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Feb 9

365:2011 – complete!

I’m a bit late in posting this update, I know, but it’s been a busy few months. Mr CG and I are not only very close to becoming parents, but we also made a pretty big move from our rented flat in west London to our first owned home in the West Midlands – a move we were sad to make because we love London so much and have left behind a lot of friends, but we’re also excited to be in our new home, closer to family and in a more Chimp-friendly place for when baby arrives. So things have been a bit full-on. But, amidst all of that, I still managed to keep up my 365 project – and, boy, was I glad when it was over?! To celebrate the end of an exhausting but ultimately fulfilling challenge, here’s a quick whizz-through of my favourite shots from the project…

So, they were some of my favourite shots of 2011. The full 365 project has been uploaded onto my Flickr site and Facebook page, so if you want to see the rest then those are the places to head. I won’t pretend it wasn’t a really exhausting and time-consuming project, and there were many, many days when I wished I hadn’t taken it on, but I was determined to see it through, and I’m glad I did. I missed two shots in all, both of which I’m convinced I took but must have accidentally deleted. It’s a bit annoying, but I still think it’s a pretty good success rate! I’ve now had the entire project printed as a photo-book so that I can look back on the year - a pretty momentous year for me, as it turned out – whenever I want to, and that alone is worth the stress that the project caused at times. I won’t be doing another one again in a hurry – it’s been nice to not have to take photos, but to just get my camera out when I actually want to – but I’m so, so proud of myself for doing it, and if anyone out there is planning on doing the same, I’d say that it’s a lot of hard work, and it’s much more stressful than taking photos should be, and you’ll doubtless have days when you regret taking on such a mammoth project – but see it through and you’ll be immensely proud of your achievement :)

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Feb 8

From here to maternity…

OK, here’s the deal – the boy, my son, Chimp (as he shall henceforth be known) was due yesterday, and, like all good babies, hasn’t shown up yet. But not to worry – it gives me a chance to post some of the Chimp-related photos that I’ve been taking over the last nine months…

Starting with… The Test. Yes, it’s a bit on the icky side to post a photo of something I’ve wazzed on, but what the hell, we’re all friends here, right?

The bump had started to show sufficiently for a photo by week 18…

..and in week 20 we had our anomaly scan and found out that we’re expecting a boy!

The old tape-measure-around-the-belly shot was called for in week 24…

A simple black-and-white shot for week 28…

A few days after Christmas, week 35…

And a few shots in week 38…

Of course, his name is a secret for the time being…

And finally, week 40 – the due date shot…

And with that, my maternity self-portraits are done. The boy may take a little while longer to show, but my due date seems a good place to stop taking pictures of the bump. Now, things are likely to get a bit hectic in these parts sometime in the next few days, but hopefully I’ll find some time in the not-too-distant future to take and upload some newborn Chimpy pics. Wish me luck, everyone!

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Nov 14

My first wedding shoot!

Yikes – I knew it had been a while since I’d last updated the blog, but I hadn’t realised quite how long… Six months?! Oooops. Well, it’s been a busy few months, I’ll say that much. But that’s for another post – first of all, let’s head back to April, a hectic month in itself, because I shot my first wedding as the official ‘tog. The bride was one of my oldest friends from school, Emma, and her lovely fiance Adam. They asked me to shoot the wedding quite some time before the big day, and while I was thrilled that they like my work enough to trust me on such an important occasion, I was also a little bit mega terrified about messing things up – and ruining a good friendship in the process. There’s a lot of pressure on a wedding photographer – it’s obviously an extremely important day in the lives of the couple, and you only get one chance to get it right. There’s no going back if something goes wrong, so I put a lot of effort in to ensuring the necessary groundwork was covered well in advance. On a technical note, the most important thing was to make sure that I had solid, reliable equipment – I knew my usual D5000 could cope with the events of the day, as could my favourite lens, my 50mm prime f1.8, but I knew I’d need a back-up body and a good zoom to get a wider variety of shots. I hired these from  a company called Hire A Camera, and wasn’t disappointed with their service. The equipment was delivered the day before the wedding so that I had time to get used to it (I had to order a different model to what I’m used to, so it was important to get to know it inside out before the wedding). I’d already spoken with Emma about the kinds of shots she and Adam wanted, which were mostly candid reportage-style shots, and what sort of group shots were important to them both. I also went along to the rehearsal a few days before the ceremony to get a feel for the church. The night before, I made sure all my lenses and sensors were clean, memory cards all formatted (and made sure I had plenty of spares!) and that all batteries were fully charged. Then…it was time for the Big Day itself. I took the husbinator along with me as my assistant, as I knew I’d need the support with so much responsibility (and equipment!) on my hands – and what a brilliant job he did :)

I’ll let the photos do most of the talking from here – although I’ll try not to post too many of the bride and groom’s faces just for their privacy…

First stop on the day was Emma & Adam’s flat, where the bride and her three bridesmaids were getting ready. Em’s dress was absolutely beautiful – a 50′s inspired polka-dot number with a gorgeous red rose at the waist. Let me tell you, it was not hard to take good pics of that dress!

Dress close-up

She also had a gorgeous bouquet of red gerberas, and one sexy pair of killer Vivienne Westwood heels…Flowers

Shoes

I got a few shots of the bride getting ready, with the help of her bridesmaids…

And then it was time for the ceremony. I tried to get as many detail shots as I could through the wedding, including the ceremony, so that’s mostly what I’ll post here…

First, the bride, groom and the bride’s brother, who escorted her up the aisle.

The exchanging of the rings…

..and the signing of the register.

I took this shot from the other end of the aisle before the happy couple headed back out.

And then it was time for them to leave, on their way to their reception.

The reception was held in a lovely hotel in Wolverhampton. The room was beautifully decorated, so I made sure to get lots of shots before the guests got in.

The gorgeous cupcakes that were on each table (did I mention I helped make these? I’m a talented girl :p )

And the adorable Playmobil cake toppers!

I went into the grounds with the bride and groom for a few more shots, and a chance to utilise some ace balloons…

This is one of my absolute favourite shots from the day – I love the smile on her face surrounded by those balloons!

Then it was back inside for the last few official elements of the day – the cutting of the cake…

..and the first dance.

Then I got to join the other guests as we partied with the newlyweds into the wee small hours. It was a beautiful wedding, and I hope that Mr & Mrs B got as much enjoyment from the photographs as I did.  Congratulations again, you two!


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