Gill & Phil - Bridal Shoot - Rookery Hall

I shot Gill & Phil's wedding in June this year and, as you can see from their blog post, Gill had a traumatic experience in the week leading up to the wedding. Due to the operation, Gill was in some discomfort and pain on the actual day, so we agreed that, once she was feeling 100%, we'd arrange to get together at their venue, they would get all dressed up again, and we would shoot some bride and groom shots to pad out their album.

The day we chose could not have been more glorious, the weather really was on our side. Gill was in such good form and feeling fighting fit, so I knew we were in for some great shots.

Since this is an add-on to a wedding, I decided to play with my processing for the blog ... I hope you enjoy the shots and I am really looking forward to getting the album sorted once the guys get back from their belated (long) honeymoon later this month !

A few faves from the session ...

Print and Album Orders Cutoff Date (15th November)

I just wanted to blog a quick post about cutoff dates for Christmas orders ... both Albums and Reprints need to be ordered by 15th November to guarantee delivery to me before Christmas ... so get your order in now :)

As always, any questions, drop me a line at gill@gilltaylor.co.uk or call me on 07738 286739 !

Gill

Personal Post (Week 44)

November 3 is the 307th day of the year (308th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 58 days remaining until the end of the year. Wikipedia

Week 44 Highlights ... BBC

It's been pretty much business as usual here at Chez Taylor this week ... Tess is settling in and getting bigger, the cats are still wary and John and I are still plugging away :) I'm fast getting on top of my wedding and album processing with more and more being signed off, ordered and out the door, in plenty of time for Christmas and the new year beyond. This week should see me finish up all processing and will allow me to take a week off, handy as my mother is coming over next week for a short visit.

Of course, this week was blighted (and continues to be) by Halloween and fireworks ... it seems to be every single night (the fireworks, thankfully not the trick or treating) and my cats HATE them with a vengeance. In fact, all the animals (myself included LOL) get really stressed out, so we're wishing this week over so we can get back to peaceful normality.

I feel very fortunate to live in this part of the world, we have all the convenience of towns and cities on our doorstep, but drive 5 minutes in any direction from our home and you land yourself in countryside. Since Tess started walking on a leash we have made it a point to get out on the Chase every weekend, at least once (for me, don't forget I work weekends LOL) and so today we packed up the truck and headed off for a looooooong walk ... complete with camera. So for this week's photos, November on The Chase (all in BW, in that kind of mood !) ... enjoy and have a great week 45.

The Chase ...

Reflections ... and she walks AROUND this puddle every single time ... wuss !

John and Tess ...

Just John ...

Tess and the tongue ...

Making friends :)

Oh, John took control of the 5D at one point ... yep ... me and my hat ! sheesh !

New Gadgets for posting !!

I downloaded some cool gadgets for my iPhone and thought it was time I tried them out ... the first is some software which enables me to post to my blog, so here I am ! The second is a very cool photo gadget which makes my iPhone photos look like they have been taken by various cameras, including a square format holga.

So, when Tess and I got back from our daily stroll, I took this photo and processed it as a holga shot :). Enjoy !

-- Post From My iPhone

Joining the best photographers in the World ...

Every year, and every week it seems, new photographers and photography businesses are springing up all over the UK, promising professional coverage of your special day. How do you, as a client, separate the true professional from the guy who went out and bought a natty new DSLR at the weekend and decided that wedding photography would be a great hobby for the weekends? The truth is, it's not that easy. Anyone can advertise in bridal magazines, online search directories, anyone can build a website and get some photos on there, making it look like they have been shooting professionally for years. So how does a true professional make themselves stand out in a saturated market?

For my part, I strive to produce consistent results week in week out. Each new wedding and portrait session I undertake receives the same, consistent level of professionalism and quality as the last ! I update my website galleries and blog with fresh photography. I make sure my products on offer are of a high standard with plenty of choice. But is it enough?

Well, the years I have put into building up my business seem to have paid off .... I have just had the honour of being accepted by the exclusive International Society of Professional Wedding Photographers (ISPWP). I'm in pretty good company there, with award winning names (to name a short few) such as Bebb Studios (Canada), Sean Flanigan and The Woods (USA) and DP Photography (London).

The society is committed to raising the standards in our industry and so membership is driven by strict requirements and is only permitted to those photographers who ...

• have shot at least 50 weddings as the principal photographer (not as secondary/backup)
• gain sponsorship by an existing ISPWP member (my thanks to Jesus Tirso of Decca Photography for this)
  
• agree to undergo a complete website review
• agree to operate their business in accordance with the Code of Conduct
• have no unresolved complaints with the Better Business Bureau or other similar consumer protection organization

One of the most exciting aspects of membership is that I get to compete in quarterly competitions, judged by a panel of some of the best photographers on the planet ! They have just posted the results from the last quarter here so I have a few weeks in which to choose my submissions for the next quarter. Of course, I will post them here too :)

My thanks to Joe Milton, the founder of the society, for granting me membership to such a prestigious community, I look forward to being a part of it !

Happy Birthday Richard !

Not a lot of people know that I am Stepmom to 2 boys, my husband's sons, Richard and Andrew. They're certainly not kids any more, with Andrew in his final year at Manchester Uni (studying maths, I mean, really, who would do that to themselves LOL) and Richard in his final year of apprenticeship as an electrician (trust me, that one comes in VERY handy haha).

Today, Richard (the eldest) turns 23 (remember being that young, guys? no, me neither), although when I texted him to ask what age he was (just checking) for the blog, he said 18 ... nice try, Richard, welcome to the wonderful world of getting old ! :) It wasn't that long ago that I was buying him his personalised number plate for his 21st (stepmoms get to buy the cool pressies !) - no, richard, no cool pressie this year, mate :)

Obviously I awsn't a part of the boys' lives until they were (I think) 8 and 11, so I missed out on all the yucky kiddy stuff and got to know them through the equally icky teenage angst years and now, latterly, in the cool, drive-us-to-the-pub years !

And so, without further ado ... a few photos ... just for the embarassment factor, you understand!

With Dad ...

Very cute :)

Happy Birthday, Rich ! Big hugs from Dad, Stepmom, Tig, Tom and Tess !!!

Personal Post (Week 43)

October 26 is the 299th day of the year (300th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 66 days remaining until the end of the year. Wikipedia

This day in history ...

Wow, here we are on my last personal post of October ... I remember when I was a kid and we had 8 weeks off in the Summer, those 8 weeks seemed to last a lifetime, now? Sheesh, summer is well and truly come and gone, autumn is on the way out, fast, the clocks have gone back already and we are hurtling headlong into Christmas ! In fact, the Christmas adverts have started and are in full swing !!

So, this week finds us at Halloween, a "holiday" I deplore. Fireworks are the bain of my life, as my cats HATE them with a vengeance. It will certainly be interesting to see if Tess reacts the same way ... interestingly the usual bombardment of these awful creations should have already started, but thankfully this year they seem to be waiting until the actual holiday before beginning, thank goodness.

I shot my last wedding for 6 weeks yesterday, a truly intimate affair in a working museum (Erasmus Darwin Museum) in Lichfield. I had the rare treat of being able to take the bride and groom on walkabout for an hour around this historic town and will be blogging our adventures with some gorgeous photos in the next couple of days. I have a couple of portrait sessions booked in for November and a visit from my Mother to look forward to, but other than that the month has been set aside to get all my albums sorted, work on some marketing for 2009 and maybe take some time off to enjoy with my family (ie husband and animals) ... John gets pretty lonely on weekends while I'm working, so I intend to spend as much weekend time with him and the brood as possible before launching into my winter weddings in December :)

Tess is GREAT ! Honestly, we have the best dog in the entire world. She is a total sweetheart and loves everyone and every other dog she meets too. She is getting used to walking on the leash and has spent some fun time on Cannock Chase (where she gets her biggest, most tiring walks LOL). She is also growing at an alarming rate and her fur is changing to a lighter, prettier shade, she really is a gorgeous wee thing. The cats are still wary, but less so ... nuff said on that for now haha.

I booked a really cool wedding today for an Aug 09 wedding ... thanks Amanda and David ! I am really looking forward to getting the pre-wedding shoot sorted ... Nice in April, here we come !

So, another week gone ... here is my photo of the week ...

Have a great week 44 everyone !