It’s been a while, but at last we managed to cluck up the pourage to let our chickens have a wander around our garden, outside of the run. The main reasons we were concerned about it are that we thought they may fly away or somehow get in to next-doors’ gardens, and that we might not ever be able to get them back in. So, this morning we looked up how to clip their wings and chopped them off. Basically you chop their flying feathers on one of their wings, so should they try to fly they wobble all over the place and decide it’s too dodgy. Come to think of it, I would quite actually like to see a chicken fly; it must be quite humourous because they’re stout little buggers.

So, here they are, out of the house, mooching around the garden:

So, last week, the time came round for me to do the wedding photos for my friend’s sister, Cherry, and her new hubby, Jon. I was asked a while back and, of course, I said yes. However, the nearer the time got the more nervous I became; did they really want to trust me with their once-in-a-lifetime pictures?

To make myself feel somewhat more happy that I had the correct equipment for the job, I went ahead and purchased myself a brand spanking new, rather expensive, flash. The Nikon SB-800 is the dogs nuts, and has a price tag to match; although I managed to get it off good, old Ebay for about £50 less than retail price. I also knew that to avoid red-eye you have to have the flash some way from the axis of the lens (so that it shines across their pupils rather than into them). So I purchased myself (again off Ebay) a lead that allows the flash to work off camera; the Nikon SC-17 (bloody stupid price brand-new, so I’m glad I got this nearly quarter retail price).

Ok, so I was kitted up; I already had a flash bracket – the bit that the flash actually sits on, off-camera.. WAAAA, the flash doesn’t fit on it!!! So in a panic I bought a Manfrotto flash bracket from the cheapest place I found (which actually wasn’t Ebay this time). In fact, the flash bracket is also the dogs nuts, but at £35 for a lump of metal, it damn well should be. Because you could extend the flash quite high, it avoided any shadows behind the people (because they’re projected down onto the floor).

So, the day came, and I was cacking my pants. I first went to the bride’s house to get a few photos of her getting ready. A couple came out ok. Then I rushed to the church and got them arriving, taking a few during the ceremony and a couple of posed ones after the register signing. All well so far.

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Cherry Getting Ready

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Cherry arriving at the Church

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The exchange of ill-fitting rings!

The difficult bit is, of course, the group photos. In fact, the group photos at the church were very quickly completed and over in a flash (huh huh). So we all went over to a lovely country pub called the Coppleridge Inn, near Shaftesbury, where the reception was happening. This is where I would take the photos of all the friends. This is also where the job became really hard. What is it with everyone? A glass of bubbly and they’ll agree ever so kindly to do as the photographer says; except they won’t actually do it!

“We’re going to have a group photo, could you please move over to the pond?”
“Oh, right, yes, sure…..”

*wait*

No one moved. I had to get the ushers and the bridegroom onto it eventually.

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Eventually, I got the group photograph done!

Anyway, I’m rambling, it all went off really well in the end. We stayed for the meal and the disco, and the whole day was much fun and very jolly. Jon and Cherry are a really lovely couple, and I wish them all the best.

I tell you what, though: if you’re thinking of getting a wedding photographer soon, don’t even consider me!!

Crikey, old boy! Has it really been that long since I updated this poor old blog?

*blows the cobwebs away*

Ok, well, seems last time I wrote, I was about to fly out to Lloret De Mar. If you have Google Earth, this is where I stayed. I flew out on Tuesday and was very glad I’d used Google Earth in preparation as I knew exactly where to walk when I got out of the bus at the bus station. It was incredibly hot, probably over 35^oC. We had a good meeting – lasted a week. I began to miss home a bit though! Particularly the cooking. Because it was full-board (breakfast, dinner and lunch included) it actually began to get a bit like Groundhog day; the buffet went on and on, the same thing everyday. Anyway, I was glad to get home. Here’s a few photos of the place:

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The Beach

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One of the many tat shops

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My Hotel

I shall try and write a few more posts in the next few days – get me back up to date!