It's Friday and actually sort of the weekend for me which doesn't happen very often, I have 1 photo shoot tomorrow late afternoon and the rest of the weekend off, blimey!!  So earlier today I took a 3 hour walk with my camera around part of Newcastle, the Quayside mainly as it's my favourite bit.  I think you know when you live in a city you often forget to look around and see what's going on, it's like Ferris Bueller famously once said "Life moves pretty fast, if you don't stop and look around once in a while you could miss it."

I've also heard that it's said that Liverpool is quite like Newcastle, I can sort of see how you could think that, if you read this post and then my last one about Liverpool you can make your own mind up.  What ever you decide, you must admit that Newcastle is pretty though I did notice that there's quite a lot of scaffold about at the moment in the quayside area.

Some of these images will shortly be available for purchase as fine art prints and canvases in Philomena's Boutique so why not pay a visit and purchase something lovely for yourself or maybe Fathers Day.

I actually think rooftops are s incredibly pretty, I went in search of non traditional views to create multilayered "painted" images and by multi layered I'm not talking about overlaying 10 billion photos in Photoshop, i'm talking about looking at the natural landscapes of cities and the way the buildings create layer upon layer of unusual beauty, give me this over a traditional bridge scene any day!

Panoramics are my favourite thing, I never did have the patience to sit and fiddle for hours doing them but the power of the amazing Fuji X-Pro1 is an amazing tool to have in your hands.

Again this image is multi layered, the corner of the Millenium bridge overlaps the law courts and behind it the quayside and then we have the bridges which all seem to sit on one another, it's a pretty amazing city when you see it like this.

I think the way I see things is with a touch of halcyon vision like a picture postcard from 1963 telling you to visit this great city, simpler times I'm sure and the quayside has changed so much.

These are mostly all legal offices now but I do love the multilayered canvas of cityscapes

The Newcastle Malmaison and Pitcher and Piano looking glorious in the sunshine, if you look closely you can even see St James Park

So the next time you're in your home town why not try and see it through the eyes of someone who's never seen it before, have an adventure and be an explorer in your own city

Jonathan and Susans Pre-wedding photo shoot, Newcastle Quayside

What can I tell you about Jonathan and Susan, well firstly they're utterly lovely people, I met them a few weeks ago for their pre-wedding shoot and it was the first time I met them, within 5 minutes it was like we'd know each other for ages, I love it when connections like that happen!

It's good that they did as this couple are busy busy busy, they both have uber cool jobs in the TV and Movie industry and are currently working on Game of Thrones at the moment.  Susan works in costumes and Jonathan works in Visual effects, i.e. he gets to go to work every day and blow stuff up, now I thought I had the coolest job in the world but that is even cooler, I think everyone would like to go to work and blow stuff up ;)

We met up on the Newcastle/Gateshead quayside and got some great shots and I can't wait for their wedding on Saturday :)

The Wedding of Kay and Rob - Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of Beautiful Kay and Handsome Rob, I met these lovely people last year and we hit it off straight away, Kay and I share a love of Audrey Hepburn, I knew it was going to be a special day and as it turned out their day was a day of two halves, beautiful sunshine and later torrential rain, they married at St Peters Church Monkseaton and then drove to The Baltic for a swish reception, heres the story of their day in photographs

As a surprise kay had hired a brass band to play outside the church after the ceremony and at this point it was a glorious summers afternoon.

As we arrived at the Graffiti wall the rain began to spot, luckily we got a few photos because then the rain became torrential and it didn't stop again all day.

Thinking on my feet we quickly moved to the viewing box at the Baltic and got some truly beautiful shots while waiters and waitresses stood waiting to prepare the box for private dining later that evening, I thanked them for their patience as no couple of mine were going to end up with a lack of portraits on their special day! haha

One of my favourite shots of the day, Kay loves Audrey Hepburn and I told her to channel Audrey, I reckon she pulled it for for sure!

If you can on the wedding day and you really want group shots which are unlike anyone elses all we need is a little extra time, why be boring and have everyone standing around in a line?

Congratulations Kay and Rob, may you have many happy years together and thank you so much for letting me document your most special day!

Back in the Studio

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

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

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