I’m really not sure where a year has gone to but on Saturday it was our little girl’s first birthday!  To help mark the occasion we held a chilled out afternoon tea party for family and friends at home.  Holly had a fab time and loved hanging out with her little friends.  I didn’t take as many photographs as I’d have liked as I was busy in hostess mode but here are some absolute favourites of my little baby girl and one special one with her Grandma (thanks to said Grandma for capturing the candle blowing out moment).

I must say a huge thank you to the very talented Sarah from The Sugar Monkey Cake Company from York who created Holly’s amazing cake.  One of Holly’s first words was “woof” well actually “oof” and so it seemed fitting to go for a dog theme – she “oofed” away at the cake all afternoon and still does everytime she sees the cake board which now just holds an icing tail in the kitchen!

A lovely part of my work is staying in touch with wedding clients and then helping them to record the next big event of their lives – the arrival of a baby.  I photographed Catherine & Mark’s lovely wedding in 2009 which was held at Rudding Park near Harrogate.  Catherine and I were pregnant at the same time and in fact we have a couple of similarities – the first obvious one is that we both called our little girls Holly – and the second is that the girls were born within a day of each other!  Catherine & Mark decided to have a relaxed photography session at their home and here are a handful of my favourites.

I originally met Hannah at Wheatfields Hospice in Headingley when I was working on a photography commission documenting the amazing work that the volunteers that work there do (if you’d like to have a look at some of the work just click here).   It was so lovely to get her phone call a year later with the news of her engagement and even more lovely to be asked to be her photographer!  Hannah & James celebrated their beautiful day at Hodsock Priory in September last year – it was a chilled out affair with stunning little touches throughout.  It felt so personal and such a reflection of their journey as a couple and their personalities.  I loved Mick the busker – really great music and fab to have something a bit different for the drinks reception.  I stayed with them through to the evening leaving the dancing in full swing so I’m sure it was an amazing party into the wee hours!

I also wanted to share some lovely words that Hannah sent through after receiving her album.  “Thank you so much for putting together such an utterly gorgeous wedding album for us.  The quality of the images and paper is incredible and we are all delighted to have such a clear and beautiful record of the day.  So many people who have seen it say that they can hear the day again and that the photos relive the special moments.  I know exactly what they mean.  When I look at the image of Mum in her hat, I can hear exactly what she was saying!  Thank you once again Olivia, you are an artistic genius!”  Ah…. thanks Hannah xxx

I’ve had to keep these under wraps until now as some of them were used as Christmas prezzies for family so it didn’t seem right to give them a sneak preview!  Holly’s growing up so fast and I can’t believe that she’ll be one in less than 2 weeks – where has a year gone ??!!  I love her cheeky cheesy smile and was really chuffed to catch it so well on one of the images.  She’s just started to take her first steps so I promise to post some action shots really soon x

Since becoming a Mummy to Holly I’ve really valued meeting up with like minded parents at the Leeds Attached Parenting group which runs in Horsforth every month.  Not content with running an amazing support network Anna has also decided to launch a brand new magazine to cater for parents who are looking to follow a more instinctive parenting approach.  Key themes are co-sleeping, breastfeeding and baby wearing (I’m officially a sling addict!).  The mag is called ‘Attached’ and I’m delighted to be contributing images to the project.  Here are some of my favourites from the first couple of editorial shoots for the launch edition.

It was an absolute pleasure to photograph Alice & Ian’s super chilled York wedding at the very lovely Gray’s Court tucked away behind the Minster.  It’s a gem of a venue and well worth a visit if you haven’t had the opportunity already.  Alice wore a stunning vintage style dress which fitted the theme of the day so well.  The day started with the ceremony at All Saint’s Church on Micklegate followed by a march through the centre of York to reach the reception.  The walk was a great opportunity for some good documentary shots.  The weather was amazing all day meaning everyone got to hang out in the fab gardens.  In fact, it remained so beautiful that Alice & Ian decided to hold their first dance outdoors – perfect!

I’ll be exhibiting this Sunday at The Wedding Affair at Scampston Hall near York.  It’ll be a gorgeous event hosted in a marquee in the grounds of the house and an amazing opportunity to come and meet a whole host of wedding suppliers. Full details on the link below…

THE WEDDING AFFAIR

Hope to see you there x

I thought I’d post a link to this really interesting blog feature.

“Dear wedding bloggers, you suck”

It’s a strong piece written by a photographer about the current situation with wedding blogs.  I think they can be an amazing source of inspiration and I know a lot of brides who have found a supportive community of fellow planners through them which is great but I do think the author makes some valid points.  I think the interesting angle in the piece comes from the discussion of overuse of trendy filters (especially that vintage look which is everywhere) and the poor representation of “real” couples.  It really does seem these days that only the craziest, zaniest, skinniest weddings get featured on certain blogs – both wedding planning and photography ones. And I do agree that some couples are feeling the pressure to fit with the wedding blog look.

I’m a big believer that good photography shouldn’t need to be fiddled with whether that’s through the overuse of photoshop filters or through jazzy album design.  The odd effect put to good use from time to time can look great – I’m talking more about whole wedding image collections presented in a very stylised way.  For as the piece says we all cringe (well nearly all of us as you can still see it out there…) at spot colouring where you’ll see a black and white image with a lovely red rose, colour confetti or my personal favourite the groom’s tie in colour – gorgeous!  This is a classic example of something that was uber trendy for a while and couples were asking for it left right and centre.  Good photography to me should be about standing the test of time and I worry that images that follow a very fashion route will not hold their own in a few years.

It’s a very subjective issue though and so the best advice I can give is when it comes to finding your perfect wedding photographer try and stay true to your own likes and dislikes and don’t be swayed by what the media (whether that’s online or printed) say you should have.  Look past the trendy finishes and look at the heart of the images – is the quality there, are the subjects relaxed and happy, is there a thorough coverage of the day?  It’s your wedding day and they will be your wedding images and you want to feel as proud of them when you’re old and wrinkly as you do from day one.

Sarah & Mike are planning their wedding around their own village in North Yorkshire – ceremony at the local church and then a mini walk to the local pub for a vintage style afternoon tea.

So to celebrate all things local we thought it would be great to take some relaxed portraits of them on one of the local farms.  I was joined by their little boy Jake who became my budding photo assistant – he had a great eye for good locations!

Louise & Micheal celebrated their wedding on a perfectly sunny but not too scorching day in August over in Cheshire.  I started off in Didsbury to capture some girly getting ready moments where Special K was the order of the day!  I then spent some time catching up with the groom and guests at the pub next to the church in Flixton.  After a lovely ceremony we hot footed it to the amazing if not slightly kitsch Belle Epoque in Knutsford.  Such a unique venue. It was a really chilled out afternoon topped off with some fab speeches.  Here is a handful of some of my favourites.  Congratulations again to you both xx