Quintessential couple portraits - getting past the awkward

Saudade - nostalgia; the love that remains; a desire to be near someone or something distant....

I have photographed quite a few couples now, often in wedding attire and high on life and love. What fascinates me most, however, is the first ten minutes of the shoot. Without exception, both parties are feeling self-conscious, looking awkward and generally asking 'what do you want me to do with my hands?'

To be fair, that's a great question. There's nothing worse than a dangly arm or spatula fingers, yet a couple who are thrust in front of the lens for the first time often suddenly lose the ability to snuggle, or even walk. Exit gorgeously relaxed couple, enter Pinnochio and friend.  

I find that couples who are attracted to my photographs are looking for (and I quote) 'natural shots'. They want their images to reflect the beauty of their romance but they don't want to be 'posed' or have to gaze into each others' eyes in front of 200 wedding guests and the passing postman.

Let me tell you a story - it relates to my own wedding day and, rather embarrassingly, the making of the very mistake I am now advising against. It was a very informal wedding and even more embarrassingly, it was not my first. (I should emphasise that the shame relates NOT to the fact that I've been married more than once, but to the multiple opportunities I have had to get wedding photos wrong). Our reception party and back garden were littered with close family and friends, where folk mingled and kids played. I asked our photographer for 'natural stuff'. Candid shots of the fun, the chatter, the love, and the sunshine, please. Ask and ye shall receive. All very sound until I received the digital files and realised that my husband and I had spent the entire day separately - wandering, networking and satisfying our guests, resulting in not a single photograph of the two of us together. D'oh.

I can also tell you that (sshh, it's a secret), if you come to me for couple, engagement or wedding photos then you WILL be posed. You WILL be directed and I WILL ask you to gaze occasionally. Creating romantic, organic images of love takes work and orchestration. If I were to pass the buck and leave you to it, we would probably end up with a hot mess of awkward stances and grooms holding brides in half-Nelson headlocks. 

I rest my case.... (click on the photo for a full dose of these fabulous deliberately awkward engagement pics)

So, think again as you browse those Pinterest boards filled with elegant, atmospheric, love-filled couplegraphs. It is highly unlikely that they were achieved by a photographer who was lucky enough to be recruited by a couple so confident and skilled in front of the camera that they were able to drug, take a day off and let them loose with a command of "just smoulder for me". 

Once the lens cap comes off and the moment arrives, my advice is simple - take a few deep breaths, look your baby deeply in the eyes, remember how you love him/her, pull them close and follow your photographer's lead. If you got this far because you are a fan of their work, the chances are you are already in very safe hands. Embrace your SAUDADE!

Engagement and couple shoots can be booked independently, or as part of a wedding package. We can shoot pretty much anywhere, but I highly recommend reconnecting with a place that has special meaning for you; it will make all the difference. 

Please get in touch by phone, via email at eyesomephoto@gmail.com or via my social media pages.

Helen x

Inner City Pretty

If you're into alternative and atmospheric wedding imagery, then this one is for you.

Last week was my birthday. Some people might treat themselves to a new frock on such an occasion, or a pair of shoes. I took a slightly alternative route and spent my birthday money on a full day's photo shoot with Photography Farm. This is my personal idea of fun. Me time. Utter selfishness. A day with myself, my camera and a delightful bunch of strangers in the inner city of Sheffield.

Our venue was a the Abbeydale Picture House, 100 year old semi-derelict cinema. Magnificent in its shabby condition, the peeling walls were nothing if not an asset for the photographer's eye. We were spoiled by the addition of two professional (and totally sublime) bridal models from J'Adore Models and the experienced and thoughtful styling of Erica at Mr & Mrs Unique.

Once I had overcome my fear of the dark (not, you understand, because I believe in ghosts, but because I know that to make photographs one requires light), and explored a bit, it became evident that the old picture palace (venue organised by Inner City Weddings and which is, incidentally, available for hire for weddings) was littered with pockets of natural light, eeking in to the building through tiny cracks and pores, and little port-hole windows. Perfection.

The shafts of light which pierced the darkness provided just enough drama to prove that you can make a beautiful bridal portrait just about anywhere. In the case of the image below this happened to be on an ill-lit, crumbling stairwell with wonky steps and splintered windows. The ancient walls retained just enough paint to add urban interest, complementing the softness of the incredible bridal gowns provided by the fabulous E&W Couture and Bowen Dryden. 

The faces of the two beauties in frocks were both naturally magnificent, but were enhanced by the skills of professional Make Up Artist, Jenn Edwards. Further details and embellishments were contributed by Campbells Flowers of Sheffield, Halo & Co (jewellery), and Faber Novella (shoes).

It was our privilege to be led by four aspirational pros for this romp in self-indulgence. It was as fascinating to watch and talk with them as it was to snap away in this masterpiece of a venue, so thanks indeed for the patience and tolerance of the following:-

Lisa Devlin, Jo from Enchanted Brides, Lee Allen and Lisa Jane.

If you are interested in my wedding photography, please get in touch via email or my social media, or by using the contact form. 

Brand New Brothers

Meet Daniel. So new that he still carries that amazing post-natal 'fur' around his neck and shoulders. An absolute beaut.

And this is big bro Marcos. Equally awesome, but MUCH busier. They only met very recently, but I'm not sure Marcos has so far been still enough to fully make the new acquaintance just yet!

A tale of two halves, this shoot presented on the one hand the perfect subject in newborn D, quiet and still, contrasted on the other hand by a race around the house and garden pursuing lively M, and relying on fast shutter speeds to attempt to pin him down. 

To be fair, M has a right to be excited. He just became a Brother for goodness' sake, and the new guy is VERY cute.

The mission was to a) capture Daniel's newness, and b) to get some shots of the two brothers (together). That last word, small but vital, turned out to be the stone in my shoe. OK, so we managed to get one image of them both in the same room (ta da! below) which will henceforth act as evidence that they are actually related, but I left the shoot feeling that my task had only been  50% completed.

The one thing the boys have in common is the deepest, darkest of brown-black eyes. Impossible to discern where the pupils ended and the iris colour began, their beautiful big eyes and lashes drew my attention in a mesmeric way. 

Mum was relaxed and calm, clearly in deepest love with her new bundle, keeping him close and safe in her arms, stopping when required for on-demand feeds, between shots.

When shooting a newborn, this is how we work - slowly and calmly, letting mum and baby guide us. With the new family's comfort in mind, I always come to your home and maximise the available natural light where possible in order to bring out baby's best.

When the subject requires it and the weather allows, we also use the outdoor space. In this case, an active 3 year-old needed the space to be distracted and given the attention which, until recently all his, had so rudely been pulled from under his feet by his new sibling.

Strangely, not all dads want to get in on the act. The camera sets them scarpering to the four winds, making tea or taking important calls, or just keeping a low profile so mum can take centre stage, but thankfully, in this case, dad was on hand to share the love.

If you are expecting your second, first or fifth baby and would like some help capturing those early moments, please get in touch. It is my honour to work with families at such an amazing and emotional time in their lives, and I will always do my utmost to do yours justice.

Contact Helen 07957627217 eyesomephooto@gmail.com

Being One

Kate's parents decided that their gorgeous daughter's first birthday was one for commemoration. Maybe a party? Perhaps a particular gift? Maybe a special day out? Maybe all of the above, but more than anything else they wanted to ensure it was captured for posterity. That's where I came in.

One of their favourite spots happens to be Fountains Abbey near Ripon, North Yorkshire, so where better for a relaxed walk and some photographs?

We took a turn about the empty ruins and a romp across the grand lawns, but there were really only two things that engaged Kate's attention in a deeply pleasurable way. One was her little lion teddy bear. The other was a brown puddle. 

It gave me serious joy (although from the expression on Kate's face, not quite as much as it gave her) to watch her creating a Jackson Pollock-like mess on her perfectly manicured outfit as she jumped and stamped gleefully in the mud, and it soon became clear that extraction was going to be problematic.

Being one, it seems, is to enjoy life's simple pleasures. Walking unaided. Lingering for a while to enjoy one of nature's great wet gifts.  Getting up high (with daddy's help) to admire the view. Sharing a snack with best friend, Basil. Pointing at birds. Maybe we could all learn a thing or two about pausing from time to time, from the our pre-schoolers.

Kate has already grown since we made these images, and by the time she's two, or four, or ten, she will quite probably have changed beyond all recognition, not only in features, but in actions and taste for those small pleasures which gave her so much joy on this day. So her parents have done her a huge service in investing in my help for the laying down of this record of her very first year.  In years to come they will be able to look back and enjoy exactly who and how she was in this moment in time, and leave that legacy for Kate's future.

Family photo shoots are available from just £150, and all inclusive packages (with and online gallery and a full set of high resolution digital image files) from just £399. Please enquire to Helen at eyesomephoto@gmail.com.

Happy under the weather

When you wake up on the morning of a long-awaited wedding and, no matter how many times you check the forecast begging it to be wrong, it still says....

....it's stressful. 

Someone is entrusting the memories of the most important day in their life (so far at least) to you and your camera. They came to you because you promised romance and soft sunshine, beautiful natural light portraits and backlit kisses, but how can you achieve a decent ambience on a grey and soggy April day?

Flowers by Kate Mell

Opportunism is the watchword. The moments BETWEEN downpours, outdoor light in preference to the indoor yellowish shadows, natural light in lieu of flash. Getting the dress outside and the bride close to a window. And umbrellas. In this case, transparent.

It is possible to have fun with photos when situations don't conform the norm, and since I'm no magician, there is only one possible option when it comes to rain, and that is to do the very best I possibly can with the raw materials I am given.

Thankfully for me, a pretty face is a pretty face in any weather, and Charlotte's looked glorious. Her super-slim figure was emphasised by her lace-bodied open-backed gown, with her dark brown hair swept up and back in a semi-formal knot. 

Whilst I was busy dishing out my wise advice to the bride: "It's only rain and it won't spoil your day", I realised that I should probably take a spoonful of my own medicine, stop stressing about those things we cannot change and just get on with it.

The sky may have been lacking blue, but the wetness did subside for us temporarily, long enough to take a stroll, capture some him 'n' her portraits and ruin the bride's and her maid of honour's LK Bennetts (but that's another story).

When the damp gets too much, I always prefer to use handy trees as shelter, or a cool doorway, over and above a dash back inside a dark venue, so a nearby leafy church lane provided us with some dry respite for a few minutes.

So, whilst mud and frizz were destined to be more of a part of Simon & Charlotte's amazing day than backlight and romantic sunsets, the location (The Crown Inn, Roecliffe) and situation offered quirk and a good deal of atmosphere of a different kind. And besides, they were bloody happy!

Still feel pretty bad about those shoes, though....Ah well, they'll always have the memories.

Easter

The wettest I can remember for a very long time, that's for sure, so making the most of the great outdoors has been something of a challenge.

Not to be bullied into hibernation by the climate, me and mine headed to the North Yorkshire Moors for some dreary sightseeing. 

Are we nearly there yet?

Even Dalby Forest, in all its majesty, could barely summon daylight for us. If we parents were to suffer, then we might as well make sure the kids suffered too, so a 5 mile walk provided the perfect antidote to a fun day out for them.

Even Mister Rabbit set aside his vegetable plot-induced differences with Mr McGregor, as a result of the incessant downpours. And lets' face it, if a rabbit is miserable at Easter, what chance do the rest of us have?

We loved the gardens and the tour of the house at Nunnington Hall (and not ONLY because it was dry inside).

The one and only saving grace for the week was the presence of an indoor swimming pool at our holiday cottage complex. It was just another form of wet, after all, if a little more pleasant.

Whilst the misery of cold, damp and downright spooky forests were less than tempting for the youngsters, they did provide a moody backdrop for some portraits.

The elegant lady below was by far the most happy and well-dressed member of the general public we encountered all week. One must appreciate the attention to detail of Treesa's (not her real name) lipstick, beads and nipple combo. Outstanding.

Happy Easter. I do hope yours was better.

Not me, just my baby.

It would be a bloody miracle for a woman who is two to three weeks postpartum to feel at her best, so the idea of having your photograph taken with your beloved newborn can be unthinkable.

For the most part, in my experience, new mummies try to slide into the background, away from the camera, repeating a well-worn "not me, just my baby" mantra.

But no, say I. Your baby is not the only beauty here. Whilst, when you initially booked your photography session your primary aim may have been to capture the tininess of your new arrival's fingers and toes, I can tell you with great certainty that you will never look back and regret the presence of yourself in these images. 

The brand new bond which you are forming in the early days of your relationship are irreplaceable. Not only is your cooing and nuzzling making your baby's brain grow, but it is a reminder that only a few days previously you were infact, one. You were physically and emotionally tied, and now that you are two, it is the intense chemistry of your love which provides the magic for my camera.

No photographer worth their salt will ask you to do anything that you are not comfortable with, and the beauty of photographing baby in your own home is that you can both feel relaxed and stick to your normal routine of feeds and sleep.

So, please don't be worried about how you will look. You are magnificent because you just created the miracle of life. Throw a muslin over your shoulder, cuddle, and let the camera do the rest. 

For newborn photo sessions, book well in advance, as the first two sleepy weeks of baby's life are the most effective time to shoot! eyesomephoto@gmail.com

Head over to Facebook, Instagram or Pinterest for more inspiration . 

Winter nuptial challenges

A winter wedding comes with many challenges.

Challenge #1 - it's bloody cold

Meet Claire and Russ, blissfully happy (and rightly so), but on this occasion most of the laughter was goosebump-related. Between shots, Claire hurriedly and repeatedly grappled with the zip of her Parka and tried not to look blue. A veritable trooper, I must say, who never once complained when I told her to 'lose the coat' again and again.

Are those goose pimples or are you just pleased to see me?

Ha! Brainwave! Let's warm up my couple, thought I, and asked if they were up for an impromptu visit to the posh wedding gown shop next door. I had in mind a quirky shot of them standing in the shop window, mannequin-like, dressed as, well a bride and groom, obviously. The rather officious lady in the shop, however, failed to see the funny side, and politely declined. Parka reassembled (admittedly with more than a touch of 'up yours' on my part), and back to the great outdoors we went, tails between our legs.

Claire braving the cold

Challenge #2 - it gets dark early

The scheduled time for the wedding ceremony on this occasion was 3pm. Having consulted the sun gods in advance, I was armed with the knowledge that sunset was scheduled for around 4pm. Now, it doesn't take a maths genius to calculate that by the time Russ & Claire had actually signed their marital contract, it would be too dark for the photos which they were paying me to deliver. Awkward in the extreme.

Hurriedly shooting between Parka moments

It is thanks both to the excellent natures of my sporting and awesome bride and groom, and to the relaxed mood of their nuptials that we were able to negotiate meeting up an hour before the ceremony, in order to get some portraits 'in the can'. This was only possible because they were unconcerned about seeing each other before their wedding, and really underpins why my favourite weddings are just like this one, where both parties are super-chilled and entirely without pomp or formality. 

Fading light for a confetti shower

Challenge #3 - shooting at a register office

Register Offices are perfectly fine places to get married, but generally offer up a stinker of a challenge for photographers. 

In this particular case, the windows are curtained and let in little natural light, the walls are beige (they suck up the light and are highly unflattering for skin tone) and there are ill-placed 1970s light fittings bracketed around the walls. The latter provide a cherry-on-the-cake type of challenge, which requires the person holding the camera to attempt to capture the deep emotion of the moment without the bride appearing as though she has well-lit metal antlers growing out of her head.

Letting someone else do the hard work

There are other obvious limitations to an urban Register Office, of course. Whilst the car park is a godsend for a photographer with a heavy bag of equipment, it is generally not my location of choice for newlywed portraits. 

Scouting for interesting nook and cranny opportunities ahead of time has become essential. They must be within a few yards, as brides wear high heels. They must be free from mud and dog kak, as brides wear pretty, long dresses. It must be aesthetically pleasing. Trees are good. Gravel is bad. Bright sunshine is bad. Shade is good.

A helpful log, randomly but conveniently placed next to the car park

When the bridal shop failed, we hot-footed it to a small courtyard which served a handful of apartments. No-one seemed to mind that we didn't belong there, and we had enough peace and quiet to relax into a few shots.

Handsome Russ in a quiet moment before the ceremony

Harrogate also managed to offer up the Stray. Whoever once said "water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink" was bang on here. Acres of grass (= mud = no go), thousands of trees (= no leaves = mud = no go), parked cars (= ugly = no go). Thank goodness for the odd path.

Challenge #4 - cozy indoor spaces 

When the sun is gone, it's cold with a capital C, and the Reception has yet to begin, there is an inevitable retreat indoors. 

Claire & Russ held their delightfully informal and cozy reception at the gorgeous General Tarleton at Ferrensby. In addition to champagne, open fires, candles and fairy lights welcomed their guests into the low-beamed room filled with sofas and snacks. 

Time to reach for the flash. 

Rearranging the accessories to capture the mood

Whilst natural light produces a romantic and dreamy air to wedding photos, indoor flash can be the polar opposite. I was keen to ensure that Claire and Russ's story remained true to events, and that the mood wasn't ruined by an over-zealous light bulb.

Someone needs to remind her to never upstage the bride

An upstairs room was laid out with a long table, set for dinner for about 30 people. It was pitch dark, apart from the twinkle of a few fairy lights and some tea lights, which the kids were (if I were paranoid, I might say sadistically) enjoying blowing out as they ran rings around the table. All's fair in love and wedding photography.

The atmosphere was loving, congenial and perfect for a winter party.

Mum and dad

So, whilst shooting a winter wedding throws up a veritable minefield of obstacles for whoever's in charge of the camera, all is not lost. Challenges aside, this was a totally beautiful day from start to end. I was thrilled to be asked, and lucky to be part of it. 

My fondest and best wishes go out to Claire, Russ and family, for the future.

The best of Autumn 2017

It's been a busy one! Always the most popular time of year, the British autumn wove its magic once again, tempting plenty of families outdoors to make the most of the colour and late sunshine of October and November.

Here are a few of my favourites from this season.

Glorious ladies, of all ages and nationalities, making life behind the lens much easier.

Families took to the woods, often with their pooches, for either a 30 minute walk and a relaxed mini-shoot, or for the full experience. 

It's not too late to book a full or mini session, this time with a Christmas tone. 30 minute Mini Sessions are just £99 and include 5 digital image files, and Full Sessions start from £150.

Walkies!

Since writing this blog post, the adorable but rather sad Lottie, above, has passed away. Whilst I am grateful to have had a final late chance to capture her in pictures for her family, I am devastated for them in their loss.

This is always a popular time of year for family shoots, which usually involves me following you around on a nice walk, and 2017 has introduced me to more fab families and, more importantly adorable mutts.

I thought I'd introduce you to a few of the four-pawed family members that I've met on recent shoots, since they are easily the most gorgeous (no offence to my human clients obv.) and least camera-shy of the bunch.

I should take this opportunity to point out that Lottie, the Bassett, always has a sad face. It wasn't my fault.  

How fabulous are these pooches?

Thanks to all my customers who have brought their doggies along with them on their walkies, and yes, if you're thinking of booking a family shoot in future, your dog will ALWAYS be welcome.