Looks like Lady the Cocker Spaniel has just eaten, but it was her friend Lola who licked my lens. I photographed Lola last year when she was a similar size to Lady now. They get on very well with only a little bit of play-fighting. It’s always a bit tempting to put the camera down and just play with the dogs, but I have to remember to do my job.
I was going to say how lucky we were that the weather turned out to be fantastic, instead of the expected downpour, and then I chose three indoor pictures!
Thanks to Karen & Paul for a wonderful day - and some great food.
Karen’s Dad was as nervous as she was as they waited to walk into the ceremony.
Just post-confetti…
An emotional speech from the father of the bride.
Boy were we lucky with the weather today! It had threatened all week to be a wet weekend and I had umbrella at the ready when I arrived at the Merewood Country House hotel in Windermere. But when the time came, the clouds lifted and held back all afternoon, even allowing us a trip down to the lake after the church service.
Cheeky chappy.
Almost walking on water…
I’m assuming this guy is a close friend? Either that or the most brazen gatecrasher I’ve seen in years!
Back a bit…
A little rain needn’t dampen a wedding, especially if you’ve brought shoes and a brolly just in case. The tarn at the Linthwaite House hotel in Bowness is a special spot regardless and Jess and Duncan grabbed an umbrella and walked with me through the trees.
As it happens, it turns out that brollies are good props, making people more comfortable being photographed!
A quiet, indoor, moment…
And who knew I’d discover a new double-act?
“…and then he said to her…”
No, not a bird but a jet.
While waiting to take photos for a client at the Honister Slate Mine yesterday, I saw the smartest (and closest) manoeuvre I’ve seen a jet do in the five years I’ve lived here. Unfortunately, as it was a Hawk trainer and not a Tornado, it was far too quiet and I wasn’t quick enough to capture it on camera.
I looked up at the road down the valley and saw the white light on the nose of the jet as it followed the road up the hill, probably no more than fifty feet above it. Above my head, the pilot flipped the plane onto its side and ‘chucked’ it down the other side of the valley and out of sight.
Show off.
It was the big finale last night, to a series of events on and around the lake itself. I thought I’d go along and see what was happening.
These guys, called Trans Express, are hanging from a crane fifty feet above a park in Bowness. It sounds a bit bizarre, but you really need to hear their drumming to feel the atmosphere. The trapeze artist added a bit of drama to the action, before the fireworks rounded off the night and two thousand people all headed for the chippy on the way back to their B&Bs.
Probably.
That’s the jet fighter-bomber Tornado, not an actual, lift-your-roof-up, throw-your-car-into-the-next-village type tornado. Luckily. Although they can both do a similar amount of damage if you upset them!
One morning last February, I decided to go and photograph reflections of boats on the lake at Waterhead, but when I looked south into the sun, the mist on the lake caught my eye.
It was then I heard the crackle. When you’ve lived here a year or two, and if you’re a bit of an anorak, you can hear the jets coming before you see them. If you can see them it’s too late to take a photograph anyway!
I just held the camera steady because I knew where it was coming from - I’m not psychic, I just know that they always fly south-north up Windermere so it was heading straight at me. I managed to get two shots before it disappeared. You can see the best one here http://www.steveholcroftimages.com/photo748128.html
Until yesterday morning I’d sold 12 of the 25 I will print as a limited edition, and then the thirteenth was bought by a Tornado pilot. I gave him the time and date the photograph was taken, so he’ll be able to trace who was at the controls. Cool.
Another beautiful day for Sam & Kevin’s wedding at the Netherwood hotel in Grange-over-Sands last weekend. Thank heavens for sunblock!
The ceremony room was packed out, as no doubt the bar was, to quench everyone’s thirst!
Group shots over, I took the happy couple around the gardens for some photos, finishing on the staircase in front of the hotel.
Obviously I’m biased, but there’s a lot to say and find out about when it comes to wedding photography.
WedFog is an American-based website that, as well as listing photographers over there, has a lot of information about how to choose a photographer and what to think about before you do.
Well worth a read
Another fantastic wedding day and the weather was kind again - bright but with enough white clouds to keep the glare (and sunburn) away while we were out on the lawn and by the lake.
I don’t know what Pam is looking for but it’s making Caroline laugh!
Reflecting on the preparations…
I think I found the Bogeyman…
The happy couple…
