Amazing Golden Wedding anniversary celebration!

A couple of weeks ago I had the great privilege of being asked to shoot a real landmark occasion - Beryl and Melvyn's Golden Wedding Anniversary celebration. 50 whole years! That is a magnificent effort!

Shooting weddings is one of my absolute favourite things in the world, being part of a couple's first moments together as they embark on a journey into the future and leaving them with amazing memories of their day. Being able to shoot a couple 50 years into their journey was a true privilege.

Beryl and Melvyn's family organised a real English garden party, hosted by Laura and Jim (Beryl and Melvyn's daughter and son-in-law) and if I hadn't been shooting it, I'd have been begging for an invite! I love a great family party and this was exactly what this was!





Original wedding photo's had been dug out along with other memories and provided nostalgic and amusing moments for everyone!


Guests arrived and couldn't wait to say 'hello' to the guests of honour!


A great time was had by all...

...well, nearly all....!!!

Boredom didn't last long however...!!!



Laura had asked if I would shoot some group shots as she didn't want to miss out on the opportunity of having all the family together in one place.







The lads were great at 'mean and moody'!!!


The wonderful hosts, Laura and Jim!

Champagne was on ice, as just like at a wedding, there were speeches!








At the risk of sounding repetitive, I felt truly privileged to shoot this celebration, everybody there, all the family and friends were so lovely and made me feel so welcome, that I really didn't want to leave!

Everybody was so relaxed (champagne will do that to you!) that it meant they were completely at ease with me shooting on the day and we got some great stuff. Sometimes trying to shoot a small event is more difficult than bigger gatherings, as it's hard to blend into the background, people notice you and don't relax, but everything about this party meant that guests were so relaxed that they didn't worry about my presence.

Thanks for inviting me guys and thanks for making it such an enjoyable day!

All the very best to Beryl and Melvyn - here's to many more years!

KiD BRiTiSH

So I thought I'd revisit some work I did late last year and a couple of months ago this year with top Manchester band KiD BRiTiSH.

Their first single was released this week, they're currently getting loads of airplay on Radio One, played Glastonbury last week, at all the other big festivals over the summer and are looking to be on a rise to seriously big things!

I first met the band through a friend - they weren't signed and were playing local gigs in Manchester and needed some live shots doing. So I went along to see them play at legendary Manchester venue The Roadhouse and shot them doing their thing.

Now I'm a pretty big music fan and have seen a lot of gigs over the years and been to a lot of small gigs put on by unsigned bands and I have to be honest, most of the time they're not very good! I used to play in bands myself and we DEFINITELY weren't very good! But these boys were something else. I'd gone along with the intent on hanging around for twenty minutes, banging a few shots off and then getting out of there. But they were too good to leave half way through their set - I was absolutely loving them!






Now I'd love to say that from there on in I knew they were going to make it. If I genuinely knew that, I'd be working as head of A&R for Sony Records! But I knew they were good and far better than any unsigned band I'd ever seen before. And their music - awesome! An amazingly eclectic mix of styles!

So the lads and their manager liked the live shots I did from them and asked me to do a few staged shots for them to use to send out with their cd's, etc. to record companies. I was more than happy to oblige and we got some good stuff for them to use.


A few weeks passed and I heard on the grapevine that they had started to get some serious interest from record companies which of course I took with a pinch of salt. Until I heard they'd been signed and Mercury Records got in touch with me and asked me to shoot the boys at the studio and on location so that they had some shots to use for PR and promotional purposes.










KiD BRiTiSH have had a great few months, culminating in the release of their first single 'Our House is Dadless' (buy it now on I-Tunes!) or check it out on YouTube here!

I've really got my fingers crossed for the lads that they chart well on sunday, it's been a pleasure to work with them, they're great fun and secretly love being photographed!

Working with them has also been great for me - my shots have been widely used for a number of months now, on huge amounts of websites, in the music and national press (Q Magazine and The Guardian to name but two!) and has been used again this week by the BBC.


Good luck fellas - keeping my fingers crossed for you!

Christina and David pre-wedding shoot

Christina and David are getting married in August at the gorgeous Beamish Hall in Durham.

I went over to see them in Huddersfield for their pre-wedding shoot and they suggested a park near to them. Great choice of location, it was a lovely spot, loads of different parts that we could use and we got some great stuff!

Christina and Dave both relaxed very quickly and really got their heads round what we were trying to get from the shoot. In a nutshell, that is me getting an understanding of how they look, react and feel in front of the camera and for them, getting an understanding of how I will work with them on the day. We interacted well, everything was great fun (absolutely key in my opinion - why should everything else on the wedding day be great fun and the photos be a 'chore'??? The answer is they shouldn't - people who genuinely care about getting a great set of images on their day generally understand this and throw themselves into it with great enthusiasm) and as a result....

As well as shooting couples together on the pre-wed shoot, I always think it's really important to shoot them individually as well. This gives them a true sense of what it feels like to be the centre of attention and gives them the opportunity to become used to it. It can genuinely be quite daunting, even to the most confident of people. And it also provides them with the opportunity to be ultra critical before we get to the wedding day. I encourage all couples to feedback completely honestly on the pre-wedding shoot - I can't think of anything worse than getting them to do something that they didn't actually like on the pre-wed shoot on their wedding day. They'd feel uncomfortable, they wouldn't relax and they'd very quickly stop enjoying the photos.

Although saying that, most of the time it is positive feedback that I get!















I shot all of these with available light, no flash, no reflectors, just what was coming out of the sky!
I use Canon 5D camera bodies and in this case, this entire series was shot with the f2.8 70-200mL lens. This is a fabulous lens that is fantastic in low-light conditions when coupled with the 5D. Although it was quite a bright day, it was quite grey and rain did appear at one stage.

I wouldn't ever resist using flash however - flash used correctly can look just as natural as available light and used creatively can enhance an image and give you something really cool and different.

There are a lot of purists out there who think you should avoid flash at all costs and admittedly, some of these guys have been at the top of their game for years and their work is absolutely stunning. But I do think that sometimes they're missing a trick by not embracing flash and trying something different with it. Maybe they're happy in their comfort zone and know that they can get a consistent set of images with the techniques they employ. But I always think that the only way to be a constantly improving photographer is if you take yourself out of your comfort zone and do something a bit different.











It was really great fun shooting Christina and Dave, I can't wait for their big day and if this set of images is anything to go by, we'll get some absolutely AMAZING stuff!