Well, over the last few months I have not been very good about updating the blog with shoots for the Baby Magazines, so let’s see if we can sort that out! This shoot was done just last week for Baby London Magazineand features little Tom. From these shots you would never believe that he refused to smile for 87 of the 90 minutes I was with him!! Probably due to the fact that when he woke up, it was to the sight of me peering into his cot – enough to put anybody off, I know!!

So, on to may favourites from the session:

Natasha and Luke were recently married in Central London, celebrating with friends and family at the Conservatory of the Millennium Gloucester Hotel. We stopped off at Holland Park for a little picnic between the ceremony and the wedding breakfast, which was rather delightful! The chocolate truffles and champagne went down a treat – with all of us!

Without further ado, here are my faves from the day:

You may remember two months ago the blog post announcing that Matt Pereira Photography scooped five MPA Awards. Well, I am very excited to announce that I have won another award with the MPA!!

Last time it was all about Fashion, Families and Babies … this time it was in the Mario Acerboni 3-from-1 Wedding Category. A successful entry in this category requires, as the name suggests, three images from one wedding; one photograph from before the ceremony, one photograph during the ceremony and one photograph from after the ceremony. It was a difficult decision, but I chose the very classy wedding of Bridget and Nick which took place at Stoke Park Club last September.

All entries in this category were first judged across all 14 Regions, with a single winner being announced for each of those regions. I was the Winner for the Southern Region. All 14 winners will then go head to head at the MPA National Awards in Birmingham on October 17th and the images will be judged against each other for an overall National winner – fingers crossed please!!!

I also received notification that I have been award three merits in the other, yet unknown, categories for the National Awards – a merit is awarded for any image that scores above 80% and any image that does receive a merit has the possibility to go on and become National Winner in it’s category – toes crossed as well please!!!

So, here are the winning images in the Mario Acerboni 3 from 1 Wedding Category, MPA Southern Region 2010;

A couple of months back, I travelled out to Germany with the lovely Alana, from Baby Surrey & Baby London Magazine, to visit Kiddy, the Germany-based child car seat manufacturer. We went to meet the husband and wife team behind the company and document who they were and how they work, for the purposes of an article in the latest issues of Baby Surrey, Baby London and Baby Hampshire magazines.

We spent two hot, hot, hot days in Hof, north of Nürnberg, and right next to the Western most point of the Czech Republic. We were treated to great German hospitality by Bettina and Jan-Stefan of Kiddy, and two days of the ins and outs of Kiddy car seats – what Alana and I don’t know about friction coefficients is not worth knowing!! During those two days we took lots of photographs and tried to get a real idea of the family unit behind Kiddy. You can read all about it in the latest magazines, but for now, here are my favourite images from the trip:

Every now and then another little thing happens at a wedding which makes me think, “I wish I had thought to tell them about that before today!” Obviously, nobody can predict all the little things that are going to happen, but one can learn (or teach) from past experiences and pass the suggestions on!

So, here we go – my first five tips to help your wedding photography flow a little more smoothly on the day.

Is it allowed ?
To ensure that there are no last minute surprises at the ceremony venue, it makes sense to speak to the vicar, priest, registrar etc ahead of time and check out their “rules” on photography during the ceremony. Unfortunately, it can often be the case that, based on a bad past experience, the officiant may not be too supportive of photographers … it is something that comes up time and time again, and the wonderfulness of a wedding can sadly be overlooked by the concern that wedding proceedings may be disrupted by a disrespectful photographer. It’s best to have the conversation as early as possible and reassure the residing officiant that you have booked a respectful and professional photographer (hopefully you have!!) and that it is your wish for the ceremony to be photographed freely. (I have been told that church donations can sway even the most stubborn vicar, but you never heard it from me!)

The Recessional
When you are both walking back down the aisle, remember that it’s not a race! Take your time and take in all the friendly faces, tears and all. If you feel like stopping and hugging and kissing a few friends and family members, that’s fine by me, as it all makes for great photography!

Confetti
If you have dreamy visions of the two of you coming out of your venue to a beautiful storm of confetti, be aware that this can often fall flat if your guests do not have more than a single handful each. If you want a good set of confetti images, then, as with anything, it’s all in the planning! Natural and bio-degradable petals are a good choice (Shropshire Petals, as a suggestion) and do not cost a lot at all. Have your ushers / page boys / page girls hand out cones as your guests leave the ceremony venue – oh, and make sure they’re all standing with the wind behind them too!

Keep them lips luscious
Don’t forget to keep a tube of lippy and a powder compact with your chief bridesmaid (or anyone you trust to be close to you for the majority of the day) and give them the responsibility to make sure you are topped up and looking lovely!

Table Decorations
Large table decorations are great and can look wonderful, but, have you ever given consideration to their height ? Not many people think about it, but it can be quite frustrating trying to photograph the speeches, and the resulting reactions, when you cannot see your guests’ faces! It’s not just the floral arrangements i’m talking about, but table name holders too. If you are going for tall table decorations, it might be a good idea to move them off the table during the speeches, to ensure that faces aren’t hidden and your photographer doesn’t miss a key reaction.

That’s it for this time, but over the coming months i’ll be jotting down some more tips for you to ponder over. Let me know if you come up with any and i’ll include them in future posts!