The Blog

A delightful spring day, full of sunshine, smiles and a certain little much loved pooch, called Cooper. I'm so happy to have captured these frames.

I met up with London couple Laura and James recently for a pre-wedding shoot.  Borough market is a fabulous place to explore, full of lovely coffee shops, neat market stalls and quirky corners. We strayed away from the market and found fun under the famous Crayola-coloured canopy of umbrellas!  Both such a happy smiley couple, it was fun to spend some time together, stroll around this great area of London and hear exciting plans of their wedding too!

It was a pleasure to meet you both and I'm very excited about your Wedding. 

I filled up with emotion and excitement for Jennifer and Dan who let me share these lovely moments of love and fun, I think the photos speak for themselves.

The couple who met through Motorsport brought their Motor Racing helmets and steering wheel along - awesome!

Jen brought along a model of her racing car along to the shoot, yep she really does own a full sized pink version of this.

Encapsulate my whole year? In one blog post?  That's not going to be easy. I can't possibly include everything, yet I want to share with you a brief skip through parts that have made me as a photographer happy and fullfilled.  Your feedback and knowing I gave you images you've loved, cherished and cried over, kept me focussed and fuelled through all this hard work.  This year I made even more new industry friends, who continue to inspire and support, Im happy that this year I got to work with so many of them. I ticked off many goals, with magazine features in Hertfordshire Life, Unique Bride and Photo Professional. Picking up a magazines from WHSmiths with my work in definitely was a real high point.

I organised four styled shoots, the first one was a colourful alternative bridal shoot with the talented Emma from Beaubuttons.  Everything came together beautifully, the ability to try out new things outside of weddings is perfect, and the rewards are many AND the shoot was featured on Whimsical Wonderland Weddings too. 

Back in Spring I arranged a shoot at St Dunstan's, a beautiful spot in London. I love location photography, it was a challenge to organise this in the City, taking make up/hair stylist and models with me.  Tor and Miss Bruise Violet, two wonderful models who Ive photographed before were brilliant for myself and Andy Teo to work with.

In between weddings, I keep my diary full packed full of things that fuel my creativity and passion.  So when I got the chance to shoot with Melissa Love, who had teamed up with Jayne Sacco, Lisa Devlin and the amazing stylist Hannah Best.  I couldn't get there quick enough. Melissa's styled shoot was on a farm in Sussex and the theme was Peter Pan...it was just wonderful, with such attention to detail all other styled shoots will now be compared to this! 

2012 was my busiest Wedding year so far, I really loved every minute of it and got to photograph beautiful couples and amazing locations. Some of these Weddings were local, like the idylic Cambridge farm and intimate Coltsfoot retreat, but others took me to;  numerous amazing mansion houses in neighbouring counties; a partially-derelict mansion house in Devon and the drop-dead-decadent gorgeous Cliveden House. If you want to talk to me about your wedding, Id love to hear about it, so please get in touch.

In May I got to shoot Ralph Pink's amazing collection at THE most photogenic Master Shipwright's House on the Thames - its where Mario Testino shot Kate Moss, for heavens sake! It was always going to be amazing! Perfectly arranged by one of my very old Flickr friends Miss Aniela it was just mind blowing. With perfect setting and organisation, I had free reign and control to create my own images, I loved it.  You can see me in action here.

In August on the hottest days of the year was my third styled shoot, at an amazing Rose Garden near me. Taking my model and assistants back to the car for a shade break seems a distant memory! These eye catching images were used for bridal accesory marketing and also I was delighted that they were also featured on Marry Me Ink, Wedding blog. My fourth styled shoot was for a fabulous new bridal accessory collection, which will be launched very soon on an amazing new website packed full of ideas for you brides. So stay tuned to my facebook page for news of that!

Back in 2011 I attended Lisa Devlin's Photography Farm, with the intention of pushing my 'off camera flash' skills. I can honestly say that I now love my off camera flash and have really enjoyed the possibilities and results. I also learnt light painting from one of the masters himself Adam Bronkhorst, another old flickr friend! My technique perfected, I was delighted that a couple of my bride and grooms were willing to trust me with it during their evening receptions.

Thanks to each and every person Ive photographed. You are all amazing and the feedback I received lets me know that you love the end result. I'd like to finish up by sharing a few engagement photographs, of couples whose weddings will soon be here.  I count myself lucky to be working at something that gives me this much happiness.  

So goodbye to a great year, but not goodbye to all the memories in the photos Ive taken for all of you. I cannot wait to see in 2013 and start giving it all Ive got. 

Did you enjoy these highlights? What was your 2012 highlight? Please leave me a message in the comments.

I loved capturing these moments - Charli and James are a couple, full of fun, love and excitement.  They had been guests at a wedding I shot in the Summer,  so I was delighted when they got in touch about their own wedding photography.   When we first met to talk about what they wanted from their photos, they confessed they'd already made their minds up they wanted to book me.  Brilliant!  How can I not enjoy meeting with couples who understand my passion, know how I work, and love my images?? I arranged this pre-wedding shoot for the three of us to have some time together in this beautiful setting.  The Swiss Garden at Shuttleworth is really amazing, we almost had the place to ourselves. The light was beautiful despite the cold, with plenty of indoor nooks to explore too.  Charli and James admitted they felt uneasy at first, but they soon started to enjoy the adventure. We all agreed what fun it had been and I just cannot wait to photograph them again on their Wedding day.

On the walk from the Swiss Cottage to the underground grotto, we were very excited to spot one of the garden's peacocks, his beautiful blue plumage being Charli's favourite colour. 

The light in the cave like grotto was divine, I just love this beautiful natural portrait of Charli. Happy relaxed and definately in love.

We sat in the cafe and warmed up over a hot drink, chatting excitedly about wedding plans.  When the day has passed, all you have left is your photographs to help those memories return. I love being the one entrusted with that job!

So tell me? Where would be your ideal engagement shoot? Or where did you have yours? Leave me your answer in the comments please.

Ellie and Ben are the sweetest couple, the love Kew gardens, and live nearby, so it was the perfect place for us to meet. They are having a winter wedding in a few months, this fun, relaxed time with them was fantastic.  Having met them and got to know them a bit, I know their wedding photos will be terrific.  I loved hearing about all their details and thoughts for the day. We strolled around Kew's beautiful gardens, the Autumn colours and the fresh greens were equally appealing. They soon relaxed into the shoot, and I was really pleased with some of the natural moments I caught between them.

We loved the Iron Dome sculpture by David Nash

These following photos were taken inside the Nash Conservatory, by the amazing towering structure and huge presence of 'Cork Spire' 

This Cork Spire is made from the bark of Portuguese cork oak, (not sure how many wine cork's worth is in the sculpture!!) The piece is a symbol for our relationship with the natural world. The artist describes our environment as 'our outer skin'. 'We are in and of the environment; we are not apart from its master - and everything that we do impacts upon it, for better or for worse,' he says....that feels apt as Ellie and Ben embark on married life together. 

A light drizzle joined us, but smiles and tender moments stayed, as we made our way back to the lovely Victoria gate.

It was such a pleasure to capture this happiness and love, I cant wait to join Ellie and Ben on their special day.

I met up with Emma and Rich in St Albans. They had told me before hand that Rich is a guitarist/singer and Emma is a writer, who works at the Library. Not surprisingly they said they both love books and music (especially vinyl).  There is a cool Oxfam book and record shop, where Emma used to work when they first started going out together.  So I knew I wanted to get them back to that very shop to take some photos.  We met by St Albans Abbey and wandered through the old walled streets. Lots of happy smiles. It didn't take long before they relaxed in front of the camera.

Through the Abbey we went into the beautiful secret garden...the carpet of bright yellow leaves in the Autumn sunshine looked amazing.

Emma has the most gorgeous big green eyes, with the green of her jacket and the Autumn light, it was all a joy to photograph.

I really adored Emma's gorgeous hot pink, irregular choice, peacock embellished shoes...

After the secret garden, we headed to the second hand book and record store that Emma used to work in when she first met up with Rich....thumbing through books and records was both nostalgic and fun.

Emma: Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing

Rich: James Brown - Sex Machine

The record titles that they choose seemed charged in a certain way! And there were many kisses, as the couple really forgot I was there at this point! Thats what I love the most.

These werent just any books, Emma reached up and pulled out her favourite novel - The Time Traveller's wife!

Then amazingly Rich found his favourite book too...One Day, by David Nicholls. 

They were just laughing and smiling and telling each other they really should read these books again... when I noticed the cover design!

This was such a memorable and fun engagement shoot, I just know they are going to have an amazingly love-filled beautiful wedding.

Big thanks to the kind staff at the Oxfam bookstore, who gave us permission to shoot.

Jess and Sam have the most stunning location for their wedding! The grounds are managed by the National Trust and are jaw-droppingly beautiful. We met up to discuss their wedding detail and to explore the grounds.  I'm very honoured they booked me and can't wait to photograph their wedding in a few weeks time!

The Queen, Winston Churchill, John Lennon and Charlie Chaplain were all frequent visitors to Cliveden House.  I cant wait to spend more time there and see this lovely couple on their Wedding day.