Norwood Park Makeover Photoshoot

A while back, I posted a blog about our makeover or pre wedding photoshoots at Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire. These fabulous makeover days are available to anybody who wants a gorgeous collection of portrait photographs of themselves or someone they love. Perfect for hen parties, best friends or a gift to your husband or partner, the stunning Georgian style venue is an incredibly elegant yet intimate backdrop to equally glamorous photographs!

Jenny and Amanda were pampered and preened with a professional makeover beforehand, before being photographed in the bridal room, which included a fabulous four poster bed. Neither of the girls have done any modelling before or posed for a professional photoshoot (Amanda is an energy technician and Jenny runs a driving instructor business!) They look absolutely amazing and I really hope they love the pictures.

For anyone interested in booking a makeover photoshoot at Norwood Park please contact me by email or telephone 07968 159465.

Actor and Model Portfolios

Yasin contacted me recently for some portrait photography as he’s an aspiring actor and wants to promote himself to local theatre groups and to directors, as well as having a headshot photograph he’s proud to see printed in a theatre program.

He brought several changes of clothes with him and we took some fabulous studio pictures that are very contemporary in style. Susan at Pretty Flamingo was on hand to groom, polish and even the skintone, which made his skin look amazing and helped him to relax before the photoshoot. Yasin was a real natural in front of the camera and he made it incredibly easy to get a great picture, in fact, the problem was trying to edit down the final collection, as they were so many strong images. He wrote to me shortly after reviewing the final shots to say “I so love them!”

Baby Photography

A few blogs back you may have read about our photoshoot with gorgeous baby Bryn. His parents invested in some professional photographs of their newborn and plan on giving these framed prints as beautiful Christmas presents for proud grandparents, aunts and uncles.

Our style of photography is very fresh and natural for children and babies; with black and white photographs outnumbering the colour on this occasion, as the photographs seem to lend themselves particularly well to black and white.

Babies are naturally photogenic and very expressive, as Bryn’s expressions and hand movements in the remaining photographs from the photoshoot demonstrate. His parents are delighted to have captured these first few weeks.

Wedding Florist in Nottingham

As a wedding photographer in Nottinghamshire, I visit many wedding fairs and another local wedding supplier I met (and one my family and I have used many times since for birthdays, mothers day, anniversaries etc.) is Vaas the florists. Vaas is based in Nottingham centre and their floral creations are contemporary, original and fresh. They also host fabulous floristry courses, which you can personalise to suit your group of friends. Vaas supply the flowers in their elegant Nottingham shop and teach you to create your own floral display, which you get to take home (and enjoy a glass of wine while you’re creating it) – a brilliant and original idea for your hen do.

Drawing from their design background, Vaas creates design boards for each wedding to show you exactly what your bouquet and wedding arrangements will look like. This preparation and research helps to reassure the client about the final result so you can feel entirely at ease on your day.

Chosen by Master Florist as one of their top 250 florists, Vaas really is a cut above many other local florists. Call 0115 959 8959 for more information. (Photographs courtesy of Vaas).

Wedding Cakes in Derbyshire

Many of my Nottingham and Derby wedding photography clients who have booked their wedding locally but not yet found their perfect wedding cake may be interested in a fabulous cake maker based in Matlock.

I first met the people at Chocolate Art last year at Hart’s wedding fair in Nottingham. Hart’s Restaurant host a fairly intimate wedding fair in their corporate room above the restaurant, with only one supplier represented from each area of your wedding preparations.

Chocolate Art had a stand showcasing some of their fabulous creations with delicious samples to try. As someone who isn’t a huge fan of the traditional fruit cake and marzipan (and I’m a bit of a chocoholic too), it would be my preference to choose a chocolate wedding cake! What sets Chocolate Art apart from other chocolate cake makers I’ve come across is their delicious cake recipe, which is more accurately described as a chocolate tort and is as light as air, with a real Belgium chocolate taste and lacking any sickly sweetness.

The finish on these cakes is also astounding, my favourite being the very elegant ‘US style’ chocolate tiers, adorned with hand crafted chocolate roses or lilies (or indeed a flower of your choice to match your wedding bouquet). Chocolate Art will also undertake unique commissions to match your wedding theme.

For more information contact 01629 581291.
(Photographs courtesy of Chocolate Art)

How to look good in your wedding photos

I run through many of the following points with my brides on or before their wedding day, or as needed, and they are simple yet hugely effective pointers to help anyone (not just the bride) get the wedding photographs they love.

1. Relax and enjoy the moment

An increasingly popular style of wedding photography is reportage, or the capturing of spontaneous moments. As a contemporary wedding photographer in the East Midlands and across the UK, Mirror Imaging has plenty of examples of this type of photography and we mix it with some gentle direction to get a good combination of timeless and fresh photographs of your wedding.

It is really important therefore to try not to worry about how you look on camera! Your wedding photographer will almost certainly stand a better chance of getting a great picture if you relax and enjoy your surroundings and be in the moment. A good digital wedding photographer will never put a bad picture forward and will kindly delete it immediately! This is why I emphasise on my homepage my understanding and empathy with my subjects; it’s in my interests professionally and personally to make you look amazing.

2. Practice posing

Not an obvious one and not perhaps one which many brides will consider. As a wedding and portrait photographer I spend some time working out at which angles a woman looks good, so I can best direct my brides and models (it helps that I’m a woman myself!). When you are next sat in front of the mirror, perhaps doing your makeup, really look at your features in the mirror and practice posing for the camera (perhaps close the bedroom door first!).

One huge advantage to those brides treating themselves to our makeover portrait sessions held at Norwood Park in Nottinghamshire is that, by the end of the session, being in front of the camera will feel a lot more comfortable and you will instinctively know on your wedding day at which angles you feel your most confident. The resulting picture will also hopefully do wonders for your love of the camera and yourself! For example, my beautiful sister almost always blinked in front of the camera flash for years, resulting in unflattering photographs of her with her eyes predictably closed. She thought she was afflicted for life, but since she had her first photoshoot with me she’s not blinked for the camera again and even now enjoys having her picture taken.

2. Do the tilt and turn

All celebrities on the red carpet know how to pose to maximize their assets and minimise their flaws. And it can make a huge difference to how you look in your wedding photographs.

Stand at a 45 degree angle, put your weight on the back leg and slightly bend the other, twist your torso back to face the front and gently drop your shoulder furthest from your back leg. This makes your waist and hips look their absolute smallest and pushes your chest forward, but looks surprisingly natural in your wedding photographs (especially in a wedding dress).

3. Smile!

It may sound obvious (and you try and stop many brides!) but however critical you are of your own smile, just go for it! Often there will be a good number of photographs without you smiling and it makes for a better wedding album to have at least one or two wonderful happy shots. If you feel really self conscious, don’t smile at the camera, smile at your new husband instead!

4. Have your makeup done professionally

A good makeup artist will know which makeup finishes look good on camera and which do not. As a rule, a matt finish tends to look better and the camera will absorb the colour so you can go slightly stronger than you would normally do. Make sure you have a trial makeup run before your wedding day (and take your dress, veil or a fabric sample along), so you know exactly what you will look like on the day. I work with Nottingham makeup artist Pretty Flamingo, whose trial sessions (diary schedules permitting) include a photograph by me for you to take away (whether or not you have booked me as your wedding photographer).

4. Don’t shy away!

The most difficult job for a photographer is photographing someone who simply does not want their picture taking. If you’ve invested in a wedding photographer, make sure you get your money’s worth by allowing them to click away and take as many quality photographs as possible. The more they take, the more likely it is they’ll capture that golden moment. A very good wedding photographer won’t be too intrusive either and will help to put you at ease, so you have nothing to lose and everything to gain by letting them do a great job for you.