Clare & Howard Pre-Wedding Shoot at Ettington Chase

A lovely wet and windy lunch time greeted me at Ettington Chase in Stratford last weekend where I was meeting up with Clare & Howard for their pre-wedding portrait shoot. That meant I had to hope we would be able to get some nice shots inside or they were feeling brave enough to work with the weather. As it was, we got both!
Ettington Chase is becoming quite a busy wedding venue but it still feels relaxed and welcoming and has some lovely places to get great shots.
This is on the main staircase in the old house. Clare & Howard settled in straight away and were great to work with.


This is in the library which is also used as a ceremony room for smaller wedding parties.


Perfect timing meant our indoor shots took place during a torrential downpour but the sun came out when we were ready to go outside and take advantage of the Autumn colours in the grounds.


Thanks to Clare & Howard for braving the elements! I'm looking forward to their winter wedding in early December at Ettington Chase.

Carrie & James Pre-Wedding Shoot

Last weekend I met up with Carrie & James for their pre-wedding portrait shoot. It was a lovely fresh morning in the rolling Herefordshire countryside and we got some lovely shots.
Well done to James for braving the bracing air in his shirtsleeves!

Here's some from the shoot.

Carrie & James are getting married next June so they're pretty organised. It's nice to do the pre-wedding shoot in a different season sometimes as they have done.


We waited patiently for the sun to peek its head out and it didn't disappoint.


Thanks for a lovely morning - see you in June!

Malvern Photography Workshop

This Saturday I led a small group photography workshop in Malvern around the St Ann's Well area. We had a great time and just about managed to beat the weather.
We started off gently down the bottom of the hills and then worked our way up, catching some lovely views like this on the way.

I like to shoot landscapes vertically. You still get to convey everything you want from the scene and I think using a long lens shows off the miles and miles of scenery as well as the Abbey in the foreground.


Just enough sun on the way up to play with some starbursts through the trees.


Then after lunch Chloe joined us and was a great model (as always) for the portraiture component of the day. Here's a few of my favourites.



Lots of opportunities for good portrait settings and backgrounds in just a tiny area of the hills.



Couldn't decide if I liked the colour or the strong contrast black & white best here :-)


We got to have a go at some off-camera flash too. Brick walls make brilliant backgrounds as you can really have some fun in Photoshop afterwards.

So, another excellent day with a good group. They got some nice shots and gave me some lovely feedback so thanks for that. Thanks to Chloe too of course!

Sunday I was back at Ettington Chase for a wedding fayre. Another successful day and it was topped off by getting some shots of this shiny R44 out on the lawn.

Malvern College Fashion Show

Last Saturday I did the photography for a big fashion show at Malvern College's Rogers Theatre in aid of the NSPCC. It was organised by Jill Campbell from Isis Boutique in Malvern and choreographed by Karen Irving of Fashion First . Fellow wedding supplier and great hair stylist Valerie Butcher did the models' hair and wedding dresses were supplied by Bridal Gallery of Malvern.

It was a great show and I'm sure they raised a great deal for the NSPCC. The raffle prizes were amazing.

Here's some of the shots from the evening.


Of course, as a wedding photographer I was drawn towards that part of the show!


I love this one of a couple of the bridal models getting ready back stage.



Some lovely stage set-ups with the 2 little bridesmaids - stars of the show!




Moody lighting at the back of the stage.


And these are from the finale.


Well done to everyone involved. The rest of the pics are in the client galleries on my main website. Contact Jill at Isis for the password.

Ross Family Portrait Shoot

A couple of weeks ago I met up with Laura & John again in Ross on Wye. I photographed their wedding in June and they wanted to come back to Ross for some family shots with their lovely daughter Mia.
These are a few faves from the day.


Some nice back-lighting and a mean and moody look from Mia :-)


I like this little black & white series of Laura & Mia. It was off to the ice-cream shop after this!




Thanks for another lovely afternoon guys.
After this it was back to the studio for a family shoot. A lovely way to spend a Sunday.
Got to catch up on my blog posts. Next up is the Malvern College Fashion Show from last weekend.