Bath Life Magazine - Invitation Only & Wedding Photography

I have done some work for Bath Life Magazine recently which will hopefully lead to more work and exposure of my new business.

Working for Bath Life also gives me the chance to advertise my new business in the magazine. Click here to see my Bath, Bristol and Somerset Wedding Photography website.

Find a wedding photographer - Bath Bristol Somerset Wedding Photography

Did you know about FindAWeddingPhotographer.co.uk?

To find me on the website, click here.

Thank You Cards - Bath Bristol Somerset Wedding Photography

I love receiving Thank You cards from clients with my images on them.

I have always been a creative person. Before any shoot, whether it is a wedding or any type of portrait shoot, I will create a list with ideas. As a wedding photographer bringing props and ideas for a couple's thank you cards on the wedding day seems an obvious must-do to me. Here is one from a September wedding in Nottingham I shot:

Bath Bristol Somerset Wedding Photography

50 portraits in 50 days with a 50mm lens - part 5: 41/50-50/50

Here is the fifth and final part of project 50 portraits. It took me a long time to complete this post as I have started my own business recently and that in combination with an active 11 months old leaves me with very little time!

41/50 Bella with Lise & Maela

42/50 Adam & I

43/50 Amy, sister-in-law

44/50 Katie, vintage fair

45/50 Blaise, Kurt Geiger Shop

46/50 Rose, local hero

47/50 Lee, DHI

48/50 Jacob

49/50 Joss, DJ

50/50 Betty, Photographer of the 50 Project

There are a few conclusive thoughts in order.

1. The project has panned out differently to what I expected before I started it. I expected more creative portraits like the ‘bike geek’ (11/50) or set scenes like ‘Sarah & Samuel’ (23/50). Instead the portraits are very much ad hoc and as I went through life. The main reason for this is that at this point in my life I simply don’t have the time to set up a creative portrait every day.

2. The trend of this project developed within the first ten portraits: to incorporate what the person in the portrait is about in the actual image. The postman’s letter. The hairdresser’s beautiful hair. The butcher’s knife and meat. The cooking queen's whisks. The majority of all portraits are along these lines.

3. Even if people are happy to be photographed, they are not necessarily confident in front of the camera and always need some direction by the photographer.

4. My personality hasn’t changed. I still need a little time to warm with my subject, I need to take at least 10 photos of that person and the best picture is usually the last one taken.

5. I like how the trend of this project developed by itself. I love going with the flow sometimes and see where it takes me. I don't feel I have fully achieved what I had set out to achieve. Consequently I am thinking about repeating the project, with different rules next time. I am not sure yet what these rules will be. But I can fully recommend doing a project like this to any experimental photographer!

50 portraits in 50 days with a 50mm lens - part 4: 31/50-40/50

Here are the next ten portraits of the 50 project. You can also see the whole set on Flickr.

31/50 Andy, Tesco Metro Cashier
I have got to say, sometimes I am surprised what people do for me on pictures. :)

32/50 Wei Wei & Chen, Panda Take Away
My local take away.

33/50 Andy, Bath
I really like how the tree in the background made this image so much more dramatic.

34/50 Melanie & Andy, The Hall & Woodhouse
I took this portrait on my very first girls night out since my daughter was born.

35/50 Sean & Sam, green grocers
The image speaks for itself.

36/50 Marie, West Bridgford
I had the idea for this portrait a long time ago but never had the chance to take it until now.

37/50 Daniel & Nikki, The Hammer & Pincers
The gentleman on the left is an old school friend of my husband's and we had many great dinners at his restaurant The Hammer & Pincers.

38/50 Denise & Graham, Nottingham
A lovely couple they are. That day our daughter had her very first encounter with a cat & she loved it.

39/50 Jasbir, my father-in-law
Looking a bit like Al Capone. I'm proud that this man is my father-in-law. He, like me, is not from the country he chose to live in.

40/50 Nigel & Sharon, Avon and Somerset Police
These two were such good sports.

50 portraits in 50 days with a 50mm lens - part 3: 21/50-30/50

Before I finish the project, I better publish some more of the pictures here.

21/50 Simon, Sponsor A Puppy

22/50 John, Weston
I'm in the picture. Can you see me?

23/50 Sarah & Samuel, The Circus
This is one of my favorite portraits!

24/50 Shona and her family, Bath
I did a little job for this family and this is one of the outtakes.

25/50 Derek & Cyrus, Weston Green

26/50 Rod, window cleaner
Rod is our window cleaner. He flashed a builder's bum at our baby without noticing. But Shhh don't tell him. 

27/50 Thomas, Twerton
Little cutie. He is a mellow little boy.

28/50 Clare & Katja, The Egg Cafe
My new German friends here in town who I enjoy spending time with.

29/50 Raf, Julian Road Stores

30/50 Elli, Twerton
This is an outtake from a baby portrait shoot I did a fortnight ago. Super cute.

50 portraits in 50 days with a 50mm lens - part 2: 11/50-20/50

Here are the next ten picture from the 50 project.

11/50 Jay, bike geek
This is my husband. He is as enthusiastic about bikes as I am about photography. I must get myself a 'photography nerd' or 'nikon girl' t-shirt some time soon.

12/50 Vicky, health visitor
I have seen Vicky quite a lot in the last few months and she has helped me get through some difficulties with motherhood.

13/50 Layla, Isabella's playmate
Layla was born a day before my daughter and her mummy and I hang out in hospital together. We see them a lot and I really like that.

14/50 Paul, Little Theatre Cinema Bath
Every new mother will know the feeling of not really being themselves anymore as all you do is baby, baby and baby. So once a week I go to the mother and baby cinema which gives my life back a normality that just feels lovely. 

15/50 Ross, The Thoughtful Bread Company

16/50 Pat, my neighbour
She is smiling while watching my baby daughter take her first crawl through the grass.

17/50 Liam, The Boathouse Pub
A pub we go to on a regular basis.

18/50 Natasha, Matt & Emma, Woody's Farm Shop

19/50 Kirsten & George, Weston
Kirstin is my next door neighbour and we have spent MANY witching hours pushing our babies around the block to stay sane.

20/50 Martin, Martin Chivers Photography
He took the official passport pictures of my baby girl. It was great having a good look around his studio.

50 portraits in 50 days with a 50mm lens - part 1: 1/50-10/50

A week ago I decided to set myself a challenge: 50 portraits of 50 people in 50 days with my 50mm lens. This is not a new project, it has been done by many people before. But for a good reason as there is a lot to be learnt from this challenge. Not to let it slip but take a photo each day. To approach strangers and ask them to take the picture of them. To deal with varying lighting situations. I am not expecting every picture to be technically brilliant but this is not the point of this challenge! It's about being social, spontanuous and creative.

Here are the first 10 of 50 images. Some of the people I know well, some I know a little and some are complete strangers to me.

1/50 Mark, DHI stall Green Park
Once a week I pick up a mixed veg box from Mark. He is always very chirpy.

2/50 Katie, Bradford on Avon
Katie is my sister-in-laws best friend and my new friend here in Bath. I have seen her quite a lot recently which I have enjoyed lots.

3/50 Derek, The Globe Pub
Derek is my brother-in-laws uncle and also our next door neighbour. He is a very generous man and this portrait was taken in one of our local pubs.

4/50 Claire & Isaac, Bath
A week ago I did a newborn shoot with then 16 days old Isaac and this is an outtake which I like a lot.

5/50 Bella & Opi, Bath
My parents came over from Germany to visit us, here is one of the grandfather (German: Opi) and our daughter.

6/50 The Baking Queen
My mother is well known for her excellent cooking skills. We were lucky that she made us one of her infamous cakes.

7/50 Julian, postman in Bath
I first met Julian when our daughter was just days old and we received a huge amount of post and parcels. Once I opened the door to Julian wearing PJs, holding a sleeping newborn in my arms, looking extremely tired and like I have just come out of bed. He just looked at me and said: It'll get better. 

8/50 Claire, mobile hairdresser in Bath
Claire is an excellent hairdresser and when I first saw her I thought: I want your hair!

9/50 Laura-Anne, waitress in the Hop Pole Pub
This is one of my favourite portraits in this series and it was such an unexpected success. It was late, we were in a pub, it was dark. I just approached her and the result is fabulous.

10/50 Tom, butcher at Thomas's in Corsham
Tom is holding tomorrow's roast beef in his hand which we picked up after a day out in the sunshine.