11th November

A couple of years ago, I travelled through Northern France to photograph the area, the old battlefields and to record the legacy of the Great War. I was stunned that so much of that conflict remained, there was so much evidence even after all this time.

There's a low lying track that ran parallel to the trenches on the Somme battlefield called The Sunken Lane which was used as a start point in the early hours of the battle. I'd read up on my history of course and knew a little about the area near Beaumont Hamel and photographed this image of the sunken lane on my first day in France



When I got back from France I found this footage on Youtube which kind of stunned me because I had walked that road a few days before. It really brought the whole thing home to me like nothing else. Most of the lads there would have died - that first day of the battle the British suffered over 57000 casualties. In one day. It's almost beyond belief.



Below is another image from my trip. Often the lines of trenches are visible through the undergrowth. You can see the distinctive zigzag of the trenches (dug like this to avoid bomb blast damage along the line of the trench). It seemed incredible to me at the time that this was still there after 90 odd years.



Thanks for looking.

Happy Birthday Blog!

So it's a whopping five years since my first blog post. I think it was probably uploaded from a ZX Spectrum or something, it seems so long ago. It's funny how blogging, twitter etc. has become such an integral part of online life, it seems impossible running a photography business without these tools. At the end of the day however, my product comes down to the tangible hand made print, album or frame. I don't think these things will ever change. None of us really knows how digital media will change but I think that photographs of our younger selves, our loved ones (whether still with us or not) turn into some of our most treasured possessions. Here's to the next five years.

Have a happy halloween

Have a great time if you are out partying tonight. Me and the Mrs. are going to see a concert (kids at the grandparents - yippee).

The only flimsy excuse for posting this beach landscape is I noticed I took it exactly a year ago (well a year and 3 minutes ago according to the timestamp).

Vicky and Nick's Album Design

Just completed, Vicky and Nick's album design from their wedding at beautiful Avington Park. I love the opening page (below). I've designed the left hand page with detail shots of the venue. It really brings it to life and if you hadn't attended the wedding, gives you a really good idea of what kind of location it is. The finished leather album will be 12" high by 24" wide (opened up) and is going to look stunning. In my humble opinion :)





**CLICK HERE** to view the album design slideshow!

Julie Walters

Today I had the pleasure of photographing Julie Walters at Grayshott Spa near Guildford. She was great, lovely to work with. We had about half an hour which was great and took a little walk around the building. I took a pile of lighting equipment, just in case, but ended up shooting everything by natural light. It was a nice soft overcast day, almost perfect for shooting portraits. Here's a few favourites.



She's a great interviewee, very expresssive which makes for great pictures :)



Here's Caroline from Health Magazine conducting the interview.








Here's a mockup of the cover, the issue is out in early January.

Alan Hudson

Alan is a standup comedian and magician who has performed at the Edinburgh Festival and in Hollywood amongst other places. He asked me to shoot some images to update his website and publicity materials. As always, it makes a nice change and is also a a chance to try some different styles of photography. Here's a couple of favourite images.

Surrey Wedding Photography - Emma and Richard

So Autumn is finally here and the change in the weather brings new challenges in wedding photography. The trick I discovered years ago is to go with the flow, working with the light whatever qualities it might have on a given day rather than trying to fight it. Today I was at the beautiful Clandon Park near Guildford for Emma and Richard's wedding. For various reasons we hadn't been able to meet up before the big day but E & R couldn't have been nicer, it was a great afternoon and a good time was had by all. Here's a few images - just some favourites - we will upload all the pictures when the new Mr. and Mrs. get back from their honeymoon in the Far East. If you'd like an email when the gallery is available, please click here.

(L) It's Autumn (R) "Someday the people of this valley will know justice..." (gravelly voiceover and cue Sergio Leone music).



A promising start to the day then...



Some of the relations and friends arrive in the Marble Hall.



Richard...ten minutes to go...



A bunch of bouquets belonging to the beautiful bridesmaids (try saying that after a Babycham and lemonade).



I hope Richard doesn't mind me posting the following image. There are a few fleeting, never-to- be-repeated moments during one of the biggest days of your lives and I always think those few minutes for the groom before the bride and her father come down the aisle is one of them. It's often pretty similar for the bride as well and I think you never know exactly how you are going to feel beforehand, even though you might think about it quite a lot.

It's always a privilege to be present at weddings I think, and wonderful to be there to capture little moments like this.




Another favourite ceremony image.



The Tapestry Room.



In the film days, this effect would have been created with infra-red film. Digital photography makes it so much easier, in-faux-red if you like.



Shiny new wedding rings.



A couple of candid reception images.





Richard goes in for the kill.



And into the meal at the end of the afternoon.





Thanks again Emma and Richard, see you when you get back!

West Sussex Wedding Photography - Sarah & Russell

I first met Russell a few years ago at Pennyhill Park Hotel in Surrey. Russell works for the hotel group and I'd bump into him frequently when I was shooting weddings or corporate work at the hotel. It was great to be asked to shoot his wedding to the beautiful Sarah this weekend at South Lodge Hotel in West Sussex. We were blessed with a beautiful afternoon, the blue skies were amazing as you can see.

Here's a few favourites that caught my eye. The complete gallery will be uploaded when Sarah and Russell get back from honeymoon **CLICK HERE** if you'd like an email when that happens.

A couple of favourites from the morning.



Sorry Mary - I know you won't be impressed, but I like this picture :)



Meanwhile at the church, Russell and the lads. The album cover.






Sarah and her Dad arrive at the church.



There's that moment again, I remember it well from my own wedding, those few minutes at the front of the church just before the bride enters. Scary stuff.







Freshly married and released into the wild.



Off to South Lodge Hotel.










It's a little like Butlins around here :)



I liked this candid shot from the wedding meal.



I thought this would make a great ending shot. I have to admit I cheated a little and shot this earlier in the day at the hotel and applied a little Photoshop to the image.



Thanks for looking! Have a brilliant honeymoon Sarah and Russell, see you when you get back.