2006 - she immediately took a business card off me for her Son and, sure enough, a few weeks later, James and Gemma dropped by to book me for their wedding last year. You can view their blog post here.

Maggie and Malcolm announced their engagement soon after that wedding and it was a real compliment that Maggie wanted to book me immediately.

The wedding was held in the beautiful Weston Park stately home, a hidden gem in the Shropshire countryside. The whole house is filled with priceless artwork and other artefacts, collected by the families who lived there, until recent years, the rooms are large but inviting, so I could really appreciate why Maggie and Malcolm had chosen to get married there, surrounded by close family and friends.

So, as always, a few of my favourites from the day.

Congratulations, Maggie and Malcolm, here's to a long and happy marriage !

The venue ...

The rings ...

Gemma's reading ... oh, did I not mention she is pregnant ! Congrats again, guys :)

Exchanging rings ...

First kiss ...

The champagne flowed ...

Maggie and Malcolm enjoying a quiet moment - and the vista :)

This just summed the day up for me, lots of fun and laughter :)

Wedding Day for Elizabeth & Tom

Elizabeth and Tom both had strong connections with their respective churches and, in fact, the priest who married them knew them both since they were kids. Both being very religious, it was no surprise that they decided on a beautiful full Catholic mass ceremony, complete with 2 choirs and 4 priests. They had their friends and family give readings full of support and love for them and their new life together.

Tom called me a few weeks before the wedding, sounding a tad peeved ... all along they were due to have their reception at Crewe Hall - that would be Crewe Hall which is now covered in emergency scaffolding ! Eek ! They had a short amount of time to sort out a new venue, but fortunately for them, the beautiful Sandon Hall was available - a stunning venue in the heart of Staffordshire.

I met with them both a couple of weeks prior to their day, at Sandon, and we all agreed it was going to be a wonderful venue for photos. It was at this meeting that Elizabeth mentioned ha she was starting to feel very nervous about photos on the day and so I assured her that I would respect her space and work with her on the day to ensure she was happy and did not feel I was intruding on the events as they unfolded.

At the last minute, I decided to ask my friend and fellow photographer, Jill Thorning-Jensen, along for the day - it is so much more fun with 2 of us around - our names keep it simple for people too :)

After a shaky start to the weather on the day, it at least stayed dry for us, if a little cold and windy at times. Everyone had a blast while I was there and I am sure that continued long into the night.

So, congratulations guys and good luck for a long and happy future together. Thank you for letting me be a part of such a wonderful day, too - the hugs of thanks from everyone made my day !

Creativity and Confidence ...

"Properly practiced creativity can make one ad do the work of ten "

William Bernbach (1989)

I have always loved and admired the creativity that goes into clever advertising and it has never ceased to amaze me how ad people come up with their ideas. A friend of mine from Ireland, Tara West, is an avertising executive with Genesis Advertising in Belfast ... I remember asking her how the ideas came about - I was enthralled with tales of mad meetings with ideas bouncing off the walls and ceiling, before coming crashing down with a bang and becoming reality !

There is a TV ad currently runnng in the UK which I just felt the need to share ... it not only stirs my love of all things creative but makes me dance, sing and giggle every single time!

Unfortunately, it doesn't actually make me wanna go out and buy the car - I'd rather have the singing dog !

Those of you who know me will recognise my sense of humour, those of you who don't? ... this is my sense of humour to a tee !!! :)

Enjoy ... and I DARE you not to chair-dance

Happy Birthday Kitties !

I thought it worthy of mention that my 2 little cats are 5 today - when I picked them up all those years ago, I could hold them both in 1 hand and they always looked as though they were going to drown in their big water bowls !

Now? Well, they each weigh in at 13 pounds !

These are the best photos I could find (what with my data migration still in progress and all).

Here's Tom ...

And Tigger ...

Happy birthday, guys ! :)