OK so the title is a nod to my friend Maggie. She used to work beside me back in my corporate days and has a very dry sense of humour. She had a beautiful diamond ring on her right hand, she’d lean over, point it at me and say, wanna see my big shiny ring?  Made me die every single time. Because childish. 😂

My own rings are 12 years old (I literally have no idea where the hell that time went) and being white gold were starting to look really scruffy. I’d spotted a cute wee eternity ring (yes, of COURSE he got me it 💍) and when I tried it on my other rings looked shit. I left them there (nervously) for just over a week. Got them back today. I swear, I was like a giddy wee girly girl in the shop!!!  Most unlike me. But they’re so shiny!!!

Naturally I instagrammed them. Duh. 

I’m packing up and taking Elsie Baba to our static this evening. I’ll blog of course!  I hope you all have a fantastic bank holiday weekend too. 

  
Oh, did I mention I had all my hair cut off?  So much to tell you!!

GillyT ❤️

I thought I’d share some of my hipstamatic photos with you … this is a really cool app on the iPhone that basically emulates old cameras, with a variety of lenses and effects (film styles) to choose from.  They’re fast, fun and uploadable to facebook or twitter, giving friends an immediate snapshot of what’s happening around you.  They’re not the best quality, they don’t need to be, they’re quirky and fun … a few recent shots …

Last year I treated myself to what can only be described as a vintage ornament !  It is expensive these days to shoot with medium format film but I love the styling of these twin lens reflex cameras, with their waist viewer and lovely leather cases.  This one was manufactured in the 1950’s and is a gorgeous example of the genre.  Whoever had this really looked after it.  You never know, I may venture out with a couple of rolls of film for a shoot in the summer months.

This was taken at my desk … I think it sums me up pretty well haha

My latest passion (reawakened from my youth) … my husband bought me a gorgeous Yamaha acoustic for Christmas and I have been playing til my fingers tingled every day since … I had completely forgotten how relaxing and satisfying it is to play (I use that term loosely, for now) an instrument.  I have so much to re-learn as I literally haven’t lifted one of these for going on 20 years now, but with determination and practice I’ll get there !

I got my pandora bracelet for my birthday (I have a very generous hubby) along with my little doggie charm, the cat charm and my birthstone … but honestly, these things look a little bit pants with only a couple of charms on … so Christmas was pretty easy for everyone this year, the brief being “buy me some charms!” … boy, did they step up to the plate with this one, everyone contributed and I now have a beautiful pandora with lots of shiny bling!

This rather random shot was taken out the front of my house, aimed at getting in the treetops and the blue of the sky … an hour later we had a fair old dump of snow and this view was completely different.

Just before Christmas we decided to head up to Liverpool to drop off a canvas to a client.  Basically, the couriers and delivery services before Christmas were a bit rubbish, so because the canvas was for a Christmas present, the only option was to hand deliver.  Hubs has family in Liverpool and we thought we might combine a visit, but the snow was too bad even for the 4×4 … still, the doggies enjoyed it !

Sometimes I will whip my iPhone out at a wedding and take some hipstamatics … like I say, it’s all fun, they would never make an album, but clients seem to enjoy the diversity and creativity, so why not !  The first was a best man at a wedding in October, the second two were wedding clients from December …

We finally made the trip to visit hubs’ family on Sunday, it was an absolutely beautiful day, cold but crisp and clear, so we first headed over to Blundellsands where hubs used to live and walked the dogs down by the sea … unfortunately the tide was in, so we couldn’t walk them on the beach (boo) but we watched fascinated as 2 experts flew kites in what was obviously prime conditions for it !  The first image is of a lovely new apartment block, I just love the styling, then the sea and finally those kites.

If you haven’t already got it, go to your app store and download the hipstamatic app today !  FUN with a capital F !

Any of you who follow me on Facebook or Twitter will know I am yet again off to the Emerald Isle for a few days … I get to spend the first few days with my good friend and amazing photographer, Andrena, from LA … we’re gonna hang out, chill and sightsee, not necessarily in that order, before shooting a wedding next weekend in Ennis (in a castle, no less).  Exciting.

I’m also conscious that the blog is going to suffer, so I wanted to post something a little different and (ok, if I don’t say it maybe no-one else will) something a little awesome, to keep you going.

I am exhibiting at the National Wedding Show in October and, as always, I am getting a couple of new sample albums sorted … a new exclusive to me (exciting) Digital Art album is one of these … so of course I had to choose a couple of weddings and I thought Charlotte and Charle’s recent wedding would be a cool option for this one.

Choosing the front cover for a sample is critical, as it has to draw the viewer into the album itself.  I immediately thought of this shot of Charlotte …

It’s a fun shot and, as you can see, even straight out of camera, it’s pretty cook I think.  However, its just feels a little cluttered and busy, there’s a lot going on behind with the glass doors, handles, notices and so on … I needed this to look clean and uncluttered, I also wanted to go with a BW conversion … here is the result …

I think you’ll agree it looks much better, the focus is drawn into Charlotte rather than being caught up in the clutter behind her !  Pretty cool.

See you in a week or so … be good !

Staffordshire Wedding Photographer