Photoshoot for Nicky Swann, 9th October

Today's mission was to create a set of portrait imagery for promotional use for Nicky, a very talented singer/ guitarist. With the help of Jana as a stylist and Grace (a very promising photographers assistant!) we created a set of really varied portraits using both natural and flash light. All credit to Nicky for attacking the shoot with great enthusiasm and an open mind... it's not easy being photographed! I really love doing musicians portraits as it provides a fantastic opportunity to try out some new techniques in a quest to produce some really cool arty imagery. Here are some examples from today...

Fashion Shoot for Loveithaveit!

Went out to a beautiful set of old barns today to do a shoot for the Penny at The Terrace shop (in Lyme Regis) and the online store loveithaveit (www.loveithaveit.co.uk).

With quite an ambitious selection of clothing to photograph in one day this venue provided lots of opportunities for a little variety in images without wasting too much time between sets. We covered a range of clothing today including dresses, skirts, tops and coats using a variety of flash light and natural light. I was very lucky to work with the very talented team of models, Sarah and Lauren, make up artist Maddie Austin and assisted by Holly Madge (despite onset of horrible case of flu... very brave little trooper!). Some of the pictures below...

Wedding of Rachael and Ben on 3rd October

The weather held up for Rachael and Ben's big day at Mapperton Gardens in Dorset on 3rd October - which was just as well as it was a largely outdoors affair! Being half American it only seemed right that Rachael arrived in a big old American truck. Rachael looked absolutely spectacular in a beautifully designed and hand made outfit by Caroline at La Di Da. Rachael wore a long fitted purple and black dress with a long bellowing purple coat to keep out the slight chill in the air. The outfit was completed with a long, dramatic bright pink veil.... perfect head turning material! The ceremony took place outside in the gardens with a reception in the formal gardens and evening do in the coach house adjacent. Beautiful venue.

As Rachel and Ben's outfits were quite colourful many of the images were processed in colour complemented with a few timeless black and whites. As Rachael plays the drums and Ben the guitar, I asked them to bring them along to make a truely individual bride and groom portrait. Check out the images below...

Photographing Richard and Caroline - 29 September

Caroline and Richard are an extremely talented couple from Lyme Regis which I photographed for very different reasons on 29th September at Weycroft Hall, Axminster (top spot for weddings too!)

Caroline has a fantastic business called La di Da in Lyme Regis which specialises in creating beautiful individually designed and hand made dresses. I got in touch with Caroline after photographing some of her stunning dresses at a recent test shoot. In preparation for the forthcoming Knitting and Stitching show at Alexandra Palace (8-11 October) we did some promotional images - both portraits as well as environmental portraits with her sewing machine. Some of the resulting images are shown below.

I also photographed Richard who is an extremely talented harmonica player who has invented an electric harmonica (check out http://www.harmonix-harmonica.co.uk/) and who has jammed with Mr Stevie Wonder himself.... very talented young man. We did a range of images for Richard using a combination of natural light and flash light to create some arty portraits for promotional purposes.

Princesshay Fashion Show25th September 2009

Went to photograph the fashion show at Princesshay on 25th September. The show was extremely well put together with professional dancers modelling the clothes - so much energy I was struggling to hold my camera steady resisting the temptation to have a bit of a boogie! The fashion show attracted loads of attention from passing shoppers interested to see what they should be wearing this coming winter!

I shot loads of pictures for their promotional purposes ... some of which are below.

BIPP Conference

I completed a mission of a drive from Christina and Matt's wedding in south Devon to RAF Cosford up north to attend the two day annual conference of the British Institute of Professional Photographers (BIPP) - one of the qualifying bodies for professional Photographers. I went to check out all the latest trends in wedding, fashion and portrait photography by some of the leading photographers in their fields such as Jack Eames (hair and beauty photography) and Bella West and Jo De Banzie (both child photographers).

This proved an invaluable trip to help keep up with the latest trends and talk nerdy camera stuff with like minded people! Definitely worth the drive!

Christina & Matt's Wedding

Had an absolutely beautiful day for Christina and Matt's wedding at Burgh Island on 12th September. Christina got ready in the beach house, a beautiful spot overlooking the beach. She looked absolutely stunning in her extremely elegant Vera Wang dress which fitted in perfectly with the feel of this art deco style venue. The dress code was black tie so everyone looked extremely glamorous adding to the sense of occasion.

The beach, the nearby Pilchard Inn and the Hotel's extremely impressive Peacock Bar all played important roles in the photography. Here are a few images from the day.