Tomorrow is all about these three. Lucy & Neil are getting married, and their son Noah will be sharing the limelight. Before taking photographs of your big day we like getting to know you a little bit beforehand. We love sharing in your excitement in the build up and all those beautiful moments on the day. What better way to get to know each other than having a stroll along the canal and eating ice cream?? Congratulations Lucy & Neil!
Developing A Style
I was looking through some of my old photographs the other day from when I first stared out. I was so hungry to take everything in and try out different techniques and styles. I'd pore over all the latest photo magazines, and probably drove all my friends mad carrying my camera everywhere and taking shots constantly. I devoured everything by Rankin, Leibovitz, Cartier-Bresson, Parr and I'd try and emulate the style they created in their images. But it would never quite work. Those were their moments and connections, it was about finding my own style.
I needed to try out loads of techniques, almost like I had to get them out of my system. I've gone down the HDR route, tried selective colouring, done big dramatic landscapes and long exposures. Then something clicked (pardon the pun), when I started taking photos of people. I love connecting with folk and having a good old chin wag. I realised my photography could be an extension of this, I'd tell people's stories in my images. What I love most of all is taking photos of people within their environment, in their place wherever that may be, almost like it becomes another character in the photo, as subtle as that may be sometimes. I've learnt to take photos that make me happy.
I'm still learning and hope to do so for a long time to come. Me and Suzi always set some time aside in the year for training and development. This weekend we're travelling down to London for a couple of family shoots, and on Monday we're really excited to be on a workshop run by Jonas Peterson. This guy's work is just so beautiful, thoughtful, authentic. I know we'll be buzzing travelling back up next week!
My style is still developing, but it's at a more natural pace. I look back at some of my past work and it's so different from where I am today. I don't feel ashamed, as this has all been part of the process and has helped me get to the stage I'm at now. It's exciting this journey.
Family Shoot At Easter
Somebody asked me the other day 'what do you like to take photos of?'. Instead of going into auto pilot, I just took a moment. 'Photos that make me happy', I replied. It seems so simple, but it's true. I think there's another blog post in there, so I'll save it for another time. I was looking through these photos I took last Easter, and they definitely make me happy! You might recognise Harry & Jemima from our film (you can click here to see it).
I've been taking photos of them since 2011, when Jemima was a baby and just sitting up. This shoot was telling their story at home on Easter Sunday with all the family. There were confetti eggs, Easter tree decorating, water fights and paper plane making. It's one of those shoots that has stayed with me. And there was cake, what's not to like about a shoot with cake?
