Christmas Day

I can only end my countdown with my favourite shot of my kids this year soon to be adorning our living room wall.

So I wish you all a very Happy Christmas day and year ahead.

Christmas Eve

Well it's Christmas Eve and the kids are already asking to go to bed, the sacks are under the tree and a carrot and a glass of sherry await.

I thought I would choose as festive a wedding shot as I could find for today's entry and that's no easy task but I was fortunate enough to remember this one. It is still a talking point as to how this outfit found it's way into the wardrobe at an October wedding but it helped keep this little bridesmaid warm as the bride got ready in the morning.

2 days - Moggarthur Cup

Way back in 2000 when Katie and myself got married I set up a golf competition between my new Father-in-law and his family and friends and all of my family and friends. It's run like the Ryder Cup with five teams of pairs playing matchplay with the most points for the team winning the trophy.

For the last five years I've had to suffer losing this tournament and deal with the jibes of Father-in-law and Brother-in-law amongst others. But not this year, my team actually won it! The only problem is that I wasn't actually playing as I was injured, so now I have to deal with the constant reminder of being told I'd better drop myself from next years team etc. Anyway, I've consoled myself with winning as non playing captain and am looking forward to the tenth running of this event which we are hoping is going to be a two round overnight stay on a great hotel course. Could be messy but as always it's sure to be fun.

3 days - First Dances

This year had so many brilliant first dances, it was virtually impossible to choose just one to highlight here. I had a bride and groom do the Uma Thurman and John Travolta Pulp Fiction dance which went down to a rapturous audience and I even had an entire wedding party interupt the first dance in a zombie like fashion and proceed to dance Michael Jackson's Thriller routine, amazing stuff. But one of my favourites had to be from Gemma and James wedding reception that was held on a fantastically hot day in a marquee in their parents back garden. As the couple made their way to start the dancing no-one expected the party would start with such a thumping dance song. All hell broke lose and the bride and groom just went nuts. The song has been on my youtube playlist ever since. It's not Christmassy or even weddingy (if thats a word) but it sure gets people dancing.

4 days - AGWPJA

Two important milestones were reached for me this year. One was that I was accepted into the Artistic Guild of the Wedding Photojournalist Association, the quality of the work produced by the members of this association is simply amazing and to now be a part of it still blows me away. If you want to see some truly beautiful wedding imagery from wedding photographers across the world then I thoroughly recommend going to check out their site. AGWPJA

The second part was that as a member you are open to enter their competitions and put your own work in comparison to all the members from across the globe. So to then win an award in one of the categories was the icing on the cake. I'm looking forward to entering more of my images in the next set of competitions and to being continually inspired by my contemporaries.

5 days - Christmas Greetings

We tried to avoid the classic photographers card of the family group shot as our greeting this year and instead had some fun building our message from what we'd spent all year tripping over. Happy Christmas from us all.

6 days - New friends

One of the downsides of having your own business is that you can spend a lot of time on your own (in front of my mac mostly). I'm fortunate that a lot of my friends work freelance so we tend to be a bit more flexible to meet up and have freelancer/self employed Christmas parties for example (didn't want to miss out - on Tuesday in Basingstoke in case your wondering). But I am also incredibly fortunate that I get to meet and make friends with a vast array of wonderful people through the job I do.

A wedding is such a happy occasion and to be part of it is such a great experience but it's also lovely to feel that although your doing your job your also welcome on another level too. Every one of my weddings this year has been like that, so a special thank you should go out to all my wonderful brides and grooms in 2008.

The picture above highlights this for me, these three brides and grooms are all friends and over the course of two months in Summer they all got married. Shared bridesmaids, friends, beautiful sunshine and me. Looking back at these friends who have so much in common, it just goes to show that every wedding truly is unique. My experience of each of their gorgeous weddings was totally different and that is what makes my job so rewarding and so enjoyable.

A week to go

Last year I ran a 12 days of Christmas on my blog but this year I'm afraid you'll have to make do with just the seven. All the decorations are up, the kids are asking how many more sleeps till Father Christmas comes virtually every hour, a lot of the presents are bought and even wrapped up, but that's down to Katie and not me, although I have to say I'm pretty good with the sellotape.

So at number 7 I thought I'd start with something I am looking at doing a lot more of in 2009. Pretty much every photographer I know loves taking pictures all the time, whether its for work, family, education or just for the fun of it. Next year I'm hoping to build up a collection of fine art imagery that is not just classical as in the shot here of some beautiful Amaryllis but also a little quirky and a reflection of who were are as a family. Lots of small personal projects to fit in and around my wedding work which will hopefully make me a better photographer too. So number seven should probably be entitled personal development really.

Kirsty & Eduard at Oakley Court

Oakley Court hosted the beautiful wedding of Kirsty and Eduard on a cold yet dry winters day. After Kirsty got ready in one of the rooms overlooking the grounds and river, they were married in the intimate setting of the hotel's conservatory.

As it was a late service it was a real blessing to shoot in the beautifully lit conservatory and then it was just a race against time to use as much of the available light left, before we all set off down the river for a twilight cruise to Windsor. A gorgeous couple, lovely guests and a great setting made this a very special winter event.

The gothic Oakley Court in Bray

Kirsty's dress detail with the make up going on behind

Kirsty looking lovely in natural window light

Beautiful

The conservatory set up for the wedding

Bridesmaid and flower girl (mother and daughter) share a moment

Kirsty on her way to the service

Quick they are coming

The moment arrives

Husband and wife

Got ya!

The sleepy princess

Some time alone


The amazing view of Windsor Castle from the boat

The Windsor eye?

Some fun on the boat

A great view of Kirsty's dress and hair

The evening ended with speeches and dinner back in the conservatory

Sarah and Jon at Loseley Park

It was a wet and wild Saturday when Sarah, Jon and their guests celebrated their wedding at Loseley Park. Fortunately through the course of a beautiful service the rain let up and the newlyweds emerged outside into the classic English grey day (but with no rain!). This was a wedding which was anything but grey though as the guests and the beautiful couple made Loseley as colourful and fun as any summer wedding.

Sarah's dress

A bridesmaid desperately trying to keep her toe nail polish off the dress

Now, does that look right?

Father and Daughter, magical

Jon arrives in the worst of the weather

Sarah awaits outside the great hall

The lovely couple

A great moment during the service

The best bridesmaids come prepared for every eventuality!

In the gardens at Loseley



The walk to the barn from the house

It was a very cold day

This would be great for a caption competition

Hugs at the line up

Tears at the speeches

Lets cut this cake

A romantic first dance

And the mother of the bride kicks off the partying

Alison & Lee at Northbrook Park

It was a cold, windy and later in the day, wet wedding but with such a great couple and venue (Northbrook Park) this was a brilliant wedding to photograph. Alison got ready with her bridesmaids in the lovely suite upstairs and after Lee had arrived, their guests were ferried in by a red double decker bus. A beautiful service was followed by the brave bride and groom having a drink outside and some photos and then off to a marquee whilst the room was turned around for the reception. The promise of a hog roast kept everyone warm and after the speeches the fire and dancing was all that was needed.

The ceremony room at Northbrook Park

Alison's shoes

Alison getting ready

A bit odd but very festive, so good timing. One of the bridesmaids discovered a santa's outfit in the cupboard so used it to keep warm in the morning

A big hug before the off

Lee arrives flanked by his groomsmen

I love this shot of the Grandmother

The beautiful bride

This image now adorns the front page of my new 2009 brochure, so that should give you a clue how much I love this capture

Some laughter during the service

You've gotta love windy weddings

Some champagne to help keep warm...

...and nothing like the arms of your new spouse to keep out the cold

Shot in the walled garden at the back of Northbrook Park

A lovely moody shot of one of the bridesmaids

The cake did look good

Someone else enjoying capturing some fun shots of the day

Here comes the rain

I told him not to say that!

It was a very emotional day for all concerned

And now we dance

I got very cold and wet shooting this long exposure but it sure was worth it

The gorgeous couple end with a kiss