The pictures will be up shortly as I always like the couple themselves to have exclusive views of the shoot for at least two weeks to slow them to show friends and family before the rest of the world gets to have a peek.

In the mean time I need to be getting ready for the next pre wedding shoot in just over a weeks time. All pictures will be updated just as soon as I get a few minutes.

Be back soon

Oli….

Ant is constructing a new website and asked if I could shoot some up to date portrait shots – you would think that being in the world of Formula One he would have hundreds of portrait shots – you would be correct but sadly they are all owned by the agencies that shoot them; copyright is a whole topic on its own and one I’ll cover later in the year.

As people will understand, as race rivers you have numerous images of yourself in differing race suits with various sponsors, however when trying to build a website that does not affiliate you with specific teams and sponsors you also need some casual shots.

For Ant’s shots I feel that Black & White works really well, its modern, edgy and contemporary all at the same time.  The shot below was taken on a Canon EOS 5DMK2 with an EF 135mm F2.0 L series lens. (ISO 200, f11 1/160th)#

Thats all for now folks, I hope you enjoy this post and I will be updating soon with several wedding’s that I have shot recently.

Whilst the sun seems to have disappeared there were no grey skies with my most recent wedding.  Jen and Dave Gardiner, Coventry, married in July at the beautiful Lord Leycester Hospital – a medieval treasure in the historic town of Warwick. Rich in history, the beautiful timber framed building from the 14^th Century has been used in a number of television films, including Pride and Prejudice, Tom Jones and Moll Flanders. http://www.lordleycester.com/

Warwick Castle, www.warwick-castle.co.uk, with a history that stretches back almost 1,100 years, provided a fantastic backdrop for Jen and Dave who stood in the foreground of the beautiful manicured Mill Gardens, Mill Street, Warwick.

I have being doing quite a lot of family portrait work recently do have a look at my gallery www.oliverboakesphotography.co.uk/gallery_portrait.php

Off to the Emerald Isle next week for a true Irish wedding in the county of Limerick. I am looking forward to capturing the island’s rich heritage and lush vegetation – a product of its mild climate and frequent rainfall – more rain! along with some captivating pictures of Ali and Sarah who have just had their pre-wedding shot in Tonbridge, Kent

Enjoy what is left of the summer!

What do we concentrate on at this time of the year?  Well it always seems that before spring really gets a grip the world seems a bit reluctant to spend any money and so I have turned my head to advertising and spreading the word.

Twitter…until now we all knew what it was, no one quite understood the point of it but still people read tweets and posted tweets as often as eating a meal.  Just before Christmas twitter had a massive amount of publicity and it wasn’t long until the business world sat up and realised just what an impact it may have.  Its growing…and fast. At the end of 2009 there were around 12 million registered twitter users and that is set to rise around 50% in 2010, fast growth by anyone standards.  Combine twitter and facebook and your looking at a global audience of around 250 million people.

Now tell me if I am wrong but where else can you advertise to such huge numbers for free?

So for me I have now taken the bold and brave step of tweeting and use facebook as more than just a catch up with mates.  There is a huge audience that if one can tap into a tiny percentage one will be a busy boy….now there’s the catch, how do you tap into that audience.

You can follow my tweets athttp://twitter.com/oliboakes

Also on facebook at facebook.com/oliboakes

Enough of the self promotion.  A little work catch up.

Have just finished a wedding shoot in North West Wales near the pretty town of Criccieth at a lovely hotel called Bron Eifion  www.broneifion.co.uk.  Clive and Clare were not only a delight to work with, but the venue itself was very accomadating and homely, I can certainly recommend a stay here if you are in the area.  I have attached a few images from the day below.  Enjoy.

and finally…

Remember to follow me on twitter…

As we all think about presents many people consider giving core family members their updated family pictures from the year gone by, or if like most people photos still reside on the memory card they were taken on its much easier to speak to a photographer who can help!

I recently held an open photography session at a local venue for people to come and find out that professional photographers can be fun and the experience need not be daunting or scary.  Out of the families that came every person thanked me for the lack of stress and fun had by all.  The pictures tell the story as when people relax the pictures show it.

These two children were so photogenic and loved just mucking about in front of the camera.  The resulting images just gave their parents a headache whilst deciding which prints to have.

Whilst Christmas portrait sessions are still being booked the tricky part comes in turning the products ordered around in time for giving them as presents, even now this far from Christmas we are starting to run into problems with bespoke framing orders as the rest of the world also panics and crams in the orders.

The next image, for me sums up kids of this age, the expression in the image even though you cant see a face is great.

Is he bored and being defiant walking away.  Has he seen something he wants to investigate.  A whole host of different emotions.  You decide…..

Having never been to Althorp as a visitor, as the house and gardens are open to the public for 2 months of the year, it was a real eye opener to go there.  Firstly, the place is amazing, so much history and grandeur.  Its still odd though as even I felt a sense of sadness whilst there after so many years since Diana died.

The shoot, which was for Althorp House to update their photoshoot and film location information, was to be based around the clothing brand Barbour (www.barbour.com), who very kindly supplied clothing for the four models we had on site for the day with a slightly younger twist to attract a fresh audience for the location shoot availability of the venue.

This shoot was a major job for me, casting and organising the 4 models as well as make-up and all the necessary logistical support of completing a photoshoot with the venue open to the public whilst taking pictures that no public were to feature in, certainly kept me busy for the day, the resulting images turned out well. We used the very useful website modelmayhem.com to locate the models and I have to say how impressed I was with the professionalism of the 4 models we ended up selecting.  We had two guys and two girls and all of them were extremely punctual and professional at all times of the day.  Make up was done by Sarah Lee and she as usual was ever reliable – her sense of style and knowledge allowed me to concentrate on the photography and leave makeup to her.

The image above of the models I used for the day shows the stunning building that Althorp House is with so many variations for shoot locations it made it very difficult to choose the backgrounds to use.

Next stop…a family photoshoot with 5 children between the ages of 5 and 11…wish me luck!

You meet someone who you don’t know well, you get chatting and before long you end up doing some work for each other.  This happened when I recently had a chance meeting with a local sculptor and artist.  We got chatting and before long he tells me that he has some new exhibitions coming up and would love some new promotional photos done to help his cause.  No problem. More work. Mustn’t grumble.

A few weeks later we meet again and he is not only more than happy with his photos he is now exhibiting at the Portal Gallery in London (www.portal-gallery.com) and now my images are displayed on their website.  The chance initial conversation now has opened up a whole new world.

Whats odd about this is this month alone this type of scenario has happened 3 times to me.  The next one almost as bizarre as the first.

We live close to a major well known canal network that is famed for the filming of Rosie & Jim the great children’s cartoon (if you don’t know it then shame on you!)  I was recently walking near the canal getting some candid shots for a commission that I have been asked to do.  Whilst getting set up for some dusky shots out from the lockside cottage pop a gentleman, who I later establish to be the owner of the cottage, asking if I am press.  Although initially a little taken aback, my mind thinking I am perhaps trespassing or something, I reply that I am not press just a local photographer.  His mood allows me to realise he’s not angry but interested so I push to find more information.

After much chatting it becomes apparent that at the same time the next day a famous steam powered canal boat will be making an extremely rare appearance whilst heading for a narrowboat exhibition some miles away in September.  I return the next day to capture some great shots of the boat and period dressed crew. (www.nb-president.org.uk)

Another example of not knowing what’s around  the corner….

My latest shoot was with some new mobile studio kit that I have just got hold of.  (Elinchrom flash lighting really is a joy to use)  The shoot featured a couple and their two year old daughter.  I was using my regular gear, Canon body with EF35 F1.4L lens, (which I cannot say enough good comments about) matched with the Elinchrom lights.

The couple had asked for some relaxed shots of them all together along with some individual shots of their daughter for a newly decorated room.  All was going well until we came to the shots of the child on her own, wowee-can two year olds be difficult when they want!  Luckily with a child a similar age I was able to persuade the little girl to have a muck about with a ball which eventually as she danced around lead to some great shots of her in a natural way but shot in a modern style of portrait photography.

I have also shot some commercial work for a local potter recently, this also using the studio set up that I have.   It worked really well and the close up detail shots for me worked particularly well and thankfully the client went away happy too and will be using the shots for a new exhibition of his work.

I feel it has turned out superbly and I must credit Mark & Bhupinder at Edge of the Web (www.edgeoftheweb.co.uk) for all their help in understanding what I wanted.

I must also thank my delicious wife, Claire, and our beautiful daughter, Beatrix, who have had to put up with me dashing into the office during bath time and jotting another idea.

Moving on at last to photography – after all, that’s probably why you’re reading this…  Last weekend I was shooting a wedding in Barnes, London and spent the week processing the images ready for the new Mr & Mrs Hall on their return from honeymoon.  (This happened to be a surprise destination after the original choice, Mexico, had to be hastily rearranged due to the outbreak of swine flu.  In fact, the first the bride knew the honeymoon was having a late change was by reading the article in the Thursday edition of The Daily Telegraph as the groom happens to work there and was able to get an article published!) It’s during the post production of a wedding that, as a photographer, you realise how lucky you are to capture so many memories of possibly the best day of their lives.  It provides such a sense of achievment when the couple are overwhelmed by their photos from the day.