Children's photo shoot

Lyndhurst Community Centre in the New Forest hosts regular craft and gift fairs on most Sunday's through-out the year. In order to extend the attraction of the event I recently suggested that I attend and run a free photo, portrait session for children (and their parents) who attend the event.

The first session on Sunday 12th September was very well received with a number of parents asking me to photography their children.

There is always a challenge when photographing children, especially younger children, as they won't always do what you want them to, including getting them to smile at the right time. Of course, children are also shy when put into a new situation so it usually takes a few minutes to get them comfortable.

We've found that by having a bouncy ball to play with and some bubbles for them to pop, they soon come round and I can then get some good pictures of them engaging with what ever they are doing.

One thing I did find when offering these free photo shoots is that many people are quite sceptical about photo shoots and think there is a hidden cost that they are going to get stung with. This is obvioulsy an opinion of a few companies, although used as a view of the industry as a whole. When you explain that the photos are taken for free and they only buy what they want (at a decent price) their opinion changes.

I will be doing these free photo sessions at Lyndhurst Communicty Centre in the Junique Craft and Gift Fairs on the following dates. There is no need to book. Just turn up anytime between 10am and 4pm.

Sunday 28th November
Sunday 4th December

A beautiful greek island - Santorini

The greek island of Santorini, and in particular the town of Oia, is famous as being one of the most stunning places in the whole of Greece. On a recent visit, I can see why.

The town of Oia is your classic greek village, perched high on the cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean. It a soe amazing little streets that twist and turn along the cliff and through some amazing buildings. The restaurants, hotels and shops all cling to the cliffs and whilst some of the walks can be pretty steep, the result is one amazing place.

Oia is full of the blue roofed churches that you see on postcards and television adverts of Greece everywhere. If they don't tell you where it is, the chances are it's Oia.

This obviously gave me a great opportunity to get some stunning pictures of both the blue roofs and other amazing, classic shots of the town. Whilst it got pretty hot trying to find the best vantage point for the pictures, including escaping the tourists, I hope you'll agree the results were worth it.

Oia is also famous for it's sunset, with coach loads of people coming to see it every night. Whilst we were lucky enough to be staying in Oia, it didn't stop me taking pictures of the sunset most nights. Here are some of those pictures. Overall, Santorini is one beautiful place.

A Surrey wedding

Northbrook Park, a privately owned house and wedding venue near Farnham in Surrey, was the setting for the wedding of Nicky and James in late August.

Nicky, the bride was getting ready at the venue which allowed me to take photos of both her preparations and the groom and guests as they waiting for her arrival.

The ceremony took place in a very light and airy room which made my job easier as I didn't have to use a great deal of flash. This was also the case in the former orangery where the wedding breakfast took place.

Whilst Nicky and James didn't want too many pictures, I did get some nice ones of them together, as well as their guests as they enjoyed the drinks in the walled gardens.

I hope you enjoy looking at some of the results here. Good luck to Nicky and James for the future.