I received a lovely prize of a photographic book about how to take the best night time photography this morning, this was for coming second in The Lewes Light Festival 2017 photo competition, and how appropriate it was as it's world book day.
The photograph was of my gorgeous niece Emily taking a photograph of one of the installations. I was also shortlisted for a photograph of the fantastic rainbow installation. Happy dance💃
I’m very excited as my photograph was picked as Viva Lewes ‘Photo of the Month’. It’s always lovely to have people appreciate your work. The called it 'Robin in the Hood'.
Viva Lewes is a local free magazine that has been running for years. It has food reviews, information of what's going in the pubs and clubs in addition the front cover is always designed by a local artist. So it's always a compliment to be chosen as Photo of the Month. I have won a couple of times and been shortlisted a few more.
So now all I need to do is to decide what t do with my £20 winnings.
Today would have been Virginia Woolf's birthday. Google have chosen to honour the great novelist and feminist by make her their doodle of today, so I thought I would post my photographs taken at her home in Rodmell. The beautiful Monk House.
I visited it a couple of times last year. It has such a warm and peaceful ambiance about it. The gardens are stunning and the house is full of amazing paintings by her sister Vanessa Bell and other members of the Bloomsbury group.
Whilst we were there they had someone from the local amateur dramatic society perform from her last noel 'Between the Acts' , needless to say it just made the whole experience of being there even more immersive.
I highly recommend you visit, especially if you are local to Lewes
This time a year ago I was asked to do "The way we work" section for the local magazine, Viva Lewes. I had had photographs published in magazines before such as Red and Sussex Life but this was my first commission.
I had pretty bad conditions, compared to the usual shoots they do. My subjects were all in the dark with floodlights or lack of floodlights. Even in the case of doing the rugby photographs of Billy we had mist and rain.
Despite this they were very happy with my photographs and so was I. This gave me the confidence to think I could do it as a career. I had been told over the years by many people that I should be a photographer full time. So within the next couple of months I left my job I had been in for fifteen years and set up Mills and King with my cousin.
I couldn't have done it without the support of family and friends. I am so glad I did as its one of the best decisions I've made. I had always wanted to be a photographer and at last after twenty five years I finally had the confidence to do it.
It was very daunting and at points it still is. Occasionally I still can't believe I've done it I am not a spontaneous person. I am so scared of change.
As the months went on we got more and more jobs and we are slowly building the business.
We are very excited for the future and what it holds for us and all the new people we will meet and photograph.
As they say 'mighty oaks from little acorns grow'.
I had a lovely day taking the photographs at Moe and Norbert's wedding.
The day started at a local hotel with the bride and bridesmaids while they were preparing to get ready. It was great being in the middle of the flurry and excitement of their big day. While Moe was getting her make up done and the bridesmaids were doing each other hair and helping with false eyelashes I tiptoed around taking natural shots. Whilst wanting to take the best photographs I was also very aware to not get in the way and allow the wedding plans and excitement to play out without too much disruption. There is a time limit, so you can't take up too much time with photo requests.
It was the first time I had met Moe and Norbert, they were the most wonderful, warm and loving couple. They immediately made me feel at ease and created a very relaxed atmosphere to work in. Moe was wearing the most stunning maroon, sequinned two piece outfit and her bridesmaids were wearing a complimentary soft dove grey colour.
The flowers were a stunning mix of roses and milk thistles, amongst other ferns and buds.
The ceremony was a the local registry office in Lewes, which luckily is a gorgeous old building that has very recently been restored. The Southover Grange gardens are magnificent to visit in the Summer, as there are so many flowers in bloom. The Dahlia's were still going strong, so we took some photographs in front of them.
All of Moe and Norbert's family and friends were lovely and it was a joy to be part of their happy day. It's a wonderful thought that my photographs will be a reminder of their day for all the years to come.
That's one of the best parts of my job is that I'm a supplier of memories of happy, special times
