School Photography and Christmas Fairs

I have just come to the end of a very busy run up to Christmas with school and nursery photographs and a couple of school Christmas fairs. This is in addition to the weddings, commercial photography and event photography.

Despite the busyness, and the pressure to deliver orders in time for Christmas, I have been totally blessed with the privilege of producing some of my best pictures to date for the parents.

Obviously, child protection issues prevent me from sharing most of them with you, but I have obtained parental permission to share a few of my favourites.

I believe in giving the children enough time to relax in order to get the best pictures possible and, by giving them a bit more time, I am (in a lot of cases) able to offer the parents a selection of pictures to choose from, rather than just the one that I think is the best.

One of the pictures below is from a charity fund-raising Christmas Market, just one of the ways in which I am able to support worthy causes through my work.

Wedding Photography at Clough Manor, Saddleworth, Oldham

 

 Zoe & Lee got married at a lovely little Methodist church in Healds Green, Chadderton. Not the easiest to find, but well worth it as it is such a pretty location.

After the service the reception was heald at Clough Manor at Denshaw, the perfect venue with views, character, excellent food, good rooms, and very welcoming and helpful staff.

There are some lovely spots for photos in the hotel grounds, some with the pennine hills in the background.

I can't wait to design the album.

Wedding Photography at Simonstone Hall Hotel - Gida & Martin

I have been inspired to blog a wedding from two years ago, on the basis of a lovely comment I received from the bride on Facebook, just coming up to their second anniversary.

Several of my wedding couples have become friends on Facebook and it is a lovely way to keep in touch after the business side of things is over.

This was one of my favourite weddings, not least because it was the smallest wedding I have ever photographed, i.e. only 5 people at the wedding. They even asked to include a picture of me in the album that the groom's daughter had taken, as they considered me to have been a significant part of the day (not intentionally, as I shoot reportage wedding photography style).

Simonstone Hall Hotel is also one of my favourite wedding venues, having the character of an old shooting lodge, with it's associated history, the views of the Yorkshire Dales as a backdrop, and the many locations within the house and grounds for taking some lovely photographs. We love the place so much that I do not charge any extra for travelling there to shoot a wedding, and I now have had the pleasure of shooting several weddings at Simonstone, each one individual in its own way.  The hotel even paid me the honour of letting me do many of the photographs for their own website.

Two years on, Gida wrote me the following comment, in response to me letting her know I still remembered their wedding as one of my favourites...

"Ah that's lovely howard. We were so glad that we picked u as our photographer because u are unique and professional. You captured the moments that most would miss, we have stunning pictures to prove that. I just don't understand how quickly our lives pass, almost 2 years gone already howard. I hope that u continue taking great pictures like u do!! And thanks again x".

Here are some of the photos we produced on the day. It was a rainy day, but the hotel still provides enough scope to get lots of lovely pictures, even when you can't spend much time outside (hence the brolly shot!). 

The mirror picture is one of my favourites of all time, the well took a little courage to step out on, and the last shot below beautifully captures the love and emotion of the day which, from the tone of the Facebook posts, has not dwindled in the slightest.

Just some of the very special and lovely people that I have the pleasure of spending time with in my profession.