Av feat. Manak-e - Tension, music photography

A few months ago I traveled down to London for a short shoot with AV Anish for his up coming releases for VIP records. The first release 'Tension' is out now on itunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/tension-feat.-manak-e-ag-dolla/id647181373,  I love the art work they put together for it using one from Manak-e we shot in the studio a while ago too. It's great when graphic designers get a free run with things, I like seeing the images used in different ways that I'd never even think of.
Pics from the original shoot and the released music video for 'Tension' under the cut:

Emma Jackson, GB 800m Runner, Photography

With winter passing and my wedding season within a week of shifting into a higher gear I wanted to post something not involved with my wedding photography.
This shoot took place at the end of last summer but the website, which the images were taken for, isn't finished yet so I can't release them all. However, after the snow, and with the beautiful blue sky and warm sunlight out today I wanted to post some pics that reminded me of summer.
Emma would have been one of my last shoots of last summer. After controversially missing out on running for GB in the 800m at the London 2012 Olympics due to injury, she continues her training with her sights set on Rio. In my brief time with Emma she came across as very bright, friendly and determined with an amazing work ethic. She travels all over the world competing at the highest level heavily funded, like other athletes, by herself. I hope my photographs help her, in their own little way, to prove she's the best.

Karena and Peter, Staffordshire wedding photography

From the large, vibrant wedding of Nerissa and Travis to the refined, intimate wedding or Karena and Peter. Another wonderful couple in their own way with a violin, Harry Potter readings and only a handful of guest at the Lords of the Manor hotel.
It was an honour that Karena and Peter hired me to photograph such an intimate day.

Capula, Imtech Corporate photography

See! It's not all about wedding photography, there's plenty of other types of photography I enjoy. Today we're in the commercial and editorial photography world. A few months ago Staffordshire based IT/Electronics company Capula got in touch to get a cover shot for the magazine of their parent company - giant Dutch engineering firm Imtech.
They approached me with a concept of Business Development Director Simon Coombs working on an idea accompanied by portraits of Simon showing off different aspects of the company.
Here's what we came up with, a few that weren't used are in there too along with a couple of behind the scenes and the article the magazine ran with :)

Amanda and Richard, wedding photography, Three Horse shoes, Leek

This pretty couple are Amanda and Richard who got hitched at The Three Horseshoes Inn, Leek.

The Three Horseshoes is a wonderful venue resting in front of the staffordshire moorlands. The lovely gardens at the rear show off a spectacular view and inside the staff prepare a beautifully cosy wedding service turning around the same room into a large, lavish wedding reception area afterwards with nice big windows to bathe the room in light :)

Oscar and George - Family portraits, Staffordshire

I've been sitting on these for a while now, I didn't want to post them until all the surprise gifts had been given out at Christmas. It must have been November when I went to the park with Oscar and George to get some pics of them for Nan and Grandad. I really enjoy this type of child portrait. It's much better than sitting in a studio, much more fun for the kids and the pics have more to say than my usual studio family portraits. It was very cold so we didn't have a lot of time before everyone started to get cold but here's a few of the highlights :D

Alicia and Andrew - Crewe Hall wedding photography

It was a chilly 1st December for Alicia and Andrews wedding at Crewe Hall. A beautiful, low lit, venue - a challenge to shoot but wonderful if you get it right. The room was spectacular and the reception room was just as good with everything set up and decorated beautifully for Christmas.
Some awesome quirks at this wedding, my personal favourite (aside from the dressed up pug) was the place names, named after some of my own fave TV shows.
This is likely to be my last blog post until after Christmas, I'm quite glad it's this wedding as I'm really happy with how the images came out considering the challenging nature of the venue.
Have a look :)

Tussk band - Gentry shoot

I had some super fun time with the Stoke band Tussk yesterday. We'd been talking for a few days about shooting a gentry style pic. Music photography isn't something I do very often anymore but when I get the chance I love pushing it out and doing something a little quirky like this.
You can check this band out at their facebook page.

More underneath the cut :)

Terri-ann and Aaron, West midlands wedding photography.

It's Terri-ann and Aaron in Coventry, West midlands I've wanted to get this one up for ages, just couldn't find the right time. There's many more weddings I need to blog, my aim is to fit them all in before march. I won't ramble today, just take a look at the pics ;)

DJ Gurps and Ali Abbas

DJ Gurps new track Ouskurri 2 featuring Manak e releases at midnight tonight so I thought I'd show two covers that the label came up with along with a few of the originals.
 

Gemma and Craigs beach wedding, The Seiners Arms Hotel, Perranporth, Cornwall

Well worth the long drive. Craig and Gemma had an amazing wedding on Perranporth beach in Cornwall and I was lucky enough to be picked to capture it :)

They picked a beautiful day, one of a handful of weddings I've photographed this year where it didn't rain! The Seiners arms is practically on the beach-  the sand touches its walls and the staff are so friendly and informal.

I've never walked so much at a wedding. The hairdressers, brides house, grooms hotel room and venue were all in walking distance so I lugged my kit a good few miles, wore my shoes down a bit, all worth it :)

Megan and Sam, Keele Hall, Staffordshire

Megan and Sam tied the knot at Keele Hall.
The rain held out just long enough for us to have a walk around the grounds. I love shooting at Keele Hall, the staff bend over backwards to help me as a photographer and the guests. This meant they were more than happy to get me to a room with a great view for the group shot!
Here's a few from the day:

Fun with make up too.

I can't believe I forgot to blog these. Earlier this year I had a day with a few make up artists and models for their portfolio. It was fun but very challenging. These pics were all created up against the kitchen door with various backgrounds hung over the door and a few different light modifiers. I've had a quick look through the NEFs and couldn't find any set up shots which, is a little annoying. I left the make up and styling completely up to the pros :)

Which brings me up to now :)
With wedding season slowing down it's time to start updating my own 2013 portfolio, changes will be happening on the site in the next few weeks but I'd also like to hear from any models, stylists, muas and designers who might like to collaborate on something a little larger scale in the last few weeks of November and January/February 2013. 

Hope you like :D



 


Models: Kavan Sokhi, Laurie Austin
Make up Artists: Sanj Sandhu, Harminder Kaur

Liz and Chris Wroxall Abbey, warwickshire wedding photography

You may have noticed I posted the slideshow video from this wedding above ^. I've finally worked out how to post HD(ish) videos of the day up here. It's a shame they're not 1080 but 720 will do I guess. View full screen and HD for best results :)

Once again - it rained. Most of my weddings this year have been in the rain - it makes things more difficult from a photography point of view but we still got some great stuff. We were lucky enough to be in and out of the venue in between bursts until right at the evening when it poured down.

It didn't stop us having an amazing day. Wroxall Abbey in Warwickshire is an AMAZING wedding venue. The rooms contained ridiculous amounts of window light and the building contained lots of character it made the photography indoor so much easier. Liz and Chris seemed to have a great time with a brilliant vicar, amazing guests and hilarious speeches. Definitely a wedding I'll remember for a long time :)

The video doesn't contain all of the wedding images from the day. I could only fit a few into the songs but it gives you a good taster of everything that happened. If you can't sit through all 16 minutes of it I've posted a few highlights below :)

Untitled states

Wedding and events band Untitled states got in contact with me a few weeks ago.From what I gathered they've been around for a while but are now taking it to the next level with a new website and images. I had a quick listen to one of their recordings after the shoot  and it was really, really good.I've only posted two on here because I want you to go to their website. They've put a few more up there so have a look :)www.untitledstates.co.ukwww.facebook.com/Untitledstates

John and Veronica, Sheerness, Kent

Just a quick one tonight!
I've got a lot on and I'm trying to update this as much as possible.
A few weeks ago I traveled to Sheerness in Kent for Veronica and Johns wedding. A lovely, sunny day, one of the few I've had this year - we soaked up all of that sun and blue sky.
The church was amazing. A cozy, traditional church with hundreds of years of history.

Anyway, enough from me, here's a few :)

Ian and Juliette - St Marys Guildhall, Coventry

Whew! Things are starting to settle down a bit after what has been the hardest 4 months of my life. It means I've a few minutes to update the blog and show you what I've been up to. I'll Start with Ian and Juliette. Once again, a slightly different style. A lot more natural light, free lensing, a bit more raw and less gimmicks and a more natural post production. We're getting a little closer to the style I want to be using in 2013.

As with most of my weddings this year... it rained. It can be quite tricky getting sharp, well exposed images when everywhere touched by daylight is completely out of bounds. You have to change up your game a little.

I was lucky to be blessed with the beautiful St Mary's Guildhall in Coventry. It's a stunning venue with so much character and history. Loving how the place photographs and with the rain it meant we were able to explore some of the more intimate part of the guildhall and picking up some images that might never have been taken there before :)

Here's some more, leave some comments and likes and the bottom if you want to :)

Schneekeh Peekeh

Quick sneak peek from Andria and Ryan's big day at Consall Hall and Gardens.

It's a Brenizer method. I think it's about 17 shots but the final image is 12,000 pixels high :)

Look out for the rest of pics in the coming weeks, I haven't had a chance to have a proper look at them yet but I can't wait to see the final result. I really, really I enjoyed my day with these two.

Mounted signing boards!

I've a huge back log of work at the moment which is why there haven't been many posts from me for a few weeks. With a wedding each week it all gets very busy this time of year. Not to worry though because I'll be posting some great highlights over the coming weeks showing off my new styles and sneaky peaks of 2013.


For now, I wanted to pop these two images up of my mounted signing boards. I've had a lot of orders for these this year. They're great fun and I love having a little more time to interact with couples on an engagement shoot (which is where we get the main image :).


So here's two pics of them in use at weddings recently :D

Party time!

This might be the quickest I've gone from shooting a wedding to getting it in a blog post! I wanted to write this one as quick as possible because I have an exceptionally busy (but exciting) weekend coming up.
Yesterday I was taking a few pictures at Moddershall Oaks for Liz and Chris. In spite of the rain we had a wonderful day getting some great pics with the moody clouds. I haven't seen them yet, they're scheduled for editing tomorrow. However, the reason I have stayed up until 3am on a Sunday (well... Monday morning) is to have a look at the amazing party they had after!
I'm sorry all other weddings - but these guys knew how to party. Everyone was up and dancing all night with lots going on.
The wedding reception and party is often forgotten about where photography is concerned. It's also one of the hardest things to get right. For every one shot I get that is acceptable there are 50 that are out of focus, under lit, blurred or have random coloured lights making a mess - it's a minefield. But when you have a room full of energy it's so much easier to get some great pictures, after all, it's the people who make them what they are.
So I've dedicated this blog post to the wedding reception and all the party goers. From the first dance, right through the night!