Congratulations to Jo & Paul

For my third wedding of December and my last of 2009 I was back up in Stratford at Ettington Chase as Jo & Paul chose the last weekend before Christmas for their wedding. It was -5 degrees as I scraped the ice off the car and headed to Warwick to catch Jo getting ready, then off to St. Margaret's church in nearby Whitnash .

This is a classic shot of Paul checking his watch (not posed either!) as the low winter sun throws a highlight on to his watch arm. The freezing temperatures were well worth it to get this lovely light.

Here's Jo signing the register. I was allowed free rein in the church so could capture the ceremony from a few different angles.



Beautiful light still afterwards but too cold for group shots at the church!

Here's one reason why people choose winter weddings - look at that sky! That's Fred's 80 year old Rolls Royce in the background. A lovely car but I'm glad I was following in my car with modern heating - they didn't have any!



After a few group shots outside (I let the guests pop in and out of the Library through the side door to warm up!) we decided to do the rest inside by the piano. I love this natural one of Jo & Paul.




Later on, after the meal, a special guest took time out from his busy schedule to come and chat to the kids and hand out presents. Needless to say he was a big hit!


With the dark closing in it was time for some more low-key shots. This one is in the entrance hall at Ettington Chase, just lit by the overhead lights.

And finally a nicely worked out first dance.


Congratulations again and I hope Paul didn't let the secret getaway destination slip too early. I'm sure it was amazing and I look forward to catching up in the New Year.

In between Bridget & Tony's and Jo & Paul's weddings I also photographed the John Masefield carol concert at Ledbury Church and I've had a couple more studio portraits today. So it's been a great December. Just need to finish the Xmas shopping now!

Congratulations to Bridget & Tony

Just a quick post and a couple of shots from Bridget & Tony's wedding last Wednesday 9th Dec. A small and intimate wedding at Ledbury Register Office, followed by lunch at the Verzon House Hotel just outside Ledbury.

Here's the couple in town by the Christmas tree next to the Market House. We had to wait for a back-up registrar to come from Hereford as the one who was meant to be there couldn't make it! Not too much delay though and Bridget & Tony could carry on with their ceremony and grab a few shots before heading off to the restaurant.

The Verzon is a lovely restaurant and hotel on the Ledbury to Hereford road, run by Peter, Audrey & Jane Marks. I joined Bridget, Tony and their guests there for a little while before slipping off to let them enjoy their lunch and the rest of their day.

Josh's Christening

Just a quick post with a couple of shots from Josh's christening on Sunday.
With Clare & Howard's wedding pics uploaded and backed up it was time to clear down the cards, recharge batteries and head off to Eastnor Church for a big family christening for little Josh.

Here's Georgia, Graham & Josh arriving.


A lovely bright December day made for some nice lighting inside the church.


Then it was off to the Feathers Hotel in Ledbury for the party. Here's the family by the Quills room at the Feathers.


Just getting the rest of the pictures ready for the web gallery then I'll be editing Bridget & Tony's wedding from Wednesday 9th.

Congratulations to Clare & Howard!

Last Saturday I was back at Ettington Chase in Stratford for the wedding of Clare & Howard. I did their pre-wedding shoot a few weeks back and now it was time for the big day itself! They had a grand day planned with 160 guests , a superb Christmas theme and lots of partying. A brilliant day.

I started early with a trip to the salon (Classics Hair & Beauty) in Kenilworth to get some shots of Clare and her bridesmaids getting ready, then it was off to Ettington Chase to meet Howard.

Here he is with his brother, getting into the party mood already!

We were inside (in the warm!) most of the day but this is Howard & his sister and bridesmaid just outside the library before Clare arrived.


Clare in a quiet moment before the ceremony and then with her Dad on the way down the staircase to see the Registrar.



A good back view of Clare's amazing dress as her Dad leads her into the ceremony room.

I think this probably suited Clare better than Howard...


All the tables had Christmas song names - this was the top table of course!


Time for a few shots of the star couple between the meal and the party.

Then on to the first dance. Despite protesting that they hadn't worked out any moves beforehand they pulled off a slick performance and soaked up the limelight pretty well!

Howard then took centre stage to join the band for a great rendition of Have I Told You Lately That I Love You - good show Howard!




I slipped away as the late buffet arrived but I think the party went on well into the night!

Thanks for a superb day and have a fantastic honeymoon!

Alice

Well that was an interesting day!

I started off Tuesday this week with a trip to John Masefield school for the inaugural Friends of JMHS event. I was invited along as I did their prospectus photos and of course I do my teaching there.

Then it was back to the studio for some baby pictures. Little Ralph was great and we got some lovely shots. The studio has been busy lately with everyone getting their Xmas photos organised. Probably why I haven't blogged much recently!

Later on I got the word that passes were sorted for Alice Cooper so off I trotted to Wolverhampton Civic Hall to cover that for Birmingham Live.
Had to park down the road a bit and trudge up the hill in the rain with a heavy camera bag but I suppose that's to be expected in December!

Here's Alice looking just as crazy as ever!

It was a busy photography pit but nice and close to the stage. Makes for some cool wide angle shots...

...and close-ups

This is Alice's Theatre of Death tour where he demonstrates lots of ways to die on stage! Never a dull moment eh!

The support band were Man Raze. I didn't know who they were before I got there but really should have done my homework as they are the side project of Phil Collen from Def Leppard and also feature Paul Cook of the Sex Pistols on drums! Luckily I got some nice shots anyway. Enjoyed the set too, I might be checking out their album soon.


Watch out for the review on Brum Live soon.
This Friday I'm at Ledbury School Xmas fair so come along and see me and maybe book a portrait session! Then Saturday it's off to Ettington Chase for Clare & Howard's wedding.
Watch this space for pics!

Find us on Facebook

Been meaning to do it for a while but I've now set up a page on Facebook for Steve Bulley Photography. Feel free to become a fan!
I've added the 'Find us on Facebook' logo to my main website Steve Bulley Photography and this links straight to the page. Otherwise you could link straight to it from here.
So I now have to update my website, blog and Facebook! Hopefully I'll get some time to keep shooting too.
I'm going to use Steve Bulley Photography on Facebook to advertise upcoming workshops and promotions for portraits etc so keep an eye on that as well as here. It's a good way of getting lots of images on show as well.
At the moment there are a few photo albums showing my work across the range of what I do - wedding photography, location portraits, studio portraits, pre-wedding shoots, music & performance and commercial. I'll add to those over time and post some new ones as well as some from the photography workshops that I've led over the past few months.
Hope you like it.
All being well with passes I'm off to photograph Deep Purple tomorrow night for Brum Live so watch these spaces for the shots.

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.