Firetop Photography

Wow….what a week!

Venetia — Thu, 02 Sep 2010 21:53:05 +0000

And then I realised it’s actually been like this for the whole month of August! What with weddings, pre-wedding shoots, wedding consultations, viewings at the studio, newborn baby portraits (& families of course), my husbands family visiting and a few friends having birthdays, babies and goodness knows what else I only 3 full days at my desk! So it’s been very sparse on the blog front I’m afraid but hopefully (fingers crossed) this month I will be able to be a little more forthcoming with updates and pictures.

I’m having a late finish tonight as I prepare for Lindsey & Vicky’s wedding in St Mawes on Saturday – cleaning lenses, charging batteries, clearing memory cards, printing off directions, packing a change of clothes and getting some all important snacks ready. It never fails to amaze me how much ’stuff’ one wedding photographer needs to take with her!

Here are a couple of images from Lindsey & Vicky’s pre-wedding shoot to get you in the seaside mood. They were so fun and relaxed at the shoot I can’t wait to shoot their wedding day!

Venetia xx

Vicki just looks like a natural here….I can’t wait to see her in her wedding dress…

I love this image of her; beautiful and elegant but so simple.

And Lindsay doesn’t look bad either!

A lovely sea-view to end with.

Nigel & Martyn’s civil partnership

Venetia — Sun, 22 Aug 2010 17:54:12 +0000

Now, Friday 13th is often considered unlucky for some but for two very special people, Friday 13th August 2010 was quite the opposite.

I was delighted when Nigel & Martyn asked me to photograph their civil partnership – I’ve known them for many years now through a mutual friend and knowing how important this day was to both of them I was honoured to be their to document it. It was the most moving ceremony with not only tears from lots of their guests but also from Martyn himself, who only just about managed to get through his vows without a croaky voice! It was so lovely to see two people so sure about their decision.

Wanting a relaxed day to simply celebrate the start of their new life together, after the ceremony Nigel & Martin walked down the road to a gorgeous ‘gastro-pub’ for champagne and nibbles followed by a three-course meal for their closest family and friends. Their was lots of fun, love and laughter.

Nigel & Martyn – thank you so much for letting me share your special day. It was fabulous watching you make your commitment to each other and I hope you have a wonderful life together filled with the same fun, love and laughter (with a little bickering along the way about holiday destinations!!).

Venetia xx

Here is a sneaky peek of one of the photographs to keep you going until the full album!

Dirty shoes….but lots of fun!

Venetia — Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:05:23 +0000

I love unsual places to shoot. I always try and find somewhere that is a little different to the norm often to the random ‘you want to shoot my wedding photographs THERE?!’ look from many a bewildered bride and groom. In fact at Rich & James’s wedding (as I asked them to stand in front of the most battered, old shed I could find) he said ‘we love it, we just knew you’d ask us to stand there…..it’s just so….random!’. But often the most random places are the best and means that your wedding photographs are not just the same as everyone elses.

Kirsty & Peter were at Jude & Jon’s wedding last year and called me a few months later when they got engaged. It was lovely to have such a fantastic recommendation and it’s been even lovelier to get to know them too. This weekend we met up in Shrewsbury for their pre-wedding shoot and definitely went ‘off-piste’!

After looking round the gorgoeus venue they have chosen for their wedding reception we headed back across town to have a nosey round the church (which is just so beautiful and old it looks like it has been there since time began!) and then off for a very civilised spot of lunch and a chat through all their plans. I had to chuckle to myself as Peter & Kirsty were just like my husband and I on the lead up to our wedding – Kirsty has organised everything meticulously and now, right at the last moment, Peter is popping in with ‘do you think we ought to do ‘x’, maybe we should have ‘y’ on the tables’!! It’s so sweet and you can see that both of them are really excited about their big day. (Peter – I have to say, I’m definitey with you on the tank idea, that would be soooo coool!!).

After lunch we headed out to find some good places for our pre-wedding shoot. After photographing a few shots in and around the ground of the pub and the church we had a little wander to find some more spots and I’m so glad we did. We found a gorgeous bridge, an amazing cornfield, a stunning bench and a beautiful ‘pebble beach’ that looked over the church they were getting married in. The fact we had to slide down a steep muddy bank in girly shoes, walk through mini-puddles and nearly swim back across the river was totally irrelevant. Not only did we get some fantastic shots but we had fun….job done!

Kirsty & Peter – thank you so much for being so amazing and going along with all my ideas (although I think it was technically Peter that suggested going down that muddy bank!). Don’t worry I can photoshop the mud off your heels Kirsty and then Peter will clean them for you! I am so glad you decided to book me to photograph your wedding and I can’t wait to see you both again in September….so excited.

Venetia xx

Here’s a sneaky peek of one of the photographs from our shoot. Kirsty had her hair done for the shoot….if she looks this amazing now I can’t wait to see her at the wedding!

Kim & Nick’s pre-wedding shoot

Venetia — Mon, 16 Aug 2010 08:04:09 +0000

Last weekend was such a busy weekend with a location portrait in Eastbourne, Rich & James’s civil partnership in Maidstone and then to top it all off a pre-wedding shoot in Hungerford! I clocked up nearly 16 hours in the car (dont ask…..the traffic was terrible!) and spent nearly 17 hours with a camera in my hand!

I love working on recommendation as I get asked to travel all over the country and discover some gorgeous wedding venues I didn’t even know existed! One of those such venues is Littlecote House Hotel near Hungerford wher Nick & Kimberley are getting married. Littlecote House is a gorgeous 16th Century mansion with a story that spans thousands of years. King Henry VIII was introduced to Jane Seymour there, Guy Fawkes was tried there and in 1943 the US 101st Airborne Division was based there and took off from there on D-Day for the invasion on Normandy. It really is a photographers dream with not only amazing outside space but an inside ‘to die for’ too….I’m not going to be short of places to shoot on their wedding day!

Kim & Nick seemed a little apprehensive when I first met them and I was worried they might be concerned about the pre-wedding shoot. Wow…..I needn’t have been worried though as they were so relaxed and at ease in front of the camera it was great. They are clearly so in love, so at ease with each other and were total naturals in front of the camera. They knew exactly what to do and despite Nick being slightly jadded from an impromptu stag night the night before(!) we got some great shots.

Kim & Nick – thank you for being so fabulous at your pre-wedding shoot. With your model-like tendancies, your ease around each other and the amazing venue you have chosen we are going to get some fabulous wedding photographs for you! Look forward to seeing you later this month.

Venetia xx

Lying on the grass drinking wine…..

Venetia — Thu, 12 Aug 2010 17:23:23 +0000

I like to think that I go above and beyond the call of duty for my clients. It’s not something I try hard to do, or for any ulterior motive but it just feels natural to me. If my clients want it, they can have it (well within reason!!) and if it needs doing, I’ll do it (unless it’s reaching something from a tall shelf as I’m pretty short!). They come first and that’s just the way it is….no fuss, no ’show’, it’s that simple.

So, when Rich & James asked for a lift from their wedding ceremony to their wedding reception this weekend, my only thought was ‘Oh my god……the car is full of empty Starbucks cartons and sandwich packets!’. Or when the ice-cream van got lost on the way to their wedding reception (ice-cream for pudding….how much better could you get!), I immediately offered my services to go and track it down. I set off in the car, round the Kent countryside, while they were eating main course, in search of it. I never once thought ’should I’, ‘could I’ or ‘I’m not getting paid for this’…..I just did it. If it makes them happy, it makes me happy.

Richard and James’s civil partnership this weekend was full of surprise and fabulous touches all of which I’ve been desperately trying to ‘keep under my hat’ for the last few months following our pre-wedding meeting. Being ’slightly quirky’(!) themselves they decided they didn’t want anything traditional for their civil partnership and opted for a personalised celebration with lots of fabulously different touches. From the emotional blessing in the church (complete with a reading from ‘Winnie the Pooh’), to the amazing tee-pee’s they had their wedding reception in (complete with hay bales and checked picnic blankets), the gourmet picnic they had for their wedding breakfast (complete with your own cool-bag) to the ice-cream van with ‘all you can eat’ ice-cream…..the day was a photographers dream.

It has been such a pleasure getting to know Richard & James over the last year and the thought that we will be ‘doing dinner’ when their wedding album is complete, makes me very happy.

Richard & James – you both know how much I think of you. Thank you for being such open and welcoming clients and for letting me share the ‘fabulousness’ that was your civil partnership. I know were not going to lose touch so here is too many more evenings of ‘lying on the grass drinking wine’.

Venetia xx

P.S I found the ice-cream van by the way…..and the look on Rich’s face when I arrived back with ‘Mr Whippy’ in tow was the only payment I needed!!

Here’s a sneaky peek from their big day……..I love the relaxed feel on this photograph and it’s probably one of the only ones I have where they are being serious!!

A cool dude…..

Venetia — Fri, 06 Aug 2010 11:52:17 +0000

Just time for a quick post before I run off to my next portrait…..

Yannis and his Mummy & Daddy came to the studio last week and we had such a fun afternoon. Being nearly two years old Yannis was a bit shy when he arrived by after a ‘bonding session’ of brick-building, blowing bubbles and dancing to Sing and Sign he was definitely in the mood for his photographs!

He is such a cheeky monkey and was definitely a lot of fun! Here he is playing ‘peek-a-boo’ with me and his sunglasses…..

Venetia xx

An amazing job….

Venetia — Thu, 05 Aug 2010 19:15:04 +0000

It’s been a busy day in the office today. Apart from preparing for a portrait on Friday, a wedding on Saturday and a pre-wedding shoot on Sunday, I have had two wedding albums delivered, some gorgeous new samples from my framer and three portrait clients come to pick up their ‘goodies’.

I’m not quite sure when the thought struck me. Whether it was when Meadow and her Mummy popped in to pick up their frame and I got to be all gooey over how gorgeous she is and how much she has grown since our newborn session. Or whether it was when Sarah was here this morning to pick up her bump photographs – poor thing is nearly a week overdue now but is still holding in there – I got so excited about meeting her ‘impending arrival’. Or maybe it was when I spoke to Rich on the phone about their wedding in two days time and we both got overly excited about the marquee that is currently going up in his garden! I really do have the most AMAZING job!

I get to be an integral part of one of the biggest days of people’s lives, I get to see them just before they take their first steps into parenthood and then I get to share the excitement when that bundle of joy arrives and watch them as they grow. How much better could that get?!

Anyway, I thought I’d share some photographs from Sarah’s ‘bump’ shoot with you today because if I don’t, based on her ‘twinges’ last night, she might not look like this for long!

Sarah & Mark – it was so lovely to see you again today and I really hope things ‘move along’ quickly now! Good luck with everything and I can’t wait to see you again and meet your baby in a few weeks time!

Venetia xx

Although it’s lovely to have ‘arty’ black and whites, sometimes it’s just nice to have a simple ‘this is me now’ image……

Cliched I know but when you have your nails done like Sarah had….you want to show them off!!

The adorable Baby Archie….

Venetia — Tue, 03 Aug 2010 14:26:30 +0000

The other week I had a the loveliest afternoon photographing Baby Archie with his Mummy and Grandma. I offer both home-based and studio-based portrait sessions for newborn babies and Emma opted to be in the comfort of her own home. Especially in the early days, you can never tell how babies will feel from day to day so you have to be very relaxed and lead by them. Sometimes they fancy a feed, sometimes they need a nappy change, they might even need the odd burp or a little cat nap. I always book out a full morning or afternoon so no-one feels rushed and everyone gets the gorgeous photographs they want!

Baby Archie is such a cutie and was very ‘laid-back’ about his camera-debut. We got some lovely ‘wide-awake’ photographs with his Mummy and then after a little snack he slept most of the way through the rest of the portrait!

Emma – it was such a pleasure to photography Baby Archie in his first few weeks….he is so adorable. I can’t wait to see you both again for the next installment!

Venetia xx

In the first few photographs we were treated to a glimpse of those gorgeous ‘baby-blues’….

Then after a feed sleep got the better of him…..going, going, gone!

But it still didn’t stop us getting some gorgeous photographs of him (& Mummy of course)….

I am so lucky….

Venetia — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 19:57:01 +0000

Being a wedding photographer is a funny occupation. When it comes to ‘dinner party conversation’ people never know what to say after that initial ‘So what do you do?’ question. But you can guarantee that if the conversation makes it any further the one question people always ask is “So have you ever had any nightmare bride or grooms!?”.

And with my hand on my heart I can categorically say ‘No!’. Now I know, from watching those terrible American TV programmes, from reading photography forums and from talking to other photographers, that there are a few ‘demanding clients’ but for some weird reason, I never seem to get them. I always seem to get lovely, relaxed couples, who love life, love each other and for some reason(!) love me. They are getting married not for the wedding itself but for the fact that it symbolises a life-long commitment to each other. They understand it’s an important event, but don’t let it consume them, organise it with grace and ease and make it an event truly personal to them. They want beautiful photographs to remember their day from, but understand it’s a balance between investing time in getting gorgeous images and spending time with the ones they love the most…..they don’t want it to to ‘take-over’ their day.

I’ve always been really curious about this phenomenon and after bringing the subject up, with current clients, up got a variety of answers such as; ‘Like attracts like….’, ‘Your so laid-back you would drive them mad….!’, ‘You have everything so organised there is nothing for anyone to start panicking about!’. All of which if I’m a teeny-bit modest (which I hate to be!) I think are true. I’m a firm believer in you get what you give and I think this is the reason why so many of my couples go on to become friends.

The driver behind this post is an email I received this morning from Rich, whose civil partnership (to the lovely James), I’m photographing on the 7th August. It was such a lovely thing to say and something that I hope all clients feel about my me.

Hi V how are you!

Hope you’re having fun taking lots of fab photos in this glorious weather, we’ve just had a lovely trip to cornwall to see our caterer who is doing the picnics for our wedding. It’s fantastic by pure chance we have picked some of the best “suppliers” for our do, some who now feel more like friends, and with you and her on board we know we can’t go wrong!

Hope to hear from you soon….say Hi to Karl.

All our love

Rich and James xx

Rich & James – I am so glad you remembered me all those years ago from Fran & Jo’s wedding and chose me to be part of your wedding ‘team’ – I can’t wait to see you both on the 7th!

Venetia xx

Here are a couple of photographs of them from their pre-wedding shoot which seems like ages ago…..

Jo & Stewart’s Wedding

Venetia — Fri, 16 Jul 2010 18:53:09 +0000

Now there are some people who love being in front of the camera and then there are those who don’t. And then there are some who really don’t like it and who don’t mind telling you that!

Jo & Stewart were rather reluctant to even have a wedding photographer in the first place so choosing the right one was even more crucial. They needed someone whose photography they fell in love with, someone who was quick enough to catpure the shots they wanted without taking over their day and most importantly, someone who would fit into their day, fit in with their guests and who they would be comfortable being around. And….they were more than happy to tell me this in no uncertain terms at our initial consultation! Luckily, I passed with flying colours and was so honoured to capture their special day on the Saturday just gone.

Jo was amoung one of the most ‘laid-back’ brides I’ve photographed and as a result the day was just that…..perfectly relaxed. The house beforehand was a picture of serenity as Jo was transformed (apart from her lovely sisters who were desperately trying to instill a sense of ‘purpose’ into the morning (well done ladies!!)). The ceremony was incredibly moving as they said their own personal vows and their were a few tears all round….especially from the front row. And the wedding reception was just how they wanted it…. beautifully personalised and relaxed.

I’ll follow with more details and photographs at a later date but I promised Jo & Stewart a quick sneaky peek to keep them going while they are on honeymoon.

Jo & Stewart – thank you for your lovely email and thank you for being ‘you’. Don’t worry you weren’t gumpy. You were open and honest and in my book, that’s a good thing. Thank you for letting me photograph your wedding day. Were the results worth it Stewart?!

Venetia xx