I’m very excited to announce that my new website is finally live!

I’ve spent so much time on the computer working on the website that my waking hours are filled with slideshows, pages, previews and lots of coffee and chocolate, and by night galleries of wedding photographs float scarily past my eyes. After a few hitches with DNS and hosting, everything is finally working well. I had planned to have it up and running a week ago so that I could iron out any possible glitches, but after a few panics this morning everything seems to be running smoothly at last.

So, I can open a nice bottle of wine and jet off on holiday feeling fairly confident that I will be leaving the web in good hands for 10 days….and if it’s not I shall be oblivious!

Here’s a sneak peak:

Now go and see it for yourself!

I will be answering calls and emails as soon as possible on my return, so please bear with me until then.

Happy Thursday!

I used to always take family portrait photographs in the studio, against the very modern white background, but for the past year or so I’ve gradually started shooting almost exclusively on location. It’s so much more fun and relaxing, and the aim for me is to always take enough time and not be too dominated by the clock. I really enjoy looking for new photography locations, finding good light, and then having a good time playing and messing about – it doesn’t really feel like work at all!

Matt is very ticklish!

The boys asked to come and have a few photo’s with the puppies at the end:

Happy St. Patricks day, to o’ the morning to ya and enjoy a Guiness! It is also Twix’ birthday so he will be getting extra treats.

When we discovered that Twix was missing on Friday, we decided we’d stop at nothing to find him. The problem was where to start.

He had gone off chasing rabbits and playing in the fields around Mum and Dad’s house, and he had been nowhere to be seen for a couple of hours. In Twix – land, this is not long at all. The other dogs came back for their dinner at 8pm, and he was still nowhere to be seen. By 10pm we were worried, but not too much. He’d come back when he was hungry. Nevertheless, we all went out armed with torches and our lungs, and started trailing the fields looking and calling for him. By 1.30am, we decided we looked everywhere we could, and that it would be easier to continue the search in daylight. Besides, he was probably just chasing rabbits and would come back when he was ready.

The next morning he was still missing. We printed 100 posters and put them everywhere we thought he could have been. We phoned the dog warden, RSPCA, rescue centres, local farmers, neighbours, the police and anyone else we could think of. Still, he was nowhere to be seen.

We were due to return to Yorkshire on Sunday evening, but we couldn’t bring ourselves to leave without Twix. If we just stayed another day, maybe we would find him. Perhaps he had been handed in to a vet. Maybe he was lost. He could have been stuck in a rabbit/fox/badger hole or someone’s garage. There was even a chance that he might have been stolen.

The extra day made all the difference. First thing on Monday, Uncle Dave arrived with his dog, Scamp (a puppy from Twix’ last litter). After walking all around the rabbit holes in one of the fields, Scamp started whining and digging at one of the holes. Thinking Twix might be in there, Uncle Dave called us over and we listened and called, but heard nothing. We gave up and went back to searching elsewhere. Scamp, however was sure he was onto something, and wouldn’t give up so easily. Uncle Dave thought he heard a whimper.

By lying down and putting your head into the hole, it was just possible to see Twix’s nose. He was trapped upside down, with a tree root over his throat, and was unable to move. After about three quarters of an hour of digging, he was able to be dragged from the hole, more than 60 hours after he went missing.

Poor Twix was traumatised, tired, hungry, dehydrated and very stiff. He’s been to the vet and will be fine, but at the moment he is resting quietly (when the puppies will let him!) and will be back to normal in no time. We have explained to him that he simply must not go down any more holes. Ever. He has agreed but only time will tell.

Twix is also cashing in on his experience. He was front page news of the local newspaper in Northampton today, and the phone hasn’t stopped ringing with papers wanting to cover the story. His book “My Rabbit Hole Hell” by Twix will soon be published by the Meaty Bone Press. Watch this space….

I was introduced to Ox Pasture Hall by Cath and Paul who asked me to photograph their wedding there last August. I always love it when I have a new venue to photograph a wedding at, and Ox Pasture Hall is certainly a good one. It is hidden away in the gently rolling countryside just outside Scarborough, and Cath and Paul couldn’t have picked a better day to get married. The sun was out, the garden looked gorgeous, and it was one of those days that make you realise why you love living in the UK – you just can’t beat a warm British summers day.

Ox Pasture hall is licensed for civil ceremonies, but Cath and Paul chose to get married in the beautiful St. Lawrence’s Church in the nearby village of Scalby.

Paul’s best man played a mean trick on him (don’t get any ideas boys!):

There is a gorgeous gate at the entrance to the church which is just perfect for throwing confetti, and especially the real flower petals Cath had chosen:

The garden at Ox Pasture Hall was at it’s best and was the perfect place for their wedding photographs:

Cath’s bouquet (by Louise Florist was so lovely, I especially liked the blue which is quite unusual but works perfectly:

To view a slideshow of Cath and Paul’s wedding photography click here.

…….Ruth! I got back to the office today to find that my blog has reached 50 comments, it didn’t take too long at all! Just on case you’re interested, I used the Totally Random Number Generator to pick a number, which was 5. So well done Ruth, your Amazon voucher is on it’s way to you.

Happy Wednesday (Desperate Housewives Day) everyone, let’s hope the snow melts and Spring is back by tomorrow.

I have always loved pretty things and am a complete sucker for packaging, so I have recently spent some time focusing on making sure that everything leaving my office looks wonderful (with the exception of me!). I always hope that the recipients of albums, prints etc know much care been taken to make sure that everything is as perfect as possible. Wrapping something in beautiful packaging tells you that the item is precious and cared for. I love it when I go to a nice shop and have my purchases carefully encased in tissue paper and placed in a crisp, new paper bag, ready to unwrap when I get home. It just makes all the difference!

I have just had some new mini business cards delivered, while I wait for my letterpress ones to be made. I have tied bunches of them together for suppliers with satin ribbon in my signature colour:

I’ve also made some flip books (thanks to Design Aglow for the idea) for some my favourite suppliers, showing off the services they offer to future brides and grooms. This one is for Angie Walker, whose flower designs are amazing:

P.S. Just three more comments and someone will win a £15 Amazon Voucher!