Silly Sausage

For those of you who have joined up with me on Facebook you may know that I have been doing some nursery shoots this past two weeks. Suffice to say I have survived the unenviable task of trying to get smiles out of many under 3s and have said 'silly sausage' more times recently than I think I have ever in my entire life!

I am fairly used to children - with four daughters of my own, although they have mostly grown up now. You need lots of patience, that's for sure, and a calming approach.

As for the pictures, well they have turned out really well. We use a white backdrop and take several pictures of each child, so the pictures are more akin to a contemporary studio than the more traditionally posed nursery pictures. I can't show them here because of the obvious reasons on privacy but I am really pleased with the results, and more to the point so are the parents. If fact one parent said to me that she never normally buys nursery pictures because they are not very good - but with these she wanted a print from each image. That was nice to hear.

So it looks like I may be saying 'silly sausage' a bit more.

Thrumpton Hall Weddings

Congratulations to Rags and Reena, who celebrated their wedding yesterday. The celebrations were held at Thrumpton Hall, just south of Nottingham. We know the venue well. Debbie and Lynn manage the events and were very helpful and on hand throughout the day. They have a large marquee in the grounds, which can accommodate up to 200 guests.

It was a bit cold and misty, but at least it was dry - the large open fire in the main hallway was a popular location for guests!

We have really enjoyed getting to know Rags and Reena - they are such a lovely couple - and it was nice to meet their families and friends yesterday. I even met one of their friends yesterday who lives in Telford, which is were I lived for a few years, so I asked her to give it a wave for me.

Thrumpton Hall only started to take on weddings around 3 years ago, as it is still very much a private residence. However, it is starting to become a more popular venue, especially now it has the marquee in the grounds - although marquee does not really describe it very well, as it more like a semi-permanent structure.

Leicester Marriott Wedding Show

Today we're at the Leicester Marriott exhibiting at an Asian wedding show. It is full of bright colours and lots of very tasty food! Asian weddings have become a big part of our business, as you can see from our website. We have really enjoyed photographing Asian weddings - they are so much fun, lots of hard work, but we so enjoy them. In fact our first Asian wedding was at the Leicester Marriott, the wedding of Dipti and Vinesh.

If we saw you today at the show - then 'hi from us'.

Contemporary Lifestyle Photography

I have been doing quite a few 'lifestyle' portraits recently. The main thing that separates these from studio portraits is the setting - they are taken on location. In most cases this is in the grounds of Hexgreave Hall Country Estate, where our studio is based, but they can also be on location elsewhere.

If you would like to find out about lifestyle or studio portraits then please click here.

I have just uploaded a few collections to our recent work gallery and here are just a few from across these.

The next pictures below are of Amy, Bethan and Hamish (the puppy). These were taken for their grandma and their parents.






The next two pictures were taken of baby William. These were taken in Woodhall Spa, nearby to where William lives.




And this is a picture of Lucie and David, also taken at Hexgreave Hall Country Estate.

Photography Tuition

I've had quite a bit of interest in tuition since I launched this earlier in the autumn. It seems there are plenty of would-be photographers. The tuition is 1-2-1, so each one is personalised and includes 6 months on-line mentoring support. The course is designed to help people take better pictures and includes some lessons in techniques and advice, coupled with hands on experience. These are tailored to suit the needs of each person, so we can be quite flexible.

People can book as many sessions as they feel would be helpful and these are based at our studio, which is at Hexgreave Hall Estate, near Mansfield - a fantastic location for photography.

If you live further away and are still interested, then I can arrange sessions on location, but obviously there would need to be a few people to make the travel worthwhile.

You can purchase gift cards on our site or if you'd just like to book some sessions then email me at glen@wearepurelight.co.uk

Burghley House Weddings

Well it was been a busy few weeks.

Congratulations to Jonathan and Helen, who were married on Saturday 8th November at Wollaton, Nottingham - the weather came good at the important moments in the day - and the day itself was very special. They held their reception at the Priest House Hotel, Castle Donington.

On Sunday 9th November we were at Burghley House, Stamford, Lincolnshire for a wedding show. This was the first ever wedding show at Burghley and it was very busy. If we saw you there then a big hi from us!

Last Monday I was helping Jade with a shoot in Derby with studio pictures at Fresh Faces - Little Creations, held at the Riverside Centre at Pride Park. We have started to do a few nursery and children shoots. This coming Wednesday I am at our local Nursery, Fernwood (Newark) doing the same thing. These are, of course, the more modern types of children photographs.

I've also being doing a few lifestyle portraits and some in the studio at Hexgreave. You can see the studio portraits of Luke and Grace and lifestyle portraits of Joanne and Scott in the recent work gallery. I have some gorgeous pictures of baby William, which were taken out by Woodhall Spa - taken on location, so the setting with autumn leaves and straw bales is wonderful. And last Saturday I did some lifestyle portraits of two teenage sisters (Amy and Bethan) together with their grandma's puppy, Hamish. These were taken in the grounds of Hexgreave Hall Estate and again provided a wonderful background, with plenty of autumn colours.

Sam's also been busy with some PureWoman shoots, which are now held at Allington Manor, near Grantham.

And finally, this coming weekend we will be at an Asian wedding show on Sunday 23rd November at the Leicester Marriott, which runs from midday to 7pm. So if you're in Leicester on that day then call in and say hi.

PhotoBooth by PureLight - Halloween Fancy Dress

We are starting to really like and enjoy Photobooth. Here are a few pictures from a Halloween Fancy Dress party last Friday. The party was also in aid of a charity too. The costumes were great and made for some excellent photographs. We are able to get the images on screen a few moments after they are taken, which creates a lot of interest as people can then see what see look like. Photography by Jade and Samantha, editing by Glen.

You can see the pictures at our recent work gallery.