Mandy Charlton Photography - The Blog, Newcastle Wedding and Portrait Photographer,

Great places to get married in the North East of England

2012-01-28T19:40:00.001Z

So being a wedding photographer in the North East of England means that I get to photograph weddings in some gorgeous venues, this made me think about my own personal favourite venues and brides if you have just booked your wedding I know that choice of venue can be so important, it's a minefield.

Here's some of my favourite places in no particular order, a few of which are different, quirky and will keep people talking for some time to come.

1. Matfen Hall, if you want grand then this is the place, the stained window alone makes it one of the most desirable places to get married in the North East of England, it's a dark venue though so make sure your photographer knows what they are doing and has lenses to fit.

2. As You Like It, I have to say that this is my favourite venue because we renewed our vows there in 2010 for our 10th anniversary, for quirkiness on a vintage scale this is the place to go, the only thing I'd say is for your newlywed portraits you'll need to go to Jesmond Dene or Newcastle/Gateshead quayside because the frontage isn't the most attractive but inside it's amazing, lovely, cosy and they can cater for up to 275 people on a night time.

3. The Baltic, oh how I love the Baltic and do they know how to do weddings, it can be small and cosy or big and grandios, it's simply one of the best venues in the north and the guests get exclusive access to all of the exhibits

4. The Sage, not so many people are aware that you can have your wedding at the sage but you make it your own and it's a fabulous venue and the food is second to none.

5. Jesmond Dene House Hotel, I have shot many weddings in this venue and it's gorgeous, lots of wood and a cosy feel even if you are having a bigger wedding, the gardens are beautiful and the food is amazing.

6. The Discovery Museum, yes it's a fairly new to weddings venue and featured on BBC3's Don't Tell The Bride, if you have always fancied a wedding in somewhere completely different then this could be your venue.

7. The Great North Museum (aka The Hancock) one of my favourite places, I grew up visiting this museum every year with my granny, it's simply fabulous and they do the most fabulous weddings and you can have a dinosaur in your photographs.

8. Linden Hall, one of the lovely stately homes turned hotel, up near Morpeth the staff are wonderful friendly people, I have shot many weddings here and never heard a bad report.

9. Close House Hotel, based up in beautiful Northumberland, on sunny days you can spill onto the terrace for drinks and canapes and there are plenty of places to hide if the weather isn't so good, their Orangary makes a splendid place to have portraits.

10. St Marys Lighthouse, I would love to shoot a wedding here so if you are booking one please hire me, who wouldn't want to get married in a Lighthouse, though it only caters for smaller weddings there's no more quirky a venue.

This photograph is from Lucy and James wedding who got married at The Great North Museum

So I hope that this has helped and if you are booking your 2012 wedding please do get in touch, for everyone who books in the next month I am adding an extra hour into your package and with my weddings start at just £595 for up to 3 hours come have a chat at my studio...

Cute Kids, Bouncing Babies and Terrific Toddlers

2012-01-23T10:23:00.000Z

January has been a busy month down at the studio, I love my job so much, I get to spend time with the loveliest people in the world so as ever here's just a few previews of who's been down in the studio having fun.

Emily brought her cousin along with her, would you believe that I've now photographed Emily's mum and dad 6 times and with the arrival of Emilys little brother or sister it can't be too long before I get to do it all again!!

now look at this little poppet, he was born 4 weeks ago and really isn't so keen on being photographed or being naked for that matter but he's such a cutie

and look at his big sisters, they are so gorgeous and funny

aww, they really love their little brother

and this little 11 month old, well she tootled and she tottered around the studio just doing her own thing, we got tons of photos of her and her big sister and what a pleasure it was to photograph them

So thanks to all the little lovely people who've made work the funnest place to be over the last couple of weeks, if you want a portrait shoot for your poppets if you do it in February you can do it half price, yes only £20 for the session instead of £40 so take advantage because at this price the studio sessions usually fill up fast!

On a totally unconnected matter don't forget you can book your 2012/2013 wedding at 2011 prices if you book before February 1st 2012, dates are now filling quite fast but I still have some availability so why not contact me through my website and come see me at the studio

Mandy Charlton Photography - Winner of 2 worldwide awards for wedding photography

2012-01-16T15:08:00.002Z

I can barely believe I am posting this but I've just been notified of the most incredible news from the lovely folks over at Pixoto.

This image was judged by professional photographers worldwide as being in the top 5% in the world in the weddings section for 2011

and this image was judged as being in the best 10% of wedding images worldwide for 2011

I only really started to enter image competitions in 2010 so to be ranked so highly in the world is a massive honour and I couldn't do it without all of my wonderful clients so I want to say thank you to each and everyone of you who has let me be part of your weddings and special events and who knows whats going to happen in 2012

Caroline and Claytons Wedding, Vintage/Pulp/Fabulousness

2012-01-11T14:44:00.000Z

Just before Christmas I shot one of my favourite weddings of all time, the combination of influences by Chanel/Audrey Hepburn and Pulp combined with the beauty and gorgeousness of Caroline and Claytons wedding were to make it one of the most beautiful weddings I have ever shot.

Caroline was so beautiful in her vintage veil and dress, a true beauty to behold

and if you are thinking that this guy looks familiar, you should see him with his glasses on, he's the spitting double of Jarvis Cocker from Pulp!

Those nervous last moments as you're about to walk down the aisle

and those tender moments during the ceremony when you give your all to the one you love most in your life

and then before you know it you are married and it's wonderful and happy and you can even start breathing again!

how gorgeous is this little bridesmaid?

all of the kids plus a large amount of confetti

we went off to the beach for some portraits, Tynemouth in December could have been chilly but it was more like an autumn day than a winter one

Our happy, gorgeous couple

moments of tenderness

and then they started singing "Common People to each other and I got to stand back and click, a very cool moment

So very much in love those two

Thats some love and a campervan

after those beachy portraits we winged our way to the Hotel Du Vin, possibly the most chic hotel in Newcastle, seriously cool and if you book your wedding there ask for Dan to look after you, he's one of my most favourite master of ceremonies, when we renewed our vows at As You Like It Jesmond he looked after us.

Sharing a tender moment in one of the chic suites and OMG look at those boots, geniune vintage and absolutely amazing!

The speeches were just lovely, I cried when Clayton gave his speech, that man is a true romantic

I have to say that most people in the room were in floods of tears because it was such a beautiful speech

Caroline and Clayton, I hope that you have a long and happy marriage, its easy to see that you are soul mates, thank you so much for choosing me to help you document your wedding day.

If you are planning your 2012 or beyond wedding you can book at 2011 prices until the end of January, just contact me through the website

Back in the Studio

2012-01-09T11:58:00.000Z

Saturday was officially my first day back in the studio after my Christmas break (you know the one where I worked?!)

I have to say that although it was a delight to see Amara again I'm quite sad because she's emigrating on Tuesday, it's so sad to lose some of my loveliest clients, thank goodness for Facebook so we can keep in touch.

I'm wishing all of the love and luck in the world to Denise, and all her family for the travel and settling in Perth, I'm sure Amara is going to adore never having to be worried about being chilly ever again!!

now next up was a lady who'd come in just before Christmas with her partner to have a maternity shoot and join the Milestones program, most of the images were private and just for them but I know she doesn't mind me showing this one which both her and hubby adored, doesn't she look amazing!!

and then of course from gorgeous mummies come beautiful baby and here's Tom who was born on Boxing Day night, I have to tell you he's just itty bitty teeny weeny at the moment and light as a feather, I had the best cuddle ever and got to take some gorgeous photos of him, I can't wait to watch him grow up over the next year.

So that was me back in the studio with a bang, I also met a couple about their wedding and I have fingers and toes crossed they will book because it sounded so uber cool and the whole of their reception is in the glass viewing box at the Baltic!!

If you are having a baby or if you're getting married why not come see me in my studio for photos or a chat, just get in touch via the website

A Refective Post For The Start of 2012

2012-01-02T11:58:00.000Z

I was just glancing back at some old blog posts, I started this blog on the 26/02/06 so this year will be my 6th blogaversary, blimey six years of my collective thoughts and photographs all in one place.

When I started my blog it was mainly about family things, I was a mummy blogger I suppose, would you believe that at the start I hadn't even thought about starting my business, you can actually read about the journey into that right up until the day I officially launched in June 2007.

My blog changed after I started my business, it became more about business than about family and then I had a swing recently and now I think there's quite a good balance of family and business, maybe it's because I think I've finally found that elusive thing called the work/life balance or maybe it was because my children googled me and found my blog and insisted that I post more about their lives and history which seems fair enough really.

It's funny when I look back at those early days now, although it's nice to see some kind of photographic progression some of the early photography was, well, shocking!

I've learned so much since starting my business and this year I'll be launching my own style of photographic courses, "Lets Shoot Each Other and Shoot Your Kids" are bound to be a riot, they're still a couple of months away in terms of me feeling I'm ready to teach them but I'm really looking forward to it.

Now no blog post would be complete without a photo and I've not really lifted my camera for a couple of days so I'll leave you with this, this was our first New Years Eve family Singstar party, for the first time ever we let all the kids stay up till Midnight and we had a riot, yes that is Iain and Looby singing Lady Gaga.

Right then, I'm off to cook the Gammon which I never got around to cooking for Christmas day, I'm mostly working from home and chilling a lot this week before I get back to the studio on Saturday. I'm just not quite ready to say goodbye to Christmas yet.

Goodbye 2011, you were quite a year!

2011-12-31T12:13:00.000Z

It's officially the last day of the year and like many of you I'm looking back at 2011 and thinking what a year it was!

In 2011 I finally plucked up the courage to enter photographic competitions and I'm so glad that I did as I've won 17 seperate awards for wedding and portraiture photographs this year, even better is that most of those were international competitions! 2011 was the year I finally moved into a studio too!

In 2011 I was lucky enough to shoot 2 of my best friends weddings, Christine and Michael

and Li and Phil

My very first assistant and lovely friend Nigel had a gorgeous baby girl

and my beautiful friend Heather gave birth to Yovel, a gorgeous brother for delightful Toam

and of course in 2011, these three gorgeous people gave me so much to be proud of, Abigail continues to excel at school

Looby continues to be the most popular girl in the known universe spreading joy and cuddles wherever she goes

and Iain continues to amaze us, because of his aspergers he's not a big fan of photos so I have to catch him unaware but he's excelling at school, he's got more friends than I think he ever imagined he would and he even had his first girlfriend this year.

I love my family so much, without them none of this would be possible

So whatever you do to celebrate have a wonderful New Years Eve and an amazing 2012

Weddings, Portraits and Idle thumbs...

2011-12-29T18:53:00.000Z

You know those idle thumbs, they're the ones that get you into trouble, if the truth be known my idle thumbs often find themselves shopping for too many pairs of shoes. I've been determined not to buy 1700 pairs of new shoes in the sales so I have had a cunning plan and worked for the past few days and it's worked, no new shoes!!

I have met some wonderful people though so I thought I would share just a couple of photographs with you.

First on Tuesday I met a lovely Aussie Family, I say Aussie but Dad was originally from Hebburn, apparently Brisbane is just a bit nicer, I can't think why anyone would say that, my studio is based in Hebburn!

So Dad wanted a few photos with landmarks in, the ones that are special to him and so you can't have a shoot without having the Tyne Bridge in it

Yesterday I went to Close House to photograph the wedding of Nicola and Paul and captured this lovely moment during the ceremony.

and Today I went to my favourite Graffiti wall to photograph some kids who want to make a special birthday present for their granddads, let me tell you something, teenage girls don't like having their photographs taken, it was a lot of fun though!

So as we reach the end of 2011, what a great year it's been, I can't believe how lucky I am to do the job that I do, I think it's because it's so much more than a job, it's my life, it's the thing I love the most after my family and love or course, Love is the most important thing, all you need is love!

If you were lucky enough to get engaged over the Christmas period and are planning your 2012 or 2013 wedding please do contact me and come have a chat about it with me in my studio, 2012 is already looking like it could be my busiest year ever and I want to say thank you because without you I'd just be a lady with a camera, oh actually since I got my Dorothy shoes I'm now "look at the lady with the red shoes" haha and on that note I shall wish you all the best for the closing days of the year and may you all have wonderful New Year celebrations, I'm off for a couple of days R&R but if you are wanting a shoot in the next week give me a call because I can probably fit you in and do something fabulous on location, if you are wanting a studio shoot I'm back in the studio on 07/01, that day is already pretty full so get booking for future weeks!

To contact me you can call me on 07918 121838, email me at mandy@mandycharlton.com or you can click through to my website mandycharlton.com

Clayton and Caroline got married at Christmas!

2011-12-27T16:53:00.000Z

So as you know I'm having a bit of a working Christmas this year, it's fine though because I love it and you know what I love, true love at Christmas, the best things are true love and Christmas, put the two together and you have something completely wonderful, gorgeous, romantic...

Clayton and Carolines Wedding was just that, I cried big chubby tears during Claytons speech, die hard romantic thats me!!

They got married at St Albans in Earsdon and then on the way to a swish reception at the Hotel Du Vin we stopped off at the beach at Tynemouth to capture some natural light portraits just as the sun was shining it's golden light, we really couldn't have been any luckier with the weather, for the 22nd of December the weather was better than half of the weddings I've shot in June!!

This one photo really sums up the wedding in one photograph, it was vintage, beautiful and all about love, with a touch of Biba and a hint of Pulp, when they danced on the beach singing Common People to each other I had a lump in my throat!

Congratulations Clayton and Caroline may your love story continue for many years, thank you so much for letting me share your most special of days.

A Very Cosy Charlton Christmas

2011-12-26T19:29:00.000Z

Yes lovely people, Happy Christmas to you all, it's been quite a year and now it's time for my yearly blog of what went down in the Charlton House this Christmas Day. I've turned away from flash lately and I really love how shooting at high ISO's and low apertures makes everything seem to warm and cosy, I think it really suits my style!

The kids got up at their normal time of 8am which wasn't so bad, I don't think we've ever had a really early year thankfully.

best way to photograph Iain these days is when he's not looking

sign of the times that they're getting older, they got a Tantrum nail candy set between them

Looby got her horse riding lessons she really wanted, we can't wait to sign her up in the New Year

She does like to demonstrate new clothing

from now on when I get sick of my darling husband I have decided to cover him with a Gary Barlow mask

Looby got a Nintendo DS with Mario Kart, daddy also loves this and yes she is sitting wearing her new hat, scarf and gloves

I'm pretty sure it means that he just won a cup!

yup there's another one who hates me photographing her and remains plugged in to technology at all times

She's quite a comedian is Looby

It wouldn't be a family blog without Disco Bob!

So it's been a fabulous Christmas, I'm working throughout my Christmas break this year, but I'm at least working from home, tomorrow I have a family shoot and Wednesday I have a wedding consultation followed by a wedding, busy times but I love my job!

Whatever you're doing for the rest of your Christmas break I hope it's a good one and from our house to yours may I wish you a very Happy Christmas and a wonderful 2012.

Breakfast With Santa at Heighley Gate, an imposter

2011-12-21T15:48:00.000Z

We've been looking forward to having breakfast with Santa at Heighley Gate for ages and today was the big day, we got up early and made our way up there for a half nine start.

We were seated and served breakfast, to our horror breakfast was cold and the eggs were grey, they actually tasted like an old kitchen sponge, not the greatest start to an event which had cost me £7.95 each for Abigail and Laura and £6.25 for me, Paul and Iain.

Santa came out and Looby said straight away that she didn't think it was the real Santa as he had more of a goatee than a beard.

he stopped at each table to talk to the little ones and when he got to ours and simply said hello kids and walked off, I then overheard him talking to a staff member asking if we were with the rest of the party, I've never felt so sad and I could tell Looby was gutted.

After this all the kids went to Santa to receive presents and have photos but would you believe he didn't want to have a photo with Abigail and i actually had to ask him.

he doesn't look very happy does he? and you know what it's just sad because as I said to one of the staff it should be celebrated if older kids are still excited about seeing Santa, Santa is one of Loobys favourite people and mine too so it was just disappointing that this imposter chose to spoil some of the magic of Christmas. You know how much Looby loves Santa, her list of favourite people goes, Mummy, daddy, Santa and then the Baby Jesus in that order, she emails him on a daily basis with an iPad app and he always replies, she says she is Santas penpal and she finds it funny that he keeps turning up in the same places as her, when she wrote to him she even wrote on the back of the envelope that there was a special kiss inside for him. I always tell her that Christmas is in your heart as it is in mine and it remains to this day, I hope when she's my age she's just as much as fond of Santa, I have to say Winter Wonderland Santa and I had such a lovely chat

I spoke to a staff member and she was really gutted for us, so gutted that she arranged for us to go into Winter Wonderland where she made it snow!! She also said did the girls want to see Winter Wonderland Santa who was working for a charity and I can tell you it was THE real Santa, it really cheered the girls up, especially Looby, she got to give him a big hug and they chatted with him for a few minutes and then they got to choose their own gift.

I have asked them in future to bear in mind that older children still love Santa and should be treated the same as the younger ones

So if you are out there running a company which makes profit from the magic of Christmas please ensure you do it well or you could spoil a small childs dreams and their mummys too!

It's the final countdown

2011-12-19T14:28:00.001Z

It's the week before Christmas and we're all getting really excited in the Charlton household, last night my hubby got so tipsy on red wine that he proceeded to tell me what he'd got me for Christmas and then he went to the cupboard and showed me the shoes he'd bought me, how rubbish is he at surprises?

It's just as well they are asbsolutely gorgeous, red, sparkly and definitely Dorothy shoes, can't wait to wear them on Christmas day.

broke up from work yesterday and pulled the shutters down on the studio for a while, one of my last shoots was this little boy, I don't think he's so happy about being Santas little helper do you?

you know at Christmas it's often the only time the whole family are together so if you fancy celebrating that you can book a shoot with me between now and the New Year, I can either get myself to the studio or if you fancy having it at home or on location it's no problem at all, just call me or contact me through my website

Also if you are stuck for a last minute present idea electronic gift vouchers are available right up until Christmas eve so email or call me and I can sort that out for you, it's a great gift if you are having a sudden panic because you've forgotten Aunt Mauds present and all the shops are shut!!

I'm really looking forward to having breakfast with Santa on Wednesday up at Heighley Gate Garden Centre, even my 15 year old is coming along, he was aghast that I hadn't put his name down so I had to add 1 extra, it's lovely that we can all go and share the Christmas magic together.

This week I'm looking forward to Carolyn and Claytons wedding on Thursday at the Hotel Du Vin and next week I have Nicola and Pauls wedding at Close House, if you know me you'll know that I think there's nothing quite so romantic as love at Christmas so I'm pretty excited about both weddings, sure they're going to be gorgeous!!

So whatever you are doing this week in the run up to the big day make sure it's full of happy moments and no stress!

This is an advance warning - January is Boudoir Month

2011-12-13T14:43:00.001Z

Why yes my sweeties January has to be boudoir month if you want to give your loved one gorgeous images of yourself for Valentines day.

Miss L did just that a couple of weeks ago, in fact it was the same week I had the pleasure of photographing Miss Dee La Beau

and so my pretties, lets share a few photographs from those shoots, I have full permission from both ladies but let me reassure you I'd never share your boudoir photos unless you wanted to.

How gorgeous is Miss L, she really said she had no confidence and then pulled this shot off, it's amazing! I actually won an award for this image!

Of course Miss La Beau was beautiful as ever and totally worked it, I love this one best as it's just a little vunerable.

so now you've seen some gorgeous ladies doing it for themselves it's your turn, during January boudoir shoots with a little black book are only £249 instead of £295, thats a huge saving and if you go the time only option your boudoir shoot is going to be as little as £120, to book just go to my website, email me or call me on 07918 121838

Now there's just 1 thing left and that is come on boys, you want to give your other half nice photos of you don't you? January isn't just boudoir month, January is dudeoir month so get yourself booked in!

Now if you are looking for a super saving why not pre-purchase a gift certificate and then you'll get 20% extra value and also save on the shoot, it's the ultimate present if you are in Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham or anywhere in the north east of England, with one of my awards this year being won for that thar image up thar you can be assured you are in good hands

Christmas is coming, better get a shake on...

2011-12-13T13:51:00.000Z

Yes Christmas is truly underway, the shops are heaving, there's a chill in the air and parents throughout the land are getting over excited about little Tommy playing 3rd bean from the left in the Nativity Play. It's only last week we sat through our girls Nativity with Abigail playing a very angelic Mary, anyone who knows Abigail will know how miscast this particular part was but she did a great job though I'm sure I caught sight of her de rigeur black trousers underneath her Mary costume. I would have shared a photo but we were threatened that if we shared our own childrens photographs (how very dare we even think about it) the whole schools parent community would be banned from ever taking photographs at any school performance ever again, I'm not one to mess with the headmistress either even though I think it's a ludicrous thing to suggest when I as a blogger often blog my own children!!

So imagine Abigail as Mary and Looby as "one of the choir" (special part that) and gaze upon an alternative photograph which has become our family Christmas card for this year. Now it's probably a little late for me to be doing your Christmas cards but I do have 2 slots left if you want to get some last minute photos down at the studio this weekend so if you can make it on either Saturday at 2pm or Sunday morning give me a call or drop me an email and I'll squeeze you in, I'm even going to try and sort out prints by using the services of Santas Elfs (aka, the local couriers who aren't quite happy or elfen but they do usually get stuff to places on time!)

This weekend in the studio was another busy one but I can't share some of the images dear readers and one of you reading (and I know that they do read) might be getting some for Christmas of some people very dear to you, thats enough hints from me, it's top secret to me, the people involved and of course Santa Claus himself.

One more note about Christmas business hours, gift certificates and other mentionable gubbins, Photo Shoots are available up until December 21st, after that time I am on my Christmas break but if you have family you only ever see at Christmas or the kids are home from university for the first time in ages email me and I will open up the studio especially for you, in all other cases I shall be at home scoffing Ferrero Rocher!

If you buy a gift certificate (e-voucher) before Christmas Eve I will increase the value by 20% so for instance you want to buy one for £50 I will give you one for £60 because thats my warmhearted lovely side with a festive touch).

This Christmas I have 2 weddings, 1 at the Hotel Du Vin on the 22nd and one at gorgeous Close House on the 28th so spare a thought for my cold fingers and toes as you all decide to crack open another tin of quality street!

Ooh, 1 last thing, I have a Studio gallery on my website now with all my recent studio work, go have a look, you might just have made it on there!

Disk only Mini Photoshoots - [Mandy Charlton, Newcastle Photographer]

2011-12-10T08:17:00.001Z

It really is getting close to Christmas and I'm thoroughly excited, loads of lovely people coming into my studio for photo shoots today.

However if you're tardy like me and haven't even started your Christmas shopping you may well assume that there's going to be no time to have a photo shoot and get product in time for Christmas so as one of Santas favourite little helpers I'm going to have a very special offer for you -

From now until Christmas Eve you can book a mini shoot with disk (or dropbox if you like your new fangled tech like me) and I'll do a half hour shoot, edit the images and you can choose 10 of them to go on the disk (or download). You will as ever get an online gallery with full ordering facilities for 30 days too!

I'm not going to publish the price on my blog for fear of a stampede but it's a super fantastic great deal with more than half off the usual price of the disk.xxx

If you are interested just drop me an email at mandy@mandycharlton.com or you can also click through to my website to contact me.

You could have your images from this shoot in less than a couple of hours, I really am super speedy!

Hope to see you and your family soon so we can create images like this -

It's a little Christmas Giveaway

2011-12-07T16:16:00.001Z

Yes, you heard it here first folks, in the spirit of Christmas I am giving away 2 festive photo shoots down at my Studio this Saturday afternoon. All you'll pay for are any prints and I'll even guarantee delivery for Christmas.

Here's just a couple of portraits from last weekend -

So, what do you have to do to win one of these portrait shoots and when are they available?

Well you can choose pretty much any time from noon on Saturday and they'll be at my studio, I'm based within The Photography Studio, Unit 6, The Old Co-Op buildings, Ralph Street, Hebburn, NE31 1HP, it's literally a 10 minute drive from central Newcastle and it's cosy and warm and full of fun things for the kids, we have a trampoline, rocking horse, tons of dressing up and festive things, it really is a whole lot of festive fun!

So to win one all you have to do is email mandy@mandycharlton.com, leave a comment on this post, Tweet Me or send me a Facebook Message you can even contact me through my website

I'm also going to open up evenings for portrait shoots at my studio next week, so if you wanted to book a shoot but you haven't had time I can do after school pretty much all next week, I even have some slots available on the weekend of 17/18th but thats going to mean being super speedy when it comes to placing orders if you want them for Christmas.

Christmas is coming

2011-12-02T19:37:00.001Z

and there's not very much time left to book a festive photo shoot if you want to guarantee delivery of your precious photographs before Santa comes down the chimney (or through the door with a magic key in our case as we don't have a chimney)

These are just a few gorgeous photos with a festive touch I've shot this week

so if you don't want to miss out then call me/contact me/shout at me and I'll get you in my studio toot suite!

Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming, Holidays are coming

Festive Family Photoshoots in the Studio

2011-11-28T11:10:00.001Z

This is your festive warning, Christmas is coming and in my lovely studio Christmas family photoshoots are taking place resulting in photographs like this -

There's still time to book in to have lots of festive fun in my warm and cosy studio based in Hebburn (10 minutes walk from Jarrow Metro and only 10 Minutes drive from Newcastle city centre)

Photo shoots are only £20 until Christmas so give me a call on 07918 121838 or contact me through my website and I might even be able to fit you in this weekend.I'm adding extra added free photo shoots on Wednesday 30/11/11, if you're off work with the kids because of the strike then why not come and have some fun at my studio because photo shoots are free all day, if you would like one just contact me in any of the above ways, you'll only pay for prints etc and everything will be with you before Santa comes, so laugh in the face of the doom, gloom and strikes and take advantage of my special happy offer.

Welcome to the festive season!

Tis The Season for Christmas Photoshoots

2011-11-21T14:04:00.001Z

Yes it's the season of goodwill and happiness and down at the studio I am enjoying the fun of the Christmas season, it's so much fun to be able to create photos like this with a handful of Christmas Magic.

Here's the thing, I can't pretend it's not busy at the studio because it's ridiculously busy and I am loving every minute so if you want photos like this to grace the front of your Christmas Cards or to pop on Grandmas wall then you might want to email me at mandy@mandycharltonphotography.com I have 1 or 2 slots left this weekend, Saturday you'd be looking at half nine or after 2pm and Sunday after 12.30pm. Shoots are only £20 instead of £40 until Christmas Eve.

So come on down, we have dressing up, santa hats, reindeer ears and a Christmas Tree with twinkly lights.

Sitting in the studio....

2011-11-07T11:05:00.002Z

So it's been nearly a month since my last post and thats a while even for me but it's been a time of great excitement as I moved into my studio, I can't tell you what a difference it's made and it's amazing how much business has increased in such a short space of time.

I've had such a great reaction to the kids and family portraits I've shot in the studio...

and of course I haven't just been shooting in the studio, I still love to be out on location as well and thats not all of what I've been up to, thats just a few small highlights!!

So, to recap, as a special introductory offer studio family and kids portrait shoots are only £20 and we have a lot of fun.

I also have a full product photography set up and in addition to that of course Studio boudoir is also available.

The studio is based in Hebburn, strangely though it's 10 minutes walk from Jarrow metro, haha

Have a happy, happy autumnal week!

Big, Big, News, I have a Studio!

2011-10-20T09:35:00.000+01:00

I can hardly believe it myself but it's true, from Friday I'll be relocating Mandy Charlton Photography to a gorgeous 1008ft studio, I say 1008ft but thats just the main part of the studio, it's absolutely flippin enormous!! Because it's fully equipped all I need to do is move myself in so if you fancy a studio shoot with me then you can book one with immediate effect.

I'm so excited about the future, I'm sharing the studio with my good friend and fellow photographer Tommy Jackson, we'll be doing some pretty funkaliscious stuff together over the next few months as well as maintaining our own individual brands.

For me, I guess I'm most well known for my environmental portraits and you know what thats not going to change, I'll still be out and about creating art like these from Sunday up in Hepple, Northumberland.

and should that white snowy stuff fall you can bet I'll be out doing snowy shoots just like last year, I have to say though that in the most horrible of winters it will be lovely to spend time inside a warm cosy studio and it means lots of new exciting possibilities for the quirky style of my photography which I know that you all know and love, for sure I am not about to become Venture Photography, you can count on that.

One of the most exciting aspects of the studio is that we want to share it with the hardworking photographers (and film and video guys) of the north who from time to time need a little studio space so we'll be subletting the Studio for a very reasonable £20 per hour, we may even have special offers from time to time. We have a full white seamless set up and also black, grey and many other wonderful colours for the other set up.

One of my plans for the future is to have photographers networking nights, a place for all the NE photographers to gather together, network, maybe drink a little wine and beer and maybe make some new valuable connections in the process.

We have props and furniture aplenty and you'll always be welcomed by a friendly face and a mug of coffee, well as soon as we find the kettle ;)

To book use of the studio all you'll have to do is visit http://www.the-photography-studio.co.uk/studio-hire to check availability and book your slot in. On that page you can also do a 360 tour of the studio, don't worry about the football portraits on the wall, they will not be there for very long ;)

Tommy and I are super excited about the future, sharing a studio has given us the ability to offer something we probably couldn't if we were on our own, I've always believed in studio sharing, it's always great to have someone to bounce ideas off and lessens that tuesday morning, lonely working alone feelings.

We also plan to rent some space to a makeup artist/hair stylist so if you are a local makeup artist/hair stylist looking to move out of home and looking for an unbeatable deal then please do get in touch with either me or Tommy, you can of course get to me by clicking on the contact tab of MandyCharlton.com

So to celebrate my move into the studio I would like to give one family or kids shoot away, all you have to do is leave a comment and I'll get someone to draw the name from the hat on Friday, you'll be saving yourself a whole £40 and of course all you will pay for is any prints you want afterwards.

I am sorry for the seemingly epic blogpost but it is business changing news for me and quite epic, don't worry I just have 1 final thing to say and that is....look out for your invite to our studio opening party and bring a bottle!!

Autumn is Awesome

2011-10-17T12:19:00.002+01:00

I am having the time of my life this Autumn, so many gorgeous outdoor shoots, lets hope it continues for another few weeks before Mr Snow comes along.

So here's just a few shots of the things I've gotten up to over the last week or so.

On Saturday morning I had a gorgeous early autumnal shoot in Jesmond Dene

Then I zipped over to Chester-le-Street to catch up with gorgeous Maisy who I last photographed when she was only a few weeks old.

Finally I went over to Durham to shoot some couples portraits for Katie and Chris

Last weekend was pretty epic as I shot Lucy and James Wedding at the Great North Museum, there'll be a full blog post on this when it's all edited, processed and the happy couple are back from honeymoon.

and the minute I left the wedding I sprinted up to St Andrews to shoot Jenny and Dan's couples portraits, more from this shoot soon as it's going to be featured on northern bridal super blog Brides Up North

There's so much going on at the minute that it's a really exciting time for Mandy Charlton Photography and by the end of the week I hope to have the biggest news yet, major, huge, enormous changes afoot.

Have a fabulous week lovely readers

Autumn is here!

2011-10-05T14:11:00.001+01:00

I adore Autumn, October is one of my favourite months of the year, I love the colours, the temperature, the light, it's the perfect weather for photography.

I shot my first real autumal session on Saturday, now I say it was my first really autumnal session, the fact that it was nearly 30c is beside the point, I did spend an awful lot of time lying on top of acorns and they're a bit bumpy at the best of times and not that comfortable to lie on let me tell you!!

That unseasonal end to September was lovely actually, Looby and I were down in Heaton Park on Friday night after school, she was dressed as a witch of course and there was a DJ spinning his decks, the whole place and everyone there was so chilled out, I loved every minute and I did take my camera of course...

Yes it really was a friday afternoon on the last day of September and people everywhere were chilling, having BBQ's and picnics, quite odd really but we had a lovely couple of hours.

Miss Looby dressed as a witch, she said she had to because it's nearly Halloween, who am I to argue with my daughter?

This was Loobys idea, she thought it would be a creative portrait, I think she's got a point!!

so this start to October is going well, work is seemingly flooding in and it's looking rather like I might shoot more weddings next year, I'm thinking 20 sounds like a good number but we'll see how it goes, if you are planning your 2012 wedding (or even a late 2011 one) please get in touch, prices start at £595, more details on my website

Portraits of course are also incredibly busy and it's a brilliant time to get outdoors with the kids or family and you can get my special price of only £20 instead of £40, I'm already booked up right until the end of October at weekends so click on my website and contact me!!

This weekend is going to be a big one, an amazing wedding at a location which is quite special to me and a shoot which will see me travel for hundreds of miles to a stunning location, lets all cross fingers and toes for great weather.

Finally today let me leave you with another couple of family photos, a trip to the farm on Loobys birthday and it looks like there may be a new love interest in Meandering Pauls life

Loobys official 8th birthday portrait, she's really growing up quickly now into a beautiful young lady

As for her sister Abigail may be nine but you wouldn't want to mess with this feisty lady

Meandering Paul and his new love interest, should I be worried? He does look quite interested in her don't you think?!

Until next time, keep smiling, even if it's only so other people will wonder what you've been getting up to!

a little bit of love from York and the yearly Christmas offer

2011-09-26T13:55:00.001+01:00

It's been a busy old time since I've been back at work and would you believe it I'm full of cold and germs, I'm trying to not let it get in the way of lots of portraits and fun but believe me when I say that the Benylin is working overtime!

So firstly I went off to photograph Laura and Tom in York on Friday, Laura is a wedding blogger extraordinaire getting married on Bonfire Night and if you want to see the whole collection of photos just hop over to her blog Bonfire Night Bride. here's just a couple of my favourites -

don't you just love their puppy Daisy, cutest doggy in the world!!

So, my second thing today was to launch my Christmas family portrait offer and I think I'll just let this photo say it all

and don't forget you can buy a gift certificate for a half price shoot to give at Christmas knowing you'll have saved money when they recipient books, all vouchers are valid for 1 year from the date of purchase.

Now I've heard a rumour that this week is going to be fantastic weatherwise and as the leaves have fallen from the trees it's the perfect time for leaf kicking and having fun outdoors capturing perfect family portraits, I have availability at the special price this weekend so if you want to take advantage either give me a call on 07918 121838 or email me

Portraiture, I won again!

2011-09-17T08:55:00.002+01:00

Well blow me over with a feather, I'm not even sure you can blow someone over with a feather but if you could that would be me right now!!

It seems the portraiture categories weren't announced until 3am this morning and I awoke to an email telling me that I'd won another 3 best of awards for the following portraits, how cool is that?!

To beat other international photographers who are amazing in wedding photography was astounding but to win in the portraiture sections (couples, women and children categories) is beyond my own belief, I am just so flippin greatful that I have such amazing clients who put their trust in me and let me create amazing images with them, dear reader I couldn't do this without my amazing clients.

A Very Happy Weekend!

I won, I won, I won

2011-09-16T12:30:00.002+01:00

Yes indeed, last night I heard news that I'd won 2 best of awards from the lovely people at Pixoto, I won 2 best of awards both in wedding photography categories (still desperate to win an award for portraiture and came so close it was almost painful)

I was competing against many internationally wonderful photographers, the competition is voted on soley by other professional photographers worldwide and competition was steep so I'm quite thrilled with these small wins.

I'm always quite taken aback when I win anything and obviously this is the first international awards that I've won, I never take it for granted though and I couldn't do it without the amazing couples I get to photograph.

It's certainly a great start to the weekend.

Blog Giveaway Winner

2011-09-13T08:49:00.000+01:00

I met up with Elanor on Saturday after she'd won a shoot on my blog last week. I've photographed one of Elanors daughters before but now she has 2 and I have to say that they were both total cuties and ever so well behaved.

This is just one shot of many which I love, there's nothing like shooting through a large tube, it makes a great frame don't you think.

Dressing Up, The Book is now available

2011-09-09T10:03:00.002+01:00

Dressing Up by Mandy Charlton | Make Your Own Book

I'm so pleased to be able to finally publish the book so that you can buy it for your friends and family this coming Christmas, it's going to make the ultimate stocking filler!

Back to Work, it's the Autumn term

2011-09-08T15:05:00.002+01:00

and so I returned to work this week feeling pretty fabulous and completely refreshed, of course it's always with a heavy heart I send the kids back to school but it does sort of feel like a new year for me too, lots of exciting plans in the works both professionally and personally and I hope that you'll stay round and join me on my adventures.

So first on todays list of things to tell you, I met these lovely people above for a Jack Vettriano inspired shoot down on the beach at Tynemouth, this is just one of many shots which I'm truly chuffed with.

On Tuesday I spoke at a seminar on "Memory Keeping and Shooting your Kids" and just want to thank everyone who came along on the evening, I really enjoyed sharing some of my favourite kids photos with you and chatting with a really friendly audience.

This autumn "Shoot Your Kids" kicks off, it's a half day course to help parents get the most out of their cameras so they can capture great photos of their kids, there'll be two seperate courses, 1 for parents with any camera or mobile phone and a slightly more advanced one for those parents with DSLR's and prices are likely to be in the region of £45 per person which will include an hour in a gorgeous quirky room with presentation and refreshments and then 2 hours of practical on location tips and I'm also promising to photograph every parent who brings their child along, and thats really the joy of this, it's a great thing to bring the kids too!

The course will only be for a maximum of 5 parents per session to make sure that I can spend lots of time helping and advising and having fun and I do expect that it will sell out quite quickly

To register your inital interest (and at this point it's just that, no commitment required at this point) just drop and email to mandy@mandycharlton.com and tell me which one you are most interested in.

Next week I'll be announcing a special Christmas Photoshoot package, these are always popular and fill my diary from October - February so keep a look out because I'd hate for people to miss out.

Published in Hitched Magazine and a giveaway

2011-09-03T11:45:00.001+01:00

So it's been a busy old summer doing family things but I'm happy that it's the start of a new term for me as well as the kids and yesterday news reached me via the very wonderful Julia that I'm published in Hitched magazine, a national publication read by thousands of brides, you can read more about it on Julias Brides Up North Blog and you'll also see that I had a 2 page spread in the Evening Chronicle last Friday!!

Yesterday I photographed these gorgeous girls -

and now I think it's the perfect time to start booking shoots if you are thinking of giving photographic gifts at Christmas, a family shoot is only £40 and you get your favourite shot as an 8x12, you also get a gallery for 30 days and 15% off all prices for the first 7 days, prints start at £8 for a 7x5.

With that in mind I'd like to give away a shoot, all you'll pay for is the prints saving yourself a whopping £40, you can't get a better deal than that now can you?

So all you need to do is leave a comment and I'll pick a winner and arrange the shoot, I'm happy to travel to shoots but I do charge 40p per mile if you are over 15-20 miles away.

So happy Saturday everyone :)

Carlisle, a bank holiday getaway

2011-08-30T18:40:00.000+01:00

So if you saw yesterdays post you'll have realised that our roving reporters Looby and Abigail recorded video at Carlisle Castle yesterday, we really did have a good day out although I kind of liked the Cathedral best of all if I'm honest, I really recommend that you see it if you have a couple of hours to kill in Carlisle.

I actually had my camera with me yesterday, I took it purposely, shocker!

here's a few highlights of the day -

we were fully eco and carbon friendly and got the train, because of our family railcard it was £26 for the 4 of us, I'm pretty sure that cost less than it would have for petrol and parking.

Looby snapped a photo of moi, she's getting good, I just wish I'd have worn makeup!

The edges of the walls of the city just next to the station

we're off to explore the Cathedral

They both lit candles, Looby prayed for people to stop fighting, Abigail said she prayed that she could stop back chatting and be a nicer person.

A very impressive ceiling

In the underpass as we went across to the Castle we found our surname, photo opp!

we're off to see more history at the Castle, we got in free with our English Heritage membership, if you don't have one expect to pay around £20 for a family of 4

Looking out of the castle keep

Looby and Abigail playing war games

a view of Carlisle from the top of the castle

A view of the military barracks

My lovely girls.

We did enjoy a thoroughly good day out in Carlisle and I'd go again, probably at Christmas for the shopping!!

Looby and Abigails video diaries from Carlisle Castle

2011-08-29T19:05:00.000+01:00

So today we went on the train to Carlisle for the day visiting the Cathedral and Castle, I took a few photos and I'll share our day tomorrow, while we were there Looby asked if we could take some video clips because she likes to remember herself in videos so with my handy iPhone we did 3 videos...

This one was in the castle keep so it's fully dark and atmospheric

Looby asked Abigail to give a quick video report for the Laura news

and finally Looby finished off with part 2 of her guide to Carlisle castle. I'm loving how they want to get involved with my blog and it's great to have new moving memories of them that we can all look back on in future years.

Whatever you got up to this bank holiday weekend I hope you got to create some fabulous memories

Maize Mazes, Fruit Picking and a lovely morning at Brockbushes

2011-08-28T14:32:00.000+01:00

It's a bank holiday weekend and so we decided that we needed to atleast attempt a day out with the whole family, we sort of fell at the first hurdle because Iain wasn't even out of bed but thats teenagers for you, excuse the mix of iPhone and Instagrams in this post, I do actually like the iphone HDR photos though and don't always want everything to be square!

We'd heard about the Maze Maize at Brockbushes, just outside of Corbridge in Northumberland and so we set off for the maze after a hearty breakfast in their tea rooms, you can't complain at a full english breakfast plus toast and coffee for under a fiver!

The maze is huge, it's designed in the shape of an owl, well it would be if you could see it with a helicopter!

here's me and Looby pretending we're in the jungle!

It has pretty sunflowers at the edge of it, it's funny but when I'm in these Mazes I always feel like im in that classic movie "Field of Dreams"

Looby found a corn cob proving that yes the Maize was err actually Maize

Onwards we marched towards the middle, I have to say that there were points where I felt like I'd just paid £10 to have arguements about which direction we should go in

Finally we made it to the middle and let me tell you that it wasn't quite so hard to get back out thankfully! After the maze we decided to go and pick our own fruit as demonstrated here by Looby

at one point she turned to me and said "I love plums mammy but not as much as I love you"

we were careful not to pick too many because you know you can get carried away in these situations but we got some plums, raspberries and broad beans for the princely sum of £5.91

Meandering Paul was in a sunny mood so we all had a lovely time, after the fruit picking we went to the farm shop and picked up ingredients for tonights dinner, gammon with a honey and mustard glaze followed by Eton Mess using raspberries instead of strawberries.

While we were roaming the fields we noticed they were growing pumpkins so you can be sure we'll be back in a few weeks for some pumpkin patch photos. I also noticed that at Halloween their maize maze becomes a field of screams, will I be brave enough to enter I'm not sure but I think Meandering Paul will be back there, he likes to be scared, he'd probably tell you thats why he married me ;)

Crafty Goings On

2011-08-27T13:17:00.000+01:00

I decided in light of the fact that I've been fighting an ear infection for nearly 3 weeks that I'd take the whole weekend off and concentrate on scrapbooking in the kitchen and so I thought I'd share what I've been up to so far.

I've been working in 8.5x11 a lot this weekend, I find it's quicker and I tend to make simpler layouts and with 500 photos to catch up on from the wilderness years where I didn't scrap (june 2007-nov 2010) I think speediness has to come into it. This first layout is a tribute to the fact that whenever we have photos together Meandering Paul always pulls silly faces, together we're not quite picture perfect!

I'm not one of those scrappers who only scraps the perfect parts of life, I think it's important to let our ancestors see that, well not everything always goes to plan and so this next layout is of the Christmas where Meandering Paul couldn't remove himself from the sofa and was a bit crabby due to over indulgence on Christmas Eve when I was ill and couldn't stop him.

another 2009 photo, we went to Hartlepool historic Marina, thats not really the point, the point is I think it was the last time both of the girls wore anything matching and pink, Abigail definitely isn't a girly girl and Looby, although she's girly she says of pink "it's my worst favourite colour mammy"

Yesterday I got a lovely box of Amy Tangerine stash and OMG it's blimmin lovely, straight to the pile of photos I went and scrapped this photo from 2010 at Alton Towers, spiritual home of the Charltons.

Finally something scrapped with my August 2011 Sarahs Card Kit

my first month as a subscriber and I loved this box full of goodies, I scrapped photos from the summer holidays 2010, a year when we had so many adventures, I did remark to the girls that summer 2010 was the summer of fun, sadly summer 2011 has been the summer of ill for lots of different reasons.

I most definitely have my scrappy happy head on at the moment so I'm off to the kitchen table again to create more works of art to leave a legacy to my ancestors.

A little light reflection

2011-08-26T09:15:00.000+01:00

So last night, Looby was on the computer googling, let me tell you a 7 year old with the power of Google is a scary thing. It was quite sweet though when she found me through a google search, she hadn't faired so well with her daddy so it was a bit like magical surprise when she found me!

She found my blog, I always knew that one day my kids would find it and I'm so glad they did because they spent the next hour looking at old photos of themselves (my blog began in 2006 when Looby was only 2) and watching old home video clips that I put up there, I'm so glad I had the chance to capture her cuteness and bottle it forever.

I looked at my blog stats and realised I rarely blog anymore, well not in comparison to how often I used to, in 2006 I blogged an astonishing 400+ times, this steadily declined and after I started my business it's down to about 60 posts a year.

Looby also noted that my blog was full of strangers and not enough photos of them, I did explain that I blog everything including favourite shots of clients and she's fine with that as long as I blog more photos of them and so dear reader that is the task I am setting myself, I have taken back my blog, given it a fresh look and now it's time to try and use it more often to blog our daily lives and our memories so that when they sit reading with their kids on their laps their kids will also marvel at a 2 year old Looby saying "Bye Bye Everybody".

My quest to document more of our lives has begun....

A little Thursday Update

2011-08-18T07:46:00.000+01:00

You may have noticed some not so subtle improvements to my blog, I thought it deserved a makeover after it's looked the same since at least 2008! So it's meant to be a little less serious and a bit more fun, I also realise that sometimes I post about personal things and sometimes I post about business things, well it's my blog and thats my life so if you're here to learn all about me try the personal tag and if you are here for instance because you're thinking of hiring me as your photographer for your wedding click on the weddings tag! Simples!

There's been a lot of kitten fun going on in our house with our foster kittens who are now getting towards 5 weeks old, they're so cute!

Poor Looby fell from a cartwheeling twirl and we had to go to casualty, they plastered her up saying it was a broken elbow but when we went to the fracture clinic the next day they decided they didn't know if it was a fracture or tendon damage so they've taken the plaster off again and will xray in 2 weeks and until then she's supposed to wear a sling which she hates!

Can someone tell me whats happened to my tomato plants this year, they're monsters and have overtaken the back of the garden

Sunday, my girls finally got to see the grafitti wall

You just can't beat a cute kitten

So this week has been another summer holidays week and thats bad for productivity but it's great for having fun with the kids, another couple of weeks though and I'll be devastated when they go back to school, I really love having them all at home with me.

The Lets Go Retro Challenge

2011-08-16T11:05:00.000+01:00

Oh boy, I can't even believe I'm about to share this one, photo is so embarrasing! Shimelle challenged us to go retro and scrapbook an old photo.

The photo is of me and my brother in 1981!!

The journalling reads "1981, I was 7 and my brother was 4, our first school photo together, I think my fringe and my brothers jumper says it all really, welcome to the 80's"

Pretty much everything I've used was from the October Afternoon Rocket Age range as it's perfect for retro photos and the robot stamp I've had for yonks and used it for the very first time here.

A Colour Story Challenge

2011-08-16T10:58:00.000+01:00

Shimelle challenged us to create a layout using red white and aqua, a huge challenge for me as they're not colours I usually use but I found a photo from Christmas which needed to be scrapped and this is what I came up with -

The journalling reads "This year santa brought you chipboard letters, for other kids this might have seemed quite random but not for my mini crafting divas"

This is the first Christmas layout I have scrapped for years so I'm pleased as punch that the challenge was set.

The From The Heart Challenge

2011-08-16T10:45:00.001+01:00

Shimelle challenged us to make a layout which had the title of I heart or I love and so of course I couldn't think of anything more appropriate than to scrap a photograph of me and hubby from our vow renewal last year, I can't remember who took it but it was either Jamie Emerson or Matt Wagster, a simply gorgeous photo! I've given the layout a vintage feel and I love the muted pinks, the journalling reads "We've been married for over 11 years and it's still one big adventure, we have so few photos together that I cherish all the ones from our vow renewal last April"

Holy 4th Layout Batman, it's the Grid It Up Scrapbook Challenge

2011-08-13T20:24:00.000+01:00

4 layouts in a day and I think possibly my last of the day because phew, creativity is tiring, I wonder if thats why the man of the house has been asleep for the last 3 hours on the settee, no wait, thats Footy, beer and footy on TV!

So Shimelle challenged us to create a scrapbook layout which had a grid of some description -

and so several Instagrams and 1 scrapbook page later I give you Snippets, the journalling reads "I take photos with my iPhone every single day, I have a constant thirst to document our daily lives and even though most of these photos aren't the best quality and it's unlikely they'll ever win any awards they are snippets of my life"

I kept this page quite simple because of the hugerific photo, so just a bit of Kaiser Craft Peechy Keen, some Cosmo Cricket letters, a bit of bling and ribbon and finally a pink plastic rose, who knows where that came from but it just kind of works.

If you are catching up, just starting or planning to scrapbook on through the night have fun!

The Chop Your Paper Challenge

2011-08-13T17:51:00.000+01:00

This time Shimelle challenged us to simply use patterened paper to embellish the whole page, now I love embellishments so only using 2 pieces of paper for the whole layout was a bit of a challenge -

I used 2 sheets from Cosmo Crickets Material Girl stack to create Craft Material Girl, a tribute to myself and my love of craft, the journalling reads "In 2004 I discovered Scrapbooking and it literally changed my life, I love my life now and I'm proud to be a scrapbooker"

I've handcut some of the flowers and the other ones along with the owls were Martha Stewart punches, I've raised mostly all of the things from the page and for the middles I've used Ranger Perfect Pearls, this page really was a challenge but I'm happy with it and I got to scrapbook a photo of me which I took with my iPhone one night as I was on my way out for a glam night out!

Starting Point Challenge

2011-08-13T13:36:00.000+01:00

The first challenge I decided to try for Shimelles Proud to be a scrapbooker weekend was the Starting Point Challenge, it seemed to be the simplest way to get myself going as she gave a starting point and all you had to do was follow along and then after you had the same basic elements make it your own.

I chose to scrap another one of my iPhone photos, now it's not usually like me to scrapbook random things instead of the kids but this photo represents a dream that both me and hubby have - the Journalling reads "This old house may not look like much but it's our dream house in Tynemouth, all thats stands between us and a fully renovated dream house is half a million pounds"

I've used the Stella Rose range of papers from My Minds Eye and added some bling, well rather a lot of it actually, Prima and Kars are the companies responsible for all of the page elements. The title stickers are Making Memories, the only thing I have no idea where they came from are those flower pins.

If you haven't guessed it by now I love bling!

A Stickery Challenge

2011-08-13T13:25:00.000+01:00

Let me preface this by saying that over on Shimelle.com she's having a proud to be a scrapbooker weekend with challenges and prizes aplenty and so having a rare Saturday with no weddings or portraits I thought it was a good chance to spend the day in the kitchen getting dirty with ink and paper.

So this challenge was about using Stickers from different ranges and using them together, I've used Queen and Co and Sassafrass felt stickers to compile this layout of my two gorgeous girls.

for me this weekend was about getting some photos used up which I won't put in frames, they're just from my iPhone so not the best quality but with a few added embellishments on a scrapbook page it turns them into their very own pieces of scrapbooking art.

The queen and co felt flowers and vines came as a huge wide strip so they've been hacked to make something a little gentler and then I've added the felties from Sassafrass along with a bit of Bling, the paper and statement is from the Be Loved range by My Minds Eye.

Stay tuned, my next blog is coming up in just a few minutes with another challenge completed.

It's My Friday roundup

2011-08-12T09:35:00.000+01:00

It's that day of the week again, the hallowed day of Friday, even though I mostly work weekends I still get that Friday feeling! Here's my round up of everything that's been going down in my world this past week.

On Sunday it was Hayley and Andrews wedding at The Assembly Rooms in Newcastle, it rained quite a lot but what a day we had with them, hubby assisted and i have to say he did a brilliant job, I'm still editing all of the photos so this is just a teaser of what is to come.

It wasn't all work and no play, in a quiet moment and while I was testing my flash for the first dance hubby decided he would become mild mannered asst pinching my glasses, seriously I think he looks hot!! Shame he's got perfect vision eh?!

My other highlight of the week was taking Abigail up to Alnwick, she loves Alnwick Castle because she's a huge Harry Potter fan, I would love to photograph a wedding at Alnwick Castle so if you are a bride planning your wedding there please do get in touch :)

We had a fabulous day and my favourite part was broomstick training!

See, she can fly ;)

Levitating the broomstick, now that truly is cool.

This week has been another lovely summer holiday week, I realise that our country hasn't had the best of weeks with looting and rioting and whilst I have quite strong views on these subjects, I don't think that blogging them is appropriate, what I will say is that Twitter and Facebook have been the things that helped me launch my business and help to keep it going every day, I've made so many wonderful friends and received so much support through the wonder of social media that I just want to remind people, it's only a tiny minority who are using social media for negative reasons.

Happy Friday everyone!

Christine and Michael are married

2011-08-04T10:44:00.001+01:00

My beautiful friend Christine got married to her true love Michael last Friday at St Marys Heworth followed by Eslington Villas, which by the way if you are a north east bride planning a smaller wedding you couldn't fault Eslington Villa, it really is a special kind of place and it was a really special day and I'm so utterly delighted that I got to record it

here's just a few previews from the day, we started the day with Mike at the Barbers

and then we popped to Christines mums where we were greeted by this happy chap!

It's that getting into the dress moment!

because Christine and Michael are such good friends I also got to share the day with my gorgeous family and yes thanks to the talents of Jamie Emerson we got a new family portrait

and yes there's me with my camera, that doesn't happen very often ;)

Married!

Their gorgeous little family is complete!

Christine and Michael, thank you so much for sharing your day with me, I love you so much and I hope that you have a long and happy marriage together.

For a very limited period of time (20/08/11) I'm including my brand new 12x12 photobooks in all packages, prices start from £749 for 4 hours, if you want to meet with me to talk about your 2011 or 2012 wedding please either visit http://mandycharlton.com and fill out the contact form or call me on 07918 121838 or as ever you can email mandy@mandycharlton.com

All about Christine

2011-07-28T10:35:00.000+01:00

Todays post is all about one of my very best friends, Christine, tomorrow she's going to tie the knot to her true love Michael and as well as hubby and the kids coming with me to celebrate our friends love I also get to be their wedding photographer, a great honour indeed but in the words of Christine she just doesn't trust anyone else.

I first met Christine when she contacted me to take some 21st portraits of her, on the first meeting we got on like a house on fire even though there's a considerable age difference, that was in 2008 and we've been through lots together since then, she's settled down, met Michael, got engaged, bought a house, had baby Benjamin and now tomorrow she's getting married!!

I'm so happy that Christine found me when she was looking for a photographer all those years ago and I'm so thankful that we became such great friends, Christine, tomorrow is your big day and I can't wait to photograph it and help you celebrate, all of the Charltons love you so much it's going to be a fabulous day, see you tomorrow and don't forget to have the bacon sandwiches ready ;)

Mandy Charlton has not been abducted by aliens

2011-07-22T15:13:00.000+01:00

Despite it being over a month since I last blogged I can actually confirm that the aliens did not abduct me. Life is a funny thing, you think you have all the time in the world and then you realise it's July and it's only a few months until Christmas!!

So because I've got no chance of ever catching up I'll use this catch up post to share some photos of recent favourite photos.

These last few images are jointly credited to Jamie Emerson with whom I collaborated (and who is also a wonderful talented friend and photographer) on the Brides Up North Bridal Belles photoshoot if you click on that link you'll get to see the whole collection of photographs. They really are deserved of their own blog post but who knows if that will actually happen, you might have guessed but blogging hasn't exactly been top of my list over this last couple of months.

As well as all the working we did get to go to and stay in a quaint scottish castle for a mini break,I got to sleep princess like on a huge bed in a Turret!!

Over the next 6 weeks it's the summer holidays and time for me to have fun with the kids while shooting just a couple of weddings, I am available for portraits and if you want to give photographic gifts for Christmas this year perhaps consider having these portraits shot over the next six weeks when the weather will hopefully be better than it is in October, I did say hopefully though....

The weekend, my garden and what happened to all the sunshine

2011-06-19T21:46:00.000+01:00

You know, there's been times when I've gone months between weekends off and the sunshine has gloriously shined and I've missed it all, so I really thought this whole working less plan would be super and I'd get to enjoy lots of sunny family days out at weekends and my pale milky skin would take on that healthy peachy sunny glow, well let me tell you it hasn't!

It seems that when I have weekends off it rains, and rains and then it rains a bit more!

On Friday I treat my gorgeous husband to his very first pair of Irregular choice, well you know how I love them so it seemed like about time he had some, I bought him some gorgeous boots which have a stencilled Chrysanthemum up the side of them, quite appropriate for a gardener really, I shall of course be posting a lil instagram photo when they arrive!

On Saturday, in the rain, we went shopping first of all and lovely hubbykins must have been feeling uber lovely and reciprocated my shoe gift by buying me these babies from Garage shoes.

Orange and Peacock blue they are and ever so high, I need an occasion of mucho fabulousness to wear them!

After the shopping we went to the Heaton Festival where it rained, and rained and well you get the picture...

We made the best of it and Meandering Paul played hide and seek with what I'd call a mixed degree of success

We came home shortly after that because we were wetter than we were dry, I think though if it had been a gorgeous sunny day that the festival would have been a runaway success and I really hope they repeat it on a sunny Saturday next year.

Today we woke up to a dry day so the plan was to have brunch letting the Meandering one enjoy the luxury of a lovely lie in, the girls were very excited because they'd made and bought lots of little gifts for him for Fathers day, he loved it all, he does like being the centre of attention but I have to say credit where credit is due, he's an amazing dad to our 3 errant children and we make a brilliant parenting team.

So off in the car we went to the Seaham car boot sale, you see I'm desperate for a new dinner service, people keep smashing plates and for brunch today we used 3 dinner plates, a platter and a flan dish!

Sadly just as we were approaching the heavens opened and they didn't stop opening for quite some time so we came home and tonight we had sunday dinner on 3 plates, a platter and a flan dish! Dear readers I simply cannot buy a new dinner service, I want old and vintage preferably, I'm not actually praying for some rain so hubby can take me to Morpeth to the charity shops where we'll hopefully get a new to us one, thats where the current one came from, can you believe we had 8 dinner plates, the cost of having no carpets me thinks, atleast with carpets sometimes they bounce, not so much with hard flooring!

This afternoon when the rain had just stopped I had a wander to see what was going on in our postage stamp of a garden and it seems the plants are actually quite liking the rain, I have enough salad leaves to feed the street and if the radishes get much bigger they'll be eating us!

Lets hope this little yellow flower becomes a huge halloween pumpkin!

My favourite of all our plants is our Gunnera Manicata, it's not exactly pretty but it's interesting and this one is called gertrude and she loves living in a dark muggy bog, for the first time in ages I can actually see her smiling as she sits in our usually dry garden.

and so we're reaching the end of another weekend, I am off again next Saturday so don't plan for sunshine but I've shoots and lots of work this week and on Sunday so they may be your days to plan your sunbathing.

This week in Instagrams.....

2011-06-16T09:01:00.000+01:00

How can it possibly be Thursday again, 1 whole week since my last post, each week I'm so determined to blog more often and then before you can say two posts in a week it's been a week already!

So here's whats be going on in my little world of the strange this week, mostly captured by the wonder that is fabulous iPhone app Instagram.

Much excitement yesterday as my latest pair of Irregular Choice shoes arrived, I think they might be my favourite pair ever!

They are all kinds of fabulous and so very very me, I just need to find a suitable occasion on which to wear them.

On Tuesday I was outside in that splendid sunshine we had when I noticed our Alliums were looking gorgeous so a quick snap later...

Just in case you missed Tuesday it was glorious, barely a cloud in the sky

I've also managed to squeeze in some time to see my little adopted nephew Benjamin who I have to say loves his Auntie Mandy and makes me a very happy lady indeed with his gorgeousness and giggles, not long now till I shoot his mummys wedding!

This was his little face after I'd given him a bottle, can you say Milk Coma?

Our weekend was quite restful apart from me shooting a wedding up at Lumley Castle on Sunday.

Lots of it was spent enjoying the grand prix which always does this to my husband, he's like Pavlov's dog

Saturday was the rainiest day I can remember for ages, it just rained and rained and rained, this happens every year when our Lillies bloom, this one does look awfully pretty with those chunky raindrops on it's petals though doesn't it?

We went out on Friday night and had a brilliant night with friends, I reassured myself with this self shot photograph that for 37 I could look much worse, after now what must be around a year of taking photos of myself I'm finally getting used to my own face, if you hate your photo (or your face) try it, I promise it really helps!

Friday last week was windy in the afternoon but oh my the sky

and that was it back in time to a week ago, so what happened in your week and did you manage to capture any of it?

A list for Thursday

2011-06-09T07:54:00.000+01:00

Another personal post from me, I'm wanting to get back in touch with my blog, I want to blog more often, my blog is history, I should post more about life love and everything, after all business is just 1 part of my life!

So here's my 10 for Thursday

1. Why did my brain and body clock decide that I needed to get up at 5.30am this morning? The other night I was in bed by half eight, what on earth is going on?

2. I'm so enjoying sewing with my antique Singer sewing machine, I think we worked out that it's something like 110 years old and whenever I'm stitching with it I wonder about all the women who've stitched with it before me.

3. My brain as ever is crowded with creativity, when I'm not working I'm being creative with paper, scissors and glue.

4. I've decided that we are going to have a TV free summer, Looby thinks this is a great idea, Abigail says she is moving out for the summer, I haven't spoken to Iain about it yet, we may not get rid of it completely ( I need my Apprentice fix) but we will majorly cut down and go out and have adventures.

5. Mollie Makes is my new favourite publication, I'm so glad I subscribed!

6. Cannot wait for school to be done and the summer holidays to commence, not a clue what we'll do but definitely a few days away to somewhere new, last year Looby and I went to Cardiff, who knows who'll want to come and where we'll go this year, I'm thinking maybe North Wales might be nice or somewhere in Scotland but no idea where.

7. Out tomorrow night to the Geekest Drink, hubby has a football meeting but is coming to meet me after, ooh it's like a proper date from the old days!

8. My first Sunday wedding of the year this weekend, I always panic about Sunday weddings on the Saturday in case I have the wrong day, it's a recurrent nightmare and even after 4 years in business I still have to reassure myself that people don't just get married on Saturdays, I should know, we got married on a Friday and renewed our vows on a Wednesday.

9. Where is all the rain this year, my gardener husband only ever feels he can take a day off when it rains, this year is the driest year ever! Please pass a couple of days of heavy rain for the plants, the ever browning grass and more importantly so I can have a couple of days love-in with my husband.

10. I was on Radio Newcastle earlier this week, if you want to have a listen just go here and go to 2hrs 21 mins and you'll hear me talking about the sexualisation of children report and how I have a continued plan to ensure that my kids don't become Chavs or pregnant teenagers, you wouldn't believe some of the lengths I've gone to but thats another post for another day.

Happy Thursday, hold on in there the weekend is in sight

Hurrah for Scrapbooking

2011-06-05T16:42:00.000+01:00

Back in 2003 I discovered Scrapbooking and it literally changed my life and helped lead me to the career I have now, sadly when I started my business in 2007 there just wasn't enough hours in the day and my scrapbooking fell by the wayside.

Well hurray, hurrah, hurrooh! (as Hugh Laurie once said in Blackadder) this week I have completed 7 layouts, the first pages in 4 years and as we've just bought a welsh dresser for the kitchen I have been able to reorganise things so that if I do have a few moments spare I can devote them to my favourite hobby.

and so with a wink and a smile at the end of the loveliest week off in ages I'd like to share just a few of those pages.

and so there you have it, if you've never heard of scrapbooking this is pretty much a good introduction and if you already have then this is my style, it's sort of like my photography style really, quirky, ecclectic and above all fun!

I have to say that I find it incredibly relaxing and I'm passionate that our ancestors will know about what we got up to while we had our time on this planet, you see I love photography and the legacy of leaving boxes of photos for the future Charltons to look through but I want them to know more, I want them to actually feel like they have a link to the past, I just hope the world doesn't end before that happens, haha!

Photography and Design {guest blog}

2011-06-01T10:18:00.000+01:00

Todays blog post is a guest post by the lovely Amy at Whiteacres Design and Amy is going to tell us why good design sits side by side with great photographs, in this instance 2 projects we worked together on.

You’ve got a great product or service, you’ve had your branding created, your business cards are printed and look swanky, you go to a networking event and hand some out, enthusing about your great product or service, a potential client goes on your website and finds a photograph that you took yourself in the garden using your digital camera – anyone can take a great photo these days right? But it lacks something, you can’t put your finger on it, and next to that amazing branding you paid for it just doesn’t quite cut it….

Photography can make or break a design. It doesn’t matter how wonderfully a website or a leaflets is designed, if the photography used is poor quality then it’s not going to work so well, it will degrade the design. A photograph is often the main element that people will look at, this will help them to gain a thorough picture of the business and this should work beautifully, seamlessly alongside the design it’s used with.

Professional photography will help your business look professional. It will show your product or service in the best possible light, whilst adding that bit of oomph that will make people stay on your website and look around, or keep your leaflet on the notice board until they need you.

Photography is an investment in your business. I love it when clients stretch their budget and have excellent imagery for me to use. It really does help to set a tone for the design, give a better impression of the business, and it makes my efforts look just that bit better!

A bad photograph can ruin an otherwise perfect piece of design work. It can detract from this, but will also make a business look bad. A photographer can work magic with a camera and help to instill your business values, create a good first impression and make people want to find out more. When commissioning design work ensure you talk to your designer about the quality of your imagery, and how you are going to stand out from the crowd.

Stacey and Chris a photo love story [Mandy Charlton, Newcastle Photographer]

2011-05-18T10:00:00.002+01:00

I met up with Stacey and Chris to create the following photo love story, I want to thank them for being such great sports and having enormous fun and I want to encourage you, yes you couples of Britain to find new and interesting quirky ways of showing your love and then I want you to come and book me to photograph it and present it like this!!

so on with the photo love story -

The True Definition of a Virtual Assistant - {guest blog}

2011-05-10T12:59:00.003+01:00

Today I have a guest blog from this lovely lady who is a VA in the NE of England and also happens to be one of my favourite people, here she tells us in her own special way the true definition of a VA.

If you look up the definition of a Virtual Assistant on Wikipedia you will find this this: “A virtual assistant is an entrepreneur who provides professional administrative, technical, or creative (social) assistance to clients from a home office”. Well that's fair enough, and technically accurate, but to be perfectly honest it misses out the true definitions: “Lifesaver”, “Godsend” and “Miracle Worker” all spring to mind!
What a Virtual Assistant can really offer you is time. Time to focus on doing the things you want to do. All those things that you thought you'd be able to do when you set up you own business. You can take time off to pick the kids up from school, you can actually finish on time rather than working into the early hours, and most of all you can focus on the things that generate income and build your business. Do you want to spend hours every day reading non-essential emails, or cleaning up your database? These time consuming activities need to be done, but surely your time would be best spend meeting clients face to face, completing their projects on time and building your company's reputation, right?
They can also provide an immediate service, depending on their schedule, meaning if you have a project that's running tight to a deadline and you need some help at short notice, your VA can step in and give you the assistance you need to complete on time. See what I mean about lifesaver? Imagine trying to advertise, interview and hire a member of staff to help you out in such a short space of time. Impossible! A VA really can be your saving grace when the pressure is on and you have more work than time.
The best thing about hiring a VA is they don't have to sit in your office to carry out these tasks. You can email the work that needs to be completed, give instruction over the phone or, if you still party like its 1999, you can even fax the work over! You only pay them for the work they do, not for the work they do plus time they spend on your computer at your desk using your electricity browsing the internet on your time. You hire them for a set number of hours, with a fee agreed up front so you stay completely in control of your budget, and once the project is complete that's it! Done! All your work is complete, you've saved a fortune in overheads associated with taking on a new staff member and you've managed to make it home in time for putting your kids/wife/dog to bed.
Want to know another secret about VA's? They know people. They've built up professional relationships and can use these to save you money. Need a new website? Your Virtual Assistant knows this talented agency that can give you a great deal. Need some leaflets printed out? Your Virtual assistant has a fantastic contact who can shave big bucks off your current supplier's prices. VA's are great networkers, and if they can get you a good deal they will.
In short VA's save you money while making your life a whole lot easier.
If you run your own business and are finding yourself buried under a pile of administrative work so deep you can no longer find your phone, never mind use it to keep in touch with your clients, maybe it's time you thought about the benefits of hiring a short term, low cost solution to your worries.
--
Li is a Gateshead based Virtual Assistant providing low cost and flexible secretarial, administrative, events and research services to small businesses. For more information about how Li can help your business why not stop in to her webspace at www.lisherryva.co.uk

So, this is what I've been up to lately [newcastle wedding and portrait photographer]

2011-05-04T13:54:00.000+01:00

In addition to lounging around the countryside in a tent I've also been working really hard as usual but because I'm so busy I never really devote enough time to blogging so here's one of those famous catchup posts with highlights of my latest work.

When Julie and Stephen from Applause Accountancy Services wanted some new headshots I of course was delighted to shoot them, I don't do boring headshots, remember when people first see your photo thats the overall impression they're going to get of you and your business so why would you want to have a bland white background? Take this opportunity to show your personality and get out on location if possible.

Burnside School are building a new website so I got to go and spend the day in the life of a school, I had a wonderful time with the kids and teachers and again I captured things in my very own style, after all who wants a boring website?!

Harry is one of the last babies I've photographed, here with his little bear how cute is he?

I spent a week in Ponteland photographing the kids and parents of Kindermusik, these little ones have such fun responding to music, if you have a baby aged 0-4 then your kids are going to love this, they'll dance and sing and spin and jump and play with parachutes, it really is an amazing thing to do with your little one

and so to that band we all know and love, Villain Thomas who held the launch for their new EP "The Waters down at As You Like It last week, an incredible night with amazing music, lots of friends and familiar faces, full blog post coming on this later this week.

Oh look it's James of My Other Life with his beautiful wife Anila, news coming soon of our project we're working together on

Backing dancers?

ah Olivia, what a poppet, I wish all little ones were as smiley and full of sunshine as this little one

Finally it's Olivia, William and family down on the beach at Tynemouth, lovely kids and even the dog played

and so thats my brief history of the last month, sure I've still managed to miss bits and pieces but I'll get there and so if you are looking forward to a long hot summer it's a brilliant time to book your family portraits, you can get in touch or see more of my work by going to my all new and wonderful spangly website mandycharlton.com

If you are looking for headshots, want an event shot, or want to commission me for your special project then get in touch, I love my wonderful varied life of fantastic people and wonderful projects, there's pretty much nothing I can't photograph and put my own quirky spin on!

The Charltons go camping and other wonderous holiday activities

2011-05-02T20:36:00.000+01:00

This week off has been bliss, nearly 10 whole days with the kids and for several of them even hubby managed to be not at work. on the Easter weekend we entertained ourselves at Kielder and then Belsay Hall and then this weekend we went on our inaugural camping trip!

Staying at Dunroamin Farm Camping and Caravan Site in Kirkinner on the beautiful Southwest coast of Scotland we had a blissful weekend and I have to say that living under canvas officially rocks! I have to say that the site itself was gorgeous, the most amazing display of stars I have ever seen and the facilities were all beautifully clean one thing I had worried about. I'd thoroughly recommend staying there, especially if you have kids because they have loads of stuff for the kids to do including a games room, adventure playground, basketball ring and plenty of balls, they even have a sandpit!! Our kids also made friends with the other kids on site which was so lovely. Here's some highlights of our Easter breaks

Starting with one taken by Iain, yeah he's getting good though I've given him a tip to try not to cut his sister off doing arty things!

Kielder, just as we were leaving on the Osprey ferry

Love this one of Iain but oh my he's getting so big, he could be in a boyband!

The Creetown Gemrock museum, I swear that Looby has a career in comedy ahead of her, love the gemrock museum, definitely a must visit if you're staying in the area, kids will love it.

Wigtown is gorgeous but if you have a chance walk down to the harbour for views like this, absolutely gorgeous!

Adore this portrait of Looby, she wasn't the happiest of bunnies when this was taken

Next to the Caravan site was several farms and an evening walk with Looby meant that I got to photograph some of them.

This is the view you wake up to every morning, I'd swap Newcastle for here any day of the week

One of the local sheepdogs, love this photo

Yesterday we went to the Logan Botanic Gardens, what an amazing coastal garden this is and we had the perfect day to visit it.

Looby in amongst the bluebells in the woodland at Logan

and of course the Gunnera is at it's most magnificent at Logan, definitely a highlight, I just wish the Gunnera in our garden would grow as big as it does at Logan

Finally got a photograph of all my gorgeous kids together, proud mummy I am

The Mull of Galloway, Scotlands most southerly point, some great views and plenty of wildlife

Now there's a cool portrait of the kids

The beach at Port Logan, next time we will get to the Logan Fish Pool

Last night we went for dinner at Portpatrick, one of my favourite little Scottish villages, if I was going to move to Scotland I'd love to live somewhere like this.

Last night I just managed to catch the sunset as we returned to our tent, I'm so thankful to be blessed with such a brilliant little family who enjoy our adventures as much as I do. Without them, none of this would be a possibility.

Villain Thomas, My Other Life, Yes I am cool actually!

2011-04-12T09:41:00.000+01:00

I always wanted to photograph bands, it's what the cool kids were doing when I was photographing cute babies and children, something which I absolutely love and feel no need to apologise. The thing is that I'd just never had the opportunity to photograph a band but I knew one day I would and on that day I would be pretty darn fantastic! Now anyone who knows me knows I am the queen of a quirky concept, really I think it's probably more that I am the Queen of Quirky but what the hey I'm not going to complain.

So a couple of months ago I received an interesting opportunity, would I like to photograph one of Newcastles rising stars, would I like to photograph the awesome Villain Thomas, aye said she, lets go to a nature reserve on a late afternoon for soft hazy light, well that sort of didn't happen and we ended up at St Mary's Island at mid-day in glaring sunshine clambering over rocks with tons of camera gear, situation and lighting not so perfect but you work with what you've got so I rocked it, well just a little bit, it's taken me a long time to be so confident in my own work but I'm way past the stage of asking if it's good enough.

and so there you have it, an afternoon spent in the company of uber cool band Villain Thomas, I love them, they're having a launch for their EP "The Waters" on April 27th at 8pm at As You Like It, Jesmond, I'll be there photographing it along with a few other photographers but come down, by a copy of the EP, it's pretty awesome stuff!

and onwards to the future and my involvement with another North East Band, a band who are so close to breaking it that it's untrue, I love, adore and cherish this band and think they're quite the coolest thing since sliced bread and I'm not just saying this, I've seen them play live several times now, I have the EP, I know the words to the songs, my husband and I danced to their music just last weekend. Yesterday they made the official announcement that we're going to be working together and I was so excited that I ran around the house squealing. We have such big plans for amazing shoots, My Other Life, here I come.... I know it seems like they're just a footnote but you watch this space because this is going to be big!

Occasions with Dr Mariann Hardey at the Cedar Court Grand, York

2011-04-04T17:01:00.001+01:00

So what is Occasions, well for the last 4 years I've been shooting boudoir but to me boudoir felt like it should be part of a shoot but maybe not all of it and so Occasions was born, Occasions are for men and women, quite simply you want your photoshoot to be all about you, you want to be glamorous and you want it to be in a chic setting, it's always for half a day so that you have the full treatment, you can choose to give it a fashion edge or do something different or dramatic, it's completely up to you.

And so to my first Occasions shoot with esteemed author and social media expert Dr Mariann Hardey, Mariann is as beautiful as she is clever and she's also quite simply fabulous!

We planned our shoot with the help of the Cedar Court Grand in York, this amazing 5 star hotel has taken York by storm, there's quite simply no better place to stay if you crave for luxury and even if you can't stay you could still hang out in their chic cocktail bar, I recommend a Most Unusual.

The lovely people at the Cedar Court Grand could not have been more helpful and I really hope that I get to shoot there again soon.

So some photographs of delightful and inspiring woman and author of Proper Facebook Etiquette, a guide to living in a web based world, read it, it's a seriously great and informative read.

This one I love because it's got such a film noir feel to it and we're due to do another shoot in just a couple of weeks when the whole theme will be a Facebook Noir

This one was for a headshot to be used in those serious situations, Mariann often works with the BBC, The Guardian and other such publications as a social media expert, even here though Headshots don't have to be boring!

Simply stunning, I think I'd kill to look like this just for one day!!

again, we played with lighting to give a dramatic feel.

Beautiful, nothing more to say!

So do you have an occasion you want to celebrate, half day shoots are available at only £295 for a limited time, to book call 07918 121838 or see my website http://mandycharlton.com for more details and have your afternoon feeling like a model, a movie star or just simply celebrating being the very fabulous person that you are.

Mandy Charlton is an award winning photographer {award winning wedding photographer, Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham}

2011-03-14T15:31:00.000Z

I always wanted to say that, I see it on so many websites and always wonder what the various people have won and now I am actually award winning, thanks to wedding photo of the year 2010 where I came second and got the Silver Medal, second from 700 is no mean feat and when I tell you that this photographer used to be agoraphobic and not even let her husband go out to work only around 5 or 6 years ago you'll realise just how very proud I am of myself.

It's been such a long road and although it's been a rollercoaster at times, it's been a fun one, I can't thank people enough for all their support, my friends, my family and all you lovely people who hire me and then become my friends too!

So whats in store for the future, well hopefully I'll enter the competition again this year and win! This was my very first competition entry ever so to do so well is remarkable and now I have something to aim for. You know at times it's been unbearable, the public vote is always the hardest to achieve, especially if like me you're not really into the whole self promotion thing and I'm not, it's taken me so long to even rate myself in the professional world.

I reckon my daughters are the most pleased about this, they bounded in from school and said that from 700 to come 2nd is a win and they're proud of me so thats quite enough for me.

So, this photo was taken in March 2010 and this photo below was taken in March 2011, a possible entry for next year?

well you'll just have to stay tuned to find out!

The wedding of Li and Phil and Wedding Photo of the Year 2010 news - [photographer newcastle, mandycharlton.com]

2011-03-13T17:15:00.000Z

Wedding Photo of the year closes at Midnight tonight and I'm still in second place and yes I know that it would be amazing to have the second favourite wedding photo of the year but to me it feels like I should still be trying to win so please if you have 2 seconds and you haven't voted yet could you please vote for number 7 :)

http://www.ukweddingbelles.com/wedding-photo-of-the-year

and while we are on the subject of gorgeous wedding photos, last weekend I shot my friends Li and Phils wedding which was so romantic and lovely that I cried behind my camera.

How gorgeous is Li, you know if you meet her for lunch she looks just as good as this during the week!!

The dashing groom, first time i'd ever seen Phil in a suit, I think he looks quite dapper

Li and Phil were mobbed shall we say by a very enthusiastic Busker, it was hilarious though I'm quite glad he didn't come anywhere near me as he was a tad eccentric and thats me saying that!

I know Li and Phil love their photos and thanks also to Tommy Jackson who second shot for me and generally helped when cars didn't arrive etc.

Li and Phil, my dear friends, I hope we'll be friends for a very long time to come and I hope you all have the happiest of marraiges and a wonderful life together and always remember "The greatest thing you'll ever learn is just to love and be loved in return"

Also more news about the new website, so can you please update your browsers to point at http://mandycharlton.com

The Latest and Greatest News, and OMG it's mandycharlton.com

2011-03-08T20:03:00.000Z

Yes People of the blogosphere update your web-browsing thingamajigs and surf on over to my lovely, spangly website mandycharlton.com I know that this now means I have 1 too many websites but my other one was looking dated and they'll be merging over time. Believe me though mandycharlton.com is where it's at!

So much to tell you lovely people, firstly I had a big old blog post on uber fabulous wedding blog Brides Up North, go see what I got up to with chief bridal blogger Julia on Bamburgh beach, not so much Trash your Dress as Rock The Dress

My dear friend Christine is due to have a baby at any moment and I realised that I didn't share some of her gorgeous maternity images so here's a couple for your delectation and delight.

I think we'd all agree that Christines bump is nicer than Mikes!

This graffiti wall has been repainted since we were there so Christine and Michael have a unique piece of art.

I love being able to visit more than 1 location and you can do that if you spend a little more time than usual, maternity shoots don't have time limits, it's your last chance to be glamorous before the little one comes along and that should be celebrated!

I really have been photographing every single day of late and I need to have a serious look at what I've got and blog as much as possible but for now, here's a few more highlights.

Love these ladies who brought back the 1940's for me!

This is Christian, I do still shoot weddings you know, although not quite so many as I used to, this wedding though was a dream, a lovely couple and a great day up at Longhirst Hall considering that it was February, we managed to shoot all of the groups outside even though it was a little chilly.

Vicky really was a beautiful bride and as this was my first wedding of the year Christian and Vicky got it off to a great start.

aww they're just so happy, I love Love!

This lady goes by the name of Daisy Chainsaw and she's all seven flavours of awesomesauce

and this lady is also called Daisy but this is the fabulous Miss Daisy Stays, Daisy does Costumes, Corsets and also puts on a little show called Gullys Emporium and I happened to bump into the lady herself today, I have it on good authority that Cath Kidston handbags are coming soon!

Don't mess with her though or she might just hit you with that frying pan!

and so my lovelies, that just leaves one thing and last but not least Wedding Photo of the year 2010 closes at Midnight on March 13th, if you haven't voted yet please, please, please could you do it now because I'm second and I'd really truly love to win!!

http://www.ukweddingbelles.com/wedding-photo-of-the-year

Quick Friday roundup and Wedding Photo of the Year 2010 news

2011-02-25T11:31:00.000Z

So it's Friday and it's been another incredibly busy week, here's some of the highlights!

I have a new iPhone and my business number is once again restored, if you want to call me you can ring 07918 121838

On Wednesday I photographed Julia from Brides Up North, Julia is a beautiful lady on the inside and out and we had a lot of fun Rocking the Dress up at Seahouses, here's 1 sneaky peek and the rest will be blogged next week.

I've photographed so many amazing sessions lately and I will be trying to blog them over the course of the next week.

Now we come to my most important news, I am currently 2nd for the Wedding Photo of the Year 2010, I'm only 3% off first place so every vote counts right now.

If you could spare a vote I would really appreciate it, it's photo number 7 and you can vote here

So Happy Weekend people, make sure it's a great one and go create some memories

iPhone Stolen and Wedding Photo of the Year update [Mandy Charlton, Newcastle Wedding Photographer, North East England]

2011-02-19T11:34:00.000Z

So hello lovely people, voting is going well for Wedding Photo of the year 2010 but I'm currently in second place so can you go click on that banner over there and please please vote for photo number 7 :)

On Thursday Evening my iPhone was stolen from the Alton Towers Splash Landings hotel, I'm in talks with the hotel about their terrible handling of the situation but for the now could you all please update your phone numbers you have for me and if you need to contact me please call 07804128738

and to finish a photo fron this week of course - I'll be featuring more from Denises maternity shoot on the blog next week, until then have a great weekend and stay safe

Mandy Charlton Photography is in the final for wedding photo of the year 2010

2011-02-11T22:43:00.000Z

It's half past ten on a friday night and I've received the email telling me I've made it to the final 12 for wedding photo of the year 2010.

I'm so proud to have achieved this and thankful for everything that has brought me to this point and I want to say a big thank you to Andy and Rebecca who helped me to create this wonderful moment in time, I know her mummy will be utterly chuffed too, she was delighted when it made it to the final 50!!

So we're not quite there yet, I'm going to be happy that I've got this far but with just a few of your kind votes, who knows what might happen, so until Midnight on March 13th, vote but only if you love it.