HYTHE CANAL ENGAGEMENT : Becky + Leigh
14-05-12 - ENGAGEMENT
‘I’m a little bit scared… I don’t really like having my picture taken!’ Becky was adamant, but with Leigh next to her she relaxed and forgot all about the camera. I’d like to credit my witty banter for calming her down, but I’m sure it’s just because Leigh and Becky are perfect together.
It was a relaxing walk along Hythe Canal, a place where Becky grew up and used to spend a lot of time. We thought it would be a fitting location for their engagement shoot. Everything slipped perfectly into place as the sun started to come out and the days are finally getting warmer.
Leigh and Becky were both naturals in front of the camera – she wasn’t as shy as she made out to be!
In just a few short weeks i’ll be documenting their wedding and I couldn’t be more excited and honoured as its going to be the perfect day.
WEDDING : Rachel + Edward
21-05-12 - WEDDING
About 5 years ago, every Friday night I’d be working behind the bar in a small country pub. On quiet nights there was always a group playing pool in the back. Not sure how it happened, but challenging me to a game became a regular occurrence. I’d like to think I won most of the games back then (however true that might be), but I’m a bit too rusty now to defend my title.
It’s crazy to think that one of those avid pool players looked me up to announce his engagement. A few months back, Ed and his lovely fiancée Rachel joined me in Whitstable for the engagement shoot. But time has flown and just last weekend they were married. There were great details to photograph – flowers, Rachel’s glitter-gilt shoes, and let’s not forget the tower of butterfly cupcakes!
Right now Ed and Rachel are dodging the English rain and soaking up the Greek sun in Thassos. I’m very much looking forward to having them over to the Ashford studio when they’re back and showing off their tans!
Congratulations Rachel and Ed, the wedding was beautiful – so happy for you both.
Louise + Kevin Engagement
14-05-12 - WEDDING
After what seems like weeks of rain we scheduled their engagement shoot in the studio, just in case England decided to throw us a curve ball and let the sun come out..(it did finally though…)
The pre wedding shoots are such a great way to have fun with the couples and chat about how the preparations for the wedding are coming along. Although this only makes me even more excited, roll on August because Louise and Kevin’s wedding sounds amazing!
Personal: Little things make a Big Change!
When we moved into our first house just over a year ago, there were terrible threadbare carpets EVERYWHERE: all over the house, in the studio, the bedrooms, the hallway, and even on the stairs. One of the first things we did was pull up the carpet in the studio and on the stairs. However, we were left with horrible half-painted carpet-glued rough wood.
After dealing with constant dust and the worn down moulting hallway, we finally came to a quick and cheap temporary solution: paint it!
And now it looks sooo much better! If we could only find an interesting floor runner to cover the hall’s obvious floorboards, it’d all come together.
The stairs look great though, and we have a nice surprise for the risers. The floor in the hallway isn’t as perfect, but it’s a whole lot better than the stained blue carpet that was there before. Until we get the proper flooring it will have to do. Next thing is tackling the walls in the hallway and hanging loads of pictures!
Wedding : Tracey + Michael
07-05-12 - WEDDING
Tracey and Michael’s Maidstone based wedding was a bit of a blast from the past. Their ceremony was held at the very same church in which I photographed my first solo wedding. It’s a huge beautiful building with an amazing exterior. I was very excited to utilize the ‘[not so] secret garden’ next door where I’ve done previous shoots.
Though it wasn’t as sunny as Tracey and Michael may have hoped (seriously, where is the sun this year?) the conditions were perfect for photos. I prefer a bit of overcast so the Bride and Groom aren’t squinting uncomfortably and the shadows aren’t too harsh. They were troopers in the chilly wind, though!
After doing the group and couple shots we went off to Riano’s, which is a fantastic 18th Century building right in the heart of Maidstone. Complete with rose wooded floors and great lighting in the reception room, Tracey and Michael definitely chose a warm and cozy venue for celebration.
On Monday Tracey and Michael head off to Corfu - which I am very jealous of indeed. Congratulations to the both of you! Enjoy your sunny honeymoon and I look forward to having you back in the Ashford studio to view your entire slideshow.
Photoshoot: Lola and Grace
Its always good to have old friends in the studio for shoots, even more so when they bring the newest addition to the family for her first wide awake photoshoot!
I’m now starting to do more and more baby pictures which might mean spring is on the way, however looking above the computer screen at the wind and rain hitting the window seems to show the opposite. I’m sure warm weather is on the way. We had a taste of it a few weeks ago and now we want more.
On a side note Jessie and I moved into the house 1 year ago, we celebrated on having the same meal as we did on that first night….KFC and Champagne! After eating so much and being really slow to move around on Saturday morning it was nice to have Natalie and the kids over for the shoot. Now if we can just get Simon into the studio at the same time we would have all four of you!
WEDDING : Katie + Kenny
21-04-12 - WEDDING
The weeks leading up the first wedding of the season never go quick enough as I look forward to the start so much and cant wait to apply all the things i’ve tried and tested throughout the winter months.
I was even more happy to photograph Katie and Kenny for their blessing as Katie is an old family friend from just a mile down the road. Although they didn’t exactly come from a mile away for the ceremony. Kenny and Kate run a camp over in Tanzania and they had their wedding over there earlier in the month and as they had so many friends and family that couldn’t fly over they had another ceremony over here.
It was also great to see some of Kenny’s family that had flown in from all over the world, some from even Connecticut in the US, a place which I’m pretty familiar after spending so much time in Massachusetts with Jessie.
Such an amazing, wonderful group of people and the blessing was the perfect start to the wedding season ahead. Of course that only makes me even more excited for all the others I have this year.
Congratulations to both of you and I look forward to getting you back into the studio before you head back to sunny Tanzania!
Photoshoot: William - almost new born
A few weeks ago we had Gemma, Steve and Bethany over for a pregnancy shoot. Being a couple weeks before Gemma gave birth we figured it would be best to have then in sooner rather than later. Click the Link to see those pictures. After the shoot we took on the difficult task of sorting out which type of pizza to order in… Anyway it was a great night and we were totally lucky to get the session done as a few days later little William was born!
About a month later we had then back in the studio to get some new shots of their new addition to the family.
Congratulations guys and I know Steve must be very happy to have a boy!
