BLOG ADDRESS MOVED

Please note as from today 1st March 2008 we have moved our blog address onto our main server.
Apart from a difference in how it looks you won't notice any difference. If you have come to this page then please just click on the refresh button on your browser from the page you were on before this one. That will load the new address into the links on your page.

If you have come here via RSS then our new address is http://www.class1weddings.com/blog/

Please note you will have to refresh each of the pages you have previously visited on our site before, to update the menu bar.

Regards,

Carl

Awards and competitions.

I think as a photographer it's good to enter competitions and awards to strive to better myself. I am a member of a few professional organisations which run monthly awards for different categories of photography. Here are some images of my submission for February. Please feel free to comment below. To enlarge the image double click on it.















So there you have this months entries, I'll let you know how they rate, but leave a comment on your preferences.

Regards,

Carl

Yearly visit to the NEC & Focus on Imaging Exhibition

Well we have just been down in Birmingham for a couple of days visiting the Focus on Imaging exhibition, which is one of the biggest exhibitions for photographers. All the leading companies from around the world assemble there to show the latest software, albums, products, frames etc, in fact everything to do with photography, to the pro & amateur photographers.
We usually go down every year, but have made some good friends and now make it into a yearly get together.

Due to work commitments this year a few of the regulars couldn't make it, but we had a great time nonetheless. Five of us decided to stay overnight and went out for a meal at the pub next door to the hotel, the fillet steak was one of the best I have ever had.

A new attendee was Alfredo. I met Alfredo on a pro photography forum and we have been friends for some months now but this was the first time we actually met in person. He is an Italian photographer currently living in Cardiff. Our regular good mates, Ian & Tracy of Ian Rycroft Photography (Buckinghamshire) made the numbers up, and we spent some good time till the early hours.

Here's just a few pics of the happening last night.










(me, Ian, Tracy, Jenny, Alfredo)


We had a great time, spent some quality time with friends, and picked up some good bits from the show as well.

Regards,
Carl

Todays Wedding Fair

Well today we have been at the Derby County Pride Park stadium for a wedding fair promoted by one of our friends, Sue White of White Media. It has been really busy all day and we have had lots of enquiries for dates for this year and for next. A lot of the dates for this year were already taken, but hopefully our conversations with somne of the brides for next year will lead to bookings. Another good thing that came out of todays fair was that we networked with a few other photographers and video companies and have built up new friendships where we can hopefully put leads each other way.

Wedding Fairs are excellent places for everyone in the trade to network with other vendors, regardless of whether you're a photographer, cake maker, card maker or musician. Building a network og friends and colleagues can only be for the better. I always try to make a point of getting to know new people at a fair and then try to recommend them to someone else, what goes around, comes around.

Tomorrow we're off to the NEC at Birmingham for the annual photographic & video exhibition, we'll be staying over for two days so if you ring us you may find you go through to the answer machine. Apologies for that but if you leave details we'll call you back Wednesday.

Okay we're off out now for a well deserved meal at a local restaurant with the kids.

Regards, Carl

Blogging!!!

A forum which I visit regularly for pro photographers has a topic where people list their blog addresses with a view for other photographers to visit and make comments. Well there was a list of around 70ish blog addresses, so I randomly clicked on quite a few of them and it was suprising how many have not had updates for months and months!

I posted a comment on a few of the recently updated ones.

An idea I had (for those who visit blogs), is rather than just visit the blog and read it, leave a comment as well. It doesn't have to be an essay, just a line or two. Although I check our stats regularly so I know how many people visit and read, it's still nice for people to leave a comment. That way it inspires you to put more content into it.

I am going to make it a point that i'm going to comment on two blogs a day, preferably different peoples.Why don't you do the same?

Have a good day,

Carl

The February Bug!!

Well this week i've been suffering big time. I'm one of those people who doesn't get ill very often, the whole world could be suffering from colds, viral bugs etc and I seem to just shrug it off, but Tuesday night I started with just a bit of a sniffle and sore throat. By Wednesday it was full blown viral bug, headaches, aching muscles, dizzy spells and generally feeling really off it and i've still got it.
Just off to get another lemsip!!!

The Wedding of Jenny & Mark

Well Saturday saw fantastic weather and a great day at the wedding of Jenny & Mark.
We started off at Ringwood Hall where Mark and his best man Andy had spent the night and they were busy getting ready on our arrival.





We walked round the venue and got some great shots of them both and then made our way to Jenny's parents house where the normal bridal preperations were under way. The calmest of eveyone seemed to be Jenny



The wedding ceremony was at the Brimington Church and we were given a free reign from the clergy, (if only all of them were this good). The sun was still shining and the sky was a dark blue, after a fun confetti shot we made our way to Ringwood Hall.



After getting all the main bridal party shots and some fun shots with the girls, and the boys it was time for us to go around the gardens with the bride and groom.



We finished off with a slideshow of the highlights of the day.

Congratulations Jenny & Mark, have a great honeymoon.

As always, if you would like the links to Jenny & Mark's newsletter, view their gallery etc please send us an email request. You must include Jenny's maiden name in the mail. We will send you a link with all the details.

Carl & Jenny