Duncan Kerridge and I are off to an annual photography trade fair Focus on Imaging at NEC Birmingham to source fantastic new products for you, check out major album suppliers and pray at the altar of one of the best photojournalists in the UK Jeff Ascough (he is giving two seminars on better business practices and streamlining digital workflow).

I’ll give you a full report when we get back!

My new flash website is on. This is the third one since I started shooting weddings and the one I am the most excited about! Woo-hoo! The web address is the same (http://www.galinawalls.co.uk/). I made an announcement about the launch at the Friday morning BNI business breakfast. A few hours later I received this email from Jonathan Compston, the owner of Ridyards:

“Hi Galina
I love it!!!
 I think our photography is fantastic anyway, so it is no surprise that the website is great as well.  I found that I just wanted to see every photograph, which means that I stayed on the site longer, and with the tasteful music running in the background, in fact I have it still running while I’m writing this, it encourages you to stay even longer.  But your photography is the key.  I look at the people, and I feel like I know them.  You have captured them, and their spirit; a very rare talent!”

Thank you, Jonathan, for your kind words!

We just had an email from a wonderful couple, Ange and David, whose wedding we photographed on 14 January 2006 at Hales Hall Barn. It was a lovely wedding, full of emotion and fun, all the guests were genuinely friendly. Another amazing thing about this wedding is fantastic food (planned by the beautiful bride Ange, former owner of a catering company) that John, my husband who assisted me on that day, still remembers with genuine fondness! I am so busy with photography that I often leave him fend for himself, so it was greatly appreciated!

Here’s what Ange and David wrote:

“We wanted to drop you a line to say we’ve just seen the online proofs of our wedding photos and they are WONDERFUL! They are way and above what we were expecting. You have really captured the important things, the bits we would have forgoten about in years to come, and the clarity of the pictures is amazing. The venue itself was a difficult place to do justice to, but it looks as spectacular in the photos as in real life.

As you know, we both hate having our photo taken but we’ll have more trouble choosing which pictures to leave out than which to include…you have trully caught us looking our best. And most of the time, we didn’t even know you were there!!Once again a huge thank you and we’ll be in touch soon with our choices for the album.”

Ange and David chose Hales Hall as their wedding venue. This is my first time at this venue and there were a lot of delightful nooks and cranies on the grounds - alas, we didn’t photograph much outside as it was freezing COLD!

We managed to sneak one in the dark though:

David is getting ready here:

Angie is getting ready:

Cross-processed this photo to bring out Angie’s eyes:

Angie’s mum’s make-up:

The ceremony was very moving. I think Ange’s mum and dad thought it too.

Norfolk barns are notoriously difficult to photograph in low light but we manage to capture some of the venue’s ambience for which our couple chose it.

David’s friends are very loyal but not afraid to take a mikey and have some real fun.

 Kids did a great job staying awake till late!

 David and Ange’s 1st dance was to “I can’t take my eyes off of you” 

 I was so moved that this song kept going on in my head, so I went and bought a track on ITunes. 

Dear ALL!

We sincerely hope that there’s a bottle of bubbly (or two) to be opened today, a present (or two) to be given and a kiss (or more!) exchanged! We just want to wish you all the best on St Valentine’s Day!

Those of you who took time to congratulate us - thank you very much!

Lots of love

Galina and John

Last weekend I went to Eastbourne to see Peter Prior, an award-winning master wedding photographer. His website is www.peterprior.co.uk. He recently spoke at the SWPP convention in Coventry and his article on wedding photography will appear in March issue of “Professional Photographer” magazine.

I had a chance to accompany peter to one of his weddings. Here’s a photo of him at work!

I picked up some tips on of working with a flash and a reflector, exposing for sunset and handling groups in 2 minutes. He also showed me his Jorgensen matted albums - this is the line I am planning to introduce in 2006. And I became convinced that I need a new website to separate my wedding work from other types of photography I do.

The most important lesson however was Peter’s discipline of running a successful business from home and spending time with his wife and 3 kids. I’ve got a lot to learn!

Some of you may know that on top of my wedding photography commitments I also freelance for several PR agencies. Below are some photos of the supporters of the Medieval Trust, an organisation with a dream to build a medieval village in the heart of Norfolk where visitors can have a taste of the life of ordinary people during the Middle Ages.

Ian, the Trust’s secretary, and Val took me to the inner courtyard of the Old Hospital for the poor near Bishops Gate (Cathedral Close) in Norwich and brought some costumes and props. It was quite fun! Here are some pics from this shoot:

I had a lovely email from Louise and Alex whose wedding I photographed in November in response to my call for blog stories in the January newsletter. Thank you so much!

Here’s what they wrote (and as you can guess Louise is really into photography and was tempted to get her camera out on her wedding day!):

#430

This photo is so incredibly special to me because it’s of my niece who lives in Australia and who was our flower girl on the day.  Galina has managed to capture a moment of wonder in her eyes that is just amazing.  
To have caught what was probably a fleeting moment and for the lighting and focus to be perfect shows true technical ability,  but the shot itself also shows a talent for spotting very special moments that are wonderful to be able to keep forever.

#223

We wanted to have a few group photos on the day to ensure that we had pictures of our friends and families to keep.  The problem with some group photos at weddings is that everyone looks wooden, the composition is usually the same on all of them and they can become tiresome to look at.
What is great about Galina’s style is that she composes each shot after getting a sense of the people in it, so our group photos each have something unique about them.  What I adore about this group photo of me and my siblings is that Galina has captured a sense of how close we are and the angle and pose make for a really fun & happy photo.

#158

We love this photo because it shows how much fun we had on the day – even at the most serious moments.  Our photos provide a great story of our day from very close up.  What was especially great about it is that the photography itself never once got in the way of the day and we definitely felt that Galina was one of our guests rather than just the photographer.   

In the January newsletter I have mentioned that I  started this blog to keep in touch with you more often. 

An American photographer Jessica Claire has come up with an idea of publishing “blogstories” - short illustrated stories written by the clients themselves. I loved this idea!

So if you are a past wedding client or I had photographed your pre-wedding shoot , can you please send me an email with ID numbers of 1 or 2 of your favourite image and a little story why it is your favourite, means something to you or is important in some way.

These images do not necessarily have to be images of the two of you. It can be a detail, or a moment. It will be interesting to see what in the end are the most valuable photos from the entire gallery.

I am looking forward to reading your stories.