• Artistic and bespoke wedding and portrait photography

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      7th Mar 10
      Lesley Pattinson

    In one of my last posts I explained how I add my photoshop magic to my wedding photography and portrait photography and this post will explain a bit more about my style of photography.

    Anyone who is looking for a photographer to capture their wedding day of the wonderful memories of their child growing up will often be asked if they know what style of photographer they are looking for; indeed I will often be asked what style of photographer I consider myself to be so that the potential client can weave their way through the field of potential photographers out their and pick the one that best suits what they are looking to achieve in their photographs.

    When asked what my style of wedding or portrait photography is I would say I am bespoke and artistic, but why would I say this.

    Firstly lets address bespoke; the dictionary definition of this is “made to order” which I feel couldn’t describe my service better, to me each and every client be it for wedding photography or portrait photography is different and deserves to be treated as such.  So I don’t head off to a wedding shoot or portrait shoot with a list full of poses that I use each and every time, instead I judge on the day and the person and adapt how I take photographs to that, so therefore each and every shoot is made to order.

    So that brings me to artistic; now the dictionary definition of this is “having a creative skill” do I have creative skill in my photography?  Well that would be a question for my clients but what I do know is that I certainly put my own creative mark on all the images I take.  First its the actual shot being taken, how I do this is something I find very hard to describe I simply look around, look at my subject then look through my lens and out the shot comes.  Luckily for me its the most natural thing in the world to capture a photograph, a skill which I certainly cherish.  Next I edit the photo adding my photoshop magic, I guess this is where my creativity really comes into its own to make the shot a work of art that when my clients see it will love it and be proud to hang in on their walls.

    To follow are  some images that I really feel are artistic…. enjoy!

      Life style portraits, weddings

  • Wedding ceremony at The Vineyard, Stockcross, Berkshire

      1 comment
      4th Jan 10
      Lesley Pattinson

    Happy New Year!  I hope its a prosperous one for everyone.


    January quietens down a little after a very busy December filled with portrait shoots and weddings, one such wedding was at the beginning of December.

    Andrew and Kerry got married at the beautiful location of The Vineyard, Stockcross it was a 4pm ceremony so The Vineyard came into its own as it has such lovely light about the place that the wedding photographs can be gorgeous.

    The wedding ceremony and reception where both held there; so with not to much traveling between venues meant lots of time for photographs.  It was a very lovely and intimate day, congratulations Andrew and Kerry I hope you have a fantastic life together.

    Here are a few of my favorite images from the day:
      weddings

  • The Vinyard, Stockcross pre wedding shoot

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      1st Dec 09
      Lesley Pattinson

    Winter weddings are definitely getting more popular and to be honest I highly recommend them, I myself got married on 22nd December.  The low light or in fact darkness can make for some great photographs.


    Im off to the Vineyard and Stockcross this weekend to photograph Andrew & Kerry’s wedding day and we popped up there last week to go through the wedding day timings and take some test shots.   A pre-wedding test shoot is something I offer free of charge to those couples that would like it.  Not everyone takes up this option but Andrew and Kerry wanted it so that on their wedding day they know what to expect from me and so they could see just how relaxed I make them when doing their signature wedding images.

    The Vineyard at Stockcross makes a fantastic backdrop to photographs both night and day, but the flames in the water feature at the front of the hotel really do come to life at night.

    Below are a couple of my favorite images from the photo shoot, some great low light photographs!
      pre wedding photo shoot

  • The Friars Court, Calum and Hannah’s Wedding

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      30th Oct 09
      Lesley Pattinson

    As promised in my previous post, now Calum and Hannah have had a good chance to look through their wedding day images here are some of my favorites from the day.


    They got married and the fabulous location of The Friars Court in Oxfordshire, it really is a wonderful venue where (weather permitting) you can get married outside in their beautiful gardens, the wooden white chairs they use really do add to the feel of a traditional english country garden.  Of course there are contingencies for the good old british weather, they also have a lovely conservatory you can use for the ceremony that look out onto the gardens.  Calum and Hannah where lucky enough to have the weather in their favor so did manage to have their wedding ceremony in the gardens.

    I was really pleased there was no rain as the grounds at The Friars Court really do make a great back drop for the arty portraits that Calum and Hannah wanted and that I specialise in.

    It was a really lovely day I have no doubt Calum and Hannah will remember the special moments for years to come and hopefully the photographs can help those memories for a long time to come.

    here are my favorite photographs from their wedding day:

      weddings

  • Tip’s for writing wedding thank you cards….

      1 comment
      16th Oct 09
      Lesley Pattinson
    Being a wedding photographer gives a good grounding for all things weddings, you get to hear and think of all sorts of tips and tricks which I like to share if possible with future brides and grooms, after all there is so much to think about when it comes to weddings that any help is exactly that help!

    So one thing that every bride and groom must do is thank you cards, the long task that can lead to a very achy arm, so to follow are a few tips that may help the job along….

    First things first, get your thank you cards ordered early so they are all ready and waiting when you are.  Or if you want to use an image from the wedding to put on the front of the card let the photographer know before the big day so they can shoot a shot accordingly and get it edited and over to you within a couple of days of the wedding.

    Always send a proper thank you card as opposed to an email, if your guest have taken the time and trouble to get you a gift they will really appreciate you taking the time to hand write their card.

    As son as you get your gifts try to write the thank you, it so much easier to to think what to write when you still have the excitement of opening the gift.  Plus if the gifts don’t come in all at once, you get the thank you cards completed a bit at a time.

    Don’t try to write the cards in too formal a way, write them as you would normally talk / write, that way they feel nice and personal to the recipient.

    Try to say thank you and state the gift in the thank you card, again this makes it nice and personal for the recipient and they won’t feel its just a generated card that is the same as everyone else’s.

    Set yourself a goal to get the thank you cards sent by.

    If you want something unusual for you thank you cards, sending the main group photo as the card is always a nice idea as then every guest gets a copy, alternatively you can pick up lots of postcards on your honeymoon you can then take them home and use them I’m sure all the guests will love to check out what your honeymoon looked like.
    Finally you could put a map on the thank you card with a mark where the wedding was, where you got engaged, where the honeymoon was and where you lived before and after the wedding.
      weddings

  • A thank you…

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      12th Oct 09
      Lesley Pattinson

    I photograph weddings because I love it, I truly enjoy my job and am privileged that couples book me for their special day so I can indulge my passion.


    However even though I love taking the photos and editing them and all the goes with it, it doesn’t compare to the wonderful feeling knowing that I have done a good job and my clients and truly happy with their images.
    I get many different types of thank you and they all mean as much, but sometimes its the smallest words are so touching, so Calum & Hannah thank you for your kind words it means everything to me.

    The email from them read… “YOU ROCK!”  ”They’re awsome”

    Here is one of the images from their wedding day at the fabulous Friars Court, more images will follow….
      weddings

  • Latest Queensbury album..

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      3rd Oct 09
      Lesley Pattinson

    Below is a slideshow of the fabulous album I have just ordered for Mark & Diane, they have upgraded their Queensbury album to a fully digital album which is just being produced.

    Queensbury albums are all handmade in New Zealand and are bespoke to each order; so Im always excited to see the final finished album.

    In the meantime here is a slideshow of the album.

      weddings

  • Wedding hair and make-up ideas

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      13th Jun 09
      Lesley Pattinson
    Check out Brides Magazine this month, its all about hair and beauty, Im advertising on the CD that comes free with the magazine and there are some great ideas and tips.  Well worth a read!
      News

  • A different wedding element at The Tythe Barn, Nr Bicester

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      3rd Jun 09
      Lesley Pattinson
    Having been a bride myself, Im very aware how much thought goes into planning a wedding; one of the main things we all strive for is something different, something everyone will remember from our day and most importantly something that every one of our guests will enjoy.  I shot Tim and Hannah’s wedding recently at The Tythe Barn, Nr Bicester, as you will have seen from previous posts it really is a gorgeous venue.


    Tim and Hannah’s day ran a little differently to the pervious I have shot at The Tythe Barn, they let me know before hand that guests would in fact be service the main course in the wedding breakfast so I could make sure i got some shots of it as the guests would not know.  Sure enough after the starters a strapping chap from each table was tapped on the shoulder and brought into the cowshed (the side room off the main barn), with me waiting in there camera at the ready they thought it was some sort of special photo shoot which in itself cause some laughs.

    But no they had to don a chefs hat and a stripy apron and where told they would be carving and serving the roast beef for their table, but they must make an entrance back into the main barn, so off they headed cancan style to carve the roast.

    The bride and groom and guests all loved it, it was certainly something I have never seen before but something I won’t forget so Tim and Hannah definitely achieved the goal of making their wedding different to most!

    Here are some pictures of the happy carvers!
      weddings

  • New wedding photography galleries

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      24th May 09
      Lesley Pattinson

    I have updated the images in the galleries on the main site, I have also added a couple of albums to the galleries.  So grab a cuppa or a glass of vino and enjoy! www.memoriesthrualens.com/flash

      weddings