Congratulations Laura & John

Yesterday I was back in Ross on Wye for the wedding of Laura & John. They tied the knot at the register office in Ross, which is a lovely little former chapel, and then I got some shots of them and their guests in the grounds of the Royal Hotel.
Laura & John are from near where I used to live in Surrey and have Essex connections too so they booked me because of my own Essex heritage - and my photography of course :-)! It was a glorious day and I'm sure they'll have a great honeymoon.
Here they are at the Royal.

I love this one of the bridesmaids just after they arrived at the register office. The registrar down there is also a Surrey/London exile so we had quite a good little chat between us all!

Poets, Portraits, Horses & Proms

Well this was a fairly busy week. My teaching at Malvern Library started on Tuesday so I'm doing 2 nights at John Masefield and 1 at Malvern Library at the moment. Always nice to meet a new group and start them on their journey. I have had some great feedback from the workshop last week too and have started to take bookings for the dates in July & August. Full details are now on the website.

Monday I was back in John Masefield to cover a poetry workshop. Shane Solanki is working with a group of year 7 students who will be performing at the Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Big Chill, alongside The Anomalies groups that I photographed last week. Here's Shane wondering how he's going to get them into shape in time!! Actually they were a great group and I'm looking forward to covering the performances.


Then on Thursday I did a lovely outdoor family portrait shoot over near Ross and we had some unexpected extras! These two came to see what was happening and it was a close call for my camera bag as I managed to rescue it before it got eaten. Along with the cows that came along just after this was quite a session!

Thursday evening I went to meet a wedding couple who have booked in for next June. Thanks Carrie & James, can't wait for your pre-wedding shoot soon.

Then Friday it was off to Munstone House in Hereford for the Hereford Cathedral School year 11 prom. Thanks to Alesa for coming along and helping with that one. We had a studio set-up in the reception area and got some cracking shots. They're up on the main website now for those who know the password to have a look at.

More Workshops

This weekend was the inaugural Steve Bulley photography outdoor training workshop. I took a group of 6 delegates to a local woods to get some hands-on advanced camera skills in changing and tricky light situations. After two years of highly successful evening classes at John Masefield High School, I have responded to demand and started to offer these one-day workshops. As this was the first, we did the morning on general SLR skills and the afternoon with a model, learning location portraiture.
During the summer I will be running 3 variations on this. I will be running camera skills at both beginner's and intermediate/improver's level, and a full-day portrait workshop. These are aimed at photography enthusiasts who want to get the best out of their SLR or advanced digital compact camera. Call me on 01531 637330 for more details or keep an eye on the main website. They will be run around the Ledbury area and also in Matlock on the edge of the Derbyshire Peak District.
We had a great time on Saturday and were able to enjoy a wonderful range of lighting, thanks to the variable weather and forest canopies and trails. Our model for the afternoon was Chloe who did a brilliant job. Here's a couple of my favourites and I'm sure the workshop delegates got some lovely ones too.

Workshops & More

Last week I was back in at John Masefield to cover the first workshops taking place to prepare students for their performances at the Ledbury Poetry Festival and the Big Chill music festival. Hereford band The Anomalies are in for the next few weeks to coach the students and help them write rap-style poems to perform at both festivals.
To protect the kids' new rap identities and so as not to give away any secrets ahead of their performances, I have only showed pics of Sam & Murf from the Anomalies here. :-)




After that, things were very different as I covered a First Holy Communion for a school in Ross-on-Wye. No pics yet as I have to make sure the parents are happy with shots being on the web. There's one or two lovely ones I'll probably be able to share on here soon though.

Then rounded off my recent CPD (!) with an urban portraits workshop in Bristol led by Damien Lovegrove. It was brilliant and a took place on a glorious sunny day round the streets and waterfront area of Bristol.
Here's a couple of my favourites from the day.

Congratulations Vanessa & Ian

Ness & Squeak (to his friends) tied the knot on Saturday 6th June at Eastnor Church. Despite the rain it was a great day and loads of fun. Here's Vanessa arriving at the church probably laughing at me getting a soaking :-)



This shot of the rings was at the Wellington Inn up at Chances Pitch. Ian sneaked in there for a quiet pint before the proceedings.



A bit later on at Hellens in Much Marcle, Ian found the cake-cutting knife could be put to other uses.



We did most of the groups inside in the wonderful rooms at Hellens but I managed to get Ian & Ness back outside after dinner for some shots of the two of them. I love this one in the doorway of the main house.



One of the sculptures on the lawn. I think this was the moment I tripped over my camera bag. The things I do to get the picture! :-)



I managed to recruit a couple of young assistants later in the party. This one had a few crazy ideas about how to use the flashgun!



The rain eased off enough for everyone to enjoy the grounds and it left some lovely evening skies behind.



Congratulations again Ness & Ian and thanks for a fun day. Have a great honeymoon!

Silver Award

I took this picture on a family shoot recently and I'm pleased to say that it got awarded a silver in the SWPP monthly image competition in the environmental portraiture category. It's quite a busy category with over 80 entries in May so it's good to get noticed amongst some stiff competition.

It's one of my personal faves from last month's shoots so I'm glad other people like it too!