So I just had a mini honeymoon! For those who don’t know … my other half Steve and I got married just before Christmas! We had the most amazing day with all our fabulous friends and family and even though we would have loved to have jetted off straight after for a couple of weeks on a desert island, instead we waited till the February half term so we could have my niece to house and dog sit, my lovely mum and her husband aka the Grandparents extraordinare to have the children (and they went swimming, to see the Lego Movie and the Zoo!!!) and my super kind Uncle & Auntie to loan us their most amazing penthouse apartment right on the seafront in Ventnor on the Isle of Wight. Wow is all I can say, what a place! We had 3 days of bliss – we didn’t really do much but it meant everything to us just to be together and have some time to ourselves. We really did deserve it if I do say so myself! Here are some snaps… guilt free photos of landscapes without the children moaning at us to hurry up! Ventnor, Steephill Cove, The Needles & Yarmouth, plus a couple of arm stretched selfies of course! Enjoy….
My work and my life got very busy from around May onwards in 2013 so I didn’t blog much of what I was up to when I wasn’t shooting all the wonderful weddings I had, I just didn’t have the time. So here are just a few of the many many hundreds – no thousands – of photos I took last year all rolled into one MA-HOOSIVE blog post. Family portraits, lifestyle shoots, babies, pets, a launch party, a christening, a graduation, my kid’s birthdays, a one day holiday on the Isle of Wight, Goodwood Revival, a little camping trip, my snowman in the school nativity… what a year – I loved it!! This year we plan to extend our 1 day holiday to at least 7, I’m pretty much fully booked with weddings but can’t wait to fill the days in between with more birthdays and day trips and family shoots and babies and whatever memories you need capturing or stories you need telling- bring it on … !
It’s been almost 2 years since I went on a workshop to gather some inspiration and meet like-minded photographers, so visiting the Photography Farm this year was a must for me and Brooke’s “Find Your Voice” workshop was the one I felt would most help me continue on this wonderful journey into photography I’m on. I love her work, it has so much warmth and love and truth to it and I wanted to learn how she achieves this with her couples and clients. What an absolutely genuinely lovely lady Brooke is – she’s warm, and lovely and so much fun. It’s so obvious now how she gets the most amazing photos that she does. I love the way she interacts and just hangs out with the people she photographs… this is something I already strive to do myself – it’s so much easier to photograph people who don’t feel under pressure to perform so you have to make it fun and laid back but learning some new poses and interaction tips and shooting techniques, plus how to use the available light rather than being scared of harsh shadows was so liberating for me. So many amazing light bulb moments!
Thank you so much Brooke for opening up to us today and sharing your knowledge with us. It was such a pleasure to meet you… here’s some shots I took with the rest of the group of the gorgeous couple Adri & Jared – they were up for anything and everything and so much fun to photograph!
The other evening I got dressed up in my 1920s gear, like you do, and set off for Brighton town for an evening of fun and laughter with other wedding industry peeps at Hotel Pelirocco. What a fab venue and great evening! It was lovely to meet everyone and see a couple of familiar faces but there are soooo many suppliers to list that I’m going to ask them *very kindly!!* to please leave a comment on this post with a little bit of info about who they are, what they do or make and their website / facebook details etc…! That would help me immensely and be useful to anyone reading this too!
Of course I took a few snaps – but actually not that many (for once!)… (do you like my new blue shoes – I do, can you tell?!)
I’ve been wanting to go on some sort of course or workshop for a while now and have been searching the interweb to try and find something that I know I will benefit from, there are loads out there but nothing ever really made me want to have to book up! Then the lovely Emma Case announced she would be running a day’s workshop and that was it – not a moment’s hesitation (didn’t even know Steve could get the day off to have the kids!) but I knew I had to book. Lucky I did as it sold out within a few hours I think – if not less. How chuffed (not to mention nervous & excited) was I?!!
I love Emma’s work and have followed her blog and drooled over her website for some time now along with thousands of other photographers and couples and wedding industry folk all over the world. Her photos really do move me, they make me laugh – they even made us all cry with the stories that went with them that we got to hear about on the day! Emma is honest, true, funny, beautiful, friendly and swears a lot (oops!) wears her heart on her sleeve! But you know this before you even meet her, so… you think…. can she really be like that in “real life“? Yes she can and she most certainly is! Et voila – the light bulb moment for me – be myself all the time and not worry what others might be thinking – when I’m writing emails, designing my website, putting together blog posts etc. etc… just be me… then hopefully this will attract couples who are informal, friendly, fun, relaxed, have a sense of humour, a romantic side and are a little bit arty and daft, … just like me! 🙂 (past couples now reading this are wondering if they are any of these things?!! hehehe)… of course you were – OK maybe you weren’t daft and the majority trusted me to be the arty one!
Ah what a day though – we got to meet Emma’s gorgeous other half Pete who looked after us all so well (they really are two halves of a whole, love ’em!) and the very talented Lee from Shutterbox Flms, also Emma’s lovely sister Jodie who worked really hard behind the scenes & did an amazing job with styling … it was just all SO much fun, we all felt ridiculous amounts of different emotions throughout the day, the weather did some crazy-ass stuff, I re-discovered my WHY, I learnt so much about myself, that camera settings don’t really matter – just do what works best for you, I met so many other wonderful & inspiring photographers (BIG love to you all!) and most importantly we all left with that warm fuzzy feeling of Welcome Home…. ❤
Here are some of my favourite snaps from the day – check Emma, Pete & Lee’s funky office (loving the views from the windows…) and you’re in for a treat with Lauren & Ste our stupidly gorgeous models for the day (Lauren’s dress – Fur Coat no Knickers – Make-up – Makeup By Jodie) who we shot in the stairwell and a room filled with amazing natural light in Birmingham’s uber groovy former Custard Factory. I want to do it all over again – when’s the next one Emma?! 🙂 xx
@Roseyposeyc beautiful creations... always a pleasure to photograph x 224 days ago
@CWMEdit @Nickifoto @TinoAndPip 238 days ago
@HannahWeeks86 @Roseyposeyc I loved this headband and this shoot too! x 322 days ago
@edsheeran there's a little girl here who'd love to meet you.. https://t.co/6DueHoyDEb Apologies if you've already been tweeted this x 410 days ago
@PolitePlants beautiful day - stunning orchids and lovely couple! http://t.co/5OGeB2gyAh 474 days ago
@showmethepretty @lemontreecakes @angesdesucre @morileebridal @BWPweddings @Paperknots @pompomblossom back atcha!! have a fab weekend too x 502 days ago
RT @showmethepretty: Belgian buns as favours, you say? Yes please! Love today's wedding from @nickifoto http://t.co/dttRzsK0cJ http://t.co/… 505 days ago