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Category Archives: Life

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The Charltons :: Vows Renewal

May 23, 2010 – 1:46 pm

Last year my good friend and photographer extraordinaire Mandy Charlton announced that she would be renewing her vows with Paul, her husband of 10 years, which was exciting news… It got even better when she asked myself, James Burns and Jamie Emerson if we would photograph the whole day. We all jumped at the chance, especially as Mandy told us that we had free rein to shoot on the day, cue lots of plotting and planning between us.

After a night out with Mandy & Paul, where they met yet another of our photography friends we soon added Mark Scholey to the photography pot. Now 4 photographers strong, all with different styles, ideas and kit options, we knew there would be a whole load of creative juices flowing. We knew it would be vintage themed, and that Mandy wanted to shoot in a couple of locations in and around Newcastle, we were all excited.

The day started with bacon and sausage butties served up by the generous Café Burns, we then split off with Jamie & Mark heading over to meet Paul, whilst James & I met up with Mandy at her hotel where she was excitedly getting ready with the girls.

I took a lot of inspiration from many photographers and their style throughout the day, so thank you to all those who are an inspiration to me.

I’ll apologise now as it’s fairly image heavy post… Enjoy!

The girls getting ready, I was told they aren’t always this girly.

The Twitter inspired vintage necklace that Mandy found was gorgeous.

The day wasn’t completely fuelled by Champagne & Calpol, but it might have started out that way…

The love was there for all to see when Mandy & Paul were together at the Vows Renewal

Iain had a cool retro Dr Who style suit, and the obligatory cool Converse sneakers.

Part 1: Paul’s fun nature shining through on the day.

Part 2: Paul’s fun nature shining through on the day.

Part 3: Paul’s fun nature shining through on the day.

More love on the day.

This summed up the rest of the night along with the dancing…

Thanks once again to Paul & Mandy for asking me to be a guest and also for the privilege of capturing the day, here’s to the next 10 years.

By admin | Also posted in General, Matt, Uncategorized, Weddings | Tagged Mandy, Paul, Vows Renewal | Comments (3)

Roadtrip :: Cornwall

April 7, 2010 – 5:32 pm

Road-trips can be amazing experiences, and I love them. Exploring new places, meeting new people, having a cool time with friends on the journey, it all makes for new life experiences and also creates lots of stories to laugh and reminisce about later on (especially in the darker winter months).

So, I thought I would share some from a recent road-trip to sunny Cornwall. Being one quarter of the 4togsblog, we planned a road-trip for the four of us, the idea was simple: find a base point, and explore from there… We decided to go with Newquay, for no other reason than none of us had been there. Unfortunately one of the quartet had to drop out due to work commitments, valiantly though we carried on as a trio.

With sunglasses and cool looking hats packed, we set off looking forward to the week ahead of us, we did decide to remind Mark as often as possible what he was missing out on, while we were enjoying the road-trip.

Starting off we have James & Ade, the other 4togsblog members on the road-trip.

Views over the main beach in Newquay, not much surfing here; that’s about half a mile to the left around the headland on Fistral Beach.

All important sunglasses in the sunshine, and yes I know they needed cleaning!

The maestro of (dis)organisation.

This guy was one of the coolest bar persons we’ve met. The Fort was a regular stop, mostly due to the awesome cliff top beer garden.

The obligatory drinks images, I do believe they all taste better in the sunshine.

Couple of random shots from Lands End, the shop below sold the most amazing ice-cream from a local producer.

The last three images are all from the quaint little harbour at Mousehole on the southern coast of Cornwall, just south of Penzance, the roads are unbelievably narrow all around here, but worth the effort to visit.

After sharing this, I want to know: Where are you going for your road-trip this year?

By admin | Also posted in General, Matt | Tagged Beer, Cornwall, Fun, Newquay, Photogrpahy, Road-Trip | Comments (2)

Laura & Gregor :: Glasgow University Cathedral

February 22, 2010 – 2:33 pm

During last year, my travels had me visiting Glasgow to meet up with several other photographers, whilst there I was invited by Duncan & Angela of Pics&Blooms to shoot alongside them at a wedding. I was told little about the venue until we arrived… At Glasgow University Cathedral!

Wow, what can I say. It is simply a beautiful building with a tremendous amount of history. I felt honoured to be able to shoot there, and with two great friends and a fantastic couple, Laura and Gregor.

By admin | Also posted in General, Weddings | Tagged Cathedral, Glasgow, Pics&Blooms, University | Comments (1)

Gigs :: Army of Stars

February 1, 2010 – 11:35 am

Another catchup from 2009: I was talking with a friend who was off to see a few local band at Night & Day music cafe, turns out one of the bands were friends of theirs as well. After a quick chat I was then invited on the guest list to shoot the band performing.

Army of Stars played a fantastic set, and really got the crowd going with their enthusiasm.

By admin | Also posted in Band, General, Matt | Tagged Army of Stars, Band, gig photography, Manchester, Night & Day | Comments (2)

Newcastle Shoot-Out!

October 6, 2009 – 12:07 pm

Recently I was visiting friends in Newcastle, and knowing I was coming up my good friend and second shooter James Burns suggested a shoot-out… Hastily it was arranged, six photographers from varying backgrounds, and two lovely models who agreed to pose for us. The cast list for the day was:

The lovely models are Tamarin Wilkinson & Lauren Wilkinson, both put a lot of effort into the shoot, and were both great fun to shoot with. Below are a selection of the images from the day:

Shootout-01