2008 Bebbinar in Chicago

It is very important to me, as a photographer, to recognise that training is an ongoing investment in our business. During 2008 I attended several training courses and I am finally getting round to blogging about some of them. One of the courses I attended was a Bebbinar run by Jen and Steve Bebb in Chicago. To be honest, I didn't know what to expect and was definitely out of my comfort zone. Although it did give me a chance to explore Chicago which is a city I hadn't been to before. I had the weekend there before the course started. I met some of the other people who would be on the course the night before at a DWF get together which was really nice.

To say the course changed the way I approach my photography would be a huge understatement. Jen and Steve are such giving people and they shared their many years of experience with us. It was a really well rounded course as they dealt with the photography and all the business aspects of running a photography studio. We got a chance go out and do some shooting around Chicago and I really love their gritty approach to finding the perfect location. The emphasis is so much on the moment, rather than a pretty background. We each had to "direct" for 5 minutes and I was dreading this as it is not something I relish doing with an audience of other photographers. I did it anyway and the others people on the course were great. It was also useful to see how others approached this. I have since been following the work of two photographers via Facebook and their Blogs and just love what they are doing. They are Dustin Izatt Photography and Misha Media Photography.

We had a review session of the images that we took and this was a really constructive experience. Before we left we all had a chance to have a one-to-one session with either Jen or Steve and that was very helpful as I dealt with some of the points that Steve had made when I returned to the UK. I constantly draw on the knowledge learned on the course when I am doing photo shoots and would highly recommend this course to anyone who is think about it.

A UK Bebbinar was planned for earlier this year, but has now been postponed until later in the year. If you live in UK this would be a great chance to do this course without having to travel to North America. To get in touch with Jen or Steve for more details about the UK Bebbinar, visit their website. Below are some of my images from the course.

A Day out in London

This week my sister has been down from Scotland. She has been staying with her Brother-in-Law in South London and I arranged to meet up with her in London on Monday. I am not very good at carrying around my professional camera with me because it is too heavy, but I decided I want to take it. I used a Canon 5D, no battery grip and a 50m 1.8 lens. This means the camera was much lighter than normal. Some of the photos below were taken in Starbucks at Victoria and the others were taken in my Uncle's flat in central London. I was quite pleased with the results and would certainly consider using this combination again. And in case you are wondering why I took a photo of sweets, we were brought up in South Africa and my sister has a passion for some of the sweets we used to get there. She always visits the Bok shop in Covent Garden and she was showing me her purchases - not for sharing I might add!!

I'd love to receive your feedback.

Evening Sun Photo Shoot

For a while now I have been wanting to do a photo shoot in the evening sun. This was something that could only be done at very short notice because, being England, that weather can change very quickly. We have used a model cally Becky before and she said she would like to take part in the photo shoot - that was all the encouragement we needed. Fortunately Becky's house has some great fields nearby so we even had a location. We were lucky that the South East had more than two days of sun predicted and we arranged a date. What Becky hadn't told me was that to get to the field with the sun I had to climb over a fence with barbed wire. It took a while and props were required but I finally made it. The photo shoot was great fun and we had about 45 minutes before the sun started to disappear. Must remember to schedule more time for climbing over fences next time! These are some of my favourite images from the photo shoot. I'd love to receive any feedback or comments.

SWPP Award Winning Images

June has been a really busy month for us and literally at the very last minute I decided to enter some images in the monthly SWPP Competition. I was pleased to win 5 Bronze Awards and these are the images that won. I would love to receive any feedback.

Portraiture Traditional

Portraiture Contemporary

Fashion

Events

Children

Prom Night for Sackville School, East Grinstead

On 23rd June Sackville School in East Grinstead held their Prom for the Year 11 students. Our daughter is at Sackville and some of her friends came to us for a photo session before the Prom started. We were only given 45 minutes to get all the shots that we wanted and it was a bit of a production line, but we had great fun. All the girls looked stunning and it was hard to believe they are only 16 years old! It is an end of an era because Faith has now left Sackville and will be going to Haywards Heath College from September onwards.

It was so difficult to choose some images for the Blog as I wanted to put them all up, but I managed to restrain myself. Here is a very small selection of them and I would welcome any feedback or comments.

Baby Photo Shoot - 9 month old

I did a photo session yesterday with Alfie who is an incredibly cute 9 month old baby. I did his first session when he was only about 3 weeks old and he has changed such a lot in that time. He now looks like a little boy rather than a baby. I was amazed at how tolerant he was as the shoot took about two hours and he was still really happy at the end. In fact, I think he saved his best smiles for the time after I had packed my cameras away! These are some of my favourites from the day and I would love to receive any feedback or comments.

The photo shoot took place at Ray Lodge Farm and I want to thank Sheila for letting us use her wonderful surroundings.

Orpheus Centre Open Day

On Saturday 20th June we went to the Open Day for the Orpheus Centre based in Godstone in Surrey. The centre was founded by Richard Stilgoe and supports young adults with special needs through the use of music and drama. It was a great day and there were several performances by the Apprentices who reside at the centre. There were also some workshops taking place that visitors could take part in and they were really well attended. It really is a very special place and the Open Day was a great success. These are some of our favourite images from the day, Organising the group shot of all the people involved with the Orpheus Centre was a real challenge! I'd love to receive any feedback or comments.

Random Act of Kindness - Free Wedding Photography

We believe that every couple deserve the very best wedding photography. Unfortunately, sometimes the budget won’t stretch far enough, especially in the current economic climate.
We would like to offer one lucky couple the chance to win their wedding photography free of charge.

The rules:

The wedding must be taking place in 2009 and on a day when we are not already booked. ( We will let you know when we receive your application if that date has already been booked.)

The wedding can take place anywhere within approximately one hour’s drive from East Grinstead. (That would take in locations as far away as Brighton, Guildford, Sevenoaks and Tunbridge Wells…)

You must not have already booked a photographer for your wedding day

You must allow us complete freedom in how we photograph your wedding day and allow the images to be used in all forms of advertising for Pure View Photography

How to apply:

Send us your story by email to info@pureviewphoto.com, with the email subject “Why we should have Pure View Photography at our wedding”.

As well as telling us why you should win, we need to know the following details:

o Your name
o Your address
o Your contact phone number
o Your email address
o The date of the wedding
o The wedding venue
o The reception venue

What the winner will receive:
- Coverage of your wedding by two photographers for up to 8 hours
- A box set of 20 selected, retouched images from the day
- An on line proof gallery where additional prints can be purchased

Who else benefits?
10% of the proceeds from any images sold via the online gallery will be donated to Cancer Research UK. This means that at least £1 from every image bought by you, your friends and family from the online gallery will directly benefit Cancer Research UK.

Please feel free to let people know about this very special offer. We are looking for a couple with a very special story. If you think this is not for you but you'd like to discuss your wedding with us please call me on 07595 044252 or send an email to louise@pureviewphoto.com.

Make Up Model Session