Blog

Woodland Wedding - Wyre Forest Discovery Centre

Sat, 05 Jan 2019 18:29:00 GMT

If, like Claire and Brendan, you’re a festival lover and your idea of the perfect weekend away is getting off the beaten track somewhere in the great outdoors, then what better place to hold your wedding reception in a tipi surrounded by the beautiful woodland of the Wyre Forest in Bewdley.

I don’t think Claire and Brendan could have picked a venue more suited to them and given that Brendan is Glastonbury festival’s biggest advocate, that seemed like an obvious theme for their wedding, with each of the tables taking a name from the festival’s many famous stages. I loved the fact that they’d even thought about adding a ‘kidz field’ to keep the younger guests out of mischief.

The day started with preparations at the Royal Forester Country Inn down the road and then a quick stop at the Kidderminster Registry Office at the Town Hall to say “I do” before the couple and their guests headed off to the woods to get the party started.

The tipi was beautifully decorated with woodland flowers and fir branches which really added to the venues charm and left that fresh pine smell in the air. And of course no festival wedding would be complete without a fire pit to huddle around once the sun had set.

It was an absolutely perfect day even if the weather did keep us on our toes a bit (it wouldn’t be Glastonbury without a bit of rain!) but thankfully they left the mud back at Worthy Farm.

Thank you for letting me be part of your wedding guys, I don’t think you could have done it better!

Much love

Jen xx

The Calendar Project

Sat, 29 Dec 2018 19:57:00 GMT

Okay, so I’ve turned into one of those proud mommies who sends out calendars with pictures of their baby on to the relatives at Christmas, but he’s just so munchable that I couldn’t resist. A few months ago, "project calendar" was born, and a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into creating it!

Each photo represents something relevant to that particular month and we had to think outside the box for a couple of them. When I started this I didn’t originally envisage that I would practically end up building a whole set for some of the photos - especially June’s, but it was worth it as it represents his daddy’s favourite place.

Oh and just before you call Social Services, November’s photo was a composite of two images (I’m crazy but not that crazy)!

As for May, well if you’re a fan, then you’ll get it.

Hopefully he’ll forgive me for this when he’s older.

Where have you been hiding Jen?

Sat, 01 Dec 2018 17:59:00 GMT

So some of you may have noticed that I’ve been a little quiet here on the blog and social media lately. So what’s my excuse, did I got lost in the jungle or stranded on a desert island? No, not this time, all travelling adventures have been put on hold for the time being, as I’ve been undertaking a different kind of journey lately - motherhood.

Yes earlier this year I became a mommy to the most awesome little dude and I’m absolutely loving it. I will however be back in time for the start of wedding season in 2019, so if you are planning a wedding or wishing to arrange a family shoot, then please get in touch, as dates do fill up quickly.

I can’t wait to see where 2019 takes me and meet the strangers who I will most likely be calling friends before the next year is out.

Mark & Olga - Engagement Photography Session in Leamington Spa at the Art in the Park Festival

Fri, 24 Aug 2018 21:03:00 GMT

Oooh I do love a good arts and crafts festival, so when Olga and Mark suggested it as a location for their engagement photo shoot I was delighted at the idea.

Art in the Park is an annual gathering of some of the best local artists, performers and craftspeople showcasing what they do best in the beautiful setting of Jephson Gardens in Leamington Spa.

Here are some of the images from this lovely couple’s shoot.

Janine & Kieran - Lichfield Guildhall & Netherstowe House

Fri, 03 Feb 2017 22:20:00 GMT

I first met Janine & Kieran early in 2016, around the same time I was putting my own wedding plans in motion, and it was refreshing to hear that they too had looked further afield to find their perfect wedding venue. The first time I met with them at the Guildhall in Lichfield I could totally see why they had chosen this venue, it was such a unique space and I loved how you could still see traces of the building’s past life, it had even been a prison at some point in time and still had some cells.

The day started with bridal preparations at Netherstowe House, where the couple also had a very intimate gathering in the evening, but the ceremony and the main event was held at the Guildhall.

The hall looked absolutely beautiful with all their creative touches, there were delicate vases of flowers dotted around, warm glowing fairy lights and probably more candles than the cathedral had around the corner, oh and I absolutely loved their chocolate and gold cake which just tied in perfectly with their décor.

Following the wedding breakfast we took a ride in the couple’s wedding car, a 1972 vintage Citroën DS, to Lichfield Cathedral to take a few photos... well it would have been rude not to with such a stunning location on the doorstep!

See the gallery for the highlights from the day here.

Emma & Kevin - St. Michael’s Church and Memorial Hall, Bishops Itchington

Sat, 28 May 2016 11:54:00 GMT

There’s something special about village communities. Bishops Itchington is the kind of place where everyone looks out for each other and it seemed like half the village had turned up outside the church to congratulate Emma & Kevin on their big day.

This quaint little village near Leamington Spa is where Emma grew up, so it was only natural that the couple got married there and held their reception at the local Memorial Hall.

I couldn’t quite believe the transformation the village hall had undergone since I last met with the couple there a few weeks prior to the wedding, they really had gone to town with the decorations and the hall looked beautiful, they even made a feature of the vintage coat hooks incorporating them into their sweet bar (great touch!).

I absolutely loved their creative little touches, which you could see everywhere you looked around the hall. It really was the attention to all the little details that made this wedding so special. If you’re looking for some inspiration for your own wedding, then take a look at some of the creative ideas they came up with.

Dance Photography

Sun, 06 Mar 2016 22:36:00 GMT

Every photographer has a bucket list of certain things they have always wanted to photograph and one of the things at the top of mine was capturing the movement of dance.

Along with photography, dance has always been a big passion of mine, although I don’t dance as much as I’d like to these days (however you might catch me dancing around the living room until I have that realisation of “oh did I forget to close the curtains”?)!

Well you can imagine my excitement when I got an invite to get involved in a dance photography workshop recently, and not just any dance workshop, dancers performing on aerial hoops and silks. I was excited as a monkey with a peanut machine.

Given the nature of the shoot and the set-up needed for the dancers to perform, instead of the dancers coming to the photography studio we brought the studio to them. The key to capturing fast moving subjects in sharp focus is to use a high speed sync flash set up, in this case we used high powered Superfast Lencarta 600 strobes which lit the performers at up to 1/2000th of a second.

In layman’s terms, it’s the flash that freezes the movement. Combine that with a superfast shutter speed and you end up with a really sharp image with no motion blur.

There were also additional sets for floor work and portraiture, so I decided to use this as a good excuse to get the dancers to show off their extreme bendiness and flexibility, making for some very interesting portraits.

Here are a few of my favourites from the shoot.

Charity Golf Calendar

Thu, 31 Dec 2015 16:11:00 GMT

Earlier in the year I was approached by the Ladies Section at Olton Golf Club who asked if I was interested in helping them put together a charity calendar. It sounded like a good excuse to do something a little bit different and get creative, so I thought it would be fun to get involved and after all it was for charity!

So I met with them and after scratching our heads for a bit we decided that the ‘WI thing’ had been done to death and came up with the idea to try and convey some golf humour through photos with appropriately placed captions (sorry to disappoint but all the ladies got to keep their clothes on)!

The ladies were extremely good sports and had come up with some rather funny ideas that worked really well through pictures, I even surprised myself and came up with a few which is pretty shocking considering how little I know about golf (I have a feeling mine were so bad they were good)!

Well after a lot of hard work by many people throughout the year putting the calendar together, it is now in print and I managed to get my hands on a copy recently when the ladies invited me to their Christmas do.

Whilst there I got a chance to have a chat with Emily for the RNIB Pears Centre, which is the charity the fundraising is for, and got to know a bit more about the charity and the work they do. The Pears Centre is a school and children’s home for young people who are blind or partially sighted who also have multiple disabilities or complex needs. The work they do there is truly amazing and makes such a difference to these children’s lives. With the money the club is raising, they plan to build a hydrotherapy pool which will mean that all the children there will be able to benefit from this therapy.

If you could use a bit of golf humour in your life and you would like to help support this very worthy cause, then a copy of the calendar can be purchased for £10 from the club or via myself.

Finally!

Sun, 29 Nov 2015 19:22:00 GMT

Well it’s been a long time coming but the website is finally here!

I’ve been lucky enough over the last couple of years to get by on word of mouth and social media but it was about time that I got myself a website.

So here it is, not only do I now have a place to collectively showcase my work (like this and this) but I also have a blog to update the world with what I’ve been up to, whether that be the last wedding I shot, my latest personal project, my recent travel adventures or sharing my techniques on how to get more creative with photography. So if any of that sounds like it would be of interest to you then watch this space - you can also follow me on Facebook and Twitter.