Uh Oh ... Another month gone ... Have I really not written in that long?

How can a whole month have passed me by without writing on here?

August, September and October are always my busiest months by far (I know that I shouldn't be making excuses!) ... I am not only still in full wedding season with at least one wedding a week but I am now working on and preparing large amounts of albums, photobooks, print packages, parents books and albums, CD's, DVD's and reprints. As well as all that most of my evenings are taken up either seeing couples to design their albums and books or seeing potential couples for weddings on future dates. Actually, I think it helps writing all this down as it makes me realise why I seem to have no time and an ever growing 'to-do' list.

I think I should also mention a quick thank you list here as without the help and support of my family I couldn't get all this work done (60+ hour weeks since April)! Special thanks to David (my husband) ... not only does he help me most weekends by photographing with me at weddings but without his sterling job making my dinner most nights I'm not sure I'd have time to eat! I feel like an absent wife at this time of year ... promise I'll make it up to you when it's quieter over winter! Also, thanks to my parents who look after our cranky collie most weekends when we're working allowing us to not worry about whether she's wrecking the house and lastly thanks to my sister who lets me upload all the photobooks at hers (I am still stuck on a stupid dial-up connection as I'm in the middle of nowhere and apparently only two people in our village can get broadband ... needless to say I'm not one of them!) which have been new this year and a huge success. Ok, enough of the thank you's for now as I'm sure it's starting to sound like an Oscar speech (although no tears)!

All of those who I have photographed in August and September please don't think that my lack of writing has been because we haven't enjoyed those weddings .... we have had some amazing times and can't wait to write up your weddings.

To give you all a small taster .... we have been up to Scotland for Angus and Jenny's wedding which was fab, we've been to Elms Barn a couple of times, both completely different weddings despite being at the same venue - magicians, bouncy castles, power cuts - I think we've seen it all! We've been to Cley Windmill (superb reed beds), Holkham Beach (beautiful beach where we could barely see the sea it's so far out) and Sussex Barns. We've also been back to Ickworth (third time for us this year ... funny how things go in cycles like that) and we've been out in the deepest, darkest fens this weekend (we had superb light and vast expanses of flat fields and water) as well as up to Sandringham the following day where we had the most beautiful gardens, church and surroundings ... although we didn't see the queen!

So, lots to come .... I'm sure you can't wait to read about them now. Hopefully, by the end of the week I'll have written up at least one wedding for you to look at. Oh and one final thanks that I forgot earlier, to all of you who give me positive feedback about both the blog and our work thank you .... it really does help keep us motivated and enthusiastic and makes all our effort worthwhile .

I WILL WRITE AGAIN SOON!

Where are the months going this year????

As always I seem to be slipping behind again with regards to writing up all that I have been up to. I know that many of you have commented on how much you enjoy reading this so I really will try to do some updates over the next few days (I also know that some of the couples I photographed in July are looking forward to reading their wedding summary on here).

As an overview and a small taster for you - what have I been doing with my time in July?????

Well 6 Weddings photographed in Norfolk, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire and Essex for starters so a lot to write about here, several album design meetings, future meetings and lots of problems (that weren't my fault but have taken a lot of time to sort) which include a proof book coming back missing a page, an actual book coming back trimmed wrong and one of my external back-up hard drives had an unrecoverable disk error (fortunately I always back the photos up in 3 different places so nothing was lost!) and that's just for starters!

The beginning of August hasn't been any quieter either - I've just been up to Scotland to photograph a wedding this weekend just gone and have got back to heaps of e-mails that I am working my way through. Another wedding in a couple of days and plenty more throughout August.

On the positive side we are still having a great time, meeting some wonderful people and getting some gorgeous images that I can't wait to share with you all.

I will write again soon (I hope!)

So Much Going On - So Little Time!

Where does the time go to? The last month seems to have flown by without me having had time to write on here. So, what have I been up to that's been keeping me so busy .... well, several portrait sessions, a few weddings, a bridal shoot, a holiday, many meetings, album designs, book designs, wedding fairs .... and that's just for starters. I'll try to write about some of the sessions and things I've been up to as from now until November time things won't be getting any quieter!

I know many of you have commented on how you like to read this and to see recent weddings and portrait sessions so I will try harder to set just a little time aside each week to keep it updated.

Thank you card from Becca and Pete's Wedding @ Dove Barn - Groton, Suffolk

Back in July I had the pleasure of photographing Becca and Pete's Wedding at Dove Barn, Groton. They had gorgeous weather for their day and we got loads of wonderful photographs. They were a brilliant couple to work with and despite Pete breaking his leg on his stag do and being on crutches for the wedding (and a long time after) everyone had a fantastic time. It certainly added to this being one of the most memorable weddings I photographed last year. Due to Pete's crutches constraints, them living the other side of the country and the fact that Becca can't drive I only managed to meet with them again recently to design their album (now Pete's leg is healing and he could drive again). I gave them their album last weekend. Here are some images from their album. I love this one of Becca and her father before the service starts.

I think it shows the affection and closeness in their relationship perfectly. The confetti shot was fun as Pete managed to hobble through.

They specifically asked for one of them in the car with Pete's poorly leg which makes for a very different bride and groom in the car type shot!

Finally the dancing was hilarious as Pete made the most of his crutches and danced around Becca.


I also had some of the hardest retouching I have ever done for their wedding. In the church photographs they asked me to remove Pete's crutches and the cup on the floor - this was tricky to do as the floor had a tiled pattern and getting the perspective for the retouching right was hard but after many hours working on these images I managed it. The before and after shots of this one are below.

BEFORE:
AFTER:

All in all it was a wonderful day and I was very touched to receive a thank you card from them both this morning which read:
"Dear Hayley, Thank you for all your time, ideas and patience with us over our wedding year! The end product of our wedding album is exactly as we had envisaged and will provide us with many happy memories. All the best of luck with continued success in your business and you can count us for a recommendation as a fantastic wedding photographer. All the very best Becca and Pete."

True to their word I am photographing one of Becca's friend's wedding (Jenny and Angus)later this year up in Scotland which should be magical in the ruins of an old abbey!

Thank you card

This morning I received a lovely thank you card from Anna and Dick whose wedding I photographed back in July at Yaxley Hall. I am always touched after the day by couples taking the time to send me their words of appreciation.
The card read: 'Dear Hayley, We are both delighted with the album of our wedding. Thank you so much - we are very pleased we chose you - Anna and Dick'

Here's one of the pages from their photobook album:


and the last page of their photobook:


Their wedding day was a gorgeous and well thought out affair with plenty of entertainment for the guests (they had some surprise singing waiters who sang in operatic voices between the main course and pudding). As always, the service provided at Yaxley Hall was superb and the canapes Richard had made looked (and I'm told tasted as well) exquisite.

Thanks again Anna and Dick for sending me your kind words - it is always nice to hear from couples after the day and I hope that you stay in touch in the future. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness together (which I'm certain you will have).

A Belated Happy New Year

Well, my New Year's resolution has already gone to pot - I haven't managed to keep this as updated as I would have liked. So here's a belated Happy New Year to you all. On the positive side though things have been very busy which is always good and I feel re-energized after the Christmas break and ready for action this year photographing lots of wedding. So, what have I been up to since I last wrote ... hmmmm .... I've photographed Angela and her family back in December (I'll write more on a separate post in a minute), I've photographed Faith and Phil's wedding (more on this as well later), I've attended a photographic convention in London with my friend and fellow photographer (Sadie at Big Fish Photography)where there were lots of trade companies exhibiting so watch this space for new products to be available in 2008! Mainly though my time seems to have been filled with lots of enquiries and finishing off albums and books from last years weddings. I'll try to put a selection of those recently finished album pages online so you can have a look at them and lastly (I think) I've been exhibiting (that time of year already!!!!) at Spains Hall and their open day this Sunday just gone.

Over the next few days I will attempt to elaborate on all that I've been up to and pop some photos in although I should put in a note of warning that I become distracted quite easily and engrossed in editing photos so this may not happen as fast as I hope.

Online Album Ideas and Pages

Hopefully in September the Website will be updated so that you can not only view sample album pages but you will also be able to see photographs showing details of the albums and books I use. This should help those of you who enquire but live a long way away to get more ideas on the overall style and quality that your finished book or album will be.