Happy Holiday

After a few minor delays due to snow and ice I'm pleased to say that all of the framed portraits, canvases and multi-frames that were ordered by our clients for Christmas have now been collected and it's time to go home. These are just a small selection chosen from my favourites........

That just leaves me and Janet to say 'Thank You' to all of the clients, contacts, friends and family who have supported us over the year. We hope you have a peaceful Christmas and a fun-packed, healthy and propserous New Year.

Smile for St. Ann's

A huge THANK YOU to the families that contributed to our Smile for St Ann's campaign over the past eighteen months. Together we raised well over two and a half thousand pounds for the Heald Green based hospice. Like many worthy causes the hospice relies totally on charitable donations and their running costs are colossal. Every little helps! St Ann's do a fantastic job for the community and most people know someone who has been touched by the amazing care and support they provide. Their web site is http://www.sah.org.uk/

Each participating family received a family lifestyle photoshoot that they'd "been meaning to get around to for ages"!. A tiny selection of the images :

And finally....pull the other one!

Baby Folios Relaunch

This week we're pleased to announce the relaunch of our amazingly popular baby photography folio scheme. In a series of photoshoots over your baby's first year we capture the changes as baby grows and develops, presenting you with a complimentary triple folio at the end of the year. All for a one-off registration fee of just £25.00 (which makes it makes a brilliant gift to give to new parents......). More details are available on the Master Photographers Association Cherubs website at http://www.cherubs.uk.com/

It's a few years now since we ran the Cherubs scheme in the studio. After winning the UK Millenium Baby Photographer of the Year Award we were overwhelmed with demand and I had to call a halt for a while to give my back and knees time to recover! Things have moved on since then and I now shoot a great deal of family and children's photography outdoors and on location, including recently (and here's a scary thought) teenagers that I photographed in the studio when they were tiny babies. Photographing babies is great fun though (well, most of the time), so I'm looking forward to the challenge once again. I might need to investigate some knee pads....

Studio Update

As I write this I'm still a gibbering wreck after watching Manchester City almost throw away their place in the quarter finals of the Uefa Cup, only to save themselves in the penalty shoot out against the Danish side Aalborg. City never like to do things the easy way - Istanbul is still a possibility! Meanwhile....as this isn't a football blog I'd better update you on the photography side of things....

You may think that things have been quiet around here lately, but that couldn't be further from the truth. In between a handful of recent portrait shoots we've been taking time out to make some alterations to the studio, replace and update our displays and introduce some beautiful new products. We're also completely re-working the turnerportraits website and promotional literature. It's been confirmed this week that I'm to give a three part children's portrait seminar, including live photoshoot, for the SWPP in Malta in October, and speaking again at the International Convention in London next January. And next week Janet and I are off on a photographic trip to southern Spain. Now that Spring is in the air we're really looking forward to the lifestyle portrait photography 'season' getting into full swing. It's going to be an exciting year!

A client testimonial

A beautiful card dropped through the letterbox this morning. It was a testimonial from a long standing client for a photoshoot we did late last summer. I have photographed this particular family regularly since the girls were tiny babies. This time mum and dad opted for an outdoor photoshoot, with a few studio shots to start off the session. This is what they had to say :

"Dear Michael and Janet, Just a short note to say how pleased we are with the album and framed photographs. Grandma loved her present (a framed photograph of the two girls together) and everyone who visited over Christmas was amazed at how you had captured the girls.

Thank you so much".

Mark and Carol

A nice way to start the day. Here are a few of the images :