Camera shake...... (Having fun while photographing a wedding)

Even when out on a serious job, the opportunity arises to have a little "play" with your camera, and allow the creative juices to flow.
On a wedding recently at The Peacock Room at The Crimble, in Rochdale, I was on my way back to the car at the end of my photography duties and the idea was hatched to open up my camera for some long exposure shots of the gazebo in the Secret Garden area.
Going through the simple zooming stages to the totally whacky spinning and swinging the camera from side to side, here are the results...

Starting from this....

Simple zooming gave rise to these results:

Swinging the camera from side to side, sometimes with a bit of curve, led to these:

And the full-on shaking, swinging and general lunacy, gave rise to these, some of which I find quite beautiful.

Hope you like them...

Aerial photos of Slingsby Firefly

Sometimes my job entails doing crazy things like this...

In order to take photographs like these:

 All in  day's work...

Wedding photography at the Fisherman's Retreat, Ramsbottom, Lancashire

There are certain wedding venues that feature highly on my list of favourites, or that I would class as the best wedding venue in the North West, or the best wedding venue in Rochdale, Bury, or Lancashire. Near the top, and probably within the top three, would be The Fishermans Retreat, near Ramsbottom, in Lancashire. (www.fishermansretreat.com).
As a wedding venue, the location is perfect, set in beautiful countryside surroundings with panoramic views. The building itself has been very well designed, in keeping with the surroundings, and is very functional for a full day wedding, having a second room downstairs to retire to after the ceremony while the main room is turned around for the wedding breakfast. Add to that an outside balcony, where you can enjoy the (hopefully) sunshine and the views, mixed in with some lovely spots for photographs, and it does not get much better.
And I didn't even mention the food (!), which is sensational.
Being asked to photograph a wedding at The Fisherman's Retreat always puts a smile on my face, as I know it will be easy to get a good set of pictures, and the wedding of Emma & Lee was no exception. Aided by the fact that I spent the day in the company of some lovely, funny, slightly nutty (in some cases) and easy-going people, I cannot help but reinforce the fact that my job, most of the time, is very enjoyable.
Have a look through the pictures, and judge for yourself.

To get a comment like this on my Facebook Page, from the bride's father, just lets me know I am doing something right somewhere:
"Howard you did an amazing job in capturing the real essence of the day for Emma and we are really grateful for that."

 The fake selfie shot...

 A walk in the countryside...

 Vaguely reminiscent of "Wuthering Heights"...

 There are not words to describe this chocolate pudding...

 This was not a fight at a wedding, despite what it looks like. Innocent fun, and no force involved.

 The perfect wedding venue? Hard to beat.

Tags: The best wedding photography in one of Lancashire's best wedding venues, with special offers available for special couples.

Photographs of children with special needs...

While shooting a group photo for a nursery recently, I was asked to do individual shots for three of the children who missed the last photo shoot.
Two of the parents ordered and I delivered the prints this week.
The girl has "selective mutism", and the boy is autistic. His particular issue (or one of them) is that he will not have his photograph taken, and immediately stops whatever he is doing and tells them to "put the camera away", even when he is engrossed in reading to the other children (!).
When I asked the girl to say "Cheese" for the picture, she did so, even though she will not normally speak. 
The boy came and had a photo taken, and we got the most delightful and adorable picture of him for his parents to treasure, where you would never guess that he has any issues whatsoever.
When I manage stuff like this, it brings me more satisfaction that pretty much anything else that I do, because it makes me realise that a) I am coming across in the right way, even to the little ones, and b) the pictures show a sense of achievement and "specialness" that most of the other pictures I take cannot measure up to, however much they capture a moment, emotion or personality.
I cannot share the pictures, but can assure you that they will stay in my memory for a long time to come.