The Specials

Well it seems that blog posts are like buses for me. That's 4 in a week.
Anyway, last night I had the absolute privilege of getting a photo pass for the Specials homecoming gig at the Ricoh Arena, Coventry. My camera was still in the bag when Noel Gallagher wandered in surrounded by security guards so I missed that shot but never mind!
Obviously the Specials were amazing. 30 years on and they've lost none of their energy (well maybe a little bit) and they are LOUD!
An amazing pit experience. Here's some of the shots.


Neville - Bernie Rhodes knows don't argue!


Sir Horace Gentleman, one of my bass inspirations.


What a drummer, Brad with his 2-Tone kit.


Terry Hall still on top form


Roddy Radiation looking more Clash-like than ever.

There should be some more up on Brum Live soon along with a full review.

It's The Little Things...

...that make it all worthwhile.
Not that being a photographer isn't great every single day but sometimes some lovely little things happen that touch you and make you smile.
This is a picture Amy drew for me when we met up to go on a family portrait shoot up the Malvern Hills to catch the bluebells out in full bloom.
Isn't it great! It's my instruction manual for the shoot :-) I think Amy will make a good art director one day.




Here's a couple from the shoot itself

Lovegrove Workshop

Last week I went on a great studio lighting workshop down in Bristol led by Damien Lovegrove.
It was an excellent day and I've been trying out the new styles and lighting techniques that we learned already. It's great to continue learning and growing as a photographer and these techniques will transfer really well to my own studio work.
These are some of the pictures I took on the day.

Hollywood style lighting


Strong kick lights


Coloured background gels


Low-key lighting using one large softbox


Ringflash



I'll be doing another location workshop in June. Looking forward to that one already.

Wedding Fayres

Above is the stunning wedding venue, Ettington Chase near Stratford upon Avon. I mentioned before that I am their preferred wedding photographer and they have one of my display albums to show potential couples. I did a wedding fayre there a couple of weeks ago and it was a great success. Thanks to Clare & Howard for booking me for their wedding at Ettington Chase in December. I look forward to booking some more dates in from the other couples I spoke to.
The venue's wedding co-ordinator, Nicola also commissioned me to take some publicity shots of the ceremony rooms in their wedding attire. Here are a couple of them.


One of the ceremony rooms at Ettington Chase.



This is one of the wonderful bridal suites.



The fayre also had a fashion show of bridal wear so here's a shot from that.



The weekend after I also did a wedding fayre at the Belmont Lodge and Golf club. Most of the couples there were getting married in late 2010 or 2011 so I look forward to speaking to some of those again as soon as they are ready to book.

That's probably it for wedding fayres until the Autumn now.
My next wedding is in Tenbury Wells on 23rd. Looking forward to a great day with Paula & Adrian!

New Ventures

More exciting news!
The studio has been great for the last couple of years but it's time to try something new for my portrait clients. I'm keeping the studio going and I'm investing in further professional career development in order to push my photography even more. I love to carry on learning and my clients will benefit from this over the coming months as I put my new skills and techniques to good use.
The first new venture I'm planning is to introduce environmental portraiture into my repertoire. I've always offered portrait shoots in clients' homes but this is going to go further in that I'll be joining families on trips out and capturing those precious moments of childhood that we want to keep forever. So often I see photographers offering this product without much thought and as a default because they don't have a studio. This is very different as it has been very well planned and I will have a whole new range of products for wall display and beautiful books and albums specially designed for portraiture.
I have also attended training with one of the best wedding and portrait photographers in the country Damien Lovegrove and I am really excited about this new direction and the chance to offer families a stunning new experience.
I have a new website Steve Bulley Portraits where I will be launching my new products. It's up and running and will be growing over the coming weeks. The new look will be used throughout my main site as well as in this new site and my other new site concentrating on weddings.
Keep an eye out for further news both here and on my main websites.
If you want to be one of the first to join me in this journey then give me a call.

Branching Out

All businesses need to grow and I've been spending some time in March making sure that mine is one of them. You can now see my wedding albums in a number of bridal designers' studios across the Midlands and I'm delighted to have been confirmed as the approved photographer for Ettington Chase Hotel in Stratford upon Avon. It's a lovely wedding venue with great staff and I look forward to photographing many weddings there over the coming years. I'll be doing a wedding fair there on Sunday 26th April so come along and say hello!
April looks like being a busy month with various jobs coming in and my teaching is expanding to Worcestershire Council as well as continuing apace at John Masefield. Some of the students who have been on my courses over the last year or two will be exhibiting their favorite pictures at the Weavers Gallery in Ledbury from this week 31st March. Come along and show your support, entrance is free.

Unsung Heroes

I have finally finished my 3 pieces for the exhibition untitled 'Unsung Heroes' which opens at the Courtyard Theatre in Hereford this week. The exhibition is organised by Jeanette McCulloch and features 11 artists, each picking a subject within the Unsung Heroes theme. My work is about people who work to help people in the community who might otherwise get left on the wayside. Pat Jones at Malvern Hills Community College and Sue Davies at Turning Point are the main subjects but my pieces also feature others from these organisations, and of course the people who benefit from their work.
The pieces are collages but below are a couple of pictures that are featured.

This is Sue from Turning Point giving Reiki healing.



And this is the class who learn about numeracy through cooking at Malvern Hills College. led by Carol Major.




Unsung Heroes runs from Friday 6th March until 25th April and is in the upper and lower canyons.
Come along and see it!