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! 

Knickerbocker Glorious!

So today, I thought I'd blog about a shoot I did in Largs with Alison Tinlin from Plans and Presents, hair stylist Gail Rankin, Make up artist Sophie Edwards, with accessories provided by Wedding and Baby.

We went to Largs with the intention of doing a slightly kitschy, vintage seaside photoshoot. I wanted something that was a proper traditional seaside resort without the tackiness. Largs was a great location. From a photographic perspective, its a neat town, with very little litter or graffiti, not too many people, and plenty of wide open space to get the sky in and lots of details from it. We sought permission from Nardinis to use their interior as a backdrop for some of the photos (and they were very lovely about it all).

I've done plenty of location shoots before involving gorgeous dresses (including the bridesmaid shoot I did with Flossy and Dossy a few months ago), but I wanted something slightly different here. This shoot was less about being a fashion parade, and more about the individual - in this case, Alison. It was actually easier than some of the shoots I've done previously, as there weren't lots of outfit changes to incorporate into the timing.

I think the hardest thing I find is defining what I think my "voice" is. I have a particular style to my photographs, but sometimes when I'm up so close to the photos, I can't quite put my finger on what exactly it is. I know I like to have photos that have an element of pop - I want people to come out of the picture, to get an essence of their personality just jumping out of the image.

I wanted to get more of that from Alison. It's easy a lot of the time for people to shrink in the photographs, and a lot of people do. Camera comes out and people become shy and like wallflowers. Or, alternatively, they start throwing very awkward poses that they've seen in magazines and "think" I want from them.

What I really want, is to have fun photographs. I want fun, I want natural, candid, but most of all, playful. I don't want a fixed grin.

I think sometimes it's a bit like having a conversation with someone for the first time. I want to get beyond the small talk, the "what do you do/ where are you from" stuff, and right into the bit where there's a connection, the bit where the conversation just rolls and people start really revealing themselves. Years ago, a friend of mine referred to it almost as being like layers, numbering each layer. So small talk was layer one, then the bit where you start digging out information from the small talk is layer two, and then the really good stuff, the core, that's layer three. He'd smile when we got into a deeper level of conversation, the bit where we started to forget where we were and just got completely lost in our own world, and he'd remark "now we're here, this is the third layer". It's not necessarily about baring your soul and getting the skeletons out of the closet (or wherever else you keep them), it's just about figuring out who the person in front of the camera is, getting rid of your labels (mother, wife, girlfriend, husband, father, brother, son, daughter, work colleague...) and being all the wonderful bits of you.

So yes, that's what I want from these sorts of photoshoots. And I'll pretty much do anything I can to get people to that point. I'm not looking for the secrets, the dark stuff, I'm just looking for the playfulness, the humour, the light hearted, happy, lovely side, the bits that attract people to you as friends or romantic interests, the bits that make people care, and the bits that should make you realise how truly wonderful you are.

So, here for your delectation, the photos from the shoot.

Sophie prepares Alison's make up

Inside Nardinis

Knickerbocker Glorious!

Flying the flag

at the piano

bouquet courtesy of Wedding and Baby

Our generous host

Kicking it up in Largs

the most wayward balloons!

Alison and Largs

Bouquet

over to Cumbrae

The Wonderful Nardinis

shoes!

The team:
Shoot Organisation/Model - Alison Tinlin - http://www.plansandpresents.co.uk
Photographer - Kristin Mitchell - http://struvephotography.co.uk/
Hair - Gail Rankin - http://www.gailhardie.co.uk/
Make - Up - http://www.sophieedwardsmakeup.com/
Hairpieces/Jewellery - http://www.weddingandbaby.co.uk/
Gown/Shoes - courtesy of - http://angelfins.co.uk
Venue (inside shots) - http://nardinis.co.uk/

Summers end

Kerry and Stew's wedding, originally uploaded by Kristin Mitchell photography.

So here we are, start of September, and I'd say it's the start of Autumn. Almost.

I really love Autumn. It's my favourite season in the year. I love the colours associated with Autumn; I love the clothes and colours and fabrics that come with autumnal fashions; I love the smells (aside from when the fields are being sprayed - do not like). I love waking up and seeing a proper dawn, and feeling like I've actually woken up at the start of a new day. I love the light mists across the countryside; I love the smell of burning wood and bonfires. I'm possibly also slightly biased, as Autumn is my birthday season, and I'll be honest, I really like the cake, presents, and excitement about having a birthday.

When I was a child, I was quite happy to go back to school at the end of summer. Back in those days, there was of course a bit of me wishing for a slightly longer summer holiday, with flexible bedtimes and a distinct lack of homework. However, I did enjoy going into a new classroom, a new teacher with no idea about me, new jotters and books needing covered, new everything, including school bag and school uniform. All that newness appealed to me. Within a week however, the novelty would have worn off, but I still enjoyed the Autumn term, with two mid-term holidays (September weekend and October break which occasionally fell right after my birthday), and drawing and making things for Halloween and Guy Fawkes Day.

Last week felt very much like summer's last stand. I like summer (aside from when its too hot or when I've got hayfever), but Autumn feels special. It feels like a celebration, or a fireworks display of colour before the night of winter arrives.

So with my thinking cap on, I'm in the middle of trying to come up with some more autumnal flavoured photoshoots. I really want to take advantage of the season of colours. More than that, it's about taking advantage of the change of light. Autumn feels so fleeting, but it's a really beautiful month, so a perfect time to go out and be a photographer.