OK, sleepy heads!
 
Ignore this message if you have ordered your reprints to be delivered by 19 December.
 
This is a reminder for those of you that haven’t. The Xmas deadline this year is midnight 30 November (which is today!). If you want to get your reprints before Xmas order today!
 
Of course, you are welcome to order once the deadline has passed, but your prints will be delivered after the New Year. I’ve got two weddings to shoot and process in December and 8 albums to prepare for print, assemble and deliver before the 19th of December, and have to focus on this!
 
We shall be closed for Xmas between 23 December and 2 January.
 
All expired galleries and pre-wedding shoots will be removed from the server on 3 January 2007 and will no longer be available.
 
Here’s a special deal for you to sweeten the pill. If you order a 6×8/6×9 or 8×12 from a pre-wedding shoot gallery between 1 December and 31 December you will receive a 6×4 print of the same image FREE OF CHARGE. This offer does not cover 6×4, 5×7 or 10×8 reprints and only works for reprint orders from pre-wedding shoot galleries! Just enter “XMAS OFFER” in the checkout Comments box.
 
This is the last chance to order images from a pre-wedding session - if your gallery has been online for over 90 days it will be removed for good.
 
As many of you know, John and I have been supporters of the charity “Medical Aid for Palestinians” for years. The charity operates in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and Lebanon and helps to restore water suppliers and deal with environmental issues after the villages are bombed. It offers humanitarian support to orphaned children and people maimed by explosions, among other things, as well. Here’s more information about the charity: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medical_Aid_for_Palestinians
 
I will be donating 10% of everything earned from reprints throughout December to this charity. So do order - part of it will go to a good cause!

The day after Julie and Nick’s wedding John and I drove to Bylaugh Hall  (where Caroline was getting dressed) and then “cross-country” to Old Buckenham where Caroline and Stuart actually got married.

The dress:

Caroline putting on the garter:

The necklace:

Isn’t she lovely?

When we parked at the church, Stuart and his friends were just leaving the pub across the green so I caught them marching on:

Stuart having a chat with the vicar:

Caroline arrives. I saw this reflection of Caroline’s dad ready to help her out of the car and grabbed the shot:

The ceremony:

The guests (apparently thoroughly enjoying themselves - and we even haven’t got to the drinks reception yet):

After the ceremony:

Below is an example of multi-tasking (smoking and photographing at the same time) - some people are incredibly dexterous!

The drinks reception and weddin breakfast was held at Stuart’s parents’ lovely garden.

Some pics of the bride and groom in a fast-fading autumn light:

The speeches:

It was such a relaxed wedding!

I am slowly recovering from the loss of the primary monitor. I bought another one on Thursday, but cannot match the look and feel of the old monitor despite obsessive calibration and tweaking for 2 days! Meanwhile, all colour sensitive work was on hold…

OK, I give up. Here’s some photos from Julie and Nick’s wedding that were edited on the new monitor.

Jules getting ready. The shot of her engagement ring in a bowl of sugared almonds was actually the bride’s idea:

The shoes (amidst Nick’s prized collection of liquor bottles) - this was mine:

The dress:

Ready:

It was raining quite hard before the service and the ushers were drafted to carry the brollies:

Guests waiting for the bride:

Julie:

Well, it was still raining when the ceremony finished so instead of everyone mingling outside straight away Julie and Nick came up with an improvised receiving line:

By the time the last guest kissed and squeezed the newly-weds the sun was shining brightly.

We sent everyone on their way to the Assembly House in Norwich and stayed behind for some bride and groom photos.

Nick in the church:

In the old church gardens:

It’s amazing how quickly the sun sets in late autumn and how lovely and dramatic the low sun is!

Nick helping Jules to get the stones out of her shoe:

The wedding breakfast room in the Assembly House:

During the speeches:

Everyone enjoyed themselves despite the weather! And you know what - rain on the day of the wedding is supposed to bring good luck and fertility!

We had a severe electricity surge on Monday. My primary monitor turned deep pink and one hardrive crashed. I have spent the past two days trying to calibrate the secondary monitor and restore almost 500Gb of data from the DVD backups.

Tha data is no big deal in this case, but I miss my monitor!

John and I want to offer our condolences to Fran and Paul, our recent bride and groom. Paul’s dad died unexpectedly after he had been taken to the hospital on Friday.

Our thoughts are with you…

I photographed Yvonne and John’s wedding in Hales Hall last Saturday. Just processed their pre-wedding shoot using bits and bobs on the extensive grounds of John’s farm. These guys have so much positive energy!

I do not know what you call this - I think it is a kind of tractor skip (?):

In the barn where the wheat is stored:

On the wood pile:

In the fields:

John built a plywood castle on one of his fields to store the utensils.

Yvonne and John are off to their honeymoon today - good luck, guys!

Caroline and Stuart had their pre-wedding shoot right in the heart of Norwich. The idea was to explore the colours and textures of the urban environment. All it took was a walk around the Peter Mancroft Church, and their commendable bravery when whistled at by a horde of curious teenagers!

Donna and Steve got married in Hunters Hall, Swanton Morley.  It was great fun shooting these two because they were very good game!  Nearly finished editing your photos, guys!

Donna getting ready:

Something to feed my shoe and ring fetish:

Donna’s mum:

The boys:

Waiting:

Delivered safely:

First kiss:

I can understand how all this adult stuff and kissing can seem fairly boring to some people:

Formalities are over:

Girls examining Steve’s ring:

Some photos of the newlyweds on the grounds of Hunters Hall:

After wedding breakfast:

Growing dark:

1st dance:

In order to pre-empty last year’s countless pleas to put the expired wedding galleries back online for holiday ordering, this year I have decided to leave ALL 2006 events live until 2 January 2007.

This is quite a commitment for me because I have to keep nearly a terabyte worth of the already archived data attached to my current system so that your orders are executed promptly!

If you would like to place an order and receive it in time for Christmas, it must be received by midnight on 30 November. All orders that are submitted before this deadline will reach you by 19 December. The pre-Xmas delivery of orders placed after 30 November is not guaranteed.

I know that during your holiday family gatherings your wedding album is going to be shown around a lot. If your guests fancy a particular photograph they can order them over Xmas/New Year break online before 3 January 2007.

Just to let you know that all reprints ordered and paid for by cheque or PayPal before 16 October are in the lab being processed. Orders placed between 16 and 30 October will be processed mid next week.