David Williams Seminar

I'm pleased to confirm the dates for the 'Almost Alone with David Williams' seminar we're hosting at our studio in January. The seminar will run for three days from 26th-28th January 2010, with a select group of 12 maximum. David (from Down Under) specialises in weddings and portraits and is one of the world's leading teachers of photography. This seminar isn't about all the techinical stuff (though there will be a little), it's more about getting to the heart of what photographing people is all about.

The timing is perfect - after a busy wedding season or Christmas portrait rush, the seminar will help you to recharge the batteries and make an inspired, flying start 2010.

You can check out more details and find out first hand from David at www.davidwilliamsseminars.com. We'll hope to see you in January.

A whistlestop tour of Malta

Yesterday, after three days of hard work at the MIPP conference, our Maltese hosts treated Janet and me and the rest of the UK party to a trip around the island and a taster of the delights of Malta. Our base for the weekend, the Corinthia in San Gorg, was a very comfortable hotel and made a superb location for a photographic convention, but it was relief to escape our modern surroundings and get out to see some of the real Malta on our final day. Our whistlestop tour included Mosta, Dingli Cliffs and the Blue Grotto, Valletta, Mdina and Marsaxlokk. Needless to say that with only a few hours to spare we didn't get a lot of time for serious photography, but we did enjoy the beautiful November weather and saw enought of the country to convince us that Malta is a photographer's paradise.

Golden light in the alleyways of the ancient city of Mdina...

The fishing village of Marsaxlokk is famous for it's colourful fishing boats, but looking inland this colourful doorway also caught my eye.Mediterranean cats always make appealing subjects.....

After our brief taster, one thing is sure - we'll be making a return visit......

As featured on Maltese TV....

Janet and I have today returned from Malta where we've been working over the weekend as speakers for the Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers and the Malta Institute of Professional Photographers http://www.mipp-malta.com/ at their combined International Convention. The Maltese photographers have been some of the friendliest photographers I've ever had the pleasure to meet (maybe it's something to do with the sunny Mediterranean weather) and their enthusiasm has been an inspiration. The speaker line up included myself and Damian McGillicuddy from the UK, fine art photographer Ayman Lotfy from Egypt and a selection of home grown Maltese photographers. I've been teaching children's portrait and lifestyle photography over three separate seminars, as well as judging qualifications and the MIPP photographic awards. A hectic but very enjoyable few days.

To our surprise the event made the National News (the MIPP's Kevin Casha has friends in high places it would appear). You can view the clip on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RqE9u6E61vE

Here are a few of the portraits taken during the demonstration, all captured with natural light.

And finally.....

Dogs just wanna have fun!

Dogs are such characters and can teach us a lot about looking on the bright side of life. They never think it's too early to go for walk, or too late. They're always eager to please, they're eternal optimists and no stick is ever too big - they love a challenge!

These are a couple of shots of our dog Tara, taken on a recent trip to the West Coast of Scotland......

Tara's never happier than on a forest walk with lots of mud and with the added bonus of a sandy beach, but it can be hard work keeping her still long enough to be photographed. No wonder they say you should never work with children and animals.

Master Photographer of the Year Awards

Last weekend Janet and I were in our best bib and tucker at the MPA Awards at the Hilton Hotel in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. We had a great time meeting up with old friends and I can now officially claim to be a finalist in the awards and an Award of Excellence winner in the Under 5s! Winner of the Under 5s category though (and also the Portrait category), was last year's Master Photographer of the Year Lisa Visser from West Sussex, with two beautiful images from her successful 2009 fellowship panel.

Well done to Lisa and to all of the other category winners. You can view the winning images at http://www.thempa.com/

Hopefully we'll be there again next year....

A Very Special Baby

All babies are special of course, but Janet and I would like to introduce you to our new God-daughter, Sarah. Sarah's mum is Janet's cousin Suzanne. During routine checks, Sarah was diagnosed with a complex hole in the heart problem well before she was born just three weeks ago. She made her grand entrance at the new St Mary's children's hospital in Manchester with a whole team of medics and machinery on hand to ensure that her problems were instantly dealt with. Without them she wouldn't have survived the first few hours, even though from the outside she looks like a normal, healthy, bouncing 8lb baby.

Sarah was then transferred to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool to prepare for major heart surgery. Since this photograph was taken she's had a SEVEN HOUR operation to partially correct the problem, and she'll need follow up operations in a few months time and just before she starts school. This is pioneering heart surgery at the forefront of technology, and only a few years ago none of this would have been possible for this particular form of hole in the heart. Even so, at the moment there is no long term cure for Sarah's particular condition, only temporary solutions. But who knows what medical progress will have been made in another few years?

The point of bringing this to light is really to thank all of the staff at St Mary's and Alder Hey for getting Sarah this far and for the fantastic support that Suzanne has received. It's only when something like this happens within your own family that you truly appreciate what amazing places our hospitals are. The NHS may not be perfect, but in this instance they could not have done any more for Sarah and Suzanne.

While husband Chris has been left at home to cope with Sarah's three siblings (with support from his mum and dad) , Suzanne has been staying at McDonald House, a charity supported unit for parents in the grounds of Alder Hey Hospital. Janet and I are in awe of the teamwork that has been devoted to giving one little girl the chance of life, and moved by the way that the mums of the other sick children rally round and support each other, when each one of them has their own fears and problems to contend with. Such is the strength of the human spirit.

In spite of her traumatic start to life Sarah has done fantastically well so far and she's making a good recovery from the first operation. We'll be supporting her all the way.

News Round-Up

First of all some great news from the Master Photographer's Association - one of my prints has been shortlisted for the UK Master Photographer of the Year Awards in the Under 5s subject category. The Annual Awards are like the Oscars so to receive a nomination is really exciting. We're now looking forward to the awards black tie dinner in Newcastle next Month, and Janet has the perfect excuse to go shopping for a new dress. With matching shoes of course.

Later in October Janet and I are going to Malta to present three seminars for the SWPP (Society of Wedding and Portrait Photographers) at the annual Maltese Photographer's Convention. We're looking forward to meeting the Maltese photographers and finding out how they run their businesses. It should be a really enjoyable break, with some hard work thrown in for good measure!

Our recently launched Baby's First Year folio scheme is gathering momentum and proving to be very popular. For families and children we are soon to launch a brand new promotion that will raise funds and awareness for one of our favourite local charities, KidsCan, based at Salford University http://www.kidscan.org.uk/. Watch this space.

We expect to be busy with portraits in the run up to Christmas, then in January we'll be speaking again for the SWPP, this time in London for the Annual Convention. With three workshops to present and two days of print judging it will be a hectic week.

And as if that's not enough, the following week we are hosting a three day workshop at our studio for our good friend David Williams from Australia. David will be running his popular 'Almost Alone' workshop that gives wedding and portrait photographers the chance to think about 'real' photography for three days with one of the world masters of the art and enjoy the company of a small group of like minded group of photographers. More details will be announced soon.

As you can see, Janet and I never stand still for long. We'll keep you informed on progress through the blog, or don't hesitate to get in touch with us if you have any questions in the meantime.