Emma recently celebrated her first birthday and I got a chance to show the world what a gorgeous baby girl she is! Takes after her Mum and Dad I think!
I had the pleasure of photographing Andrew and Diane’s wedding a few years back and, ever since she was born, I was hoping to get the chance to photograph their little darling! She really is something special! Looking forward to the next time already!
I met up with Hayley and Kenneth recently at the New Lanark World Heritage Site, the stunning and beautifully restored 18th century cotton mill village in Southern Scotland, close to the Falls of Clyde. Hayley and Kenneth are getting married in my hometown of Strathaven later this year and I can’t wait to play a small part in their big day. They are a fantastically relaxed couple and Hayley has a keen interest in all things photography so no real pressure Gerry! Really looking forward to seeing you both again in a few months time and here are a few of my favourite photo’s from our pre-wedding shoot in one of Scotland’s great historic sites …………………
This gorgeous little person was born just four weeks before I met her for these photos. She is just perfect if not a little tired and not quite ready to follow posing instructions!! She is incredibly clever of course – I asked her the question ladies never like to answer, “how old are you Violet”. Can you spot the picture where she answered? I’m looking forward to seeing her again sometime very soon.
I have been busy on a few projects recently and ready to enjoy my Springtime but this weekend has been the dullest holiday weekend imaginable. I was blown off the golf course on Saturday and the weather just didn’t give in. So I thought I would post a few of my favourite pics from my holidays in 2012 as a reminder of the pot of gold that awaits at the end of the rainbow. All the extra effort seems worthwhile when you feel the warmth of the sun on your back and the chill of a long cold glass of something special to take the stresses away. Looking forward to heading back to Sandos San Blas with the family soon. Isn’t this why we all work so hard?
With 36 megapixels at my disposal, my Nikon D800 sometimes captures just a little too much detail, but when it’s capturing someone as pretty as my favourite little person, Jessica, it really proves worthwhile. Here she is looking just as lovely as ever!
What a year! Weather wise it was a year to forget. Our summer made a quick appearance in May and reappeared for a fleeting moment in August. It obviously didn’t fancy hanging around and packed it’s bags for far away lands. They tell me it might even return next year sometime! Nonetheless it was a great year and I have some great memories – Bruce Springsteen was awesome on a rainy night at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester, we chilled by the poolside in Cyprus in June and sipped brandy sun-downers as the sun started to fall from the sky and the temperature fell back into the twenties, my sensational crab meat and chive dumplings at Opium in Glasgow (Scotland’s finest oriental restaurant – officially!), or feeling the stresses and strains melt away at our luxury getaway in Tenerife last month to the rippling soundtrack of the Atlantic waves slowly retreating over our pebble beach. All fantastic memories. Here’s hoping next year delivers just as many. Anyone needing inspiration for my big birthday present next year might also wish to note I recently spent 60 exhilarating minutes behind the wheel of a new Toyota GT86 and one day soon I hope a nice wee red one will be parked in my driveway – hint, hint!
Of course my year was dominated by the people I had the good fortune to photograph – none more so than the numerous wedding parties and their guests! Every time was different, every subject was different, every day was different. But the results were the same – loads of happy customers and loads of people I previously never knew who smiled for the camera and allowed me to capture the happiness and joy of their special day. It was a great year and to everyone who helped make it so special, I wish you all the compliments of the season and a peaceful and prosperous 2013. Here are a few of my favourite wedding memories from 2012……..
Autumn can be such a wonderful season. Here in Scotland the colours in the landscape take a final breath of cold air before they disappear and hibernate for the winter. The leaves cling on for some final autumn sunshine and just before they fall to the earth they remind us of what we will miss with the impending arrival of a colourless winter landscape. For a final few days the whole world is bathed in the richest of reds and the most glorious of golds. Photographers love this time of year. Not just the landscape photographers – weddings just look fabulous on a bright sunny day in autumn and Shellie and Gary picked a perfectly calm autumn day to get married. They also picked the perfect venue – Glasgow’s iconic and famous registry office in Park Circus. Opulent and extravagant, 22 Park Circus is a Grade A listed town house dating from 1872. It belonged to a wealthy industrialist, Walter Macfarlane founder of the Saracen Ironworks, and Walter commissioned one of the most magnificent interiors to be found in the city. It really is quite something.
Gary and Shellie had a beautiful and intimate ceremony in the Avon Room at Park Circus and celebrated with family and friends before we all sped off to the Burnside Hotel for the wedding reception and a big night-time knees up. It was a fantastic day and, after months of asking, the weather finally decided to behave for me. Yes it was freezing cold but there wasn’t a cloud in the sky – almost unheard of during the 2012 wedding season in Scotland! Perhaps it was fitting for Gary and Shellie because our pre-wedding shoot on Cathkin Braes took place in a howling gale and, as Shellie reminded me, this time I would finally get to see her hair behaving properly!
Park Circus borders the magnificent Kelvingrove Park and after the ceremony we managed a few minutes out in the cold and captured some wonderful photos in perfect surroundings. Between the majesty of the grand Victorian town-houses on the edge of the park lie a couple of beautiful cobbled lanes and some of my favourite places to take a picture. Thanks to Gary and Shellie for braving the cold and for being such good sports. You are such a lovely couple and I wish you all the very best on your new journey together. It was a real pleasure to work with both families and to see a few old faces from my younger days. To Jim and Karen, Alan and Maureen, Joe and Carly, Abbie and Craig, Joshua, Annie, and Olivia. and all your families and friends, thank you for your patience and for the laughter. Here are a few early reminders of a beautiful day to get married and take a photograph…………..
