End of the week...

...well Friday is here. The week seems to have skipped by quite quickly. I delivered the prints back to my local nursery at Fernwood, Newark, and I understand all the parents have been very pleased with the pictures, so much so that they wished they had ordered more copies. So that was a nice thing to here.

I met up with Jade today in Derbyshire. She is doing a pre-Christmas shoot for families at the Riverside Centre in Derby tomorrow, so I've lent her some lighting equipment and returned her white background that we use for photobooth. It is good to be able to share equipment and learn new techniques from each other.

Earlier in the week I was down at LA Fitness in Newark. They have a new manager, Sarah, and we have done quite a bit of promotion with them in the past, so I offered to do some staff photographs for their display. They have some great offers on at the moment and they all seem a really nice team. They are getting ready for the January rush .. apparently gyms get very busy straight after Christmas, I wonder why...

Samantha has also been busy with PureWoman shoots, which are turning out to be very popular. She had a viewing session last Monday with some girls and they were all taken aback by the results, with emotions running high....in a good way, of course, and she had another shoot this past Thursday.

I was with Jade on Monday in Derby. She was doing a shoot at a local solicitors, Timms, who were launching a new brand and wanted some photographs of the celebration and then we took some staff photographs for their new website. So, you see - we don't just laze about all week....

On the domestic front we have a couple of extra small dogs staying with us...so that makes 6. They are all rather small but sometimes I do wonder if I should get a kennel, so that I can get some quality time to myself....I guess that is my study.

I also saw Sarah and Matt, who were married in early October...as they came over one evening to Hexgreave to choose their wedding album. Matt and Sarah were the first wedding where we did a photobooth in the evening, where we set up a white background, some lights and get people to play up in front of the camera. They were over-the-moon with the results and so were their guests. More on this topic early next year.

I've also been busy creating a Facebook application, as we can now create a slideshow of our wedding album designs for our clients on a dedicated Facebook page, which makes sharing with friends so much easier. The first one is for Amy and Richard, who were married at Holdenby House in August. Here is a preview of their album design below.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Babies, babies....

Well, it does of course follow on from weddings...and it is so nice to receive pictures from past couples of their babies!

Here are two recent ones:-

This is Nancy and the very proud parents are Tina and Simon, who were married on a rather wet Saturday last June. I was so taken by the picture Simon sent me that it was my computer wallpaper for around a month - so I started my day with Nancy looking at me. Call me crazy, but it was a good tonic. Nancy is a few months old now, as she was born in the spring.



And this is Phoebe, who was born in September. Lucy and Dean were married in May 2006, so they have enjoyed child-free life for a little longer and I know they are delighted with Phoebe and I am sure so are all their families. Christmas will be very different this year.


Both photographs courtesy of the respective parents and a big thanks to Simon and Tina, Lucy and Dean for sending me their pictures.

Silly Sausage

For those of you who have joined up with me on Facebook you may know that I have been doing some nursery shoots this past two weeks. Suffice to say I have survived the unenviable task of trying to get smiles out of many under 3s and have said 'silly sausage' more times recently than I think I have ever in my entire life!

I am fairly used to children - with four daughters of my own, although they have mostly grown up now. You need lots of patience, that's for sure, and a calming approach.

As for the pictures, well they have turned out really well. We use a white backdrop and take several pictures of each child, so the pictures are more akin to a contemporary studio than the more traditionally posed nursery pictures. I can't show them here because of the obvious reasons on privacy but I am really pleased with the results, and more to the point so are the parents. If fact one parent said to me that she never normally buys nursery pictures because they are not very good - but with these she wanted a print from each image. That was nice to hear.

So it looks like I may be saying 'silly sausage' a bit more.

Thrumpton Hall Weddings

Congratulations to Rags and Reena, who celebrated their wedding yesterday. The celebrations were held at Thrumpton Hall, just south of Nottingham. We know the venue well. Debbie and Lynn manage the events and were very helpful and on hand throughout the day. They have a large marquee in the grounds, which can accommodate up to 200 guests.

It was a bit cold and misty, but at least it was dry - the large open fire in the main hallway was a popular location for guests!

We have really enjoyed getting to know Rags and Reena - they are such a lovely couple - and it was nice to meet their families and friends yesterday. I even met one of their friends yesterday who lives in Telford, which is were I lived for a few years, so I asked her to give it a wave for me.

Thrumpton Hall only started to take on weddings around 3 years ago, as it is still very much a private residence. However, it is starting to become a more popular venue, especially now it has the marquee in the grounds - although marquee does not really describe it very well, as it more like a semi-permanent structure.

Comments please....!

To new and old viewers alike,

If you go to recent wedding gallery you will see that you can add your own comments. This section will be updated on a regular basis. The comments are designed so that couples, their families and guests can add their own comments alongside the images. This makes for a nice 'guest book' for people to read - words and pictures go very well together and help to give a real sense of the occasion. This is also helpful for prospective couples, who can get a real sense of the experiences from our recent weddings - of which we receive many, many very positive comments, but they are always difficult to capture.

So if your wedding is on the list then feel free to add a comment. We are updating this on a regular basis, so if your wedding was quite recent but is not there yet, then it will be soon...

Also, if you look at album design, under the heading "Gallery", you will see that we have added a few more album designs. This is to give people an idea of what our albums look like. Again, we will be updating this on a regular basis.

We have had this site designed so that we can keep it constantly up-to-date with fresh content - so feel free to come back every so often and see what is new.
with best wishes, Glen

What's Happening at No. 16

Those of you familiar with Newark may have noticed a lot going on at No. 16 Castlegate. This fantastic (and huge) Georgian building, next to Cafe Bleu, has been a hive of activity for some weeks now and we've been lucky enough to play a very small part.

A few months ago I first met Celia and Dean of Public Hair in Southwell. Having built up an enviable reputation as one of the area's leading salons, demand for their services is now huge. Their answer is to transform a fabulous but sadly neglected Newark landmark into a retreat for mind and body and a place to be truly pampered. Public Hair and Spa will offer the very best in Aveda facial and body treatments as well as world class hairdressing.

The work being undertaken to create this oasis of relaxation is on a massive scale and the final result will be truly breathtaking.

You can follow their progress at www.whatshappeningat16.co.uk . In the meantime, here are a few of the shots we took for the website, to create a little excitement about what's happening.

My Doggies

I have 4 small dogs, two Cavalier King Charles spaniels and two small poodles. So all couples that come to my house for any meetings always receive a very warm and loving greeting!

Here are a few pictures of them:-