The amount of effort, commitment, energy and time put in by these youngsters and their teachers is an absolute credit to them and needs more recognition than it currently gets. Several local businesses are already committed to helping but they still need more business and community support to help make their efforts for this into an event to be truly proud of and that people will talk about for years to come.

Guest of honour was Barney Storey who is a double Paralympic Gold medalist. He gave a very inspirational, motivational yet humourous talk on his experiences and some of the sacrifices that have to be made to achieve what is undoubtedly the pinnacle of success in any athletes career. It really was a great honour to meet him and to be able to say that I’ve held an Olympic Gold Medal in my hand. Barney is currently in training to qualify for inclusion in this year’s UK Paralympic Team.

Paula Pearson and Jenny Ball of WaSSP with Barney Storey - double Olympic Gold Medalist

This is a huge opportunity for the town and all those involved so we are urging everyone in Warrington who can help in any way possible to get in touch with Paula and her team through the website at www.wassp.net and find out what part they can play.

We went to Denzell Gardens in Altrincham where we’ll be shooting after their Wedding before they head off for the Wedding Breakfast.

They really are a fun couple and it was great to spend some time chatting and planning some of the Wedding day shots.

Maria and Wez at Denzell Gardens

What do you think?!

A different view of a traditional shot

Some have told us of photographers they have spoken to who choose the photos and design the album without any input from the Bride or Groom and deliver the album as they, the photographer, think it should look!

Well call me old-fashioned but in my book our job is to deliver an album that records the day as the Bride and Groom wish to remember it. Not sure how that can be done without them choosing which photos are to be included and how they would like them presented.

We approach the whole process in discussion with the happy couple. Firstly we discuss with them what size album and how many pages – this is usually influenced by their budget but the end product often ends up larger when they see the final photos and find it difficult to come up with a list that will fit their original idea. Depending on the coverage we have provided we usually end up with between 300 and 700 photos for them to view and choose from.

We guide them on the number of images per page and again this is influenced by the page size of the album.

Once we have their final list of photos we chat with them about the style of layout they prefer. Obviously we’ve had this discussion before their Wedding when they were looking at the various sample albums we have but often once they see their own photos their views might change.

Having received the photo list and agreed the album size and style we then produce a layout for them to review and approve – we usually do this by sending them a PDF version of their album so they can sit together and discuss it without us sitting on their shoulders! We allow two revisions of the layout within the price of the album and seldom need any more than this as we have been talking together right the way through the process.

So if you or someone you know is getting married tell them to make sure their photographer will allow them to choose the photos for their album and also involve them in the design process.

Here are a few digital and storybook album layouts from recent Weddings to provide some idea of the possibilities. Click on any of the photos to view as a slideshow.

If you’re planning on getting married in the next couple of years come along and have a chat, let us show you how we can help capture your big day in a memorable set of photos that you’ll treasure for years to come.

We’ll have a range of sample albums on show from recent weddings – storybook and traditional albums plus some hybrid crossover styles for those couples who have different views!

Plus a special offer for all Brides who book with us after meeting us here on Sunday – be sure to ask about it.

Ramada Encore Hotel - Birchwood, Warrington

Sounds like a real alternative to the traditional card readers but some similar products seem to have fallen by the wayside. I appreciate it’s still only available in Sweden but someone might be able to shed some light on it.

https://www.izettle.com/

iZettle Swedish card payment system

On top of that I’ve scanned a set of very old Wedding photos for someone’s Nan who has never had an album and her Grand-daughters are having a surprise album made for her. Before anyone asks the original photographers concerned are long gone!

Just one week into 2012 and enquiries are starting to flow. Add that to three Wedding fayres in January and February and things are looking promising to build on the 20 Weddings already booked for the year.

One of the problems with archiving is always making sure you can find those wedding photos when the bride suddenly wants an album, some prints or has simply lost the disc they got as a part of their Wedding package.

No different when Mum suddenly wants some reprints of last years’ family photo shoot for the Grandparents of family overseas.

That’s where this exciting new image finer software from Fundy comes in. It really is amazing at locating files scattered across your network of drives.

Better still it’s completely FREE! Has to be tried to be believed – it’s amazing.

http://www.fundysoftware.com/image-finder/

I’m usually sceptical when anyone offers “free” software but this really does work and can save wedding and portrait photographers a lot of time.

This isn’t going to be free forever so if you think it sounds useful better get it now.

Today was our final Wedding of the year and the weather was kind to us and our couple, Jackie and Paul Cassidy, at Walton Hall in Warrington. Not a drop of rain to spoil the party.

Last post of 2011 and it had to be a sneak peek at todays’ happy event.

Jackie arriving at Walton Hall