- Jennifer & Podge -

So here they are.  My first ever wedding portraits!  The first step in what I hope will be a long and busy career.  And they threw me straight in the deep end!!!!! The couple had a civil ceremony in Northern Ireland then flew over to Manchester and drove up to Preston for their Temple wedding.  As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, we have the privilege of being married for eternity, not just 'till death do us part'. It's a beautiful ceremony in a very peaceful place, the perfect end to a busy, hectic day.
Because there was so much travelling involved everything went wrong! The bride and groom were nearly 40 mins late and almost missed their own wedding! In the end we had literally 3 minutes for portraits and that was only because we walked up to the Temple from the Residential buildings at the bottom of the grounds.  I would have LOVED to photograph these two more but sadly we weren't able to.
Jenny looked absolutely beautiful and didn't let the rain ruin her special day.  Well here they are!

This one is my favourite! I think it's a really beautiful photograph.

This one is really lovely too.  She looks so beautiful!

I like this picture but I wish I could have brought them forward so they were more prominent in the image.  But they were so late I didn't have time to move them.

I think this could've been a really gorgeous picture but I didn't focus it properly! I'm quite mad at myself about it but all I can do is learn from my mistakes.

- My New Lens! -

This weekend my friend got married.  Her name is Jenny and she married a lovely young man called Podge (Yes, that is his name.  It's Irish so it's pronounced like Porrick.).  We had some time while we were waiting for them so...I got a chance to play with my new lens.  We were waiting in the grounds of the LDS Temple in Chorely, Preston.  It's a beautiful building surrounded with lovely gardens so I practiced on the flowers!  They're all taken using natural light and a 75-300mm lens.  I didn't use the macro setting on the lens, but I'm gonna give it a go pretty soon!  I'm not used to still life but I think they're not too bad.  What do you think?

I love the shape of this flower.  I also like the red/green contrast.  I like the highlights on the petals too, but I do wish the colours in this image were a bit more vivid.

I don't like this image.  Even though it's quite bright, I think it's kind of a sad picture.  It just seems a bit lonely.  I don't like the composition of this image; I generally just find it to be a boring photograph.

This flower has caught the light so nicely! The highlights make it look delicate and silky, despite it's imperfections.  I like the contrast between the light petals and the shadowy background, I think it makes the flower pop.

I can't make my mind up about this image...  Likes; lots of detail, nice highlights on the leaves, the dark pink flower has a really interesting shape and I like that the image is predominately green & white with only hints of pink.  Dislikes; too busy, not vibrant enough and I don't like the shade of yellow in the middle of the flowers.

The arches in the Temple grounds...A gorgeous place for a portrait!  I love the smooth curve of the path and the straight lines of the bench.  I think they sit beautifully with the wildness in the gardens.

- More Flash Practice! -

Well...I've been practicing with the flash again this week.  This time with a ring flash, just a couple of quick shots here and there.  Hopefully I'm getting the hang of it!  Of course, these were shot in my living room! The ring flash was pretty small, it was just one I borrowed from college to give it a go.  I started with it being attatched to my lens but I didn't like it so I just switched to using it hand held.  All of these images were taken holding the flash.  I haven't used any reflectors either.  18-50mm lens.

This one is my favourite! I love the contrast of the background and him.  I also love how the light falls on his face and the shadows it makes in hhis beard, on his ear and his neck.  I think this photograph suits being landscape because of the simplicity of this profile portrait.

I'm not sure how I feel about this one yet...I like the composition but I think the lighting is too harsh.  I don't like how the light has caught his eye or the shadow from his nose.  I think bringing the light round closer to me would be more flattering to his features.

What's that? A colour portrait? Yes. I gave it a go.  I don't like this image though.  I like the composition, and how the light falls on his face, but I don't like that it's a candid.  I think it would be a much stronger image if he was looking into the lens. 

- Matt & Stacey -

Matt is James's friend, who recently introduced us to his lovely girlfriend Stacey!! Of course...I had a go at taking some pictures of them! Again, I used natural light and got myself some black and white portraits...just for fun of course.  These were taken with my kit lens, but I JUST got a 70-300mm lens today and I can't wait to use it!!
Here are my favourites:

- Suzanne & Alison -

This week I did my first ever photographs for a party!!!  I was absolutely petrified, but it was excellent practise at crowd control.  The party was for two lovely ladies that my husband works with.  Here are my favourites...

These are the guests of honour! Suzanne (left) & Alison.

Allison saying goodbye to a close friend.  I love th higlights on her in this photograph.

My James with the gorgeous Sammy...Look at those eyes!!!

The girls with their cocktails.

Really nice colours in this image of the dance floor...

- Environmental Portraiture -

In the final term of my first year, I've been learning about environmental portraiture.  Again, my tutor has set me a task to push me out of my comfort zone, one of her many skills that makes her such a brilliant teacher.  Looking at my pictures, it's obvious that I have a tendency to crop my images pretty tight to the subject.  This is something I have tried to rectify recently.  Also I've been learning the art of a flash gun, something I used to see as pretty tacky.  So here they are.  The final images for this brief which has pushed me to my limits.  The great thing about being pushed are the things I learn.  Anyway, enough chit chat...

A simple portrait.  Natural light with a reflector filling in the shadows on his face.

James with his books and cameras in his grandma's old rocking chair.  Just a few things in our home that make me think of him.

Flash on a tripod.  Had a few difficulties with light being bounced around our white living room.  It was easy enough to solve by placing a black reflector(?) in line with the flash to absorb the light.  I love the simplicity of this shot, even though it isn't framed in tight.  For this brief we had to make a magazine layout.  I used this as my front cover.

This isn't really an environmental shot, but it is part of the brief.  We learnt on this project to use a flash gun, a piece of equipment I have recently made friends with!  I am in love with this image.  I was able to get it to look exactly how I wanted, despite being inexperienced with the equipment.

This image is my favourite from this project, and probably one of my favourites from all my work.  At this point me and the flash gun were getting much better acquainted.  This image helped me to see the potential in myself that others see. 

- James & Daniel -

As I've written before I have been working with natural light lately.  I love the softness that it gives my images.  Also I am still in love with black and white portraits...so I've been doing some more!  These images weren't for college work, they were just for fun.  My subjects this time are my lovely husband James, and his little brother Daniel.  Neither of them are very comfortable in front of the camera so it was a nice opportunity for me to practice guiding my models.

Up first, young Daniel, looking very relaxed.  I think his eyes look amazing in this shot, it's really flattering for him.

I love shots with a candid feel!  I think this shows his personality, and the small highlights on the right hand side of his face emphasize his young face.

Eventhough he looks a bit moody here, I do like this photograph.  It's simple and gently highlighted. 

This is one of James' many faces, but by far my favourite one.  he has such a tender look in his eyes and a slight smile on his face...this is the face I fell in love with.  I can even forgive the beard...

I love the lighting in this image.  It's just perfect.