As they are a new band they were looking for some basic promotional photos for advertising and web sites and so we spent about 3 hours in the studio getting a few different setups and a good mix of group and individual shots. 

I’ve posted a couple of pictures from the event but security was very tight on safety and so I couldn’t get very close to the track at all and so a long lens and an amount of cropping was needed! next event I may speak with the organisers about getting a spot on track to find a better viewpoint.

The setup was the same as always with the morning spent running through the events of a wedding day and how to plan it out as well as things to watch out for. Then the models arrive during a nice hot and cold buffet lunch and once everyone is fed we head out to take some pictures. This part of the day is fully hands on and we run through how to use the natural light for individual portraits up to full wedding guests group shots.

We then move on to the bride and groom portraits and show the delegates how to find great shots from almost any area of the venue. We then talk a lot more about posing and using the surrounding for the shots to give the delegates much more confidence to position people and see the shots before even setting them up.

All in all everyone on the course had a great time and went away with a head full of information and a camera full of great shots!

They originally met through the police force where they worked in the Plaistow area in different departments, but have since both left the force and work as teachers in a local school.

This weeks shoot started in the beautiful grounds of Ingatestone Hall but this was closed for the winter and so we moved onto Mountnessing Windmill for the remainder of the shoot.  The weather was on our side with a glorious sunny afternoon dispite some heavy rain showers in the morning.

Tony and Coni were really fun to work with and even though Tony confessed to hating his picture being taken they both really enjoyed the shoot and said they loved the concept of the project.

They met through school sharing a Geography class for a few months in their last year of GCSE’s at Shenfield High School. After getting t0 know each other Josh built up the courage to ask Justine to the School Prom, held at Stock Brook Manor. She said yes and this was their first date! Now into the sixth form at Shenfield School, with Josh doing a  BTEC and Justine taking A-Levels, they’ve been together for just over 6 months.

I decided to take them for a shoot at Hylands House in Chelmsford as I’ve shot weddings there and there are loads of little places t0 shoot hidden away from the other park dwellers. I thought this would be an advantage as a younger couple can be a little self concious having portraits taken in a public park and I could ease them into it away from the masses!  This worked well and as we worked our way through Hylands House’s beautiful gardens I could sense (and see) them relaxing into the shoot and becoming more comfortable having their pictures taken

Not only this but it’s very obvious in Dawn and Sean’s company how very much in love they are and they’re a pleasure to photograph and we had a good laugh during the shoot.

Here are a few of the shots from the session and as you can see we started at around 5pm which might have been a touch late as by the end we were shooting in pitch black! Lesson learned there and I’ll get the future shoots underway a bit earlier I think!

So week one is done and I look forward to the following 51 weeks…

Love In Essex- The Idea:

I’m looking for a completely diverse range of people from the young lovers still at school to the elderly pensioners celebrating 60 years of marriage! I want the locations to be equally diverse ranging from beautiful country parks and castles to busy town centers to dark and dirty graffiti covered urban settings. I’m looking for a complete range of cultures and ethnic origins and well to mix with all the seasons to create a really mixed collection of work.

You can find more information and sign up at http://www.reelexposures.com/LoveInEssex/

We had to battle with light showers and strong winds but this just added to the realism of a wedding photographers job and we used it to our advantage with flowing veils and windswept fields. We finished the shooting indoors with some advice on creative flash techniques both on and off camera.

Once the cameras were back in the bags we did some portfolio critiques over a fresh jug of coffee and all of the participants went away with a head full of new possibilities and a notepad full of useful information.

All the pictures here were taken on the day and a big thank you to Emily and Leigh, our models for the day