The Bridge at Waterton Park Hotel near Wakefield

Well it was a fantastic day yesterday at the Waterton wedding fayre at the beautiful wedding venue in Walton Wakefield. Over two hundred Brides attended and it feels like I spoke to them all today! It was a brilliant day and really interesting to hear all the plans that the different couples had.

The staff were again brilliant and a big mention to Pauline and Amy (the wedding coordinators) who help me enormously on the day. Despite the weather, nobody seemed to be put off. The wedding photography stand was very busy and we had some special promotions on the day. We will be holding the draw for the winners of the “free Wedding photography” package later.

www.andreabarrettphotography.co.uk 

Over the last 10 months I have photographed over 580 boudoir sittings, after previously shooting none. Its been quite clear to me that the secret of my success has been my ability to get the bums on seats and  ”flatter” all the girls that come through our studio doors, using only light and classic “Hollywood” style posing.  To be quite honest  ( and those who have come to my seminars, you know I am) I have looked at some  Boudior web sites and I have seen some absolutely horrific work out there, as well as some lovely work too. I spoke on the Graphistudio stand at Focus on Imaging in Birmingham this year and it seems certain to me that there is a lot of interest in genuine photographers who want to learn to shoot Boudoir the correct way , which makes sense. The better your work, the more referrals which brings in more work…. no brainer.

If any of my photographer friends out there are planning to venture into the “Boudoir” market and want to do it properly then you might be interested in a one day course that I will be running on the 25th of April at our studios in Leeds.

It is a full days course starting at 9.30 and finishing at 4.30pm or thereabouts.

This course is a practical one which will show you how to create those  fabulous boudoir Images. Boudoir is very popular and more and more brides are wanting to surprise their new Husband with a stunning set of Bridal Boudoir pictures, which is a great add on or upsell to future Brides.

Most photographers make the mistake of been too technical and not listening to the clients concerns and worries, and a big part of Boudoir photography is getting the client to feel more relaxed and at ease, which make the whole job far more easier. I will demonstrate different techniques using “available” and some studio (Tungsten) lighting. Using easy lighting set ups and explaining how to “pose” and “direct” your models are the key elements when it comes to producing high end quality work. On the day not only will I guide you on how to market, shoot, and grow your business, i will show you how we sell our beautiful products.

A complete day course with all added course notes on a cd to take away

The price of the course is £295  although  an “early bird” gets it at the “catch the worm” price of £250 by March 31st 2012. A maximum of 5 people only, and nobody who operates within a 35 miles radius of Leeds. Sorry.

If your interested in this course then please email me : andrea@andreabarrettphotography.co.uk or phone me on 0113 2575728.

As always, I had a second professional photographer with me, his name is Mark and he just happens to be the man I live with, so thats handy! Mark has his own  successful wedding photography business but as he was available and willing, I took the opportunity to utilise his skills.

We arrived an hour before the ceremony and met the lovely Pauline who is the “Waterton’s” wedding co-ordinator and one of the best in the business by far. In fact all the staff are a great bunch of people and are always there if you need a hand with “this and that”

A special “Thank you” goes out to Shane and John  who are the resident DJ’s at Waterton and always help out with the music for the slideshows that we present in the evenings.

As mentioned earlier it was a cold October day and with the breeze coming off the lake, Lynsey and the Bridemaids suffered the most but were true professionals and never complained once, a few of the guys moaned but I ignored them.  I just love weddings at this time of year, the dark nights and the autumn colours are fantastic and make for great pictures.

Below are just a few of the pictures we took at the wedding but I think it just catches the atmosphere, that was present on the day. A lovely lovely wedding.

I was overjoyed to hear that I have won “The Master Photographers Association” Wedding Album of the year 2011. Not only did I get one of the highest accolades in the country but I was over the moon to get the runners up trophy too!! I love to win awards and have been lucky enough to win three hundred of them with my wedding pictures. Winning with “single” images is a great achievement but its extra special to win with a complete set  of different images in a wedding album.

The winning album was shot at Oulton Hall near Rothwell Leeds.The wedding itself had a “1920s” theme to it. I thought about how I was going to shoot it long before I arrived on the day. I decided that, I didn’t want to use “flash” or rather I would use it only where absolutely  necessary. I felt this would just ruin the look and feel of the images. Mark Jordan (my partner) suggested I use two video lights, so with his help and  the help of two assistants holding  two”video” lights we shot the whole day like this. I have to mention the B&G at this point because it was a massive bonus that they were brilliant on the day. Jurga (the bride) just got right into it straight away and she told me she just loved the experience. We took the decision to have all the images in the album black and white as it would have been in the 1920s.

The “Runners up” Wedding Album was an entirely different (as all weddings are) and was shot in the snow at Allerton Castle. We had to “race” around after the wedding ceremony as the couple married quite late in the day and we were losing “the light”. Once again the Bride and Groom were great especially Rachel who wore some lovely boots to trudge in the snow.

I would just like to point out that, I never went out to shoot these weddings to win an award.   I have been shooting weddings for twenty five years and still have the same enthusiasm as I did when I first started in this industry.                     Jerry Ghionis is a Greek wedding photographer and  in my opinion is the best wedding photographer in the world, and  Mark and I were lucky enough to attend one of his seminars in Toronto last year, and I learnt lots and lots of wonderful things but one little snippet I will share here ( I know he won’t mind) He told me to “always try to do better than your last wedding” and I took little bit of advice onboard.

While I’m at the “Lectern”  gushing forthwith, a massive massive  ”Thank you ” for Mark  Jordan who deserves just as much credit as I do, in winning this fantastic award. You always know when Mark’s at a wedding as he’s the loudest one there!!! His inventiveness, enthusiasm, support and sometimes annoying “set ups” that he tries at exactly the wrong time (which drives me mad) has helped me enormously. Respect Mr “J” xx

Otley Chevin Country house is a great venue to marry although we were thankful that the weather was beautiful as it could have been tricky if it had rained.

The weather was perfect for pictures though and although it was a “tad” warm for the guys in suits, the guys were great  ,doing all that was asked of them and we had a fun time. Just have a look at the guys jumping about in 77f. heat.

The whole day was a great success and the presentation slideshow shown in the evening went down a storm, as did the tasty “Hog Roast” that everyone tuck into. The happy couple danced well into the small hours with the excellent DJ banging out their favourite tunes.

The church where they were married was St Mary Church in South Milford and the reception venue was the outstanding Wood Hall Spa near Linton not far from Wetherby. We are a Leeds based wedding photographer but we travel far and wide and we even shoot destination weddings but this was much nearer home.

The weather was a little bit of a challenge as it began to rain in “fits and starts” but the guest we really accomodating as we dashed them outside and the rain would start to drizzle and the girls would make a scramble for inside.

Apart from that the day was a fantastic success and judging by the photographs below, it looked like everyone enjoyed themselves.

The day was as good as you can get really. Jonathan and Haly were blessed by the sun and it was just as well as they decided to buck the trend and instead of a sit down meal they went for a barbeque for the 8o guests, which was a great idea and all the guests seemed to enjoy it.

Haley look fantastic in her wedding dress and just made it so easy for shooting the wedding photographs. Jonathan was just as good too.

Have a look at these highlights below.

Oulton Hall is a brilliant venue for a wedding photographer because it has everything  a photographer could want, beautiful scenery and views, fine interiors and dozens of little locations that I have photographed lots of Bride and Groom’s over the years.

I have include a few “sneaky peeks” for people here. If you want to see more of my work then just head off to www.andreabarrettphotography.co.uk

As expected the weather was cold…very cold but you would not guess it from the pictures would you.

Hi Girls

Its all go in the studio at the moment, running the new Boudoir promotion we started a couple of weeks back. The response from all the girls has been amazing with some stunning pictures from the sessions. It seems a lot of you girls have “treated your “hubby” to be, with a little extra something just before the wedding night with lots of you choosing the stylish “Vintage Boudoir Album ” These books hold  20 images and are great value if you cant decide on which image you want. If you have ever wanted to have a boudoir session girls then please give us a call. We are a all girly team, and all men are strictly BANNED from the studio while you enjoy your boudoir experience.

We have also been busy, with “bump” pictures too. Lots of our Brides always come back to us to photograph there new addition which is great, its lovely to catch up with our girls .

Joni was one of our brides we photographed last August and is 26 weeks pregnant here, so only another 14 weeks to go girl. We arranged for Joni to come back a few days after thebirth of the baby and we can get some beautiful “new born” shots to put in his album too. We would love to create some timeless images for you,  Our photography sessions start at £35 which includes hair and Make-up too.