Manchester commission

Another one from a couple of weeks back now.

After staying at our house for a 'girly night in' with my wife Emma (plus me!), our lovely friend Emily had spotted a framed print hung on my office wall of some of Paris's most recognisable architecture that I shot whilst on a weekend break with Emma a couple of years ago.


Emily decided that her flat in the uber trendy Northern Quarter in Manchester needed something to finish it off and so commissioned me to shoot the 'real' Manchester. No new building, no Beetham Tower, no Urbis, no Printworks, no Old Trafford (even though I tried to convince her otherwise!) but a series of really gritty, genuine shots of our fine city.

So I waited for a suitably overcast day (I didn't have to wait long!) so that there was a nice moody sky to shoot against and spent the day walking the streets and looking for something different.













Emily's just chosen the prints she wants and has ended up choosing THREE frames as she liked them so much.

These are the layouts she went for.






Once I get the frames done and hung in Emily's flat, I'll get some shots of them in situ as I know they're going to look so good that I'll need to share them with you!

Charlotte & Pete's pre-wedding shoot

Congratulations Charlotte & Pete!

Although Charlotte & Pete got married a couple of weeks ago, I thought I'd show you a selection of images from the pre-wedding shoot before you get to see anything from the big day!

We headed into Castlefield in Manchester city centre to with a view to shooting some cool, urban imagery. I was REALLY pleased with the results as were Charlotte and Pete.




It's quite daunting for a couple to be stood in front of the lens for the first time, which is the main reason that all my weddings are preceded by this shoot. It gives the couple a chance to experience what being photographed feels like and it gives me the opportunity to see how they react to certain situations, how relaxed they are and if they're not relaxed, work on the best ways to try and put them at ease.



As it happens, Charlotte and Pete were complete naturals from the word go, enjoyed their experience and so looked forward to the photography part of their wedding day.








As far as possible, I try and shoot couples as naturally as possible, giving them as little direction as possible - usually it's as simple as me saying "right, just wander off over there!"




As you can see, Charlotte and Pete looked great on the shots from the pre-wed shoot - just wait until you see the wedding coverage! We got some great stuff and I'll be posting some of the highlights over the next few weeks!