Family portraits are often much more meaningful I think when shot at home rather than the anonymity of the studio. It was a pleasure to photograph Andy and Tanja and the kids at home in nearby Swallowfield. There was some great corners of their garden to photograph in and I must admit it  was nice to take advantage of the fact that it was dry and not too cold. The last of the fine weather this year(?)

I think pictures of kids don’t necessarily need big cheesy smiles i.e.

A nice relaxed family portrait (L) and little Leah on the right, isn’t she a sweetie?

The fuse ran out – too much standing still, something had to give :)

Thanks again Tanja and Andy!

Viv and Andy got married a couple of years ago and I was lucky enough to photograph their wedding.

Today they asked me to photograph their new arrival, little Charlotte! Isn’t she lovely? It is of course great to see my brides and grooms at the next chapter in their life together. Portraits at home are especially nice as it’s a chance to include the surroundings – so much more meaningful with pictures of young children as in a funny way, the portraits are really for them when they grow up and reach their parents age.

Here’s a few I particularly liked.

The armchair is where Charlotte gets to hear a lot of stories so it was nice to use this spot for some images.

Ickle feet.

My favourite!

Looking for the remote and the bag of popcorn.

Louise and Neil are going to get hitched at Aldermaston Manor House this summer so today we met there to shoot some pictures. One thing I love about our engagement photo sessions is that we have more time than we do on the wedding day. It’s nice to take a more leisurely approach to the photography and make some more interesting and unusual images. Here’s a few that and I liked and if you’re reading this L and A, the complete gallery will be up soon.

At one end of the gardens there is a terrific old, dilapidated greenhouse. The textures and the light inside were great – difficult to resist shooting a couple of images inside. Here’s my favourite greenhouse image. I don’t think we will be doing this on the day due to various frock related hazards.

A couple of images inside the Manor House. I have given these quite a distinctive look which I think suits the mood of the picture.

Pesky rabbits.

A couple of graphic-style images to finish with.

Thanks again for your time, Louise and Neil, see you at the wedding!

My friend Simon Alexander does some very strange things. He is a magician and we regularly bump into each other at weddings and other functions. Yesterday we set out to shoot some pictures of fire. Here’s one of my favourite images. No lighting on this shot – just a camera, a candlestick and a man with some very freaky abilities.

Some prestidigitation and legerdemain today in my studio as I photographed Clive, a magician who provides entertainment at weddings and parties. Here’s a few favourites from the shoot. The idea was to provide a pile of interesting images that Clive can use for his soon-to-be-launched website.

I photographed Angela and Martin’s wedding in 2004 and today it was a pleasure to see them again and shoot some pictures of little Zara. It’s always lovely to see ex-brides and grooms, especially when they have beautiful babies :) Here’s some favourites from the session.

I love family photography, it’s something that people only get around to doing after much effort coordinating everybody and organising it all. Just enough room here for all 108 members of Andy and Sandra’s family, and some snaps of the kids as well.

Today I shot some engagement photo’s for Phil and Sarah whose wedding I am photographing in August.

It was such a beautiful afternoon it was a real shame to stay inside so we went to take some pictures in an old farmyard not far from my studio. It’s a fabulous place, full of rusty old farm tools, corrugated iron, worn out woodwork and weather beaten buildings. There was an old abandoned milking shed that provided a cool backdrop.

It was a great place for some nice pictures and good to shoot some pictures for Sarah and Phil before their wedding. Here’s a few of my favourites – warning – lots of smoochiness ahead :)

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Today my old friend Stuart asked me to shoot some pictures of his family. Stuart and Anita live in Goring and have three boys. It was a beautiful afternoon so we took some nice relaxed pictures in the garden. Stuart’s oldest, Nick, is about to fly the nest for a year in New Zealand so it was a great time to shoot some pictures of them all together. Here are a few of my favourites.

I’m shooting Katrina and Tony’s wedding in a few months and they dropped by today for some engagement photographs. Here’s a couple of my favourites from this morning. They’re a great looking couple aren’t they? Should be a breeze shooting their wedding!