An English Country Wedding

Before this year’s summer break, I had the pleasure of shooting another wedding. This time it was a country affair, a sharp contrast to the city event settings I’m used to. Weddings are not something I often undertake, but when I do, I really enjoy them and wonder if it’s something I should do more of - it’s a serious consideration!

It was a day filled with the most love from their closest family and friends, and even on the hottest day of the year, it went off without a hitch. Congratulations, Rebecca and Jonathan x

Eden's Party

Eden was having a small family gathering at home for her birthday and her Mum asked me to come along to take some nice photos of the day. It was very special as her grandparents were visiting from abroad and there was also an amazing unicorn cake - plenty to get excited about! Here are a small selection of photos from the day…

Wellness is Wealth Supper Club - Hammersmith, London

Tamu and Nicola are champions of women in business - they really get it and it shows in the warm welcome and general vibe around them. These photos were taken at their lovely supper club which they held at Kindred in Hammersmith. It was a kind, supportive space for women to congregate and share some good food and conversation.

Bindman's 45th Anniversary

Bindman’s are a world renowned law firm, home to some of the country’s best human rights lawyers. I was delighted to be asked to document the 45th anniversary back in January. Here’s a small selection of the photos capturing lots of the mingling that took place on the night!

Cool Britannia 2019

Last weekend we packed up the car and headed to Knebworth Park for a nostalgia fest! Usually festivals are a family affair for us but this time we decided to go it alone and leave the kids at home with Granny. Cool Britannia is a festival full of 90s bands and we fully intended to make the most of it.

After we pitched our tent and got comfortable, we cracked out the boxed wine and went to explore. First on the list, food. Setting up camp gives you an appetite! Although it’s a small festival, Cool Britannia had one of everything. From Burritos to Indian street food, pizzas to gourmet burgers - everyone was catered for.

Next up, a few bands. Friday was a warm up day but top of the bill was someone I was so excited to see - Baby D! I remember going to see her at the Subterranea in Ladbroke Grove before I was probably enough to drink and she was amazing! Unfortunately, she only belted out a couple of songs (Including Let Me Be Your Fantasy - classic!) before leaving the stage at Cool Britannia. A little disappointing but the DJ’s made up for it.

Over the course of the weekend we managed to see plenty of great bands including James, Sleeper, Embrace, Dodgy, Babybird and The Farm. Most of them stuck to the tried and tested method of rocking out the old favourites with the odd new one thrown in and that seemed to work well. Having seen last year’s line up, I think this year there were some noticeable gaps. They was definitely room for a few more massive bands from the 90’s. We mentioned to each other a few times during the weekend that some of the bands being played by the DJs inbetween live sets would have been great booking for the festival (Think Ocean Colour Scene / Lightning Seeds / Cast) and although I’m a massive Basement Jaxx fan, they did feel a little out of place on the line up but everyone seemed to have a great time including us.

Aside from the main stage, there was a Ministry of Sound Dance Tent and a smaller stage for new and smaller bands. They stand outs for us were The Britpop Collective (a super talented covers band) and Emily Cappell (A ska singer from NW London). Emily had humour and wit in between each song and it was funny to hear the little story behind them.

Even though the music was mostly 90’s the audience varied in age much more than I thought it would, from infants in buggies all the way up to pensioners. Granted, it wasn’t a teenage festival like Reading or Leeds but it didn’t feel like it was totally restricted to people in their thirties and forties. There were clearly lots of lucky young people there being schooled in the golden indie era by eager Mums and Dads! There was a dedicated Circus skills area for children and a small selection of funfair rides too.

What a luxury it was for us to go to a festival without the kids though. The last festival we had been to before this one was Camp Bestival in Dorset which is really big and basically built for little ones. Cool Britannia is very small and a perfect size for us old codgers - my hips still hurt from dancing and did I mention clean showers with no queues?! Until the next time….

Camp Bestival 2019

Looking for a family festival? Can’t find one that ticks all the boxes for toddlers, teenagers and us oldies? Well look no further than Camp Bestival! It’s a weekend full of fun and frolics of all descriptions for all ages.

In the space of a weekend we watched lived music, witnessed the flea circus, walked a slack line, developed a new found love for the ukulele, ate pizza, danced, perfected our unicycle skills (almost), played in the mud garden, blew bubbles, rode the funfair rides, drank cold beer, built dens, made friends and slept in a tent to name but a few things!

It was our second time at CB, the first being a few years ago when the children were very little which was a lot easier in many ways (they napped and didn’t get nearly as grumpy in the evenings which can’t be said for them this year now they’re older and not in a buggy or trolley!) so if you’re worried about taking little ones, don’t be.

Everyone is super friendly and in the same boat. It has a lovely atmosphere and we absolutely love it there. So much to do and explore. We hope to be back again next year!

The Perfect Wedding Day at The Barbican Centre, London

I was contacted recently by Caroline and Chris who asked me to take the photographs at their wedding. I was delighted to have been asked to cover it, particularly as it was to be held at a location as iconic as the conservatory at The Barbican.

The brief was fairly simple - they wanted some lovely photos of their day with an element of the brutalist architecture as a highlight in the background. Chris is an architect so no pressure there then! My personal aim (which is the same for any event) was to capture the emotion and the general feel in the room on the day. I hope I’ve achieved it! Here’s a small selection of the photographs from the day x

London Mini Sessions - Winter →

As Christmas loomed last year and everyone was preoccupied with preparations for the festivities to begin, I was planning how to get 2019 off to a cracking start. January is, to me, the most depressing month of the year. Its cold, mostly grey and dark by 4pm. I needed something on a personal and professional level to give me a shake up and get me through the month so I launched the London mini shoot sessions for bloggers and small business owners.

I figured the market was already saturated with the usual children’s offers at that time of year and of course, everyone loves a cute baby in a Santa hat but I thought to would be good to shine the spotlight on the grown ups for a change and it was a massive success! Many people contacted me to shoot for various different reasons - from new business ventures and side hustles to fashion shoots, social media content and even a yoga shoot.

As a London based photographer, it was great to shoot at locations I have loved since childhood. Many people came to me with an idea of location and we managed to give all the shoots what I like to call the “London for Londoners feel”. Not obvious tourist trap locations but simple spots that Londoners recognise like the beautiful florist at Westbourne Grove or the skate park on the Southbank. Not a Big Ben or Buckingham Palace in sight!

More than anything else, I have met some fabulous people. I’m a natural introvert but absolutely love getting to know people and what better way to do that then walking and talking our way around London. I’ve discovered parts of the this city I call home that I never knew existed but also discovered that so many of these wonderful people live locally to me in NW London!

These are just a selection of photos taken from a handful of sessions. I plan to run this offer again in the springtime so don’t worry if you missed out this time. Keep an eye on my social media platforms for the next one. Roll on springtime!

Candice Brathwaite for Tu at Sainsbury's

It’s nothing new to people who have been following me on social media for some time. I work closely with Candice Brathwaite and her family after she gave me the final push to get my business off the ground. If you haven’t already discovered her she is a presenter, writer and founder of Make Motherhood Diverse. She’s one of my favourite people to shoot - a complete natural in front of the camera who barely needs any direction at all!

She was asked to collaborate with Sainsbury’s for their Tu range when they launched their new denim line and, in turn, asked me to shoot it for her. Without hesitation, I was in Milton Keynes, asking the lady who runs the local launderette if we could use it for our pictures. She thought we were mad but let us regardless. The results from the launderette and some other locations in Milton Keynes were my favourite photos of Candice to date….J-Lo eat your heart out!

Ed Sheeran – Charity concert in aid of The London Irish Centre, Camden

Any Ed Sheeran fans out there?  Thought so.  It’s unlikely most of us can make it though the day without hearing a song by Ed Sheeran on the radio.  He sells out stadiums around the world and it feels like he has got there in the blink of an eye.  He’s a superstar now, mixing with the movers and shakers of Hollywood so when I was asked to photograph him in a 300-capacity venue in Camden Town, I jumped at the chance!

I have been helping at the Irish Centre in Camden for a year or so now, doing their headshots and images for their brochures.  It’s a wonderful organisation full of the traditional Irish welcome and spirit.  I’m a born and bred Londoner of Irish descent so understand the importance of a place such as the LIC to bring together and help a community of Irish in London that still exists, albeit in smaller numbers now.  They have a fantastic team there, ready to help with anything and they hold lovely events open to everyone.  The Ed Sheeran event was one of them but this time it was exclusively to raise much needed funds to keep the charity going.

An email dropped into my inbox a few weeks before the event.  It was an exclusive ticket only gig and with only a few hundred available, they were like gold dust.  I figured the photography would be all sewn up what with Ed Sheeran having his own special team, so you can imagine how delighted I was when they asked little old me to come and take some pictures for the centre.

It was really good fun.  I got to say a quick hello to both him and Dermot O’Leary (swoon!) who is also a patron of the charity and from there on in it was a who’s who with comedians, politicians, presenters and actors including a very last-minute entrance from Courtney Cox.

After an audience with competition winners, there was an interview and a live set from both Ed Sheeran and special guests he had invited along followed by some DJ sets from Annie Mac and Sara Cox.

All in all, it was a brilliant event raising £250,000 for a wonderful charity.  Cheers Ed!