Happy Christmas everyone!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas!


I'm planning a good old fashioned family Christmas - no turkey for me though - as a non-meat eater I will be cooking up one of my favourite dishes a really delicious mushroom pate en-croute - goes brilliantly with all the trimmings! I'll be quickly back into wedding mode though for Terry & Helen's day 29th Dec who are getting married at Redworth Hall near Darlington - some images to follow!

The Green Guide For Weddings

I'm delighted to be included in the recently published 'Green Guide for Weddings' written by Jen Marsden who was a former editor of 'New Consumer'. The book is packed to the rafters with eco-friendly ideas to help you plan a green wedding.

The book is available to purchase across the UK in retail outlets or over the internet via the link below:



There are lots of other options in the 'Green Guide' series including fashion, home & household and travel.

Eco-chic wedding stationary - new product shoot

Cherry Gorgeous is one of the UK's leading innovators in the green wedding movement producing stylish eco-chic stationery. I've worked closely with Dee Grismond from the company over several projects including 'The Lovely Green Wedding Event' in October so was delighted to be asked to complete some new images to showcase new ranges including funky new favours.

Think Business - Bradford

I've been commissioned to undertake a series of sessions with businesses working with The Think Business scheme at Bradford University. The scheme aims to support and help young businesses develop and I've had the opportunity to meet some inspiring entrepreneurs with many more sessions to come in 2009. I always enjoy the challenge of corporate portrait shoots - similar to weddings - having to think on your feet, overcoming environmental obstacles and sourcing the best possible light in that given moment.

Getaway Girls Fashion Shoot

Getaway Girls is a wonderful charity based in Leeds that works with young women aiming to increase their confidence, self-esteem and skills base. I've worked with the charity on various commissions over the last couple of years and so was delighted to be asked to work with some of the girls (and token boy!) on a fashion project they had just finished. The focus of the project had been looking at recycling clothing through clever alterations - not only a brilliant way to save money but also very eco-friendly... The shoot took place in Harehills in Leeds which is where many of the young people live - we were blessed with some really fab lighting and so with a clever bit of creative flash were able to use the back to back terraces and famous Leeds red brick walls to great effect.

Allerton Castle - winter wedding heaven

Winter weddings are becoming more and more popular and Kelly and Ben's wedding 28th Nov at Allerton Castle was a perfect example of how fabulous the light can be out of the summer season. Add in some roaring fires, hot mulled wine and candles and you have the perfect recipe for an stunning backdrop. Beautiful crisp blue skies greeted me in the morning for some landscape shots with a misty afternoon adding some real moody atmosphere. I've had to include a shot of the bride's Prada shoes as they have to be the most fabulous bridal shoes ever - respect to Kelly for managing the staircase so gracefully in those heels!

Papa Kata Teepee wedding - Catherine & Paul

After all of the excitement of The Lovely Green Wedding Event I had the opportunity to enjoy the fab Papa Kata teepees at Weddings & Wellies again for Catherine & Paul’s wedding 25th October. Following a ceremony at The Black Horse in Clifton everyone headed over to Weddings & Wellies Low Farm in Norristhorpe for a beautiful reception. A roaring fire in the centre of the tepee was a welcome site on a blustery day.


As most photographer’s will know you can find yourself in some precarious situations when going for that full group shot from an aerial view. This has to be my all time favourite – stuck on my own in a cherry picker on a tractor about 15 ft in the air in what felt like galeforce winds! – it was worth the effort (and fear) though as it was a fab shot…

Weddings & Wellies were the kind hosts for the Lovely Green Wedding Event and well worth checking out as an alternative wedding venue. The site is a working farm and run by Claire & Duncan who are passionate about green and local issues. The wonderful thing about the farm is it's a blank canvas so from a hippy style festival vibe with teepees to a more traditional marqee with afternoon tea it's all possible. The farm is photography heaven with sweeping views and quirky backdrops... I'm looking forward to spending more time down on the farm for weddings booked for 2009!

A mix and match Saturday..

I can always tell when the "wedding season" is coming to a end as I start to discover weekends again and am able to start taking on more diverse commissions... This Saturday was pretty busy catching up on wedding processing tasks and 2 photography sessions. The first was a family portrait session involving 6 kids.


The evening saw me heading over to The Academy Health Club in Harrogate to document their annual tennis club awards evening - the theme was James Bond and all of the guests had gone to town with their outfits. Flash cars, fire eaters, martini cocktails, silhouetted dancers and the all important casino made sure everyone had a fantastic evening.

The UK's 1st Green Wedding Show

It’s been a whirlwind few weeks since getting back from honeymoon with a big build up to a really exciting event that was held 19th October – “The Lovely Green Wedding Show”.



The show was the UK's 1st Green Wedding Event so I was really excited to be one of the oganisers alongside Dee Grismond from Cherry Gorgeous and Claire Ellis from Weddings and Wellies. And doubly proud that the we managed to put Yorkshire on the map in leading the way with the green wedding movement as the focus is normally based down south. There are lots of pictures and some info about the event on the show’s website – LOVELY GREEN WEDDINGS.

A huge thank you to all of the amazing suppliers who helped make the day such a success – you can find out all about them on the website too. We were delighted to be joined by the BBC who were filming for the next series of “It’s Not Easy Being Green” to be aired next February.

Our key motivation for the event was to showcase some of Yorkshire’s finest green innovators and demonstrate that it is easy to incorporate green ideas into your wedding planning. Equally, there was the desire to prove that wedding shows don’t have to be boring hard sell experiences – feedback from guests has been amazing all saying they really appreciated having time to really chat with suppliers who were on their wave length and weren’t pushing their services. We’re determined that there will be another Lovely Green Weddings event in 2009 so do watch my website and blog for more details and if you’re a supplier with green credentials who might be interested in exhibiting at the next show please just drop me a line – over and out….

The Wedding Photographer's Wedding!

So for those not in the know September saw me become a MRS! to the very lovely and handsome Jonny. As I get to enjoy so many weddings I thought it only fair that the tables are turned and I shared a few memories from my day. Just click on the image to view some more pics - a huge thank you to Tina Nicholson for taking some fab images and not only coping with the pressure of capturing a photographer's wedding but also the added strain of performing in front of 2 parents who are professional photographers!



The day was very chilled out with a kind of shabby chic vintage tea shop meets Field of Lost Vagueness at Glastonbury theme (!) We were lucky enough to be able to hold our reception at my parent’s house near Harrogate so had a free rein to do things our way. A big priority was to bring lots of green elements to the day including eco-chic stationery, organic local produce, coach transport, vintage crockery and seasonal flowers. Very very happy to be married to the love of my life and apologies to all prospective clients who’ve been getting in touch recently as I’ve been tending to get carried away talking weddings – I’m still on a high! It really is the best day and I’m just so excited for all those future brides and grooms out there… if you’re thinking about an at home marquee based wedding I’d be delighted to pass on any words of wisdom to help with your planning so please just get in touch.

Charity Project 2008

Starting this year I’ve decided to take on an annual charity project as I strongly believe that it’s important to take on personal work that creates new challenges and gives something back to the local community. This year saw me working with Sue Ryder Care Wheatfields Hospice in Headingley, Leeds with a brief set to recognise and celebrate the work of the volunteers as part of the hospice’s 30th anniversary. It was an amazing photographic journey working alongside patients and volunteers in the hospice and day-unit as well as recording the many diverse roles undertaken in and around the patient services – from kitchen tasks, chaplaincy, gardening, admin and fund raising – volunteers are the life blood of the charity.



Further images from the project can be viewed on my website – WHEATFIELDS PROJECT . I’d like to take this opportunity to say a huge thank you to all of the staff, volunteers and patients at Wheatfields who made me feel so welcome – please do visit the Wheatfields website to find out more about the amazing work that is done there.

I’m starting to have a think about project opportunities for 2009 so please do get in touch if you work with a Leeds based charity that would like to be propose a photographic brief.

Welcome!

Hi to all

After many well meaning attempts I'm finally delighted to announce the start of my blog! I'm hoping the blog will be a perfect way to share lots of extra information with clients old and new as well as photography and business friends. Rather than just being one big wedding review I'll be giving a real insight into what's going on in the wonderful world of photography in Yorkshire. They'll be plenty of images to enjoy along the way and I'll be giving a particular focus through the blog on my thoughts and experiences with green weddings.

So... there's nothing else for it - let's get blogging!

Olivia x