29/02/2012 by Anna.

Binita and her family are due to leave Hullavington soon for their next placement and we managed to fit in a photo session in their last week here. Luckily the weather was gorgeous - couldn’t get much better for February!

Binita and her daughter dressed in traditional Nepalese dresses which were just gorgeous.

We started off the session with a few pictures in the house, as I think it’s good to have a reminder of where you lived at various times in your life.

The children each had 3 new helium balloons as a special photo treat which were great to use with the strong sun - we got some amazing backlit pictures and strong shadows.

The family live in a house overlooking the airfield, so it was easy to find some wide open spaces for photography.

Grandad was also included in the shoot.

A lovely natural looking shot.

The sun was really bright as it was early afternoon, but it’s good for bringing out the rich colours of Binita’s dress.

However we chose the shade of a tree for taking some closer portrait shots.

The children were really not moving very fast on their scooters, but panning like this gives a great effect, and I hope they like impression of speed!

Binita and her daughter soon changed out of their smart dresses into clothes that they could move freely in. The pink here was beautifully chosen as it really compliments the colour of the balloons.

During their stay in Hullavington many hours have been spent in the playground and so we t00k a few pictures there.

I brought some bubbles along and both children were very good at blowing bubbles.

I do hope you all like these pictures and they will bring back happy memories of living in Hullavington.

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22/02/2012 by Anna.

 A few weeks ago Alice and her mother came to me for a photo session on Alice’s 21st birthday.

At Alice’s request I found a local make-over artist and arranged for Hayley from EyeCandi (http://eyecandi-mobilebeautician.co.uk/) to come along to do her hair and makeup.

We all learnt a lot about the profession talking to Hayley and it was fascinating to watch her at work. After looking at the outfits that Alice had brought with her we decided on the order of them and the ‘mood’ that we would try to achieve using lighting, make-up and hair.

The first look was sophisticated with subtle make-up and a clean white backdrop:

The next dress was a lovely, flowery summer dress. It may have only been January but the sun was shining and Alice was game, so we went outside for some very natural, sunlit pictures.

A bit of pink eye make-up really complimented the dress colour and Alice looked gorgeous.

Next we went for a more smokey look. Hayley accentuated Alice’s eyes even more and I chose to use a black background and more hairlight for this sequence of images.

She also looked great against the white background.

We finished off with a lovely sexy wrapped up fur coat look:

It was a really fun couple of hours and I hope Alice is pleased with her images - a lovely reminder of this special birthday.

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12/02/2012 by Anna.

Last weekend I photographed Martin and Jenny’s wedding at Wellington Barn, near  Calne.The wedding ceremony was not until 4pm and the weather was just as forecast, with the snow starting to fall as we were all gathering

I was hoping for a beautiful sunset when taking some outdoor pictures and we intended to take the group pictures outdoors before the light faded, but by the time the ceremony was over the snow was blowing around everywhere. Jenny and Martin would not have had many friends left if we had dragged them outside! However, we HAD to take some bride and groom shots in the snow…

My golf umbrella came in useful just to keep the worst of the bitter wind away from the newly married couple.

These pictures were all taken in pretty quick succession; I had a lovely warm down jacket on and was fine but poor Jenny was starting to feel the cold!

We decided to take some more inside where it was lovely and warm.

This was the last natural light image we could take as the light was fading fast, but I had speedlights and a large soft box with me for the group photo’s.

The groom, best man and usher having fun!

It felt very cosy in Wellington Barn with the blizzard outside.

We left as the wedding breakfast started and managed to negotiate the slippery roads to get home safely. I’m so pleased that Martin and Jenny were game enough to make the most of the weather on their winter wedding day. Good luck with the baby!

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05/02/2012 by Anna.

Last Sunday I gave another training session at Lacock Photography using a new model for me - lovely Hannah. We explored all the elements that are needed to create a good portrait picture, with the main focus being on making the best use of natural light.

It was a bright day, if a little cold, but then it was end of January!

The morning was spent in the training room and then after lunch Hannah arrived and we started shooting. We began in the training room where it was lovely and warm and we experimented using window light with and without reflectors.

The direction of the light can be used to sculpt the face.

Hannah had a lovely fur coat with her which was perfect for a winter shoot. We also experimented with composition, backgrounds and lens settings.

The quality of the light was totally different at the back of the bus shelter than near the window. I used Photoshop effects to highten the mood of the shot.

This also has a Photoshop filter applied to give a cross processing effect.

Having the opportunity to spend a day thinking about a topic like this is such a luxury and a session with a model is invaluable for trying out new techniques.

For more training courses see www.lacockphotography.co.uk

Thanks to Hannah for braving the January cold with us!

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