The Wedding Photographer

Now I am no expert on the whole wedding thing.  I have had my own, I've been to a few, and now I have even been the photographer for a couple.  And each of these 3 perspectives has a completely different feel to them.  Oh some things are the same, people are generally happy at weddings, the bride and groom are always in a bit of a daze and grinning a lot, there's usually a gorgeously dressed baby who everyone coos over and the really old person that everyone is a bit nervous around. But having been the bride, the guest and the official photographer I think I am safe to say the latter is my favourite. Don't get me wrong I loved my wedding, but only because of who I was marrying, the party and the photos were additional.  The only important bit for me was the ceremony and the signing, after that it was more a party for everyone else, I'd done my bit. And its always nice when you get invited to a wedding, though I find the whole thing slightly stressful, trying to decide what to buy and how much to spend, then there's the whole dressing the part, shall we co-ordinate as a family or shall I just let the boys go in jeans and a t-shirt as they beg me not to have to wear a suit. Then there is the whole, are the children allowed to be there at all thing..In fact it always shocks me when I see an invite that expressly forbids you to bring your child.  Its at times like that I wonder why they invite people that have little ones if they are so anti them, or is this going to be some sort of X rated do that children shouldn't really be exposed too, who are these people ???? Then of course when you get there and you have to smile politely at people you don't really know, listen to tales of when you were little and you shat you're pants round Auntie Ethel's or worse still have random people who you met when you where in college who you really don't remember as you spent most of the time either pissed or stoned, greet you like you are BFF's and then they begin to tell you how amazing and wonderful it would be if you could get together for a drink to catch up, while all the time you are desperately trying to remember their name..Anyway my point is this being the "official" photographer allows you to still be at the wedding and get to see it and enjoy it, but nobody expects you to actually take part in any of it.  You can watch on the sidelines snapping away, catching treasured moments and secret whispers. People walk past you with an air of slight admiration and awe "so you are the one taking the all important photos, you must be good then" and they always eye the equipment sceptically like its going to jump up and bite them or somehow catch them doing something they shouldn't, but at the same time, panicking not to "hurt" any of it. So now at weddings I have authority, for a short time I get to boss the entire event around, people have to do as I say even the bride and groom and its all great. But my most favourite part of it all is capturing the other couples looking in to each others eyes reminiscing about their own wedding days. The little girls looking wondrously at the bride in her beautiful sparkling dress, the moment of the first kiss as a married couple and groom standing nervously waiting for the women of his dreams to be his forever. It is without doubt a magical event in our lives, and I am so happy I am getting to share it with so many good people, but kinda glad I'm not actually part of it bit like the Vicar really lol :-)

Ok Ok its September 2013

Yes yes, I know I haven't been here for a while again..but I am back and ready to take on the world.  Since we last spoke, the family has grown somewhat and not in that way !!.. We now encompass me, Big man, Mooki, Ninja, Humf and Dotty (my mum) which is ok as we have moved to a new house and this has given all of us our own space.  Living with your mother again brings new and fresh challenges in your life which you don't get when you bring a traditional new addition to the household.  While its a blessing I don't need to change her bum, or get up with her for night feeds, I do have to contend with the nit picking and general attitude of a teenager while not actually being a teenager, which at times can be slightly frustrating..But more than any of that excitement, my biggest news is that now I am a photographer..!! Yes you read right.  3 years of studying at college, exams taken and passed to be a qualified accountant and I have left the whole lot behind to pick up a camera.  Why you may ask ?? or you may not depending on whether you actually are vaguely interested in reading this blog. Well I lost one job in September and the other job I was doing (yes working two jobs, we've all been there at some point haven't we) I was made redundant from in November and that kind of thing, makes you take a look at your life and what you are doing with it.  When I thought about it, I mean really thought about it, I wasn't actually happy working in an office enviroment. I know lots of people do it, and love it.  They can cope with the office politics and the pretense of actually caring about their work colleagues while secretly stabbing them in the back.  But I couldn't, things would upset me and play on my mind.  I'd worry if I had offended or distressed and had none of the hardness that seemed to go with these middle aged women, who gossiped about others as if playing out an episode of Eastenders. So while wondering what I did actually enjoy the camera kept popping in to my head.  I'd been told by Bigman plenty of times that I could take a photo and it would frustrate him that I had shied away from taking them for far to long.  So with some of my redundancy money I purchased a camera and started badgering friends to be my practise models, which they kindly did.  Not a month into my happy snapping and a gorgeous lady approached me to help out with a charity calendar, which I more than happily agreed to and 10 months later after raising nearly £4000 for a cancer hospice, I am doing Weddings, Portraits, Boudoir and Family shoots and loving every minute of it. Here's one that won a Judge's favourite award.  If you want, you can have a look at a few more on my facebook page www.facebook.com/Yourlifeyourink the website is still  in the process of being built :-)