London Engagements.......

I LOVE weddings AND I LOVE capturing Proposals!

If you were at a talk I gave recently, you would have seen I was about ready to burst with delight mentioning them.....here's why......I stood up after the amazing Kate O'Neil had presented and fabulously announced "If you can shoot weddings, you can shoot anything!" YEP, absolutely! I beamed listening to her describe weddings as every possible photographic event on one day (Landscape, Still Life, Portrait, Event....you get the gist). It's true!

I still LOVE photographing weddings, I love that it pushes my creativity, I LOVE that I get to interact with people ALL day, some peoples idea of hell, my idea of Heaven!! I love that I set the scene with Landscape pictures. Capture the details and stillness in my still life pictures and get to smile ALL day long whilst capturing and creating moments between two people that will last long after their wedding day. I get to chatter and banter with all the guests when I take their pictures, their laughter and cheekiness, hilarity and fun. I get to set up some pretty awesome lo light / dark pictures using giant sparklers and a wall or my tripod. This summer I have a mix of destination and English countryside weddings to capture, hurrah!! I'm so excited!!

I REALLY LOVE capturing the surprise, the shock and the delight during a proposal too......The start of a new journey together and an amazing chapter in two peoples lives.

Allan & Gaufaloupe visited London in June from beautiful Brazil. Guadeloupe had wanted to visit and see Phantom of the Opera as a small girl and her very thoughtful soon to be fiance organised secretly and totally under the radar, for me to be at Her Majesty's Theatre ready to capture his proposal. OMGoodness......super delightful. Allan proposed inside in a private room and then we went outside before curtain up to capture some more special moments!! These smiles!!! Their looks of love and delight...Congratulations Allan & Guadeloupe, wishing you both an amazing future together xx

I quite like this...

Looking at light...finding beauty in the shadows, don't worry not as dark as it sounds and I'm the furthest from depressed you could be right now. I'm just seeing new things in new ways which make me dance a little inside :-) 

Kitchen envy lol (I LOVE my kitchen) but every once in a while I'm sitting in a kitchen with an island or work station (which I'd LOVE) + am captivated by the view and pieces of the kitchen which burst character...this is blue heaven + I just want to share its beauty xx

still life's whilst waiting for a shoot to start

So I'm just hanging out, early Tuesday morning waiting for my shoot to start upstairs and I notice how pretty the light looks and how in this usually busy pub, it's silent save for me and the barman ...my camera meets my eye and I record what I see, pretty stillness....I feel like Karen Harvey should be with me (of shutter hub and blog fame) wherever she goes she fills her instagram feed with obscure wonderful finds which are a delight to see and very inspiring - maybe she's been rubbing off :-) 

Pretty pink ceiling shades, tea cups, wood, grey paint...I mean, how divine! what more could I ask for x 

5 TOP TIPS for helping create beautiful memories of your gorgeous day….

1.Breathe…..Breathe…Breathe……

Easy right?? Wrong…when we’re stressed or in different situations our breathe can get laboured and irregular – a mix of excitement and anticipation can make our breathe shallower so 3 super deep fill up your lungs breathes to start enabling a calming effect and clearing our mind REALLY helps

2.Schedule an engagement session or pre wedding photo shoot with your photographer

This is really helpful to get used to being in front of the camera and being directed by your photographer or just understanding how to move and laugh and relax 

(a lot of people stop breathing or hold their breathe when a camera is pointed at them so this is super useful to cross this off the list – see 1. above) it’s really popular now and well worth it, it also is a great opportunity to really fine tune with your photographer the images you’d like captured on your wedding day.

3.you want to look your sparkling best...

If you’re planning a dinner or meal the night before your wedding with guests or family and you’re planning on starting the celebrations then – why wouldn’t you right? Well, be mindful if you want to look your sparkling best on your wedding day the bubbles/beer/cocktails will show from the night before – have cucumber, cold spoons and plenty of water ready to reduce puffy eyes, swollen cheeks and dehydration

4.Enjoy...

This leads wonderfully on to my next point…..ENJOY your wedding day, I LOVE bubbles as much as the next person and part of the prosecco shortage was I’m afraid to say possibly down to me (not a lush just love a bubble) HOWEVER..I am not being a party pooper but alcohol is a relaxer….it will relax your facial muscles (awesome b’cos of all the smiling you’ll be doing) BUT keep it fresh, the more you drink, the more your face will start to fall off your chin and that I’m afraid is not a good look for photos (unless it’s midnight + the last shot of the evening celebrations) you've worked super hard at perfecting your day so just go easy until after your couple shots are captured :-)

5.Be sassy!

Finally, Flirt with the camera, be sassy, playful, silly and enjoy every second!

An American pregnancy in London.....

Ashley has written a beautiful blog piece on her experience of being an expat pregnant in London and it's super informative!! I had the complete pleasure of working with Ashley and Jeff for Flytographer creating fun 'bump' pictures in Notting Hill before Xmas and then when Margot arrived in January + at 11 days young we captured gorgeous new born pictures......

" have someone else find you a photographer. // Being in a new city means limited resources — and since none of our friends here had hired a maternity photographer before, I wasn’t sure who to ask. I started to poke around online a few times, but I was always overwhelmed… when your only requirement is “NOT CHEESY,” Google doesn’t really deliver the goods.

After one too many websites full of photos of hand-hearts on bumps in cornfields (you know the ones), I realized that DUH, I didn’t need to find other personal recommendations — Flytographer already has access to some of the best photographers in London. We booked a 30 minute shoot, and as soon as we met Jackie, it was like hanging out with an old friend. Best of all, she didn’t ask Jeff to kiss my bare belly ONCE.

Obviously, it was a no-brainer to ask her to take our newborn photos, too."

Having just returned from an excellent adventure I am thrilled and delighted to share this wonderful news that Smashing The Glass Featured Amy's Bachelorette at the Savoy & Tuttons, Covent Garden where I had the pleasure to photograph this beautiful celebration, please check out the link to Amy's tips on celebrating in style! xx

Thank You xx

Hello!

Happy New Year!

Thanks so much for checking out my website :-)

Congratulations if you've just gotten engaged over the holidays VERY EXCITING!! CONGRATULATIONS to all my wonderful, lovely, amazing couples whose proposal I captured - I'm still beaming :-D If you are enquiring about my availability, I'd love to chat with you!

I am currently away until January 25th and I will be responding to all emails and phone messages from January 26th onwards.

In the meantime please do check out my instagram  and my Facebook page, I can't wait to chat to you when I get back xx

Thank you so much, have a brilliant day,

Lots of Love + Very Best wishes,

Jackie xx