On Thursday I went out for a lovely lunch with Dan and Claire who are getting married at the end of June at the Garden Station up near Hexham, it's a totally unique venue very much like Dan and Claire who are wonderful!

After lunch we went out onto the quayside to shoot their pre-wedding photo shoot and here are the results, all images were shot with the Fuji X-Pro1 and the 35mm f1.4 lens, it's the ultimate combination if you're a portrait photographer.

and I can honestly say that was the best pre-wedding shoot to open this years wedding season, lots more coming up on my blog over the next few months.

If you would like to book a couples shoot with me please email me or click through to my website or Facebook page.

Newcastle, City 2/69 in the UK Cityscapes Project...part 1

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

A weekend of portraits, wanders and wonderful things

There's been a heatwave dear reader, did you notice it?  Did you get the BBQ out?  If you're reading this thinking I'm deluded it's probably because you live in the North of England just like me where it was not even vaguely heatwavey and mostly it was cloudy, windy and well a bit chilly!

Saturday dawned and I was in Jesmond Dene for a couple of mini sessions, my first was with 5 year old Chester who was a rescue Spaniel and beautiful boy, Looby was helping as usual and she took quite a shine to Chester.

After Chester, I met this little pumpkin, totally gorgeous and we had a lovely time together.

I then met a lovely grown up sister and her brothers who were having a photo shoot to get some photos for a Mothers Day Present, I can't share those though as I don't want to spoil mums surprise.

On Sunday it was sunny and lovely for a while and I had a photo shoot down in Whitley Bay so I got a lovely sunny wander afterwards enjoying the sea air.  I do love a coastal wander.

I met this little lady at her home in Whitley Bay, she's nearly 3 and when she's big she's going to be strong, independent and a definite future leader of the known world, forthright 3 year olds are always a pleasure to photograph, you never quite know what they're going to do next!

Meanwhile back at home and Poppy cat was giving me that look ;)

and then Looby, Dorito the dog and I took a walk down through the Ouseburn Valley and along the quayside, I love that it's getting lighter in the evenings and we can go out for daily walks again.

I have to say that I am loving the Fuji X-Pro1 for portraits of children coupled with the 35mm f1.4, it's like no other camera I've ever owned and after using it for portraits this weekend I'm sure it's earned it's place in my kitbag.

looking forward to what's on the schedule for this week, well I'm off to a new networking thing, I'm speaking at the Inspire Network Sunderland meeting on Friday on marketing with Facebook and then on Saturday afternoon I have availability for photo shoots at Tynemouth Longsands and on Sunday morning I have a couple of slots available for mini sessions at Saltwell Park, and I'm also hoping to get another couple of weddings booked into my schedule too.  If you would like to speak to me about shooting your portraits or your wedding you can contact me through my facebook page, my website or even by email.

The Newcastle Olympic Torch Relay Party

This week I was lucky enough to win a pair of wristbands for the Olympic Torch Relay Party on the Newcastle Quayside from the lovely people over at BDaily Looby was chosen to go after a bedroom tidying contest and we prepared ourselves for a once in a lifetime experience.

I have to say that we had an absolutely amazing time and please excuse me for sharing quite a few photos of our evening.

It was a rainy day in Newcastle but that didn't stop Looby and I having the time of our lives

being given the watchful eye by a BBC Cameraman, who is he, do you know him?

There was a great performance by Twist and Pulse and the Samsung Street Crew (I think thats what they were called) lots of leaping and bounding

 These guys who I can't actually remember their names were pretty amazing, I think they might have been called the Lloyds TSB future flames or something like that, anyway, they did lots of acrobatic stunts and were generally uber impressive

 I was so near to the stage I thought I'd get a shot of all the crowd in a lift the camera over your head, focus and shoot, it worked really well, there were 5000 wristbands given out and despite the rain there was a pretty huge crowd

The Little Comets played, haven't really heard of them if I'm honest but I kind of loved their sound, Looby said it was far too loud!!

the torch carried by inspirational torch bearer Will Downs is carried onto the stage, I had tears rolling down my cheeks at this point, inspirational young person and a combination of my utter pride to be both British and  Geordie

this one is my favourite, the cauldron is lit and so the Olympic Flames are officially in Newcastle

 The torch burned bright through the rest of the entertainment as Kathryn Tickell performed the inaugral performance of a new piece of music specially composed for the 2012 Olympics, I think called Jig Hop but don't quote me on that!

Looby had the best time ever tonight, she says she's going to win a medal for something in a few years time and I really hope this experience has inspired her to do that.

 One of the best parts of the night, one of the torch bearers let Looby hold the torch so I could get a photo of her, I reckon she'll show this one to her children in years to come.

Our beautiful city, an Olympic City, I can't wait to go to the Olympic football matches at St James Park on July 26th, I don't even like football but this is definitely one of those once in a lifetime things!