I just realised I've completely forgotten to do my monthly picture round-up! Shame on me. Good job I remembered now so I could just about squeeze in the shoots I've forgotten to tell you about before the year is over.

Autumn was pretty much all about the engagement shoots!


Starting with Anna & Chris...


... Erin & Ben...


... Sam & Adam...


... Katie & Sam...


... Fiona & Peter...


... Erika & Jon...


... Simona & Dan...


From early December it was back to weddings, starting with Emily & John.


And last weekend I did a family shoot with the Bennetts.

There's still one wedding to go until I wrap up 2009. My calendar for next year is looking crazy to say the least, which is a good, if slightly daunting, thing. There are so many lovely weddings ahead though that I can hardly wait to get stuck in!

Yes, yes, will do something about the Cornwall pictures at some point when I have a minute... :P

Labels: engagement photography, photoblog, photography, wedding photography

The Autumn somehow creeped in from around the corner while I wasn't looking. Suddenly the days are getting shorter and the rain wetter. I've just realised that's it's now pretty much a year since I started my photography business. A year of 13 hour days and working all weekends. I think I've had about 5 days 'off' in the last year. If someone had come to me with this sort of proposition at the beginning of it all I would have laughed and ran away pretty promptly. But somehow, when you're in it, and you have to do it, you just get on with it. I'm glad I have a two month break from weddings now, even if my weekends are still filled with other kind of shoots and business-related work. It still feels a little less crushing than the pressure weddings, and editing them etc., puts on you. I do love shooting, no doubt, but unfortunately running a business is probably about 20% shooting and 80% of all the other gubbins.

I am pretty amazed and happy about what I have managed to accomplish in just a year, and how quickly I seem to have established my business. I have a healthy amount of weddings booked for next year, and currently get more inquiries than I am able to accommodate. People keep telling me how 'lucky' I've been, getting my business established and actually making some sort of profit so quickly (I did make a pretty big loss in the first financial year, mind). I do believe you make your own luck though, by trusting your gut feeling and your abilities, being honest about who you are, and by working bloody hard. Luck alone gets nothing done unless you put the hours in.

At the moment I find myself in a bit of a slump. I think it's because I've just realised that the summer just whizzed by without me even noticing. We've also started looking around for somewhere to buy, which is demoralising to say the least. Prices are astronomical, and no amount of working or saving seems to get us anywhere closer to a deposit for anything decent. I've just moved from searching for two bedroom sh*tholes onto searching for one bedroom sh*tholes. Cheery. I miss our flat in Finland.

I guess there's nothing else to do than to keep your head down and plough on, and hold on to the faith that it will all be worth it in the end.

And since it's become a bit of a routine, here are a few images from last month.


Magali & Jeff got married.


Had a blast shooting Sophie & Henry's engagement photos.


I made a bit of a departure by doing a jewellery shoot for Melanie Eddy.


Trinh & Alastair got married.


Had an engagement session with Heather & Mark.


Took baby portraits of Jodie...


...and Alice.

Labels: my life, photoblog, photography, wedding photography

How has another month slipped by again?? Perplexing... I don't mean to neglect this blog, honest. Somehow time just, disappears.

Right, what has happened in the last month then. Well, S and I celebrated 10 years together (I say celebrated, we got chinese take away :P), which is another perplexing time vacuum conundrum in itself. I think the rest of the month will be explained via the images below. Very sorry to re-hash content from the other blog, but have no time to take other photos at the moment. Hopefully I will get to do some personal projects again in the winter months.



Eleni & David got married on my birthday. (Oh and someone asked me what I do with my t/s lens, so here's one example.)



Baby Lucinda was born.



The first couple to ever officially book me (back what seems like a lifetime ago), Sarah & Dan, finally got married.



I did an engagement shoot with Ana & Alan for charity.



Carolyn & Marc had a kick-ass wedding at Leadenhall Market.



And finally, I got to return to The Garden Museum for Claire & Ben's wedding.



Oh completely forgot to add Georgina & Mark's engagement session on the last day of August! :D

So that's August pretty much wrapped up. It's been hectic to say the least, but has also included some real high points of the summer. Tonight Sooz is dragging me to Westfield for a 'mini makeover' of some sort. Let's see just how small they manage to make me (it was a bad joke the first time round and hasn't really improved, sorry).

Labels: my life, photoblog, photography, wedding photography

Will you look at this, it's a genuine new blog entry. I bet you're as flabbergasted as I am. Yes, talk about being busy! When ever I've said I've been busy in the past, I take that all back. This year has taught me the true meaning of being busy, in good and in bad, and it has made me ponder about the origins of the word business. :D The business has indeed taken off at a rate I couldn't have dreamed of last year when I made the decision to start charging for my photography. It's all happened so organically, intuitively, that sometimes I have to force myself to stop and really take in how fast it's all happening. I feel extremely lucky, not in a stroke-of-luck kind of way, but in a way that makes me appreciate the fact that I possess a skill that people are willing to pay for - and if I work hard - has the potential of changing my life.

But for now, I just have to make sure it doesn't kill me first. While I still have my full time day job as well, there just is no extra time for anything. Every waking hour is pretty much about work in some form, even if the photography side of things doesn't really feel like work (but trust me, all the nitty gritty of running a business sure does). For now I'm just trying to keep my head down and plough on. If I get through this year in one piece, it will all be worth it in the end I hope. I have some amazing clients (now this does have something to do with genuine luck as well) and weddings in beautiful locations coming up next year. I really can't wait. That goes for each and every one of them.

In other news, Miikka finally got married last Saturday, and even if it meant travelling all the way up to Juuka, of course we were there. We treated the (8 hours each way) drive as a road trip, as that was pretty much all the 'holiday' we'll get this year. The weather was perfect and Finland was definitely showing its best. The only minus side of being on the road for most of the 4 days we spent in Finland was not having any time to meet up with other friends and family. You can look out for pictures of the wedding over at the wedding photography blog, but for now, here is a quick collection of snaps from along the way of our road trip.

Labels: Finland, my life, photoblog, wedding photography

Soo the cold I was trying to fight off developed into a full-on chest infection and really knocked me out for count. Annoyingly it meant that I had to reschedule consultations and a maternity shoot, which has now been moved a week further, which is making me feel a bit nervous and I'm really hoping that the baby doesn't decide to arrive a bit earlier than expected. Fingers crossed we're still good to go on the shoot next week!

Just to add insult to injury I (of course!) got ill on press week, and so I had to drag myself to the office on Friday, even though I lasted just for half a day. Still, that certainly wasn't fun. I did get antibiotics and they started kicking in by yesterday, and today I'm starting to feel like a different person already, so phew. Next week is going to be pretty hectic so I'm very relieved to be feeling better.

I did make it through Claire & Hywel's wedding last Saturday before the illness really hit me, and I'm glad I did as it was one of the nicest weddings I've ever had the pleasure to attend. Pictures are now up on the wedding photography blog.

Labels: my life, photography, wedding photography

Oh my where does the time go.

I'm currently trying desperately to fight off a sore throat and a cold that's trying to sneak up on me. If I can hold it at bay at least long enough to get through tomorrow's wedding I'll be happy...

Last night I went out for some cocktails with a few fabulous ladies. Me, Sooz, Kat, Chanelle, Liz, Ly and Rhiannon, among others, headed to the Cellar Door and took full advantage of their happy hour. Lots of fun was had and useful contacts created. I'm feeling really good about getting a bit of a network of like-minded photographers/wedding people going. Who ever says Twitter is useless just has no idea. Of anything. End of.

After my painful computer meltdown I fell so behind in all sorts things that I decided to admit defeat with my 365 Bokeh project. No matter how much I love doing it, when something becomes a chore it's not really beneficial to try to desperately to fit it in... Perhaps I'll pick it up again in the autumn when my calendar calms down a bit.

Oh and Maesha & Pete's wedding is now up on the wedding photography blog. What a long, but fun, day that was!

Labels: my life, photography, wedding photography

Days in the office are starting to feel almost like 'down time' to me, funny that. :D I shouldn't really complain though, as I do feel really fortunate to be as busy as I am. Sometimes the physical and metal exhaustion just gets the better of me and makes me turn into a little whiner. :P And sometimes dragging myself to a shoot after a full day at the day job feels like too much. But then when I get there, and when it's good, it's really good. I had a brilliant engagement session last night with a couple who's wedding I'm covering next month. They were just so nice and sweet that I know the wedding is going to absolutely kick ass. So today I'm feeling pretty excited.

I've got two sessions to edit by the end of this week, but tomorrow I'm having a night off to go see Lisa Hannigan at Shepherd's Bush Empire. Yay.

Here in the office it's not actually the worst time at the moment. After months of re-design work, we're finally working on the June issue, which will be the first new look magazine. And we have at last migrated to InDesign (hallelujah), which makes life so so much easier. So it's pretty much as 'exciting' right now as this job is ever likely to get.

Oh I don't think I ever mentioned anything about the Miles Aldridge exhibition I went to last week. It was pretty awesome and inspiring, even though the prints displayed could have been a bit bigger! But then the prices would have probably climbed out of reach for everyone. Personally, if I did have an extra £1800 lying around, I so would have bought a picture then and there. :D Now I'll just have to try to find the new, freshly published book from somewhere.
p.s. Sooz took this sneaky shot as my mobile was being too loud for any sort of espionage!

Labels: Lisa Hannigan, Miles Aldridge, my life, photography, wedding photography

I think I'm starting to go a bit cross-eyed from all the editing I've done in the last two days. And I'm not even half way through yet! :D Oh well, I do enjoy it really. But it would be nice to one day be in a position where I wouldn't have to be doing it at weekends/annual leave days. But yes, so far I've gotten as far as the ceremony of Lucy & Richard's wedding.



You can see a few more pictures over at MTP.

I'm currently contemplating on carrying on further into the night, but my neck and head is giving me such grief that I might have to call it a day and start on the mammoth task of reception shots tomorrow.

Not doing anything else but sitting in a darkened room staring at the screen doesn't really give much material for any other exciting blogging I'm afraid. Oh, on Friday we did have a little May Day cocktail party with Sooz, which I suppose could count as exciting under normal circumstances. But, as yummy as the cocktails were and as enjoyable the company, I quite embarrassingly ran completely out of juice before 11pm. Me! I was quite shocked myself to find that I just couldn't keep my eyes open for any longer. But still, fun was had none the less.

While I've been working away S has been busy being a very exemplary husband. He has tidied the flat (and the car) from top to bottom, and we have more clean clothes than we have space to put them in! I am very impressed indeed. Finally the training is starting to pay off. :D

Labels: London, my life, photography, wedding photography

This week has been pretty full on, in good and in bad. Can't remember a time when I've last been 'out' after work nearly every night of the week. Slightly exhausting. But there's something to be said about being busy, it definitely has a way of making you feel alive, and like you're a part of life in general. As much of a homebody as I am, not making the effort to interact with the outside world can have a very isolating effect. And currently I'm really enjoying just getting out there and meeting new people, making new connections, getting new ideas.

On Tuesday I attended a 'round table' do, with some techy bloggers and representatives from 3UK, which came about through my association as an INQ1 tester. I was all prepared to share my views on what 3 is getting right, what wrong, and where I think they should be heading towards. But as it happened, I was waaaay too slow to butt in anywhere in the conversation. I felt like a bit of a dunce to be honest, but none the less, it was still really interesting, I think I went as far as saying 'exciting' on the night. God knows I've at times been really frustrated with the 3 coverage (and help desk) during my years as a customer, but after hearing for myself how they are going about trying to make a difference, I feel quite intrigued to stick around. It's refreshing to hear from a company who genuienly wants to listen to their customers and make new ways of communicating available for everyone. A fact which was confirmed on Thursday, when came the announcement that 3 will be offering free skype calls to everyone, which I'm sure left other operators reeling.

On Wendesday I had a meeting with an author about shooting headshots for her book jackets, which was pretty exciting. She divides her time between Venice and London (jealous much?) and her flat by the Thames was as unbelievably nice as she herself was. I must say I've never visited such a beautiful home before. One of the things I absolutely love about my photography gigs (apart from the photography itself that is) is getting the chance to take a peek into the different lives people lead. It's truly fascinating.

And to tie that thought into Tuesday's 3 event, I'd add that on a personal level, the best thing that comes from that sort of things is getting to meet new interesting people. It's really refreshing to hear new points of views and life stories. Which leads straight into my Thursday when I popped out for after work drinks with Ant from Fresh Plastic, whom I met at the round table do. I'm glad I did as the weather was gorgeous, the South Bank heaving with people, and I thoroughly enjoyed the company. Good times.

And then Friday. Less said about that the better. A complete meltdown in the office due to a network error, which resulted in a big part of the issue - due to go to press that day - having been wiped out. Long story short, the latest backup files we ended up with were from the previous Friday, so I'm still in the middle of trying to re-create a week's worth of work by next Tuesday for there to be any chance of the magazine going out in time. Hey ho. Oh but I must say that Twitter is pretty friggin amazing. As soon as I posted about my problem the advice started flooding in from all over the world. I felt truly amazed and humbled at how many people were trying to help me! Anyone who says social networking is a waste of time has no idea what they're talking about. End of.

Yesterday was finally Lucy & Richard's wedding day. In the morning it looked like it was going to rain, but luckily the weather held out and what started as a gloomy morning turned into a gorgeous sun-baked afternoon. The wedding was brilliant, even if I was absolutely cream krackered afterwards. And again, I could go on and on about how cool it is to be able to get to be a part of other people's lives if even for just a brief moment. So very very cool indeed. But yes, I was way too trigger happy and the editing work looming ahead freaks me out a bit. Not going to even start on that until next week though. I've booked a couple of days of annual leave from the day job, which, when added to the Bank Holiday weekend, should hopefully give me enough time to process this wedding. Dreading and looking forward to it in equal amounts. :D



But today has been all about re-charging. I was sorely in need of a day off, so today I 've been concentrating on catching up with my Sky+ recordings and unread magazines. Even got around to reading the David LaChapelle special edition of PHOTO magazine I got in Paris. That was a long time coming!




Oh and can I just finish up with sharing how much I love Red Direct, the online store for Red magazine. I especially adore the little catalogues that come with the magazine, so well layed out, bursting with such perfectly photographed pictures of their brilliantly edited collection. Someone there really knows their stuff. Is it weird that flicking through the catalogue gives me immense pleasure even if I didn't order anything...

Wow. This turned into a bit of a monster post! I guess a day off can have that effect... :D

Labels: 3, 3 network, 3Network, engagement photography, INQ, INQ1, my life, PHOTO, Red, red direct, wedding photography

I've been thinking about things like branding and online identity a lot lately. Or rather, they have been issues that have come up over and over again in various conversations in different contexts, with people such as Jonas and Cathie to name but a few. And for a while I was struggling over how I should brand myself/my business in order for all the different messages to be clear and not get muddled up by all the noise.

The thing is, I am interested in a lot of things. I am what could be called an enthusiast in a lot of different fields, and often those areas don't necessarily relate to each other. So what do you do if you don't want to alienate anyone? Is it possible to relate to everyone? While this really wasn't such an issue before, it was something I had to get my head around when setting up my wedding photography business. It was quite clear that the business needed to be a separate entity from everything else - it makes no sense for a bride to be reading about gadgets or trips to the hairdressers. But then again, I had quite a widely spread online identity as mnoo (from dA to pretty much every other service there is), and mnoo.com was pretty established at that point in terms of showcasing my personal photography, so it would have been a waste not to use that presence to drive traffic, and more importantly, to allow for a more in-depth picture of me. And why is that important? Well, because in any business, which is built around you and your skill, and where you deal with the end customer directly, you are effectively selling yourself. You want to attract clients who can relate to you and your personality, and your clients need to feel like they 'know you', and thus, can trust you.

There are people out there who are very suspicious of laying it all out online. I think, in this day and age, there is really no place to hide. If you want to make the most of your opportunities, you just have to be out there. As transparently as possible. And wouldn't you want to be the one in charge of how your identity is perceived in any case?

Right, did I have a point in my head somewhere when I started. I guess what I was thinking about today, was how my wedding customers reading my Twitter might get confused about what I get up to. And how those people coming to this blog for pretty pictures of flowers might get bored by the gadgetry things, and the gadgetry people by the wardrobe silliness. But the thing is, this blog, and especially Twitter, is just purely all the things I am about. And it's not thought-out or aimed at any specific reader, it's just about me putting it out there - regardless of whether it's 'of value' to anyone. I am interested in a variety of things and get excited over different non-related events. And I couldn't for the life of me edit myself down to just one clearly branded - soberly positioned - identity, with one specific interest. It's all me, and if that's confusing to some, then so be it.

This is me: photographer, wife, magazine designer, Finn, internet addict, cinema lover, gig goer, technology enthusiast, fashion fun (for everyone) advocate, gadget twiddler, social networking fiend, traveller, lover of words.... who loves colours, pretty things, reading books in one go, weddings, open mindedness, meeting new people and chocolate.

Labels: branding, my life, photography, social networking, twitter, wedding photography

First part of Steph & Rob's wedding is up on MTP.

Labels: photography, wedding photography

More from Anna & Andrew's engagement shoot over at MTP blog.

Labels: engagement photography, London, photoblog, photography, South Bank, wedding photography

The stupid cold that has been doing the rounds has finally caught up with me. But I won't go down without a fight! I've been consuming vast amounts of echinea and hot lemon and they're helping me to keep my head above the water, so to speak. Jen came over for yesterday's Antony and the Johnson's gig (more about that when my head isn't quite so woolly - it's safe to say it was mindblowing though), and I was clever enough to take Friday off work so we had a chance to spend some time together and pop to Richmond for a bit of shopping. Today she's gone to central London on her own, while I've been trying to go through my to-do-list, with Stu constantly complaining that I should be in bed.


We were testing my new cheapo macro ring flash on each other yesterday.

We're supposedly going down the pub tonight, not quite sure how I'll cope with that though... hmm. Might have to change that to a Sunday lunch thing, we'll see. I don't want to be a bad host though, it's just that I feel pretty shit...

Since the concert finished at a reasonable hour last night (who knew symphony orchestras are so punctual!), we decided to come back home afterwards. Originally we were going to stay at Sooz's flat, while she's living it up in NY. I must say I was pretty glad to wake up in my own bed this morning.

Here's our train arriving at Vauxhall last night.


P.S. if anyone is interested in booking me to shoot their wedding at a discount price, I'm currently running a pretty generous wedding photography promotion!

Labels: London, my life, people, promotion, Twickenham, wedding photography