12/09/2011 by Anna.

Last Saturday I did my first portrait training day at Lacock Photography, a new venture that Andy and Fiona Turnbull are setting up in a newly built premises in Lacock. Once fully opened the site, which used to be the old Working Men’s Club, will consist of their house, a 3 bedroomed B&B, a photographic gallery, shop and training room. It’s going to be a beautiful building. Here are some of the pictures of both the training taking place and some of the images I got from the afternoon’s session with our model, Lexy.

Here is Lexy showing an ‘S’ body shape which is flattering and dynamic.

We experimented with Lexy moving around so that the natural window light created different images with different moods. As there was a brief spell of rain it was great to have the indoor space to use for photography.

Once the rain stopped we headed for the beautiful village of Lacock for more shooting. This was taken in the bus stop.

Not quite portrait photography but we were practising doing some panning and the slow moving cars were the only things moving fast enough!

It was a fun session with lots of aspects of portrait photography covered. My next training session is on September 25th and is a day talking about wedding photography with bride and groom models for a hands on session out in the village. More details can be found here: www.lacockphotography.co.uk

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

30/08/2011 by Anna.

50 years eh? That’s a long time! John and Carolyne do not look old enough to have been married for so long. This event was held in Hullavington Village Hall; it is not a good place for colour pictures having an orangy coloured floor, hence most of the images I took were turned into B&W!

This is one of their grandchildren with his other grandpa.

A lovely picture of Mary.

Mmmm, makes your mouth water, doesn’t it?

Kyla, from The Little Balloon Company, did all the balloons.

I’ve just finished designing a photo book which will be a lovely reminder of the happy party.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

23/07/2010 by Anna.

After an unpromising start to the day the weather improved considerably and we had some lovely sunshine in which to stroll through the wildflower meadows of Wellington Barn, near Calne.

Well actually, this stroll only lasted a few minutes as I was only photographing for 2 hours so it was just a little foray out into the field!

The detail shots are a lovely reminder of all the work that went into the day and will look good in the wedding album.

The barn has huge windows overlooking the lovely Wiltshire countryside.

I almost missed this detail when photographing the tables!

There were little bells at the ends of some of this bunting which tinkled pleasantly in the breeze.

Because of time constraints most of the group pictures are just line ups of friends and relatives but here we spent a little longer organising a more pleasing grouping, using a bench.

Now, they were not posing for me - hence the much more relaxed, natural smiles!I just happened to see this happening and took my opportunities to get a series of shots.

There were SO many petals that were thrown!

I like to have at least half and hour with the bride and groom alone to take pictures in various different locations. Each location will have its own lighting and surroundings which will give a totally different look to the picture.

This is a quick twirl in the field to show off the beautiful drape of the dress.

The ground was surprisingly dry considering that it had rained that morning, but I usually provide something for the bride to sit on if she is worried about dirtying her dress.

I was preparing to go but spotted this interaction between the bride and groom - so beautifully naturally lit!

Then it was back home for me to look at what pictures I had got of the day - I usually have to look straight away! The files get uploaded, copied onto disc and processed; the cameras cleaned, batteries charged and put away ready for the next wedding this Saturday!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

06/07/2010 by Anna.

This is the first of 6 weddings I have on in July, so it’s a busy month for me!

John and Jemima got married at Wellington Barn, near Calne. It’s set amongst beautiful rolling Wiltshire countryside and the wild flowers this year are amazing.

I started off with the bridal preparations at The White Hart in Calne. The bride was beautiful… of course!

I love having the time to take some preparation shots as it helps to tell the story of the day and gives more choice for the wedding album.

It was a lovely sunny day and as Wellington Barn does not have enough shade for everyone involved in the group pictures to stand in, I stood the groups with the sun behind them and used a fill in flash to ensure that faces were exposed properly. Whilst waiting for the next group of people to assemble I asked the bride to back away a little and took this beautiful back lit shot.

A bit of romance!

The light was lovely in this little area of the grounds.

With the cows mooing in the background we went for a stroll around the circular walk in the field at the back of Wellington Barn. A path has been mown through the gorgeous wild flower meadow.

I got down low to take this picture so that the flowers would fill the foreground. Don’t you wish you were there?!

The speeches and cake cutting were done before the meal so that the groom could relax a little, but it also meant that I managed to photograph them before heading for home.

As well as getting all the important, usual shots at a wedding and some more creative ones and some fun ones, it is also important to record the detail - this is just one of many images which will be lovely to have as a little picture in the wedding album and will help to tell the story of this important day.

I hope you are pleased with the images, John and Jemima, and I look forward to designing your wedding book from your chosen images.

Posted in Weddings, Uncategorized | No Comments »

25/03/2010 by Anna.

I recently took some pictures for a client who wanted images for her new website and book launch. Alison Adams has written a book to help support people suffering with Chronic Fatigue, ME, and Fibromyalgia to recover using natural means. The book is called The Natural Recovery Plan, as is the website.

I have put together a short slide show using Animoto, just for fun!

http://animoto.com/play/dyp2Y1M4huDML7vmqYsSJA?utm_source=project_complete_email&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=project_complete_email&utm_content=main

You will need to cut and paste this link to look at the slide show

I recommend looking at Alison’s website - most of us know someone who suffers from one of these conditions and traditional medicine just doesn’t know what to do.

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

09/08/2009 by Anna.

Oh, isn’t it lovely to have some sun on your face?! It’s very sad but I always think it’s such a wasted opportunity if I haven’t had a wedding on a lovely weekend like this one, but on the other hand I’ve had the time to enjoy the weather!

My latest photographic acquisiton is a lovely new A2 Epson printer so I am now able to print images up to 17″ wide. I haven’t tried doing an A2 print yet, but the smaller images look very good.

I have posted some of the images I took on my last photo shoot with a family from Swindon. I photographed Kim and her children a few years ago and it was nice to see them again with her mother and brother and crazy jumping dog. I took the game Jenga along to help break any ice that might be around and make everyone less self conscious.

As you can see, the session ended with a cushion fight, so everyone was well and truly relaxed by this time!

Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »

19/07/2009 by Anna.

Well, I’ve taken the plunge and here is my first blog. It seems it’s just something that has to be done - no respectful photographer can be without one. But I’m stopping here… I refuse to get sucked in to start tweeting! Isn’t that just a waste of time?!

I thought I’d start off by showing you a few pictures of my lovely daughter, Charlotte, graduating from Royal Holloway, University of London, with a Masters in Sustainability and Management. The ceremony was held last Tuesday with lovely sunshine to light up the beautiful venue.

It all started out well but then she met up with student friends…

and it degenerated into a scroll fight!

Now for some PROPER pictures… On Wednesday I went back to the house of a lovely little girl, Sophie. I have photographed her 3 times now starting as a cute 1 year old and now she is soon approaching the heady age of 7. I spent far too long exploring all the different lighting opportunities that her house and garden afforded me - we were spoilt for choice - and I took lots of lovely pictures.  Here are a few of the images that I took:

Great, isn’t she? I couldn’t ask for a better model!

That’s all for today - I will try and update this weekly and would love to have suggestions and comments from anyone who reads this.

Happy summer holidays!

Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »