Summer, summer.....

It's been a fairly busy summer for me this year. Aside from weddings, photo shoots and wedding shows, I've also been busy working on my new website.

I've decided to launch it in time for my second business birthday (25th September).

I think there's always a risk with work, that some projects occasionally get put onto the back burner and not "picked up". Website revamping often falls into this category. So, I've set myself a very real deadline which while adding a bit of pressure, also means it will happen! And now I've obviously made the commitment here....

I've also been busy participating in various wedding shows this summer. The traditional wedding show season tends to be from September into November, and again in February and March. Well, it looks like that's all changing a bit! So far this summer I've exhibited in three wedding shows. The benefit I imagine for brides and grooms, is the opportunity to see venues in the same light they might be in a years time, at a wedding. Spreading out the wedding shows also means that brides and grooms get a chance to go to more of them, and hopefully there are fewer clashes.

I thought I'd share some photos of my stall from this weekend's Loch Lomond Wedding Exhibition.

In addition, I also exhibited at the Dream Wedding Scotland show at the end of June, in Glasgow's Royal Concert Hall.

I really enjoyed doing these shows, actually. It's such a good opportunity to meet people, and chat to them about their wedding and about my work in a way that is much harder to achieve online or through the usual advertising methods. It makes the whole thing feel as it ought to be - a two-way street between couples and photographers.

I'm exhibiting this weekend, at the Very Vintage Wedding Fair at the Ghillie Dhu in Edinburgh. I'm looking forward to it, as it's my first time exhibiting at such a quirky little venue and for a more niche audience.

After that, back to working on the new website, which should incorporate a brand new blog! 

Fabulousness

So the end of 2010 was pretty frantic for me. I landed a rather wonderful photography job and had very little time for anything else, I ended working right up to Christmas Eve and then spent much of the New Year playing catch-up with other work which needed some finishing touches. But now I'm busy working on my 2011 plans, and have been gradually working away in various areas which needed a bit of tending to. So, here we are, it's Springtime and I've got a chance to do some blogging again!

I've also had a chance now to update my design of the blog with my fantastic new logo, by Tom Holmes. Tom was fantastic - it was a bit like those moments when I go to the hairdresser, and say "I want this, this, with this here, and this off, and no shorter than that", and wait patiently, hoping that whatever they translate that into isn't going to be a mullet. Then they produce a fantastic haircut, and I spend a week checking it out in every reflective surface. Well, Tom was able to take my "directions", and translate it into a fantastic design that I couldn't have even dreamt of. Not a mullet in sight.

Last week, I attended the Fabulous Wedding Show at Glasgow's Hilton Grosvenor Hotel on the corner of Byres Road. Leading up to that was a bit frantic with preparing all my samples. I've got two splendid wedding albums now to show off, both from Loxley Colour. I was really pleased with the result of them. (Photos to come!)

I think one of my biggest Achilles is making decisions when faced with lots of good options. That was certainly the case with these albums - trying to decide the cover, the size, the style. However, I was really over the moon when I got them. As a photographer, I have to make sure I have complete confidence in my samples, both with albums and portfolio. I love these wedding albums - they feel so sturdy; the images are printed onto the page, rather than having an aperture window mount, which just feels so refreshingly 21st Century, this lovely storybook feel to it. Plus, it means I can produce an image across a double page spread, much like a fashion editorial, or an art photography book.

The albums have a gorgeous brushed aluminium cover with the names of the couple and the date of the wedding engraved on the front. I've produced two sample albums - a smaller one (which I think would make a gorgeous parents album, or just a small mini album for the couple if they wanted) at 7x5 inches; and a large, landscape 14x10 inch album which really looks gorgeous. I went with a 40 page album, which is the minimum page number I'm producing. I felt that 40 pages was just enough to tell the story of the wedding. A good story needs to include the details - it should be rich and vibrant with setting the scene, and 40 pages covers that comfortably.

My next wedding show is this Sunday, at the Thistle Hotel on Cambridge Street, Glasgow. More details can be found on the Fabulous Wedding Show website.

Last week's wedding show was amazing - I met lots of lovely couples, and lots of lovely fellow vendors. I'm also running a special offer for couples who come up and say hello at the wedding show, but you'll have to come along to find out what it is!