Gloucester Wedding Photographer - Emma & Kris' Engagement Portrait

SWALK - Sealey With A Loving Kiss. Oh yes. That has to be my best Blog Title yet. Even better than the "Freesias and Daisy Chain"? There's only one way to find out. It would probably help to know that Emma's surname is Sealey to appreciate the genius. Come on now. Appreciate it.

Anyway, I have lived and/or worked in Bristol for nearly 10 years and have never thought to do a photography shoot at the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. That was remedied on Saturday when I met up with Emma & Kris for their pre-wedding shoot.

The weather did it best to hamper things but didn't take into account the fortitude of the couple. The rain was that fine stuff that soaks you through. Thanks to Peter Kay for that line.

I met Emma & Kris in mid-September for their wedding consultation and left that meeting keeping everything crossed that they would pick me to shoot their wedding. They have everything that makes my job so easy. A great looking couple who want to have a lot of fun with their wedding and are very comfortable with each other. That last one can sometimes be missing. Surprisingly.

I'm also a fan of Emma's Mum & Dad; a Dad who has promised to knock out a few renditions of the most unusual of songs - Black Box's "Ride on Time" being the one that sticks in my mind the most. Whether I'm a fan of Dad after his faithful and moving tribute to the 90's dance band remains to be seen. He is going to be grateful that I don't shoot video though.

From the outset Emma & Kris were the perfect couple to shoot. Almost every shot of them together has them hugging and clutching to each other. That might sound obvious for couples in love but you would be surprised how many feel uncomfortable doing this.

It was quickly established that Kris was indeed a gorgeous hunk (Emma's words, not mine) and he played up the camera to prove that. Really. They were Emma's words.

Emma really played to the camera too and after reviewing the selected images have got a really cracking set of images for their Gallery.

During the shoot there were a couple of tourists taking shots of Emma & Kris while we were setting up a shot. They really got the paparazzi treatment and even posed for one of them. Not bad for a couple who were initially nervous about having their photo taken.

In summary, this was one of my favourite Engagement Portrait shoots of the year. Great-looking, fun-loving couple. Check. Fantastic venue. Check. Great weather. Check (just about).

A great big thank you to my gorgeous girlfriend Jan for assisting me in the shoot and offering advice on some new ideas. I love you, my Angel.

Kate and the Swan Opera

OK, so we had a Swan called Gary, a Dog called Piglet and Scrumpy that would bite you if you tried to drink it from a pint glass. Scrumpy was a dog too.

Today was a fantastic shoot. Simple as that. Kate was superb and gorgeous, Upper Court Manor was beautiful and the sun came out to play.

Autumn is easily my favourite time of the year to shoot portraits. The colours are warmer and the sun softer which makes my job so much easier.

I'd met Kate at the NEC Wedding Fair when I was helping Blenheim Photography as Jan's saucy assistant. Check out the photos on www.groovybooth.com if you don't believe the "saucy" part.

I knew instantly that Kate was going to be the perfect portrait subject. Beautiful, lively and game for just about anything on the shoot.

Kate provided a lot of herself and previous experience as a model which provided a great variety of poses, expressions and fun. In particular, there is one shot of Kate with a flower head in her mouth. That image can be found on Facebook in the David Gow Photography page.

Not only did we create a lot of great images, but we started, what I can only assume will evolve into, a soap opera for swans. We decided that the two Swans we saw were called Gary and Betty. Betty was a fanatic of Radio 4 and knitting while Gary was a local at the pub with his mates - Fat Bob, Steve-o, Gaz and Barry and nerdy hanger-on, Kevin.

This may all sound strange but they laughed when someone came up with the idea of a sitcom about the Nazis and called it "Allo Allo". Ironically, there was more laughter then than the show itself ever produced.

A great shoot today - one of those days when everything comes together. I'm looking forward to editing the images for Kate's Gallery.

If you are interested in having your own portrait shoot or know anyone who would like one then please feel free to contact me at ian@davidgow.co.uk.

If you go into the woods today...

... as well as seeing a strange group of teddy bears pottering about making a right nuisance of themselves trying to "surprise" passers-by, you would also have seen Sarah & Dan being photographed for their pre-wedding shoot.

Sarah suggested that we do the shoot in the woods in Dursley and that turned out to be a stroke of genius.

We got a cracking set of images despite the weather trying it's best to stop us.

Starting with some shots at, what I can only assume was, an abandoned caravan park we found on our quest, we progressed up a country lane and into the woods.

Sarah & Dan were great sports as I asked them to stop at every "interesting" point on the walk to add to the gallery images. And there were a lot.

Special mention goes to Sue, Sarah's Mum, who did a fantastic job of being my glamorous assistant. Sue was a star at handling the reflector which she carried around for the whole shoot. It's a pity Sue will have other plans on March 19th, when Sarah & Dan get married, as I think I have found the perfect aide.

And let us not forget Lacey, Sarah & Dan's dog. As well as making sure we weren't mugged by teddy bear hoodies she posed for a great shot of her looking every inch the canine-equivalent of a super-model. But without the bad attitude. Or the bad skin condition. Or the desire to be Britain's Next Top Model. I'd vote for her anyway.

Sarah & Dan's wedding has some special features that I'm really looking forward to capturing on film. I'm not sure how much is a secret so I won't give anything away yet. You'll need to wait until March for that.

"Oh what a Temple Spa Ladies Night"

As you can imagine, when I helped the Four Seasons write one of their biggest hits I wasn't too keen on that title. I suggested removing the words "Temple Spa Ladies" and after much discussion they agreed and the rest is Rock n Roll history.

However, the original title for that song makes a perfect label for today's blog.

Last night was indeed the Temple Spa Ladies Night at Brickhampton Golf Club in Tewkesbury and what a fun night it was.

There were a lot of great exhibitors there and I was fortunate to meet a lot of great ladies.

As you can see from the pic above the roller banner looked as good as I'd hoped as well as the framed images - both of which received great comments about how beautiful Zoe looks. Thank you again to Paul and Claire for allowing me to use the images.

This was the first show were I exhibited the new photo books, added as part of the Portrait Gift Pack. These proved to be very popular with some ladies expressing great interest in having their own books.

Talking of the Portrait Gift Pack. Which I was. Honestly. Check the previous paragraph. See? No tenuous links on my blogs. Apart from the title and references to the Four Seasons. Anyway. Last night saw the introduction of the discount offer on the Gift Packs. Normally £250 the packs are now priced at £150 until Dec 31. £100 discount!! A bargain. The pack includes a Pre-paid Portrait Voucher and a choice of a 13"x11" Photobook, Framed Images, Portrait DVD or Digital Frame. See? A bargain.

If you are interested in buying a Gift Pack they can be purchased by contacting me - details can be found at http://www.davidgow.co.uk/contact.html.

Thank you to everyone who came to the Show and to everyone who spoke to me - despite me forgetting to bring sweets.

I look forward to meeting up with you again to create your own portrait magic.

Portrait Gift Pack Offer at the Temple Spa

New literature, new promotion, new pack offers and a bowl of new sweets - it can only mean one thing - a new stand at a fair.

I'll be exhibiting (so to speak) at the Temple Spa Ladies Night at the Brickhampton Golf Club in Gloucester tomorrow, Fri 15th Oct, evening.

This photo of the beautiful Zoe is the new roller banner bring unveiled at the show. At a mere 6ft high I'm hoping this catches the eyes of everyone attending. A great big thank you to Claire and Paul for allowing me to use Zoe's image.

As well as a new set of promo literature I'm excited to be promoting a special offer for the Portrait Gift Pack. Everyone who attends will be given a £100 discount on the Gift Pack making it an even more obvious choice for a Christmas present for your loved ones. I'll even let you buy one for someone you don't especially like too. It's not just limited to "loved ones".

This year has been a great success for lifestyle portraits with a few months left to make it outstanding. I'm working hard to make 2011 even better.

If you are free tomorrow night then please come along and say "Hi". There will be a lot of great exhibitors and with more bargains than you can throw a small Bolivian Goat-herder's Poking Stick at.

Did I mention there will be free sweets?

Naz and the Aztec Camera

It has been well over a year since I worked with Naz - in fact Naz was the first customer I shot with my 5D Mk2. Not sure if that means anything to anyone but I remember.

Naz expressed an interest in a new shoot using Indian dress - well 3 dresses. Instead of choosing which dress to use we decided to do 3 separate shoots - this was the first.

We has intended to do a rural shoot using a lot of greenery for her blue dress but we got lost while walking to the location.

However, we found something even better - the back of an industrial unit in the Aztec Centre, Bristol. This location offered us a number of colours and textures including this corrugated metal wall. Some of the best locations can be found in the most obscure and unexpected places.

We got a great collection of images for the Blue Dress shoot of the "trilogy" and have already planned the Burgundy Dress shoot for next week which will be a "town" shoot.

The third shoot is a Cream Dress - we're going to wait for the snow to complete the series.

Naz is always great fun to shoot - check out some of her images on the David Gow Photography website gallery - in the portraits section - to see why. A great looking girl who's happy to throw a roundhouse kick into the portrait shoot.

Bring on next week.

Tamika - The Wharf House, Gloucester

Tamika is no stranger in front of the camera with her work as a model at numerous wedding fairs - but this is the first time we've worked together in a portrait shoot just for her.

I started a competition last year which Tamika won. I uploaded a number of portrait images on Facebook and whoever got the most comments against their image within the month won the prize of the portrait shoot and a digital coffee table book for their images. Well done to Tamika for winning and thank you to everyone for taking the time to vote.

For Tamika's shoot we decided on the Wharf House as the venue as it's still a great favourite. It has a variety of interesting sections, including the canal, boats, a bridge, overpass, lots of greenery, a small building site and not forgetting the strange pond containing pea and ham soup.

The sun decided to challenge us by moving in and out of the clouds so we ended up roping Tamika's Granddad into the shoot, as my glamorous assistant, to hold the reflector. It was very reminiscent of the Dolly Birds holding the huge playing cards in Play Your Cards Right. 5 points for anyone who not only remembers the show but can also recall any of Bruce Forsythe's catchphrases.

As a late afternoon, cloudy shoot the light was nicely diffused and we got a great collection of images for Tamika's gallery.

After seeing a couple of rabbits midway through the shoot, I was a little disappointed that Tamika didn't race after them to use as a prop - but fair play as she did master her fear and get onto the riverboat for the "captain of the seas" shot. I don't think it helped that I "accidentally" rocked it while setting up in position.

Also, credit goes to Tamika and her Granddad for trudging through the swamp-like nettle-sludge to get to the "green door" at the underpass for the last few shots. After reviewing the edits I can say that it was definitely worth it. Surprisingly, neither took up my offer of a piggy-back.