Hello, and thanks for stopping by to look at my blog.
This is where I get chance to show you my favourite pictures from the shoots I do for my clients and occasionally some of my personal projects.
From time to time I’ll post about other stuff too. I hope you enjoy having a look at my work and please feel free to leave us comments and feedback.
It’s always lovely to receive a testimonial from a happy client. In April I went to Knutsford to meet Deborah and Sophie and their two dogs, Charlie and Bailey for a pet portrait session near their home. The weather was perfect and overnight rain meant that we had perfect puddles for splashing action shots.
For me a pet portrait photograph should capture the character of your pet. And action shots are great way to do this. These sessions are fun and unpredictable; you’re never quite sure how it will work. That depends on the mood of the pet, the relationship between the pet and owner and the location we’re working in. I temper the pace of the shoot and what we’re going to do to suit the mood of the pet I’m photographing. But Bailey and Charlie were easy to work with so I started by taking a series of relaxed, still portraits. Then we went into the parkland surrounding their home for some location portraits and some action shots.
Deborah and Sophie are both Travel Counsellors and organise holidays for their clients. I was surprised to learn that they can do anything from a bespoke world tour with very detailed itineraries to relaxing weekend breaks and flights. If you’re looking for a holiday and want something different or if you just want a better deal than you’d find on the high street or even online it’s well worth contacting them.
As with all my portrait sessions we arranged a viewing so that Deborah and Sophie could choose their favourite photographs from the session which were then framed in bespoke frames for them. A couple of weeks ago I received this lovely testimonial from Sophie about the session and the photographs.
Andrew Collier came to our house for an afternoon to photograph our dogs. We had a fabulous day, and luckily the sun was shining!! The dogs loved him and he worked well with the two dogs. He managed to capture their personalities both together as brothers and individually. We were very much looking forward to looking at all the photos he had taken and when it came down to the crunch struggled to pick which ones we wanted as we loved them all! He has delivered our framed photos this week and we could not be happier. Fantastic photographer! Thanks Andrew!
Last Tuesday, March 20th was the 25th anniversary of the Warrington Bombing. On the day before mothering Sunday in 1996 the IRA set off two bombs in Warrington Town Centre without warning. Three year old Johnathan Ball died at the scene and 12 year old Tim Parry lost his life five days later. Tim’s parents, Colin and Wendy Parry set up the Tim Parry & Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace as a lasting memorial. They campaign for Peace and are unique in the work they do. You can learn more about the Foundation and their work here.
To mark the 25th anniversary of the bombing a commemoration service was held in Warrington and was attended by HRH The Princess Royal. Afterwards there was a private reception where Her Royal Highness met Tim and Johnathan’s families and the staff and volunteers at the Peace Centre.
I was asked to photograph the occasion for Wendy which was an enormous privilege. I photograph a few events for the Foundation as a volunteer and it’s always a privilege to do so. Over the years I have learnt about their work in trying to promote peace, to promote the concept that we have more things in common with each other than divide us and to get people to work together to understand and reconcile their differences. They provide eduction to young people and support to the victims of terrorism and conflict. This unique charity is not aligned to any political or religious organisation and they do not pursue causes like truth or justice. They campaign for peace knowing that whilst conflict is inevitable violent conflict is not. To work with people who do this on a such large scale is truly humbling. I just take photographs from time to tim for them to use to promote their work.
Here are a few photographs from the day. Security was pretty tight but discreet, and it wasn’t possible to stage or pose any of the photographs in any way. But I was allowed to photograph what I saw.
Many people have heard my mantra about business portraits or corporate head shots as they are sometimes known. If you haven’t, it’s this; “The face you present to the world says everything about you and your business”
Most of us, whether we realise it or not, make an instant judgement about what we see when we see a photo or when we meet people. Whether we should or shouldn’t is another matter but we do. reading the right first impression on business social media is critical to being noticed and to standing out. The way a profile is written and the type of photograph used needs careful consideration and should be done with professional help. Using selfies is not a good idea and neither are holiday snaps.
I met Naomi Marriott whose business is called VA Hero at Chester Breakfast Club, run by Judith Kenyon at JayKay Events, last year and we talked about headshots. It was a challenging conversation because Naomi hated being photographed. That’s not unusual as most people don’t like being photographed and many don’t like seeing themselves in photographs. However, for some people, being photographed can be traumatic.
Naomi loves her new business portraits and was willing to let me share her thoughts in this blog post. This is what she had to say:
I hate having my photograph taken in any situation, so initially I was very worried about having a professional photo session. I had met Andrew a couple of times and knew that he was the man to do it. He was very professional but relaxed and showed empathy towards my nerves. As he has many years’ experience in professional portraits I followed his suggestions about clothing and locations. During the session I didn’t feel rushed at all and he gave me clear direction as to what I needed to do, so I didn’t feel awkward, after the first few pictures. By the end of it I actually started to enjoy myself and that’s when Andrew took advantage and has taken some amazing shots!
I can’t recommend Andrew enough. I know that if I ever need new photographs or have any special occasions he is the man I will be calling. Worth every penny for amazing shots.
At the beginning of February I went down to the Mere Resort near Knutsford to photograph the Launch of the Brainwave Trust’s Strictly Summer Dance event. The competition and dinner will be be held at the Mere on June 30th this year.
Brainwave Strictly 2018 competitors;
Back row: Yvonne Dixon, Damien Kinney, Gary Jackson, Phil Reeves
Middle row: Bev Uddin Khandakar, Kimberley Avery, Seema Malhotra, Sarah Byrne
Front row: Fernando, Claire Hair & Carter, Andrew Hutchinson
Brainwave is a charity that helps children with disabilities and additional needs to achieve greater independence by aiming to improve mobility, communication skills and learning potential through a range of educational and physical therapies. The work they do is truly amazing and over the last five years I have found out so much about how they have helped children who couldn’t be helped by the mainstream healthcare system. All of the fundraising goes straight back into providing therapy for kids who otherwise wouldn’t receive the chance to reach their potential.
Seema & Fernando
Gary Jackson & Kimberley Avery
Last summer a lovely family from Northwich, Cheshire, asked me to do a family portrait session for them. Mum and Dad and their two teenage children. They wanted bright and summery family portraits in a coastal environment. So, we planned a trip out to the Wirral peninsula and the River Dee estuary where we found some old boats, wrecks really, embedded in the mud close to the shore. It made a great backdrop for their family portrait photographs.
We had a lovely trip out and made some fantastic photographs. When I’d edited them I designed a 60″ wide installation made up of three of the portraits. There were loads of fabulous photographs to choose from and this is just tiny selection from the session.
You can find out more about our family portrait sessions here
. If you’d like to book a family portrait session by the sea please call us on 10295 471091 or message us through the contact page
Last summer I did a lovely family portrait session for a family in Manchester. Mum liked the idea of having a collection of photographs on their living room wall. But she didn’t want one frame with a selection of images. She wanted something that would make a statement and would look outstanding on the wall.
We chatted about the options and I’d been investigating the idea of using several smaller frames to make a large installation. As we talked about mum’s favourite photographs from the session it was obvious that we’d need to make square frames to display the 12 photographs. Six were portrait and six were landscape. Six showed her two sons together and three each with them on their own.
One of the challenges of hanging a collection of frames is making sure that they all line up and that they don’t sag or move over time. To avoid this, my framer fitted two saw toothed hangers to each photograph. Saw tooth hangers are much better for this type of installation than string or cord. Cord and string tend to stretch over time, meaning that the pictures would become misaligned. Each photograph would be hung with two screws. That meant 24 holes needed to be drilled into the living room wall for the plugs and screws. Each screw had to line up perfectly both horizontally and vertically. And each screw had to be the same depth as the others. Fortunately the wall was flat! After very careful marking and drilling of the wall, the screws were put in to the same depth and the pictures were hung. Everything lined up perfectly first time, which was very fortunate.
I usually hang pictures for my clients. It’s usually quite quick job but putting up an installation is a different thing all together. It requires a wall plan to work from, accurate measurements and patience. Once it was done, it looked fantastic. Mum was delighted and I was too.
I took these photographs at a lifestyle family portrait session last Summer in Altrincham. Many of our family portrait photography sessions are booked by grandparents. They love to have family portraits as reminders of their family around them. Everyone in this family lived locally but we regularly do family portrait photographs for families who are spread across the world and only come together as a group every few years. These sessions are particularly important as there is no telling when the opportunity will arise again.
Photographing three generations of a family together is something really special for me. Regrettably, it’s something that we didn’t do often enough when my own parents were alive.
I took these photographs in Grandmother’s garden. With young children a familiar setting works really well because they are on their own territory and they’re comfortable with it. If they want to get a drink or play whilst I’m photographing portraits of other members of the family, they can. And this makes the session much less stressful all round. If everyone is more relaxed then we get better and much more engaging pictures. It’s really that simple.
If you have family coming together for a family reunion that would be a great opportunity to make the occasion with some beautiful, natural family portraits, pictures of three or more generations together, all of the grandchildren together, portraits of each of the smaller family groups and so on.
After each session I edit the photographs and they’re usually ready within a week or so after the session. When we present the photographs to our clients we’ll look at the combinations that work best and advise on how to display them. By far the most popular option is bespoke framed photographs. Our bespoke frames are designed and made for each client to suit their personal style, taste and budgets. The smallest size is a 4″ frame and largest ones can be made to over 6′ and any size in between. With over 200 frame options, around 50 different ways of mounting your photographs in our bespoke frames, four different types of glass and maybe a dozen different type of paper, canvas, aluminium and acrylic to print your photographs on, we have a huge flexibility to make your family portraits in truly unique artworks to display in your home.
With the realisation that digital technology formats are constantly changing, more and more clients are choosing collections of photographs in a Queensberry album rather as an alternative to DVD and USB sticks.
If you’d to have chat about a lifestyle family portrait session, please call us on 01925 471091 or message us through our contact page.
Last Friday evening I went to the Concorde Building at Manchester Airport for the Runway on the Runway fashion show event in aid of the Teenage Cancer Trust. It was an amazing event and ten schools took part in the fashion show competition. A number of major fashion brands sponsored the collections on show. The Teenage Cancer Trust fielded a big crew for the night too. You can read some of the crew’s stories here. These guys are truly amazing. Being a teenager is difficult. Being teenager with cancer is a whole different world. As one young man put it on TCT’s Facebook page put it; my friends are worrying about the their exams and student debts. I’m worrying about if I’ll be here next year or not. If you’d like to make a donation to the Teenage Cancer trust to support their work please visit their website and follow the links.
Dogs are like children. They get bored quickly and don’t like being bossed about. If you make the session into a game your pet will enjoy it and you’ll get the photos. Have plenty treats too. Dogs love rewards and if they know there’s a treat coming that helps. A small squeaky toy is ideal for attracting attention. Keep it in your pocket and give it a squeeze (but not too often). Your dog will usually look at you with an inquisitive look and you can snap it straightaway.
A border collie puppy leaps out of her kennel.
If you get down to your dog’s eye level you’ll get great eye contact and the dog in the photo will look back at the person viewing it. You’ll probably get dirty but it’ll be worth it. And you might get sat on and licked but that’s all part of the game!
Teddy the boxer peers over the gate to see who’s calling.
Just like humans, dogs need a bit of need a bit of a make over to get the looking at their best. Matter in the corners of the eyes should be cleaned off. A clean, shiny, well brushed coat always looks better. So if your dog tends to matted fur or is a breed that needs regular clipping it’s best to take the photos a few days after a visit to the groomer.
Pet sessions with small dogs using props that are readily available
Don’t spend too long trying to take each shot. If you don’t get what you straightaway move on to something else and come back to it later. So, if you a picture of your dog sitting and looking into the camera and he isn’t interested then try some actions shots with a ball or a favourite toy. Get a friend or family member to help out so you can get them to stand away from the camera and throw a ball back to you. The dog will usually run back to the camera. Then you’ll get those fab shots of the dog running towards you, ears flowing. After a while the dog will be tired. Stop the session, have a cuppa. At this point your dog will probably have a rest. Then you can go back to a shot of him sitting and looking into the camera. Your dog might prefer to peak over the gate or sit in a favourite chair so keep an eye out for these places as photo opportunities.
,em>A red setter bounds through a spring meadow in East Lancashire.
You need just enough light but not too much. Soft natural light is best. On a very sunny day, find some shade to work in. Dogs squint in bright sunlight just like humans. In the shade your dog’s eyes will be open and bright and the colours of your dog’s coat will stand out. If you can do the photos on a day with a bit of cloud you’ll have much more flexibility about where you can take photos. But even on a sunny day you’ll find shade somewhere in your garden, indoors or even somewhere along your favourite walk.
Fox red and black labrador puppies surrounded by Autumn leaves
On an August Saturday you’d hope for sunshine all day and dry weather and we almost got it. The gardens at Colshaw Hall were in perfect condition and the atmosphere was amazing!
It was a perfect day for a wedding and the rain held off until early evening. By then it didn’t matter as all the guests were in party mood! The only things was that Rachel & John’s statement photographs had to be done indoors as it was pouring down.
Christa was photographing with me and we started at Rachel’s parents’ home where the bridal party were getting ready. Rachel’s dress was supplied by our friends at Puure Bride in Lymm. After a informal few getting ready and detail photographs we popped over to John’s parents’ house to get some shots of the boys before going to church.
St Matthew’s Church in Stretton is a beautiful Cheshire Church and the perfect place to celebrate a marriage. St Matthew’s dates back to the 1820’s. As we arrived the guests started to arrive and opportunities for informal photos just kept coming as old friends who hadn’t seen each other for a while met up and chatted as they waited for the wedding to start.
After the ceremony everyone went to Colshaw Hall near Knutsford for the wedding reception and evening party.
