Wedding Photographers for Buxted Park Hotel Uckfield East Sussex - Nicola and Dean

Good Morning Folks,

We had a stunning day for the pre-wedding photography shoot at Buxted Park Hotel, Uckfield East Sussex.  The funny colours that you are about to see are blue skies!

I met Nicola and Dean in the wonderful bar at Buxted as they had enjoyed a wonderful lunch there; I can testify the food is amazing :)  After a nice chat with Nicola's parents they wandered off and we went exploring.  Pre-wedding shoots are a great and unhurried way to find new spots to use on the wedding day, and if the weather behaves itself (ha, ha) then we have plans!

Today I am posting 5 images; the day was so lovely I thought we needed cheering up with blue skies and sun!  The Church that is next to Buxted looks like quite a hefty walk when driving to the venue but I was really surprised that you could walk to the venue through the grounds in a matter of minutes; wouldn't that be lovely on a wedding day.  Here we see Nicola and Dean having a sneaky walk with blue skies and yes folks...warmth!  The backdrop of that magnificent house never fails to make me gush and it really is a wonderful backdrop for the wedding photography; I don't like to be too serious so we were being silly as usual.  I like the rim lighting in this image and with the black and white tones gives a dreamy look to the overall image.  The Pillars are brilliant, on sunny days they create all sorts of wonderful shadows and on rainy days gives a bit of shelter if one wanted to nip outside for some shots; I love this shot of Nicola basking in the rays and what are those weird contraptions on her face...oh yes sunglasses; it has been so long since I last saw them.  Last but not least a very debonair Dean; he is not going for the traditional wedding attire and I cannot wait to see him on the day, he really has chosen the most fabulous outfit; gutted though because he won't be wearing his flat cap :(

As a little side note all the images were taken with the Olympus OMD; I am really enjoying getting to grips with these little beauties.  Still love my faithful friends of course!

Have a great week folks and catch up with you all later.

Claire :)

Wedding Photographers for Dorset House Bury West Sussex - Imogen and Guy

Good Morning Folks,

I recently had a lovely pre-wedding photography shoot with Imogen and Guy ahead of their wedding at Dorset House, Bury, West Sussex.

The day was bright and not too cold surprisingly!  We had a lovely wander around the grounds of Imogen's parent's house and it was good to chat about their day a bit more.  I am really looking forward to photographing the wedding service for all sorts of special reasons.  Dorset House looks absolutely lovely and I cannot wait to get photographing there on the big day.

So moving on to today's images; I do love a good view; every season has its own beauty, winter shows us the trees and their amazing shapes that are a well kept secret in the summer and autumn.  Part of a pre-wedding shoot is to banish those photography nerves and a get a real felling for what it will be like on the big day and there is nothing like 'the kiss' although we did have some silly fun afterwards, not sure Guy suited Imogen's lip gloss though!  We popped into a nearby field, despite the warning 'beware of the bulls', now I was a little reticent but Imogen assured me there wasn't a bull to be seen and look how relaxed we all are :)  This is Guy looking very debonair and probably just making sure there wasn't a bull lurking anywhere; ahhh happy days!

As I sit here and write this we have snow, yes snow, I know snow; last year I was in short sleeves, what on earth!  Now today sees the opening of the Bluebell Railway line to East Grinstead; this is trés exciting for us.  There have been test runs all week and I can hear the chuff, chuff of the engines now and once it is open I am certain to hear the whistle as the trains merrily make there way to and from East Grinstead.  I hope if you are local you are going along to see this little piece of history.

Looking forward to catching up with you all next week.

Claire :)

Wedding Photography at Glorious Goodwood - Kelly and Paul

Good Afternoon Folks,

Well I was back again at the Goodwood Hotel, Goodwood, East Sussex for the pre-wedding photography of Kelly and Paul.

I do love pre-wedding shoots as it is a good to get to know my couples a little better, it banishes all those photography nerves and is jolly good fun!  It is lovely to wander around the most beautiful wedding venues we have in the South East and it is a time to chat and make plans for the big day.

Kelly, Paul and I strolled around the Goodwood Estate and the majesty of Goodwood House never fails to disappoint.  At my last visit we had fast cars and on this visit I was treated to vintage aircraft; happy days!

So on to today's images and once again apologies for the watermarks; the few have ruined it for the many as usual!  I love this image of Kelly looking dreamy and thoughtful about her wedding day and it was here that an image we are planning unfolded so stay away rain!!!  I do love Goodwood House in the background and again you can see those clumps of mistletoe and I cannot wait to see how the landscape will change when I photograph there again.  Kelly is looking wonderful and sultry here and I love that minxish look Paul has; what on earth is he going to be up to I wonder!  Last but not least we are in the whiskey bar with Paul doing mans things in the mans bar with man furnishings!  He still has that minxish smile...love it!

Enjoy your week folks, I am looking forward to meeting lots of lovely clients and editing my latest sessions.

Claire :)

Wedding Photography at Crondon Park Stock Essex - Kelly and Darren

Good Afternoon Folks,

I recently photographed the wedding of Kelly and Darren at Crondon Park, Stock Essex and after a glimpse of spring the week before the beast from the east came to greet us!

It did not hamper the fun we had on the day and I must take my hat off to Kelly who was not at all bothered braving the cold/snow/rain/wind and any other weather phenomenon that you want to throw into the mix.  She refused her shrug and a blanket, now that is one very hardy bride!

The wedding day started at Kelly and Darren's house in Chelmsford, Essex then we met with the boys at Crondon Park before awaiting Kelly's arrival.  It was a lovely day and a smidgen weird bossing people around that I had known for such a long time; I made hay while the sun shone though :)

So here are today's images (apologies once again for the watermarks) and we kick off with an image of Kelly in the ceremony room and I just love the way the light catches the folds of her dress.  Image two is of young Dazzler pre-wedding looking extremely suave, relaxed and not a bit cold!  The third image showcases the beautiful fountain at Crondon and was a favourite feature for Kelly and Darren; it really does come into its own at night, note my insistence on Kelly wearing her shrug.  Our final image for today is of the first dance and something I always love to photograph.  Kelly also had a dance with her Dad afterwards and it was about the millionth time I cried that day...what a wuss!!

Well I thought Spring had arrived, it popped in to say hello and I was overjoyed to hang my washing out; yes a sneaky glimpse into the glamorous life of a photographer; then it waved bye bye!

Looking forward to catching up with you all next week and have a relaxing weekend.  I am exhibiting at Wakehurst Place on Sunday so if you are in the area be sure to pop in and say hello.

Claire :)

If you would like to see more of my work please pop along to www.woodlandhillphotography.co.uk

Baby Photography Tunbridge Wells Kent - Thomas

Good Afternoon Folks,

I recently had the pleasure of photographing this gorgeous little man; he was such a good boy for the whole session; it was giggles and smiles in abundance.

I first met Mummy who was a guest at a wedding I photographed a couple of years ago and it was really lovely to catch up with her and to meet little Thomas for the first time.

I really love photographing babies at this age; it is so completely different to newborn photography.  At this stage in their little lives they are sitting up unaided, everything in the world is exciting and wonderful and deserves their full attention!  There is nothing like a gorgeous little baby who just giggles and laughs.

Today I am posting just two images and apologies for the heavy watermarking.  The first image is of Thomas having a thoughtful moment in the basket and I have chosen this because he looks like he is having a power nap!  The second image of today demonstrates why I love this stage; it all smiles and chubby cheeks...just lovely.

So how did we all cope with that onslaught of snow; luckily for me I was able to stay indoors and edit this week's wedding...phew!

Have a great week all,

Claire :)

Wedding Photographers for South Lodge Hotel Lower Beeding West Sussex - Emma and Andy with the Olympus OMD

Good Morning Folks,

It was lovely to be back at South Lodge Hotel, Lower Beeding, West Sussex to prepare for the wedding photography of Emma and Andy.  The day was gorgeous; there was sniggering, guffawing and full blown laughter and the shoot was reminiscent of something out of a carry on film; he, he love it!

I know and love South Lodge but there are still lots of things to discover there, we started off on what we thought was solid ground but due to the huge amount of rain we ended up feeling like we had been on a long hike.  Emma thought I was a wuss because I did not like the mud...well my boots were getting dirty and she found my facial expressions extremely amusing.  We ended up back in reception and the look of amusement the concierge's face was a picture.

So today I am posting three images and sadly these are the first with the new watermarking regime.  I am so sorry to have to do this but recent events have given me no choice; I hope they do not spoil your enjoyment too much.  So on to image one is the pre-mud phase of the shoot, what more could you want, a beautiful building azure skies and humour continually bubbling away with Emma and Andy.  We thought we would have a wander on the long lingering driveway and there were some superb pools of sun, so what do you do when you have a pool of sun; yes piggyback!  The last image of the day is using a quirky mix of lighting and I used the varying colour temperatures to draw the eye to Emma and Andy in the telephone box.

All the images were taken on the Olympus OMD and I am tending to use them solely for my pre-wedding shoots now.  My faithful friends have approved this and are very much enjoying the time off; rumour has it they have been partying and drinking cocktails...honestly!

Enjoy your week folks and I would love to have your opinion of the new watermarking system.

Claire :)

Watermarking my images - West Sussex Photographers

Good Morning Folks,

It is with great sadness that I am going to have to revert back to watermarking my images in such a way that they cannot be reproduced without my authorisation.

Last Friday I was alerted to the fact that one of my newborn images was being used on an individual's Facebook account.  Sure enough when I looked it was there but even worse and I still cannot quite believe this; the individual had defaced the image further by alleging this baby was her own baby boy and placing his name on the image.  She also claimed that this baby was born on 14th February, 2013.  I know this little baby was born last July and she is the most beautiful little girl.  I believe this image was reproduced by the individual taking a picture of the screen on her mobile phone, she was then able to crop out the very clear copyright assertion and full written assertion of my copyright.

This image had never been posted on my Facebook Personal or Business accounts nor that of the baby's parents.  This image was stolen from my blog.  Now I believed that Facebook had good measures in place to deal with this sort of thing and I immediately reported it as a stolen image as per the channels they recommend.  I was very clear about what this individual had done, not only was it a breach of copyright but also a misuse of identity.  I foolishly thought that as a child was involved they would take the matter seriously; not so I am afraid!  I had to report the issue on four separate occasions over a 68 hour period along with numerous report person and image requests.  The reporting of a person and image was dealt with promptly and I cannot quite believe it but they deemed this  image as quite acceptable and did not take it down.

I really was not sure what to do next and I am trying to bring this issue into the public eye but finally yesterday afternoon they took some action and removed the image from her account.  They did not however suspend her account, which I find abhorrent.  I have sent yet another lengthy e-mail to them to try and stress the gravity of the situation and claiming a baby to be your own is just not acceptable.  I don't think I will be getting a reply any time soon and I will just have to continue to pursue the matter.

Facebook do not provide any way whatsoever in being able to contact them on the telephone nor do they treat requests with any sort of urgency and I am quite frankly appalled with them.  I have not been posting many images to my personal or business account as I find the spurious copyright statements too flexible for my liking.  It seems we are never far away from individuals who will do just as they like regardless of the very clear written statements in front of them.

So where does this leave photographers; I now have a dilemma about showing any images of children or babies.  Mine is a very visual profession and in order for people to see what I am capable of  I show samples of my work, so how do I tell the lovely stories of the many wonderful babies and children I photograph now?  I am not sure and this is something I am going to have to ponder over. 

My other work will have to be more heavily watermarked from now on and I am so sorry that I have to do this but recent events have left me with no choice.

One last thing before I go, be very careful what you post in Facebook or any other social networking site.

Claire