Trassilico - Travel Photographer (Tuscany, Italy)
The road was long and winding, climbing higher and higher into the Tuscan hills. The world around us was falling slowly below. Every so often, a crack of light through the trees, a gap in the mountain side, revealed a slice of Italy so quaint and perfect and far away that it was almost like we truly were being transported, moving backwards in time…
The road was long and winding, climbing higher and higher into the Tuscan hills. The world around us was falling slowly below. Every so often, a crack of light through the trees, a gap in the mountain side, revealed a slice of Italy so quaint and perfect and far away that it was almost like we truly were being transported, moving backwards in time. The seven mile ascent took the best part of half an hour after which we were met by Mario, cigar in hand, walking us slowly to the apartment, stopping at intervals to speak to the residents of this mountain top village. A bottle of wine on the table from his vineyard which we were advised to drink only whilst sitting down, terracotta tiles and the palpable feeling of a home loved and lived in.
A push of the shutters.
The view.
A world opening out before my eyes.
Mountains, villages, birds taking flight below us, my heart filling up in a way it only every does on Tuscan soil. We had found something here, discovered a piece of the world. It was occupied but somehow it was ours. Here, nestled above the valley, was a tiny universe. The chatter of families sitting down to eat, the sound of Pink Floyd from a balcony beside us, women who have lived here an age hanging out washing between the crooked buildings. The buzz of life was so real, yet the feeling of calm like no other.
I came alive in Italy, a piece of my heart will forever remain in Trasilico.
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Trasillico is a mountain top village, situated just outside the town of Gallicano, 40 minutes north of Lucca in the region of Tuscany.
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Switzerland Travel Photographer - A Trip To Mount Pilatus
I am standing on the edge of the viewing platform, the clouds of grey engulfing the vista before me, then rolling away again, only to dance back around me like smoke consuming and notifying us of its presence and ownership over the mountains…
I am standing on the edge of the viewing platform, the clouds of grey engulfing the vista before me, then rolling away again, only to dance back around me like smoke consuming and notifying us of its presence and ownership over the mountains. To my right, crows perch and drop away into the sky below us, catching the thermals and gliding effortlessly away and then back again to the tourists laying out biscuit crumbs and other non-advised bird feed on the ledge in front of us. To my left, Hotel Pilatus, a pillar of concrete and grey metal sheeting so obtuse and yet so at home amongst the slate coloured jagged precipice. A symphony of tourists pour out into the viewing platform and crawl up the mountain steps and over the peak, into the Dragon Path (a tunnel of windows carved out of the mountain side) and across the viewing platform, a colony of explorers. This perpetual movement, the motion of the clouds, the birds, the people, is the magic of the Swiss landscape. Still, strong, rooted and motionless, the lakes and mountains and forests are a thing of exquisite beauty, yet they are enhanced by the constant change around them. The constant shift of light and cloud cover transforming the panorama within a split second, the seasonal hues changing and altering slowly over time.
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Mayfair University Women's Club Wedding - Natasha & Tom
As we entered the room, flooded with light, a baby grand piano in one corner and hand painted murals on the walls of soft yellow, we knew that the day was going to be beautiful…
As we entered the room, flooded with light, a baby grand piano in one corner and hand painted murals on the walls of soft yellow, we knew that the day was going to be beautiful. Natasha and Tom had planned an intimate wedding in the heart of London, with Tom's family flying in from Australia to attend, and we were so thrilled to be asked to photograph their day for them. The ceremony took place in the library, with it's floor to ceiling windows overlooking beautiful London streets and its emerald green walls with the rest of the day unfolding within Mayfair University Women's Club's gorgeous grounds. Here are a few of our highlights from the day:
Wedding Dress: Essence of australia
Hair & Makeup: Laura Anne Makeup
Venue: Mayfair University Women's Club
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KEELE UNIVERSITY PRE-WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY SHOOT - KATIE & CALUM
The beautiful grounds of Keele University in Staffordshire were the backdrop to Katie and Calum's romantic engagement…
The beautiful grounds of Keele University in Staffordshire were the backdrop to Katie and Calum's romantic engagement. (Keele Hall is a stunning Wedding Venue in it's own right - definitely worth a visit if you're getting married in the area!) So, naturally, it made sense to meet up a few months later to capture some pre-wedding photographs of the couple in the same surroundings. And what a wonderful couple they are! From Katie's infectious laugh to Calum's obsession with ceramic tiling we couldn't help but leave the session with the biggest smiles on our faces. We can't wait to see them again in just a few weeks for what sounds like a beautiful wedding day out in the countryside just over the border in Cheshire at The Plough Inn!
Enjoy looking through some of our favourites images and watch a short video from these gorgeous people..
Still thinking of enquiring for this year or next? Get in touch here!
BIRMINGHAM BOTANICAL GARDENS PRE-WEDDING SHOOT - ELIZABETH & CALLUM
Without sounding unbearably British, the past few weeks have seen us working through undesirable weather conditions on pretty much every shoot we have organised. This was no different for our shoot with the lovely Elizabeth & Callum...
Bethany and James here - it's getting into a super busy time of year for us which explains the lack of posts whilst we've been getting ourselves organised! This is the first of many things we're excited to share with you over the coming weeks..
Without sounding unbearably British, the past few weeks have seen us working through less than desirable weather conditions on pretty much every shoot we have organised! The lovely Elizabeth & Callum, who's pre-wedding shoot we decided would be best to have take place at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in the Midlands UK, went ahead despite torrential rain and dark skies. The greenhouses not only provided backdrops of tropical beauty and defused natural light, they also gave us some well needed shelter! There was a few breaks in the clouds where we were able to capture some photographs in the spot where Elizabeth's parents were engaged. We can't wait for the wedding later on this year - these guys were wonderful.
Here are a few of our favourite shots and a mini film from the session.
Thinking of enquiring? We still have some scattered availability for 2018 but get in touch sooner rather than later as there are only a few dates left!
TUSCANY WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER & FILMMAKER - Anna & Jon
Photographing a wedding in the rolling tuscan hills was a dream from the beginning. That olive grove green, that golden light, the landscape dressed and draped in villa's and cypress trees, for any fine art photographer it is the destination of our wildest dreams...
Photographing a wedding in the rolling tuscan hills was a dream from the beginning. That olive grove green, that golden light, the landscape dressed and draped in villa's and cypress trees, for any fine art photographer it is the destination of our wildest dreams. Anna and Jon's wedding lived up to that dream for so many reasons, but what we hadn't anticipated was the love we would be shown by their small party of 25 guests. We were made to feel like members of the family for the two days we spent with them, and were so sad to see the day end for so many reasons. James also was asked to do his first wedding film at Jon and Anna's wedding, which was played a week later before a room full of people at their English wedding, and stood in a crowd of people, gasping in awe and crying tears of joy and sheer amazement was a moment we shall never forget. Thank you Anna & Jon for giving us the opportunity to capture your day and allowing us to be a part of your family.
MONROE & OAKLEY - SHROPSHIRE NEWBORN PHOTOGRAPHER - PRESERVING TIME
There is something about receiving an enquiry from a return client that truly warms my heart and adds a certain value to my craft . It reminds me that I am someone who not only takes photographs, but also makes permanent evidence of moments that pass by so quickly we would otherwise lose them in amongst the countless information we take in on a daily basis...
There is something about receiving an enquiry from a return client that truly warms my heart and adds a certain value to my craft . It reminds me that I am someone who not only takes photographs, but also makes permanent evidence of moments that pass by so quickly we would otherwise lose them in amongst the countless information we take in on a daily basis. The information that makes the memories we treasure harder and harder to find. We begin to have to strain and reach to remember if it was in that moment or in that location that a certain defining event took place, or if we are mistaken and blending one memory with another in a swirling mass of mental images and information that only fades with time.
The only thing we can do to ensure a level of permanence, of proof, is by capturing this moment in a series of frames or document it in a film that we can re-play. This process doesn’t completely retain a memory, of course, but it can help fill out the gaps. A photograph can become a cue for a story, a reminder of something you didn’t realise you had forgotten.
This feels especially true when that return client I mentioned in the outset is a mother of a newborn child you photographed two years ago and is now expecting her next addition to this world. Seeing little Monroe’s face smiling up at me as she had become a whole person with thoughts and personality since the time I photographed her last was jarring in the best way. It brought me to realise that what I did for people like the lovely Kirsty was more than just taking a few photographs; it was a ritual of preservation. My photographs of Monroe ensured that when she is holding her own child one day, she will have a piece of tangible comparison to when she was sleeping all those years ago. She will be able to directly compare her smile and her eyes with her own child in the same way that Kirsty and I compared her with her brother as I photographed Oakley.
Here is my testimony to a moment that has passed, but will now remain forever - when a mother and her two little ones came into my life and I photographed tiny toes, unblinking eyes staring into the light of the window, laughter and admiration as a two year old kissed her baby brother’s forehead, the indescribable way that a perfect little human stares into his mothers eyes and loves her with his whole tiny existence.
