Bermuda Wedding: Susan & John

Susan and I were at school together many years ago, we did not know each other well, but there is something special about seeing someone you know get married. I shoot many weddings, all of which I adore, but watching Susan on her wedding day was just different. Before the ceremony we did some photographs with Susan's sister and John's daughters. Susan looked so beautiful - she was smiling and then tears came. She said she had started to believe she'd never meet anyone, then suddenly she met John, who she'd never seen before but had lived virtually next door for years. And then her smile returned, as she spoke so fondly of her husband to be. Thank you for the honour of witnessing your joy... your wedding was just beautiful and I wish you both the happily ever after you deserve...

Susan was not quite ready when I arrived which enabled me to shoot her fabulous shoes, glorious bouquet and gorgeous rings... and John's lovely daughters.

It was a beautiful ceremony under a marquis on the lawn at the Grotto Bay Hotel.





As it was the day before Halloween, it was rather fitting that this black cat wandered into their photos. He attacked her veil too and yanked it from her head - saucy little kitty wanted to play...

Halloween

For Halloween Beth and Michelle organised a morning of fun for their children and all their friends. There were about 80 little ones running around in the most adorable costumes. It was funny to watch them - to begin with they seemed more bewildered than anything else and clutched on to their parents' legs. But after a while they were more comfortable and happy to play on the swings, draw, get temporary tatoos of goblins or fairies and sample the plethora of goodies on offer. Here are just a few of my favourites...

The rest of the photos will be on www.pictage.com on December 1st. Event Name ABT Halloween.

The Fonner Family

Sally wanted to do a shoot for a holiday card and to get a few photographs of Abby and her younger sister Emily. The Fonners have a lovely garden on the edge of the Mid Ocean golf course with lots of interesting little details. It was a gorgeous sunny day and Abby and Emily were just adorable. Sometimes Abby would give Emily lots of cuddles, then a scowly face - and Emily would smile or scowl back - it was so cute. Thank you for a fun shoot, it was lovely to see you all again and to meet Emily...

The Marra Family

I last photographed the Marra family three years ago. To this day one of my favourite photographs is of Tracy with Josephine nestled in her lap. It is on my website in the philosophy section. This time, as Amelia was just a week old, we decided to do the photographs at their home - a beautiful old Bermuda house with a covered porch that provided lovely soft light. Thank you all for such a great shoot...

I was greeted by Bruno - how gorgeous is he! The others were not quite dressed, so Bruno was very cooperative and entertained me until everyone was ready.






All three girls were just divine together, Meredith is a wonderfully caring oldest sister and so gentle with Amelia.

The Powell Family

I met Margo 29 years ago - she was the new-girl in school and I was assigned to look after her. I was not happy about it at first, but quickly discovered how amazing she is and we have been best friends ever since. I have photographed Margo so many times - with her family, her dogs, her wedding, with Lily, and now with Amelie. We spent a sunny Sunday morning in their bedroom laughing and playing and jumping on the bed. They were all so animated and wiggly and I was laughing so much that keeping things in focus was pretty tricky. After the shoot I ended up staying all day - feeling so guilty about falling so behind, but loving being with my best friend and her adorable family. Thank you all for a wonderful relaxing Sunday... Some of their expressions are priceless - click on the images to see larger....

Baby Tahlia

I photographed Kim and Riaan a couple weeks before Tahlia was born. It was a lovely misty shoot at the beach, have a look here. Kim was keen to get a few of Talia when she was really tiny, so they came here one afternoon when Tahlia was two weeks old, hoping to get a few of her snoozing. She was incredibly alert however and oh so curious. She made these funny faces clearly showing her resistance and suspicion of it all. So we tried again two weeks later with far more success. Tahlia was peacefully sleeping and we were able to place her pretty much anywhere. Here are a few of my favourites from both mini sessions. Thank you both for being so patient...

Bermuda Wedding: Natalie and Keith

The weather this summer has been very odd - such a mix of glorious sunny days and days with awful, torrential downpours. Sadly Natalie and Keith got the latter. It was so bad that I literally sat in the car and seriously thought to myself how I could disappear and not have to shoot in the pouring rain. The ceremony was supposed to take place at Stonehole Bay, but was moved to Christ Church. We had then planned to shoot on the church steps and in the surrounding gardens. But it was raining so hard that we had to return to the Southampton Princess Hotel to find some spots indoors. Luckily however, it did let up ever so briefly and we were able to shoot the group on the lawn at the hotel's entrance. And we even managed to head down to the beach for a few... The day before was beautiful and the following day was also lovely, so although the wedding day was wet and windy, their friends and family did at least get to enjoy Bermuda's sunshine. Despite the rain I really enjoyed shooting your wedding - you are adorable together and genuine love and tenderness is really what makes wonderful photographs...

Bermuda Festival Covers

I was asked to create the artwork for the 2010 Bermuda Festival of the Performing Arts. Each year the Festival has a local artist put together something that is used on all the promotional material and the cover of the souvenir program. Having been a ballerina when younger, and always been very passionate about the arts, I am always so excited when the Festival rolls around. So to be asked to be involved was an honour and a joy. Here are a few of the images I shot for them... that they did not choose...
Have a look at the Bermuda Festival website for details on the amazing performances they have scheduled.

Ian Davidson is the new chairman of the Festival and I shot the photos at his house. Their dog Magnus watched for a while, but quickly lost interest...

Victorica and Patrick: Engagement Session

Patrick first came to Bermuda about six years ago and just fell in love with the island. Although he was single at the time and pretty young, he had decided that he wanted to get married here when the perfect girl came along. Well she has... Victoria and Patrick met at work. She was pretty adamant that she had no intention of fraternising with a co-worker but Patrick persevered. They came here on a cruise together last August - Patrick was hoping Victoria would enjoy the island as much as he had. She too was immediately taken and a couple weeks ago they made another trip to plan their June 2010 wedding. We met up at Fort Hamilton for their engagement shoot - we wandered into the tunnels and through the moat that is now totally overgrown with beautiful foliage. Thank you both for such a fun shoot - you are adorable together and I am so looking forward to shooting your beach wedding...

The Big 100

This is my 100th blog post! I started the blog while living in London and was so diligent about posting every other day. As I was in a new place I had fewer portrait sessions so I had time to play. I'd visit museums and galleries and research the art of other photographers online. And then experiment myself, shooting and editing in different ways. Bundled in fleece from head to toe I sat at my computer and blogged my progress.
So...here are my favourite 100 images from the last year - and links to some of the posts... People so rarely comment, but if anyone did have something to share - confirmation that this is appreciated - I'd love that...

Amongst the yummy velvet pillows in my London flat, my bathrobe was the only thing I own that is remotely the same colour. I was bored one day... and cold so did not want to go outside...

Iris and Victor - this was such a fun shoot - a four hour Trash the Dress - just amazing!



Candace decided to do a bridal portrait a couple days before her wedding. Click here to see more of those, and here for the wedding.



The light was just spectacular on this shoot... click here for more...






He was totally engrossed in his lollipop - love humorous shots... more here...

Cassie and Kyle had a beautiful wedding at Elbow Beach - full post here...

I photographed Kim and Riaan several weeks before Talia was born, and we have done two mini sessions of her since. They'll be on the blog soon... the light at Stonehole was misty and magical that evening - have a peek at the others here...


Those eyes are truly something... and I love the end of the ponciana season. The fallen flowers leaving red carpets everywhere - more here...

This was one of my favourite small weddings - I think ever. Kim and Jose were totally adorable and it was an absolutely perfect sunny afternoon - see full post...




I have photographed the Homan family three times and each year it gets better as Ashling and Eoghan are happier to pose for me. Also doing the shoot at their house made a huge difference. They were so much more relaxed and comfortable. See the rest of the shoot here...


Anna and Jamie were so funny - they laughed one moment and made scowly faces at one another the next... here are the rest...


Jake and Anna Laura had not planned on doing a Trash the Dress, but the with the torrential rain on their wedding day they thought it was a fantastic idea. Here are the images from the wedding and Trash the Dress session



Buried under some small palms, I found this glorious bounced light - and Abigail was so smiley - just a great shoot... more here...


Amanda and Kenyon's wedding was traditional and elegant - Kenyon in his Navy whites and Amanda in this magnificent gown she had custom designed. Have a peek at their post...

Alana and I became friends while I was living in London - and she was such a trooper - she is actually quite shy, but let me shoot her in parks and streets all over Westminster. We got some really fun images - check out both posts - here and here...





To celebrate the arrival of her nephew Thomas, Caroline gave her twin a gift certificate for photos. We did the shoot at Caroline's London flat. It was a really great shoot - have a look...




Coco and Eric were insistent that I shoot their Bermuda wedding, so flew me back from London. And I am so happy they did - it was one of the most moving weddings I have ever witnessed. Have a look at the full post...

I spent a huge amount of time in Richmond Park as a child, so it was wonderful to return. Claire and I spent the afternoon shooting and watching the deer...



I have shot the Dispenza family either in Bermuda or at their home in New Jersey almost every year for the last eight years. This time we really had fun - check out the full post...







In exchange for taking ballet classes, I shoot the In Motion annual dance showcase. It is an amazing performance and they are all so talented. Have a look at some of the other images...




A few London favourites... Columbia Road flower market - I actually got up at the crack of dawn and took tubes, buses and walked for ages to get there before 8am!

Marble Arch on the left and the wee alley behind my flat...

One of the countless antique shops on Portobello Road.

Across the river from the Embankment. This is in the reflection of a super shiny limosine...

Salvidor Dali's elephant statue outside the Dali museum along the Embankment.

The cherry blossoms, lilacs and magnolias were just divine - spring in London is so beautiful.

We'd been there for about five minutes - I asked Mitchell to climb on this machine and this was the result. Got some great images after that though - so have a peek...






Another shoot in Westfield, New Jersey. The soft morning light in their shady garden was beautiful - see full post...

This was such a fun shoot - three boys and their hens down in the English countryside...

And that's it - wow! So on to the next 100...

Bermuda Wedding: Elizabeth and Mark

I just adore Southern charm - Elizabeth has a lovely soft accent, a slight drawl that is just adorable. As her bridesmaids and flowergirls arrived at her Tucker's Point suite, the room buzzed with sounds of the South - a flurry of activity, happiness, hugs for the bride-to-be and wonderful pre-wedding laughter. After capturing them all together I went to meet the groom and all the guests at the dock. Transportation to the ceremony was via boat - a little cruise on the Coral Sea. Upon arrival in St George's, we were escorted by a piper to historic St Peter's Church where the ceremony was held. Afterwards, they gathered on the brick steps for kisses and congratulations - an of course some group photographs. The guests then followed the piper again back to the boat to return to Tucker's point for the reception. Mark and Elizabeth remained behind and we wandered through the back alleys behind the church. It was a whirlwind afternoon, your wedding was just beautiful - thank you so much for the honour of photographing your special day...