Wedding Day for Hazel and Steve

After a few windy and rainy days it was with great relief that we wakened to an overcast, but dry, Saturday, a tad chilly, but DRY ! My assistant for the day was Delphine, always lots of fun to shoot with and good company, so we headed off together to Hazel and Steve's farmhouse in the beautiful Staffordshire countryside. There was the usual flurry of activity and excitement when we arrived, with Hazel's Mum and Dad and her 3 bridesmaids all carrying out last minute tasks and helping Hazel relax and get ready.

We knew it was our cue to leave when the cars arrived, so it was off to Sandon Hall for the ceremony, where we caught up with a very nervous Steve and all his guys ... there were a few ! We managed to get some shots in before the bridesmaids arrived and Steve was ushered inside so he couldn't see what was going on !

Hazel arrived with her father, looking radiant and happy, anticipating the ceremony quite calmly. The ceremony was beautiful, with readings from friends and family, lots of hand holding and a rather long first kiss ;)

We quickly gathered all the guests outside for the formal shots (sorry for keeping you all out in the cold, guys !) then everyone left for the main reception venue at Goldstone Hall, while Hazel, Steve and I held back for some romantic shots of them before we left.

The marquee setup at Goldstone was absolutely beautiful, I cant remember the last time I saw so many flowers in one place ! We mingled with the guests, shooting some candids, then I managed to get the wedding party outside for some more fun shots, finishing with a few more romantic shots of Hazel and Steve.

Congratulations to you both and wishing you a long and happy marriage :)

As always, here are a few of my favourites from the day, for your viewing pleasure :)

Portugal ... In Words and Pictures ... Part III

Fact: The name Portugal first appears in 868, during the Reconquista

over the Muslims. A country was formed around the city of Porto,

from which "Portugal" is derived

To finish off our trip, we decided to head off to Sagres (pronounced Sagresh), a village close to the most South Westerly point of Europe.

It doesn't make for an interesting place to visit if the Globetrotter book (author, Jane O'Callahan) is anything to go by ...

"The windswept Sagres peninsula, with it's arid, scrubby vegetation and dramatic cliffs is a complete contrast to the rest of the Algarve. It is not pretty enough for most mainstream tourists and, unlike the sheltered south coast, the weather can be windy for days on end."

And boy is she bang on ! Talk about windswept and interesting !

However, the Cabo de Sao Vincent, as the peninsula is known, is definitely worth a visit, the cliffs truly are amazing, the sun was shining while we were there, ensuring visibility for miles out to sea, truly dramatic. The textures of the rocks differed with every footfall, all so rugged and windswept for so many years, the waves crashing against the rocks hundreds of feet below, making for a truly humbling experience.

According to my guide book, this part of the coast has seen much action over time ... one of these facts is that Christopher Columbus was shipwrecked here in 1476 on his way from Genoa to England ... apparently his ship was attacked by pirates, he escaped and swam 6 miles to shore - wow !

The lighthouse at the very tip is one of the most powerful in Europe and is said to be visible from 55 miles out to sea.

Incredibly, there is a full blown market here with stalls selling anything from big sweaters (seriously, take my word for it, this place is windy and cold even on the sunniest of days, bring your own sweater !) to hotdogs and burgers ... go figure !

Here are a few photos for your viewing pleasure :)

Gill

Portugal - In Words and Pictures ... Part II

Fact: in Modern Greek, the word for an orange is "portokali",

because oranges were originally imported from Portugal

(thank you Mr Mann)

Whilst in Portugal, I had the opportunity to head off in my hire car (you know, the one with the design fault with the location of the steering wheel !) and explore the surrounding villages and sights.

The nearest village to the villa is Salema, nestled into the beautiful coastline, with street cafes and restaurants, this is still very much a working fishing village, with fishermen mending their nets on the long sandy beach. It looks completely Mediterranean and authentic, although we were touted for time share by a man who must have been close on 103 !

I met some English holidaymakers who had braved the sea ... absolutely crazy ! It might have been hitting 22 degrees, but the water was FREEZING ! Haha

So, just a few photos to show this tiny little Portuguese fishing village ...

















Gill

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 :)