Josie & Steve - Nurstead Court

Last week I had the pleasure of sharing the day with the wonderful Josie & Steve.

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It was a shorter day than normal for me, just 4 hours of coverage to get the essential moments captured.

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From the moment I arrived to meet Josie I could tell it was going to be a great day, the atmosphere was very chilled but with a hint of a party about to start!

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I had a great time with a fantastic crowd (the best man kept offering me beer) and a lovely venue, I wanted to stay and capture what I’m sure was a very fun fuelled evening.

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I stayed a bit longer than I was supposed to but I’m afraid it was my turn to read the boys a bedtime story (and it was pizza night…..nom nom).

Thank you Josie and Steve for making me feel so welcome.

Sue & Tim - Houchins, Coggeshall

Wow! The Essex weather certainly did us all proud for Sue & Tim’s wedding last month.

At the time little did we know how long the amazing temperatures would last! Not looking so hot now but we aren't allowed to complain are we............ 

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It was Carly and I working together for the whole day this time, Sue and Tim didn’t want to miss a thing and would you believe we can work all day together and not argue once! 

The day started with us both going to Houchins to meet Sue with her sister Ange, her mum, daughter Holly and nephew Jack. It was all go but still very relaxed with the bridal party, there was definitely a lot of excitement in the air.

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I went off to meet Tim with his best man (and soon to be brother in law) Nick and Tims 2 sons who were ushers, leaving Carly with the girls…and Jack. 

The day went fantastically. Sue looked amazing, the details were beautiful and you could see just how much thought and hard work had gone into everything. 

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The staff at Houchins made it so easy for Carly and I to do our job, we love to work well with the venues team but the guys at Houchins took it to the next level. All of the couples guests seemed to have an absolute blast! 

So, all in all what an amazing day with laughter, tears, dancing, food, drinks, sun, Lycra, an illuminated codpiece…and love, lots of love!

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Sue & Tim, thank you for being so wonderful! You both made sure we were looked after throughout the whole process, which is actually what we are supposed to be doing for you! We were fed so well I had to move my belt one notch. It always makes our day when we can be part of a wedding so filled with love and joy.

We wish we could do it all again!

James & Carly x

Epping Forest shoot

A lovely Autumn shoot in Epping Forest!

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We had to re-schedule twice due to bad weather...not surprising in this country but worth it in the end. We have never had to re-schedule twice before!

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We ended up with a beautiful Autumn day and the kids had great fun and behaved fantastically....which I'm sure mum and dad were happy about.

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Emily & Bobby

Maidens Barn was the venue for Emily & Bobby's fantastic wedding.

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We were as always greeted with a very warm welcome by the staff...the last time we photographed a wedding here it was our wedding anniversary....a very good date to get married even if I do say so.

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Being familiar with the venue we knew the best places to get those killer shots, however we hadn't anticipated the beautiful fields being harvested early....not to worry, we made the most of the hay bales instead.

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It really was a lovely day, filed with love, emotion, laughter and tears, and finished off with a fantastic party!

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Emily & Bobby, thank you for letting us be part of your wonderful day x

Snow Photography . . . it’s snow joke (I’m so sorry!)

If your like me all you have seen for the last 48hrs is pictures of peoples drives, back gardens, streets and trees?

I remember the first time I went out with my original DSLR and tried to get some snow pics I was a little disappointed, they all came out grey and murky.

I thought today would be a good time to share just a few tips for anyone wanting to get that extra special snow shot.

1. KEEP YOUR CAMERA COLD:

If you want to go out into -3 temperatures and get some pics then taking a piece of glass from the kind of volcanic temperatures my wife likes to keep the rads on will have an undesired effect (sorry darling). Have you ever walked in from the cold or opened the cooker with your glasses on?….I think you get my point.


2. KEEP YOUR BATTERIES WARM:

The cold will drain batteries quicker than a seven year old with a new remote controlled car. The best tip I can give is to keep the batteries close to your body until you need them, your body heat will be enough to prolong their life.


3. BE AWARE OF YOUR FOOTPRINTS:

You don’t want to get into position for a killer shot only to realise you walked right across the middle of the frame to get there.


4. UP YOUR EXPOSURE:

If your lucky enough to have a DSLR then you will be able to control your exposure, the best way to work is in manual mode. your cameras internal light meter will get confused by the huge amount of white in the frame, so it will expose as it sees fit (underexposing which makes the whites grey), but if you raise the exposure slightly it will level things out….trust me, no more grey snow. Most smartphones are clever enough do this for you, but I know on I-phones you just have to set your focal point by tapping on the screen where you want to focus, and then sliding the sun symbol upwards. I hope this helps.

These shots weren’t taken today I’m afraid, I thought I would rather share this info with you all today instead of getting out. They were taken a couple of years ago when we went on a snowy family walk and spotted a beautiful Robin….it doesn’t take much, you just have to be ready, it’s snow secret. (I really am so so sorry)

Have fun snapping people

James

Mersea Island

Our first Blog post and long overdue!

In the summer (do you remember the summer? seems like a long time ago now) we decided to visit Mersea to photograph the Lovely Hillman's.

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They wanted a different location for these pictures so we knew just the place. It was a lovely day, to be honest a bit too sunny for my liking, but we still managed to get some lovely shots, and everyone enjoyed themselves as well.

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If you have ever wondered why it is called Mersea Island, try leaving when the tide is high!