Snowy Owl in Guernsey!

Another surprise in store today.  Amazingly across the lane from our house in a recently planted field of potatoes was a Snowy Owl.  It's only a couple of thousand miles away from where it should be really, and if you see my post beiow on the snow we had, a couple of months too late for that.  So instead of catching up on my backlog of work I spent a total of 9 hours lurking by hedges waiting for this superb bird to do something.  It just sat there until I could no longer see it over an hour after sunset.  I never saw it fly away.

Spot it near the middle of the field as a heavy rain shower passes by.  My favourite shot is the last one, in near darkness the light turns cool blue, and the owl appears soft white in this dusk light. It's probably dining on rabbit tonight.  Enjoy these images.

Getting Ready

Being passionate about making great pictures I want to cover as much as possible of your wedding day as possible.  This includes the getting ready part of the day.  Some people don't think there's anything worth taking.  But I believe this is all part of the story of your wedding, and of course let's your other half see your side of the preparations that they are not privileged to see.  Whether it's at the hairdresser, getting dressed or make-up there is a wealth of photographs to take which help to record a complete memory of your big day for your album.  

Here are a few examples to share:-

Of course don't forget the groom:-

Thank you to Daniella and Gary.  We have some beautiful pictures that you wouldn't have had otherwise.

Here's a very pictorial image and one of my favourites.  All these pictures were completely unposed and unobtrusive documentary work.

Danielle and Gary

When you book your wedding photographer you need to have confidence in their ability to cope with everything that is thrown at them.  Changes to plans can occur for various reasons and the photographer needs to be ready to think fast and adapt.

For example a recent blessing and reception all took place within a very cluttered dining area instead of out on the beach.  Having to contend with heavily patterned wallpaper, pillars, wall lights, windows and air conditioning grills all potentially intruding into the images in a small venue really makes for a testing time.  However I have to make pictures that still stand out and provide a great record of the event.  At least we did pop out to the beach in the afternoon briefly so that one of the younger guests could make a sandcastle!  Thanks to Danielle and Gary, everyone had a very enjoyable event.

Judging

Well done to the Jersey Camera Club, I was very impressed by the standard of the entries in the landscape competition I judged last night.  Things have improved a lot since I was here last to view your work.  The atmosphere was amiable and it was a pleasure to meet you.

Thank you to John Nasey for taking the image of me below in full flow discussing one particular picture.  Hope no-one was bored and that you learnt something from me.  I always believe a judge should try and give something back in knowledge, and naturally justify the decisions reached, to help those experienced and those less experienced.  I look forward to my next visit!

St. Brelade's - Jersey, another option

Here's a different composition from this morning, possibly my favourite.   Actually the first exposures I took when the pre-dawn light gave very dark featureless shadows.  In fact this has simplified the image to make it more graphic.  You don't always require full detail from the shadows to highlights, maximising detail in the tonal ranges to create a successful picture.

The standard photographic rules are often made to be broken!

Which image do you prefer?

St. Brelade's - Jersey

I'm in Jersey at the moment.  The purpose is judge a competition for the Jersey Camera Club, thank you for inviting me over, it is an honour.  Naturally I want to try as much as possible to take some images myself while here, so I was up at 5am and visited St. Brelade's.  The pier here is an obvious feature with numerous compositional possibilities , yet somehow it seems difficult to make the most of the strong feature of the pier with it's tree trunk mooring posts.  I have managed to edit a couple of shots briefly to give an indication of what I took, but processing on a laptop in bright light outdoors isn't easy, so forgive me if these are a little deficient until I can look at them further later at home.  (Cheers Alex for the tip to go to this location!)

Engagement sessions

I am

 offering my wedding clients an engagement session.  This serves several purposes: it of course provides a record of yourselves prior to your marriage that you wouldn't have otherwise, we get to know each other better, plus the resulting images can be made into a guest book and gets some more used to a camera so that they become less self conscious.  This latter point is important as some couples are worried about being photographed.  Well don't worry, in your wedding my documentary style means that often people are not even aware they are being photographed.  In an engagement session you are more aware of me as it is only us, but even then I would like to prove that with my style I am also taking pictures with a strong graphic element where the couple can be quite small in the frame, but still make the main focal point.

Now for those unfamiliar with the concept, a guest book is designed with areas left for guests to sign at the wedding reception.  Imagine having a collection of some wonderful images of yourselves in a beautiful book, then having your relatives and friends write messages and sign this.  This will provide some very precious memories for you in the future. 

As an example a very recent engagement session for an initially apprehensive couple rewarded us with a fun time and some truly exciting images, I can't wait to see the guest book which is currently being printed.  Thank you to Sara and Simon for being a great looking couple for these images.

My detailed knowledge of the island of Guernsey coupled with my landscape skills enables me to make the most of any opportunity to make great images with couples, whether on an engagement session or during your actual wedding.

Snow!

2nd February 2009

Well great excitement here, it snowed overnight and this is the scene outside our house at first light.  Plus the schools were closed so the children had an absolutely great time and so could make the best of this rare event.  Snow is uncommon in Guernsey, especially in recent years.

Naturally I tried to fit in a few pictures from around as much of the island as possible.  Put on the knobbly tyres on the bike and off I went.

Sark Elections

Sark is a beautiful island, but there was some dischord during the recent elections  (Dec 2008) which saw the ending of the feudal establishment after many centuries.  I was there to document this historic event.  I greatly enjoy the pressure to deliver some key images of events like these, and of course it keeps me in good practice for covering my wedding assignments which I prefer to do in photojournalistic way.

Here's a choice of images to sum up the drama.  From Daniel Parson's campaign bike,  to the polling station to the counting hall.

The poll closed at 6pm.  After initial sorting and checking for spoilt papers the counting began.  A packed hall was mesmerised as the each vote was called and recorded.  One had to admire the tenacity of the counters who persevered for 9 long hours!  Many in the hall sat there for the whole tension filled count, there was no way this could be described as boring.

Eventually at 4 am the results were announced to show a strong vote in favour of candidates who were perceived to be less sympathetic to the interests of the Barclay brothers of the neighbouring island of Brecqhou.