Wednesday 30 November 2011

Amy & Joachim. A very misty, romantic Sunday wedding.

About a year and a half ago, Sian (ESC Events planner extraordinaire and past bride) came to me with a suggestion; a competition. One lucky bride would get the chance to win ESC wedding planning services and a full day's photography. This lucky lady was Amy Chung. I only met her about a month before her wedding to Joachim and suddenly I became the lucky lady. Let's be honest, it could have been difficult. I could have ended up with a Bridezilla (do they still exist?). I have lived in a bubble of wonderful, easy-going couples since my wedding lark began and I have never encountered a scary couple so I feared my luck may have run out. But lady luck has a soft spot for me and gave me the lovely Amy & Joachim.

So there I was last Sunday, up at the crack of a very foggy dawn and driving into New Malden. Oddly, my boyfriend was also driving into New Malden to play golf. He chose to be up at 6.30am on a Sunday. Dear God, the call of Golf is strong in that one.

I kept thinking "the fog will clear. It will clear. Not a problem." It didn't. But what it did do is something misty and romantic and moody and I liked it a lot.

As always, the getting-ready-venue (family home) = chaos, excitement, pretty things, stunning dresses, cake, great hospitality and not one camera shy individual. Even the little ones positively relished posing whilst still maintaining that air of nonchalance that kids do so well.

Make-up artist Sam Sharm really did a wonderful job with Amy's hair and makeup. She looked incredible..like a beautiful porcelain doll. And while everyone was running around her, she remained the epitome of calm throughout. I was very impressed.

As Registry offices go, Merton is really quite beautiful. It's pretty old and positioned right by Morden Park, so it's perfect for the personal shots. And on this occasion the mist and fog gave it such a wistful, romantic ambience that it was the perfect setting for such a special wedding. Maid of Honour Kim, was on hand to help and came fully prepared for assisting in potential adverse weather conditions; Coat, boots, scarf, gloves, a trooper maid of honour indeed.

Oddly enough, I think this was the first wedding I have done where there has been a harpist, so heads up to Maria Beattie who played beautifully.

The reception was held upstairs at the London Hong Kong restaurant near Heathrow. I normally sneak off for something to eat whilst the guests are themselves tucking in, but this time I learnt a little bit about Chinese hospitality as Amy's Uncle insisted I join one of the tables and enjoy the 10 course banquet and there was absolutely no arguing with him. The food was amazing and I actually ate shark for the first time (it was nice to get my own back on Jaws for scaring the hell out of me as a child). I must thank the guests at the table as they were great company and very happy for me to join them.

I loved the Chinese tea ceremony. The bowing and exchanging of tea for gifts and good wishes between the newlyweds and the older family relatives was lovely.

As with all weddings I could go on and on, but to round off I would just like to thank Amy & Joachim and their friends and family for being so friendly and fun to work with. I think the day was an enormous success and they truly deserved to win the competition.
I wish them all the wonderful goodies that life has to offer and I hope their Swedish wedding will be as enjoyable as their Chinese one. xx



Tuesday 1 November 2011

My friend Fearn..Where's my stick?!

Well I always knew my friend Fearn was a beauty, but I didn't realise just how much. I have the omnipotent pleasure of seeing everything in an image (except those times when I miss things of course ;) and I can hand-on-heart say (barring a minor blemish that had to be removed) the girl's face is well, perfect. PERFECT. Damn you Fearn and your perfectness. I'm off to eat some potatoes and poke my face with a stick.  

Friday 14 October 2011

The ladies know how to do it...

A couple of weeks ago (pre-holiday…I am back now and slightly jaded) a last minute job cropped up for BIMM (Brighton Institute of Modern Music) so off I popped down to the sea, IN THE SUN!!! (That old cousin that rarely appears at any important event. Oh how we relish his fleeting visits).


I think this is the third Induction day I have worked on and sadly, I fear I never really do a great job because I always get sidetracked by the interesting and well, pretty famous/talented people that are interviewed by Briggy Smales, entertainment guru, reporter lady whose accounts of Brighton folk will have you giggling and uttering those infamous words, 'Only in Brighton'. 


Doing these odd jobs for BIMM an overriding thought always hits me, 'these students are so incredibly lucky'. They get to hear the wise words, anecdotes and quirky stories from some of the biggest names in the music industry and I guess I am pretty lucky too because I get to shoot them occasionally.


This time I got to meet Krissi Murison, Editor of NME and singer/songwriter Emiliana Torrini (whose voice I have fallen in love with…GIRL CRUSH, GIRL CRUSH). Both ladies were incredibly interesting, witty and charming and the students enjoyed them enormously and listened intently. Ears certainly pricked when hearing Krissi question what lies between her legs...Nice lady, nice. A room full of nubile testosterone can only squirm in wonder.


Thursday 15 September 2011

Spread the word...free the chow mein

I would love to say that this story doesn’t end in chicken chow mein but unfortunately it does. When will I learn?! Not only is it pretty unhealthy, it is also a massive distraction (whilst consuming) and will make you lose your bearings/bus stop so you walk around Soho like a lost chow mein fart, confused, tired, unable to find the correct bus number and do nothing else but cry. Before you say anything, my phone was dead! I obviously didn’t cope before I had an iphone and I probably just cried a lot more. I don’t know what I cried more for though…the lack of number 14 buses or the fact that I ate the whole tub. Either way, it was a pretty rubbish Bridget Jones end to a very enjoyable gig.
Adam (Albatross) asked me to pop along and get some shots as he had bagged himself an excellent support slot for Chris Thile, Grammy Award-Winning mandolin playing genius.
The gig was at Borderline, a small Soho music venue…very cool, very strict *sigh*.
Seeing Adam again was great. I love his voice and music and the words always strike a chord in my heart. I especially like his self-deprecating audience chat. The place was pretty busy with an older and of course, more discerning crowd, but they were all on his side and attentive from the start. I can imagine this is no easy feat, but Adam pulled it off excellently and I think his music compliments Mr Thile’s performance perfectly.  
It was lovely to see fellow ex-Brightonian Dan again, and meet Jamie.
An excellent evening sadly dampened by my ‘new’ nemesis, Chinese food (formally, the Burger), a dead battery and a total lack of direction and a couple of girl tears.  
Must try harder.

Friday 9 September 2011

A very elegant affair…

Last Saturday at Hampton Court Palace, camera in tow and a very lovely and helpful Jo Jenners by my side doing the invaluable service of bag carrying even though she is head of events at HCP (my back cannot thank her enough), I followed the first steps of newbie husband and wife, Andrew and Lucy as they wandered through the exquisite grounds of the late, late, very late Henry VIII’s pretty swish pad.

Lucy and Andy have great taste. Fact! I loved the black and white theme (girl after my own heart there) and everything from the venue to the table settings, the flowers, the canapés, to a stunning Vera Wang dress, everything screamed, ‘We know how to throw a very elegant affair!’

There wasn’t a drop of rain and it was one of those lovely warm, balmy days with big smiles, lots laughter and a few tears to boot. Lucy and Andy are fairly camera shy so I found myself directing a bit more than usual and me (being me), I felt a little intrusive at times, but I hope they don’t mind when they see the images. I also hope they didn't mind my inappropriate pervy(ish) joke…Why? Oh why? Oh why do I do it?! Luckily for me, they both have a pretty good sense of humour and hopefully not great hearing so.... 'I think I got away with it!'....(Basil Faulty/The Germans style).

Lucy and Andy are a gorgeous, friendly couple who are totally in love, but also have their own aspirations and goals and what is so wonderful to see is that they appear to support each others completely. Someone once said (it may have been a Priest or Kahlil Gibran or my Mother or the wise dude who props up bar at my local...I don’t recall)
‘It is not two people coming together as one, but two people with their own paths running side by side’. I honestly believe this is how marriage should be and I think Lucy and Andy are a perfect example of this.

I wish them all the very best for their future together. I hope it is full of those lovely smiles, Lucy’s giggling laughter; their continued good taste and of course lots of health, wealth, Yoga and happiness ;) xx







Thursday 1 September 2011

Love a good Moynihan wedding!

Well, well...someone upstairs loves the Moynihans and they showed it by defying those Met Check & BBC weather folk, and providing us with what can only be described as perfect wedding weather;  blue skies, a warm breeze (good for flowing veils), not too hot, not too bright and the ultimate sunset to end with. One lucky lot I’d say (myself included of course).
As families go they are a pretty amazing bunch so they certainly deserve it, not only because they keep hiring me to shoot their weddings, but because they are an incredibly close family who love deeply and know how to throw a damn good party.
I shot Michael & Adele’s last year, Rob and Lucy’s last Saturday, Katie’s is next year and mentioned she would be in contact and there’s still plenty of time for Nicky…He has to conquer the Jack Daniels game first.
The getting ready shots were really very relaxed and I was made to feel instantly welcome by Lucy’s family and friends and it was definitely made funnier by Lucy’s Granddad asking me if it was my first time as a bridesmaid. I must mention at this point I was draped in 2 cameras, a flash and a camera bag and lying on the floor shooting pretty shoes.  I took it as a compliment that he thought I looked so smart.
There are so many things I want to say about this wedding. The emotion for one….A very choked up groom who had to take a few moments, quite a few times.  There was a big old frog sitting firmly in my throat at one point and I had to remind myself that I had been hired in a professional capacity, ‘For God’s sake woman, be professional!’… I was in good company though as there was not one dry eye on that top table. 
The day brought with it a very funny best man’s speech excellently executed by Matt and…um…Matt, who’s opening gag was putting blue gloves on to ‘keep it clean’ so of course the inevitable ‘It’s not the stag do!’ reverberated around the room; An incredibly beautiful and tearful bride who kept jumping up and down saying ‘I’m Mrs Moynihan, I’m Mrs Moynihan’ whilst doing the excitable seal clap; A comedic heckling Mother of the Bride who’s cake making skills are simply amazing; A well oiled master of ceremonies (Lucy's brother Tim) toasting with wine in one hand and champagne in the other; A little nephew who’s trousers kept falling down (I had to pull them back up during one of the speeches to save him the shame of public nappy exposure); An insanely chaotic throwing of the bouquet moment; A scuba mask/hood thingy from a very long time ago; An incredible sunset; A really posh car; A Spurs garter and a couple of thrones thrown in for good measure.
To end, I would like to say many congratulations to the newest member of the ‘Mrs Moynihan clan’ and to her namesake, Mr Moynihan.  Their journey started from a very young age and with a little persistence from a very patient Rob, it is now official, just call them Mr. and Mrs. Meant to Be!

    


Wednesday 31 August 2011

Seven Dead at Monto

Seven Dead. Monto Water Rats. A Thursday evening. The obligatory, bad habit, burger en-route and lots of very loud music. When Joe (lead singer) asked me to pop along to take some pictures, I asked, ‘Will my ears bleed?’ His response was an unequivocal, ‘Yes’ followed by, ‘I will bring you Daisy’s (Joe’s little girls) headphones to prevent ear bleed’. I must say either Joe overplayed the ’bleed’ effect or my ears have become far too accustomed to ‘bleeding’. I think the later sadly. No need for Daisy’s headphones (my ear plugs are currently in use by my 2yr old nephew…Love all the rock and roll kiddies out there!) and my ears are still intact. The last time I saw Joe was on drums. The time before that he was on bass, and this time he is lead singer and guitarist. Is there no end to this man’s talents?!


It was great to see Kerim again and meet Seven Dead drummer, Merlin. Apt name as Joe was previously in the band Merlins. Let’s hope there isn’t the same freakiness with the current name ‘ey?!
Their set was great and it was good being back at Water Rats again. The burger was bad though. Very, very bad!  

Thursday 25 August 2011

I want to be a skinny machine

Well, I don't want to be in their band http://www.skinnymachines.com/ I just want to be a skinny machine and not a midnight eating monster. After a very, very, very flipping (I won’t swear on my little blog space) good show by Skinny Machines at the Half Moon, (and a few shandies) I was of course hungry so ate 1 x whole tub of chicken chow mein (large, to go) from some place in Putney that I probably wouldn't frequent in daylight hours..

I think I ate it all, although it wouldn't surprise me if Putney Bridge was littered with it this morning. I envisage commuters dodging remnants of said feast in the rain this morning…How very depressing.

Enough of my misdemeanours… 

If the crowd were anything to go by, I'd say that was a pretty good show last night. My ears were ringing, my heart was pounding, my memory card was full, and my personal body space was totally invaded by sweaty fans jumping like loons. I purposely packed one 2G memory card (approx. 100 raw images) certainly not enough when you are having as much fun as I was. Frantically deleting the bad in order to capture the good doesn't quite cut the mustard.

The gig was being filmed and at one point I got told off...My big head was blocking the camera. Sorry boys.

Off to the Water Rats tonight to shoot new band Seven Dead www.sevendead.co.uk  - minus shandies, minus Chow Mein. Doubtful minus sweat….