Today's the day! After my previous post about the new baby unit at Wonderland Nursery in Letchworth I was asked to take photos of the finished building conversion, I have to say it was absolutely amazing, no stone has been left unturned, every small detail has been addressed.
I walked into what can only be described as a very warm and cosy atmosphere that I think babies and toddlers will love. You've got a general play area with every conceivable toy children of that would want to play with, a lovely quiet area with 2 gorgeous rocking chairs for those all important cuddles as those babies fall asleep and then you have a lovely cosy cot room. The under 2 unit can cater for up to 21 babies.
Take a look at these photos I took, I think you will agree it is very impressive.
Saturday 26th February was my first wedding of the year, Nicola and Robert were getting married at Crondon Park in Essex, it was a venue I had not worked at before but I had visited it a week earlier to introduce myself to the staff and familiarise myself with the layout and work out where I was going to take the photos, I don't like to leave anything to chance with a couple's special day.
Nicola was leaving from Hanbury Manor, a venue I love and know like the back of my hand. The photos started in the salon with Nicola, the bridesmaids - Rachel & Sarah having their hair styled, Nicola's Mum was there for moral support, I have to say they all seem incredibly relaxed, we were all having such a laugh. The girls soon moved up to the bridal suite to get themselves ready. I took all the shots Nicola asked for with Mum & Dad, then with Rachel & Sarah, we then finished off with some fantastic shots of Nicola on the staircase.
The drive to Crodon Park took about 45 minutes, it was raining so much I still had trouble seeing through the windscreen even with the wipers on their fastest setting. I was greeted by what i can only describe as a very cool groom, Robert did not seem nervous at all. I took a few photos of guests arriving with all manor of head coverings to protect themselves from the rain.
Nicola arrived on time and was quickly ushered in to the venue to avoid getting to wet. With the ceremony over with had to settle on taking the photos inside, for some reason the ladies didn't seem to keen on standing outside while I took the photos 
fortunately I had prepared myself to take the photos inside and swiftly moved through all the photos Nicola & Robert had requested concluding with a rather raucous shot of everyone.
I really lucky to sit on a table with family members for the meal, we had such a laugh. I stayed on until the first dance, I didn't really want to leave as I was having so much fun myself.
Nicola & Robert - Thank you so much for making my day so enjoyable, you were so lovely to work with, your family and friends were brialliant. Thank you to Bill, Nina, Kevin, Daisy, Stef, Sarah, Sam for putting up with me during the meal. Tracy, Alison, Jade, Sarah & Rachel, thank you for allowing me to take all those crazy photos.
Here's a taster of a some of the photos, the full set will be on our website later in the week.
I was very lucky to be given the opportunity to take some new photographs of Keith & Louise Yexley, between them they run The Best of Hitchin, a great service with a fantastic website aimed at promoting businesses in and around Hitchin. They work so hard between them and do the most fantastic job, Louise is constantly on Facebook and Twitter promotting businesses and any offers they may have running. If your a Hitchin business and you would like to talk to Keith or Louise give them a call on 01462 759700.
It was a real fun session, poor Keith left exhausted as I had him jumping up and down on a trampet holding a heart shape balloon, I have to say both Louise and Keith were really great to work with, the time flew by.
Here are a few samples of the photos I took.
I am writing this guide for couples getting married looking to book a photographer because of my sheer frustration at what I am seeing and hearing with too much frequency at the moment.
I am being contacted in more and more alarming numbers by couples who have had their wedding photos taken and then given the images on a disk as that's the package they've asked for, they then call me and ask me if I can sort the photos out as they are really disappointed with them and then at the same time can I put together a storybook album as we would for people who have booked my services. As I like to help people where I can, the first time I was asked I agreed, this was such a mistake. I had never seen such badly exposed, posed or cropped photos in my life; some were even out of focus. they were utterly appalling and had apparently been shot by a so called professional photographer, I enquired as to the cost and was shocked to find they had paid £700.00 for just over 200 images, the coverage was from the start of the day to the start of the meal. Sadly there was just no way I could do anything with these images.
I do accept photography is not the cheapest part of a wedding day in times when money is tight but it is the lasting memory from your day, I know you'll have your personal memories but when the wedding dress has got dirty, the men's outfits have been returned, the flowers have died, the meal and cake have been eaten, the only lasting visual memory from the day will be your photos, please please don't leave this to chance. Increasingly I hear comments at wedding fayre's when people walk by our stand such as:
MUM - "Have you got your photographer sorted out?
"DAUGHTER - " John's mate at work has just got a new really good camera, he's gonna ask him to do it"Or
DAUGHTER - "Shall we have a look at the albums?
"MUM - "You can but I thought Uncle Dave was gonna take your snaps as he likes taking photos
"DAUGHTER - "Oh yeah"
You wouldn't expect me to say anything else but I really do think this is the wrong approach and tempting fate. I've got a new video camera but I don't know how to use it properly yet and I certainly would not take on the responsibility of taking somebody's wedding video until I know the camera inside out.
There is so much more to wedding photography than having a good camera, you need to know your camera inside out, have spare camera bodies and lenses, you need to have an understanding of what the couple you are photographing actually want in terms of photographic style, are they after traditional, reportage or contemporary photos? You need to have a level of anticipation as to what's going to happen next and be ready for it; you need to constantly be thinking about your next move to ensure things happen smoothly. You need to find a photographer with excellent social skills, I know some excellent studio photographers but watch them when they work with people and I just want the ground to open up for them, they are just so embarrassing.
I would love to know what you all think.
I was asked by a friend to take some exterior photos of the childrens new play area at Wonderland Nursery in Letchworth, Hertfordshire. They recently received a glowing Ofsted report but the only think missing was an area covered for outdoor play during the rain and for protection from the sun. They now have the most fantastic play area which the children certainly seemed to enjoy, I know I had great fun while I was there.*****STOP PRESS*****
Wonderland Nursery have expanded and they are opening a new baby nursery on the site of the existing nursery. It will cater for 21 babies from the age of newborn to 2 years old. I was given a sneak preview of the new area and I have to say it looks absolutely amazing. It will open officially on 1st March 2011.
