Have golf cart - will play!

Saturday found Kevin and I at Mannings Heath Golf Club in Surrey - as always I had met the couple beforehand at the venue which gave me a chance to scout out the best areas for the formals and maybe a touch of inspiration - Hazel & Andy (the happy couple) had said they would be able to commandeer a couple of golf buggies for the afternoon/evening and that we could maybe use them to get around.. this led me to thinking how we could use them and maybe incorporate them into some photos - this would work on a couple of levels as 1. they would be fun shots and 2. it would give the images a sense of location. So the initial idea I had was to capture the golf buggy driving past me at speed and I could pan alongside to give the images a sense of motion. However these mighty machines have had a speed limiter installed which allows them to move at about a fast running pace - not ideal for motion panning shots unless we left the shutter open a bit longer, but that runs the risk of camera shake and blurriness (and not the good type!). Then Kev struck upon the idea of having the Cart drive around us in circles, allowing us more chances to capture a pin sharp photo. The idea worked a treat and the photo came out really well as you can see below.

We also took a few shots on the course, including one with me laying in a bunker whilst the bride hacked sand over me with a hockey stick - sounds weird eh? Again - photo below.

I did get one other shot during the bridal preps that I liked so much it is onthe frontpage of the website now (we rotate the image displayed on the frontpage each time the site is reloaded so you may have to reload the page several times until it appears).. I will have to be honest here, I did copy the idea from a portrait of Noel Gallagher I saw in a gallery a few weeks back, but I loved it so much I just had to pinch the idea for my own needs.

Oldie but goodie.

Trawling through some of my older photos looking to refresh the gallery on my main website (got loads of new material to put on there this year) I found this shot tucked away in a folder - it was from a relatively small wedding a few years back - the great thing about it was the Bride & Groom and all their friends were really into the whole `Mod` scene circa late 1950s/early 1960s, and the wedding was fashioned to resemble how a wedding (they assumed) would of been during those times. They dressed in incredibly authentic clothes, they all had Lambretta or Vespa scooters (the Mods transportation of choice) and the reception was held in a very old style village hall in deepest darkest Essex, even the DJ used old style record players using genuine 1960s vinyl.. A great experience - in the shot here you can see how fantastic they all looked - I even went to the effort of researching how black & white photos looked at the time and emulated it so the photos had a real vintage look and feel to them.. Super cool people.

Busy busy busy!

So the wedding season is in full swing and I am now shooting weddings every Saturday up until the Wedding show at Birmingham NEC in October (then busy for the next month after that), coupled in with the remaining pre-wedding venue visits I have yet to sort out, organising the exhibition stuff, designing our new 2010 brouchure (more on that soon), going through the photos from each wedding and designing the albums, thank you cards and making sure everything gets sent out to the right people I am certainly going to be putting in some long days and nights over the next few months. Luckily I have my family & friends behind me 100% and my ever suffering other half Angela (who some of you would of met if you booked us at the wedding shows) who rarely sees me these days as I am always in front of this damn computer or out shooting weddings or even meeting new/potential clients. Still, everything so far this year has gone swimmingly and the bookings are up for next year, and even a few in 2011! incredible!

So, onwards and upwards! The shot below is from the week

end, Anna (Swedish) & Craig (British) who both live in Germany, so it was a real melting

pot of cultures & nationalities AND the first weekend in ages it hasn't poured down. MAGIC!

The wedding was at Coombe Abbey near Coventry.

Prime or Zoom?

Hola y bienvenido a todos!

OK, just a quick update today - I am currently going through my most recent wedding (Josephine & Bobby, Tamworth Castle) and I have realised that I am now using my prime lenses far more often that my zooms. Whoa! I hear you cry (the non-geeky non-photo type amongst you that is), whats the difference between the two? Well a zoom lens is possibly the most popular type amongst most photographers, it has a variable focal length, basically THAT means that you can zoom in and out, its more pratical and can act as many lenses in one. Now a Prime Lens on the other hand only has one focal length, basically if you want to get closer or further from your subject then you have to zoom in with your feet. But surely thats inconvinient?! (thats you asking again, my hard rocking amigos), Ummm, a little bit but I feel the benefits of a prime lens are a huge benefit in comparison, the image quality is far superior - crisper, sharper images with plenty of contrast and colour saturation, they also weigh less (in most cases) - AND they are also generally faster than zoom lenses in the similar focal lengths, and faster means they let in more light allowing me to shoot in dimly lit areas (like churches for example).

I also feel they force me to be more discplined as a photographer, which can only be a good thing I guess. I guess one problem is I do have to carry around a number of them for most situations, but thats why I have an assistant!

Until next time. Adios y verle pronto!