Lets Rock The Prom Frock

The year of 2011 and all those school leavers stepping out into the world, saying goodbye to old friends and hello to new ones. Leaving school can hold a mixture of emotions suddenly the people your saw everyday are embarking on a new direction in life. You may even miss the lessons you hated. Its also a great time in your life a time to have fun and decide on what path to take in life.

Then of course there is your school leaving prom a chance to dress up and say goodbye.

Sarah opted not just to wear her dress for her prom but to have a photo-session with her boyfriend. This will give Sarah some lovely pictures to look back on when she is older and maybe her daughter is getting ready to leave school. Sarah will have the memory of being sweet 16 forever.

We had a wonderful time taking Sarahs pictures and she loves them all. Many of the image you will see on here were Sarahs own idea of how she wanted the photo session to be..

A WET AND DISMAL SEPTEMBER

Well what an end to summer a rather abrupt one wasnt it. The nights are now pulling in at 3 minutes per day and I must admit to switching on my central heating on a fair few chilly evenings and mornings.

The wet weather has meant a few rescheduled lifestyle sessions , and a few indoor sessions
One of my favourite sessions this month was a family and bump session we did actually manage a few outdoor  pictures in the harsh low sunlight until the dark clouds decided to water the grass yet again.

Now i am looking forward to shooting a new little person.

September sees me going out for some street photography both locally and in London and Brighton, capturing people  unaware complete strangers I will never know. I love this kind of photography and capturing  different moods of people, Its like a little snap shot on British life. I recommend going with a friend if this is not practical then  use a zoom lens so  your intended subject is not aware your near them.

Isnt it against the law ?I hear you cry, well no not if your in a public place, This excludes railway stations and underground, Most public places your fine in but you must not course a nuisance, Basically do not follow people around and dont be to intrusive with your camera distance is better then close up. There are plenty of websites offerring guide lines for candid/street photography.

Street shot Witham

Witham

Candid London

Candid London

Candid London

I have also been adding a little more art to my own images now I have CS5, This can be time consuming but great fun, 

An image of a street entertainer in London

mixture of 5 images 

A view of London and hand drawn window .

Also this month as you may have seen on my facebook profile. I had my picture taken with my daughter . Its not often I get my picture taken so Thanks to Robbo and the GNPC studio

My girl and I

So rolling in to October when mother natures studio is at her best, So why not put on your wellies hats n scarfs and book a fun outdoor photo session with the backdrop of golden Autumn hues. A few dates are booked on the mornings of the 24th and 25th as I am doing lifestyle session at Westonbirt The national Arboretum, supposedly the most spectacular Autumn colour in the UK. If your in the area and would like an afternoon session at the Arboretum then please do contact me  ASAP

Well bye bye September remembered for her rain and roll on October

A photo session with a VIP

On Friday September the 3rd I had a very important rendezvous with a VIP named Aidan. Aidan is 14 and since the age of 8 has been having on going treatment for his illness, The treatment now is not working and Aidan is fully aware he will be saying goodbye to this world.

I first met Aidan a few months ago at Barts hospital , His parents had approached me as Aidan wanted a photo session,. On meeting Aidan I was in awe of this bright cheeky young man who told me "your not the only photographer I am meeting I have got to find the right one".

Well I got a call last week from Aidan's parents to ask if I would do Aidan's photo session and where he wanted it done which was Dungeness in Kent.

I arrived at Dungeness at 10:30am the weather was fine the sky was blue, Aidan loves this place its special to him. we had a wonderful photo session. Aidan wore a variety of hats , we had a super model session and a family lifestyle session.

I didn't charge a fee just petrol and picture prices Aidan's family treated me to a meal in the pilot Inn.
At Aidan's request his images will not be hosted for public viewing until after he has gone. He has given me a letter which contains what he wants written on my blog and is picking what image he wants blogged.

For me as a photographer it was a very strange feeling knowing  that no doubt this would be the last time Aidan would be photographed. Aidan himself directed most of the session it involved mirrors and feather boa,s and posh frocks for his mum and sister.

I call Aidan a VIP not because he is famous or well known but because he is so brave and light hearted and fun.

Addie I know your read this I want to tell you that you really touched my heart that your wisdom is beyond your years and that you are the bravest nicest person I have ever ever had the pleasure of coming across.

That we sat on the walk way you hugged me and told me not to be sad you had a great life and now you had never got to worry about who to marry or  what job to have or credit card bills.

Thank you for your email and I am so glad your thrilled by your pictures

I dedicate this image to you Addie where we sat on the walk way with my broken filter which I wont be replacing. Like you said somethings happen because they need to happen and sometimes bad things happen yet they can be beautiful things we just dont know it at the time

For Aidan

All image remain copyrighted to Andrea Abbott

Lifestyle photo session in the country park

This morning I had the great Pleasure of working with family R. A local family whom had been rather disappointed with the images  received from a studio session with another photographer.

The image were not bad the family just didnt feel they captured true feelings and emotions. The studio images were also very posed making the family feel stiff and not at all relaxed.

Mrs R approached me a week ago asking if I could photograph her  family, Of course I could,
All though the sky this morning was slightly overcast we didnt have rain and the sun  did keep breaking through.
 The family decided the best location for them would be the country park as this would allow the children to  play and run around. I was assisted today by Jeff Schwingen. Jeff is a great photographer but lacks confidence so I hope working with me this year will make Jeff see just how great he is.

We started the photo session with some must have images that are wanted by the family.

The Boys

Boys having fun

The family soon all relaxed Granddad was a great sport and Little R kept me busy. Uncle C was just a gem with the children and great and getting them to runaround and have fun. It certainly was a fun session and the R family were just excellent and a pleasure to photograph.

Together

The idea of a lifestyle photo session is to use the great outside  as the studio,.Allowing people to feel more relaxed and letting children behave in a natural way , In to days case  running  around and having fun, Which is how children should be. I never  say cheese which is why I capture the natural person. 

Todays session for me was fun the R family are such a lovely family and the children just adorable, full of beans running here there and everywhere. 

She did smile everytime she ran away from the camera 

The youngest little one laughed her head off every time she ran in the opposite direction to the camera. As you can see though  some nice natural shots were still managed.

Last but not least is the little man that kept me on my toes, such a fun great little one to work with. Even if did shot everyone with the bubble gun.

Little live wire

Thank you to Mr and Mrs R it was a pleasure to photograph you ,your children and your lovely Grandchildren. I hope you enjoy this sneak preview 

All images are copyrighted to Andrea's photography and are low res for web hosting

Final images are high res and printed by a master printer

Finding new places

Well I felt like doing some landscape photography and having really exhausted flat Essex, I decided to venture into the Chilterns. First stop was Pitstone and the little 13 century church . which is open on Sundays and Bank holidays from May until September.

Next port of call was the windmill with a nice walk across the countryside , taking in a pleasant view, We then made our way to Ivinghoe beacon, a good hill climb.

Stopping off at Whipsnade and The Chiltern gateway to fly a kite. Certainly different from Essex. It was also wonderful to watch the Red tailed Kites flying freely across the downs.

I normally take a holiday in July but this year has been fairly busy especially weekends and it looks as if 2011 and 2012 are going to be busier. I already have bookings for both years 12 bookings for 2011 and 5 already for 2012.

The good thing is my new passport arrived today so now to plan a trip I have promised myself for a long time which will be to Norway  around March 2011. I have been working out the places I want to go which include Finnmark for the Northern lights, Lofoten for whale  watching Svalbard island for Polar bears, the Fjord and oh so  much more


The best thing is I could not have achieve my dream without the support from friends . One of my biggest supporters and  the guy who made me believe in myself is my friend and fellow photographer Jeff Turnbull, whom  did tell me "Andrea this year is going to be great for you", did I believe Jeff at the time,no I didnt. Oh how wrong I was Thanks to his encouragement I have gone forward  not just with photo sessions and sales but also with the sales of my ICM images  which people in the USA cant seem to get enough off just recently .I decided to do a limit addition of an ICM print limited to just 10 canvas wraps including a certificate with the number of the print on so far I have sold 5 prints at just over five hundred pound each. This is just amazing and  each person whom purchased them has written back to me saying how thrilled they are with them. In fact 2 people put in further orders for different ICM prints .

Without the  encourage meant from Jeff and the others on the mentoring workshop I would never have achieved this so my Thanks goes to Sam Carter, David Tyrer, Ross Dean ,Gary Wilson and  not forgetting James Neale . Great photographer, great friends and a huge support

Hitchin Lavender Cadwell Farm

I held out some hope yesterday that the Met Office may have been right with the weather, With rain ceasing at 13.00 and not starting again until 18.00.

I say held out hope because actually it lashed down all day. Anyway when we departed from Braintree for the drive to Hitchin things did looking promising, The rain had stopped, But after Bishop Stortford the rain just got heavier and heavier. I did debate on turning round but I was 3/4 of the way  to Hitchin and still held on to the  small hope that the Met Office may well have got it right for once.

My destination was Cadwell Farm The home of Hitchin lavender Just over an hour from my home, I would say far better then a trip to Provence although the weather in Provence was no doubt sunny and fair compared to huge misty grey skies chucking the rain down .

After over shooting the entrance to Cadwell farm and having to turn in the farmers drive way on a blind bend we arrived, Turning off the wipers on the car and  desperately searching for an umbrella, we made our way into the barn tea room and shop, Where we had a lovely cuppa with carrot cake , My husband opted for a cream tea while little Missy opted for fresh apple juice and a huge chocolate brownie.

We paid our £3.00 and was given a bag each and a pair of scissors to cut our own lavender or sunflowers to take home at no extra cost.  You are left to wander the fields at your leisure no pressure or guides.
On a better day the photo opportunities would be fab . Brides have wedding pictures taken among the lavender fields and they even do wedding teepees , what a fab place as a backdrop for your wedding.

I found out about Cadwell Farm via a friend the lavender season is short July to about the 15 September, But I really hope to return on a day when the sky is blue and I can put my daughter in a white dress. It will sum up summer for me in one image

The Lavender field 

Feeling droopy from the rain

The Umbrella came to

Looking down towards the farm

Sunshine on a rainy day

I've Been Thinking

Something we all do from time to time, Only with the recent crash of my computer and its data, including backed up data,. I have had to ask myself many questions. One of those questions is am I enjoying what I'm doing?

In truth the answer is no!, Why  you may ask is the answer no,
So I begin by  telling you about a simple wedding, Right now times are hard, people dont have  x amount of money for luxuries, Unfortunately people seem to see wedding photography as a luxury. So let me tell you what is involved for me. I take time to come and visit you and show you some pictures and albums and chat to you about what style you would like. These pictures and albums were not given to me free I had to work on them make them up and pay for them. We  then have a quick pre wedding photo session,  Ok you might say I get the easy job here just taking a picture, well no I dont its a skill, You see to get nice images I have learnt how to use my camera , Its not just about pointing and snapping, Its about reading light and distance, its about posing, and looking at the background and other distractions.

I then come home and work individually on each picture I have taken.  Yes each single image gets my personal attention, blemish are removed, skin softening can be done, each image tone is adjusted to give my clients the best.

Come your wedding day I will work flat out all day, and the next day in fact every day for at least 14 days on your images,  Once your happy they are then either placed in design software to make your album or uploaded to a master printer for printing.

From start to finish I work personally on them They are not farmed out for some one else to do. You see I create something that is everlasting and I wont compromise by doing the £150.00 or £200.00 wedding. I have insurance and have had training, I have a professional camera and lenses that cost twice as much as the camera. I have access to top of the range products .

You see I wont and cant turn up on your special day with a camera set on a pre-set mode of portrait and then get your images printed by either some high street store or basic on-line photo store and charge you £150.00 for that service.

The shame is this is what many of you want, your willing to fork out thousands on venues, dress,s food,wine but when it comes to your wedding  photography you only want to pay a few hundred quid,
fine if you want images with people missing, horrid lamp post or road signs in the back ground, out of focus shots, fine if you only want your pictures to last for between 10 and 15 years.

So my first thought is to drop weddings as obviously a quality service is not  really what people want. Then I thought again no I wont drop them but I will place a new limit . The limit I have decided is 5 weddings a year. The price is as it is no cheaper.

Areas in  photography I will be concentrating on are families,children and babies, Why because unlike a harsh studio set up I offer something much more relaxing  and personal . Also unlike a studio if baby is unhappy or extra tired then the  session can be rescheduled for another time .

My first venture is Children's birthday party shoots and having completed two of these I found them great fun Lots of children running around having a great time meant some wonderful images for parents to keep. It also meant I got jelly and ice-cream to eat.

Secondly I am going back to photographing for myself, yes just random images I personally like to take, Maybe challenge myself to just taking one lens and using it for the whole week, Getting back to some arty type photographs

Time spent with a camera and lens is not time wasted, It allows me to stretch myself, it allows me to push my limits.

In future my blog will no doubt be more about me, whats been happening, what I have been doing.

Taking time out for myself and doing what I please

The Day My MAC went wrong

We are all told and told again to back up our files, well I use two different back up options one is Time machine, the other is just an external hard drive where every image I have ever taken is stored in its raw state.

My external hard drive is spilt into  years so 2008,2009 and 2010
next it contains folders in months  for example JAN 2010, some folders have clients names on,
so you see I'm all backed up

Ok so here is what happened, I switched on my MAC in the morning to work on some images stored on my external hard drive, every thing was fine and in tact working well, I also had some CF cards with clients RAW images on so backed those up twice, Got a phone call from an old friend so shut down the computer unplugged every thing and went out.

That evening I decided to continue working on some clients images. Duly plugged in the computer and switched it on. Oh what's happening it seemed to take a really long time to load, and when my screen loaded it was a completely different background from the one I had in the morning?, The little rainbow wheel kept spinning and spinning, 30 minutes later it stopped but all my desk top icons were missing?

I clicked on my files folder and  rainbow disc kept spinning? Very odd, Then random files kept popping up on the desktop like 3d png more and more files kept appearing in random places, EEK

when my picture folders appeared they were all empty??!!!!

yes every single image had gone, I restarted the MAC guess what? it started fine this time, but not an image to be found, checked my back up all the folders were in tact but empty!

Decided to check my external hard drive on my other computer, At first I was like PHEW, every folder was there . BUT oh no when I clicked on any folder made in 2010, even if it just had a clients name it was empty.

Sensibly I had purchased the APPLE care plan, so  called them, they told me to insert the diagnostic care plan utility disc. This checks the MAC for faults well 30 minutes later every thing had passed nothing wrong.

The man talks me through a reinstall while preserving data , err this didn't work either

I then get an appointment at Thurrock only a 100 mile round trip to take my heavy MAC into the APPLE store (have you tried carrying a 21 inch MAC through Lakeside?)

Eventually I get seen 20 minutes after my appointment time, Little guy looks up my case number and says oh its over heating then?? err no I say, he does a trash and burn without any attempt to  find lost data, then tells me its fine nothing wrong,

I refuse to take the MAC home 3 days later Apple call me to tell me they have cleaned the MAC as it was dusty so this may have made it over heat, they have install snow leopard for me and Iworks, when can i come and get the computer?

Now my dilemma is what do I do next? Obviously  the external hard drive is going off to try and have the data retrieved, Yet talking to companies that do this there seems little hope as MAC is LINUX based and has  its own way of saving data.. Lost of earning for me is extremely high. So where do I go from here what do I do next

Answers please

10 THINGS THEY DONT TELL YOU ABOUT NEW BABIES

 

There is no moment that compares to the moment you hold your newborn baby, After 9 months of waiting and feeling uncomfortable and hours of labor your bundle of joy is here

1) Being a mum myself I know this wonderful feeling to you your wrinkle scrunched up little baby will be the best looking baby in the world. Many babies are born with odd shaped heads they may look pointed or look flat, this is normal.

2) Not long after baby arrives it poo,s yes and its like thick black tar, The idea of having  some sort of paint scraper comes to mind as  this first black stinky poo takes ages to clean off. Not to worry after a couple of these nasty nappy fillers babies poo turns yellow like mustard and even seems to look if it has seeds in it.

3) Babies skin goes through lots of changes and most new borns do not have nice peachy looking skin, Its normal for the skin to be a reddish colour with lots of marks and blotches. I highly recommend scratch mitts as for some reason new babies always seem to scratch their little faces. In the first 4 weeks baby's skin will appear very dry especially in all those little creases .

4) Babies suffer from sticky eyes as they have blocked tear ducts a baby cant cry any tears until around 3 weeks old. Just gentle clean babies eyes with some cool boiled water and cotton wool use a fresh cotton wool ball for each eye.

5) The umbilical cord in UK hospitals a clip is applied to the cord like a huge peg, it will fall off after about 7 days, as the umbilical cord turns yellow then black and falls off.

6) Breast or bottle well to be honest mum the choice is yours. I have done both feeding methods. OK so breast is best or is it? Breast fed babies tend to be more unsettled and want feeding more frequently and seem to be much harder to get into a feeding routine. In the first few days you breast feed you will suffer after pains worse then labor pains. Will your breast get sore? Yes they will, you will also have to watch your diet and wont be able to take any strong pain killers.

If you opt to bottle feed you will know just how much feed your baby has taken, your partner will be able to help, you can eat what you like and take pain killers.

On a personal note I breast fed two of my children and bottle fed two .It has made no difference to their health or growth as they have grown up, nor has it made any difference to their teeth or eye sight, it has not made them more or less intelligent. It has not made them fatter. It’s totally down to choice how you decide to feed your infant.

7) Sleep. Yes babies do sleep a lot in fact they can’t tell the difference between night and day. If this is your first baby seriously take this advice and when baby sleeps you go to sleep. Stuff the housework. Live on ready meals for a few weeks it wont hurt. Sleep deprivation will now become the norm, Says she who lays awake waiting for the 18 year old to come home. If you have a toddler see if grandma or aunt can help and maybe take the toddler off your hands for a few hours in the first weeks. Don’t try and carry on as normal and be super mum do take any offers of help. Even if it’s a friend offering to do your laundry for a few days .

8) Babies breathe really fast about  twice as fast as adults they take very shallow breaths, like every parent you will spend hours staring at them to make sure they are breathing. This is perfectly normal all parents do it.

9) Babies can’t figure out how to breath through their mouths if their nose is blocked up, hence all the snorting and sneezing

10) Babies are wonderful and precious, Babies are an everyday miracle, here you are holding this new little life you have created. Make the most of it lots of cuddles you cant spoil a baby by loving it. The more you hold baby the better, you are not going to turn it into some clingy little spoilt monster, After all do you remember being a baby?

From Mum to Mum babies grow up they are not forever, they soon turn into cheeky toddlers, then into small children where they start to question the world around them and form their own ideas, next comes the tweenie stage at about 8 years where you will be told “I HATE YOU”, then the teenage stage in boys this stage lasts forever, sulking moaning, the URGH response when asked something.

Cherish each moment with your baby, as babies don’t keep.

Lastly if you would like some beautiful pictures of your new baby taken in the comfort of your own home, with plenty of time for feeding and clothing change

All for the special price of £25.00 sitting fee with a free print and a baby proof photographer. Then do please contact me. Guaranteed to handle each  new little person with care and to provide you with a wonderful keepsake of the new little person in your life.

 
 

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING

When you first purchase your DSLR and walk out of the shop with it. You do not purchase the skills or knowledge to make you a professional photographer. Your camera is just a tool.

These days you can hardly turn around without someone offering you training. You can go and find out about some new aspect of photography or simply brush up on your skills. There is so much choice

How do you decide whether you need training, what the right course might be for you and whether the course comes up to scratch or is a complete waste of money..

You need to be honest with yourself about where you are on a personal level, and what areas of your skills or business may need bolstering. It’s worth pointing out straight away that training is in no way an admission of weakness. The best photographers even those that have been big names for years take on training.

Be honest with yourself and take on the type of training you need. It maybe to further your business skills, or marketing skills

You may have just bought your first DSLR and want to get the most out of it Nikon

Training courses start from the very basic right through to one to one training

Speak to any photographer and almost all have had some aspect of training

So where do you start? That really depends on your skills.

You could start off taking an introduction course to digital photography

You could do an on line course with the Open university T189

You could join in photo answers free digital SLR skills

I highly recommend joining a camera/photographic club as these offer members many free workshops. Also most camera clubs have a few experts in different genres such as portrait, Landscape

If your seriously considering making your hobby a business.

Then a course in business and marketing is a crucial fist step. Many people do not realise that actually photography is about 10% of a pros work.

Marketing skills is one of the most important aspects of running a photography business.

Next would be understanding photo shop and creating a workflow. Understanding how to design albums and source products, How to create slideshows and on line galleries maybe build your own website.

Next would come hands on experience courses mainly done in small groups.

These can involve one day workshops working on lighting, wedding poses,portraits and many many more.

Training isn’t just for the professional you may just want to take better images of your family or have been asked to capture a friends wedding. Maybe you would  like to produce better landscapes to hang on your wall or give to friends or abstract arty images to sell locally.

Some training course are run as photographic holidays

I have undertaken a fair amount of training myself in Lifestyle portraits, Wedding photography, business and marketing as well as training in photoshop and other digital media. This helps me give my clients the very best up to date products 

USING FLASH ON A SUNNY DAY

The sun is out the sky is blue and you have your camera ready to take pictures, maybe you want to get some pictures of your children having fun on the beach.

What a wonderful bright sunny day for you to be out on. What a nightmare for your camera.

Lots of friends ask me why when the sun is shinning do their photos come out so bad why are my children all dark?

Simple answer is your camera does not see the child or object you’re taking it reads the light and there is nothing much brighter then sunlight.

To expose people correctly in your pictures you need to use a flashgun, yes a flashgun on a sunny day

The term used is FILL FLASH you set your camera exposure for the light reading it takes then place your flashgun at 2/3 of its power and take your picture. Wow no harsh shadows on your subject.

You can also purchase a small 3 in 1 reflector to add a warming tone to a person skin or to deflect light from a flower.

If your on the beach remember sand and water to reflect light making the work for your camera even harder, At all times keep your camera free of sand and avoid salt water.

You may be down the beach when the sunsets how ever tempted you are DO NOT point your camera directly at the sun not only can it harm your eyes it also harms your lens. Focus your pictures slightly away from the sun to prevent lens damage. The digital camera lens is just like and eye and too much direct light will damage the lens.

If you have been asked to take a friends wedding pictures on a sunny day. Be warned sunshine is great for the bride, but not great for taking photos if you lack understanding of how your camera reads light.

If you do not understand fully your camera and lens you will end up with images that have over highlighted and lost detail in the dress, harsh shadows on the skin, over highlighted skin tones on the foreheads of people, unfortunately even with the best Photoshop equipment burnt out highlights can not be bought back.


It’s a one off day that you can’t retake if you get it wrong. This is why people pay the extra money for a professional 

The Month of May A Time To Celebrate

The month of May is named after the Greek Goddess Maia. This month is a time for celebration as after the long cold winter, flowers emerge and new grass and leafs start to grow.

In Britain May day marks the end of winter and the start of summer its a time to look forward to warmer brighter weather . Traditional May day celebrations include dancing around the maypole. Greenery was traditionally collected by children who then paraded around the village.

May day is the first Monday in May this year I spent my May day capturing the wedding celebrations of George and Caralyn at the beautiful Fennes Estate in Braintree. It was rather a breezy chilly day so this meant we had to make use of the beautiful interior of the Fennes, which is  not a problem as the Fennes offers many a stunning backdrop.

Creative work: The weather has been great during May and allowed me some breathing space to get out and pursue a more creative side to my photography, "yes" I checked my journal and we have had more bright sunny weather than we have rain. To start with the late arrival of blue bells has meant a stunning prolonged display this year with forest floors awash with colour. Then of course the warmer days and shorter night have meant fields of vivid yellow oilseed covering the landscape. Along with this I noted almost every grass verge aglow with nodding dandelions. All the different shades of  green and reds in the tress lead to a stunning spring. Not so great for any one flying but the volcanic ash produced some amazing sunsets and clear night skies.

MODEL SHOOT: I was also lucky to work this month with another great bunch of photographers and take part in a model shoot, I got to work with the lovely Layla and opted for a slight vintage effect on the photos 

FAMILY TIME: The nice weather has meant a few day trips to the beach, Our favorite place for this is Walton on the Naze , We even had a picnic in the sunshine surrounded by buttercups and bird song.

A beautiful month 

Oak Apple day Is another celebration that takes place on the 29th May . The reason for wearing oak apples or oak leafs was to celebrate the Kings narrow escape from capture by Cromwells soldiers .

Until well into the twentieth century anyone caught not wearing an oak apple or oak leaf on the 29th May could be pinched kicked or whipped with stinging nettles , Hence in some villages the day is known as nettle day, "OUCH"