I went to visit a couple who are getting married this year, who have a set of electric gates. You know, the sort where you have to buzz through first to say who you are. After our meeting I loaded the car with my things and said goodbye.

“Just drive towards the gates,” said he, “they’ll open as you approach them.”

So I thanked him, got in the car and drove towards the gates as he went back inside.

Only the gates didn’t open.

So I drove right up to them…nothing. I reversed back up the drive to have another go. Nope. I spotted the sensor under the tarmac, so drove slowly and deliberately over that. Nothing. Damn.

So I got out, walked back to their house and knocked on the door. Unfortunately, nobody heard. Double damn.

Fast forward half an hour (and several phone calls to Susie later to try to get hold of their number to call them) and the bride-to-be appears in the kitchen window. I sieze the chance and leg it to the door.

“Er, how did you get back in through the gates?”

“I haven’t got out yet!”

Yep, for half an hour I was sat on their drive trying and failing to get through the automatic gates!

Trust me, I’m a lot better at wedding photography!

So, dear reader. Care to dig deep? Feel free to send a pound or two over the wire at http://www.mysportrelief.com/carlebreyphotography

Go on, you know you want to. After all, it’s for charidy, mate.

So I’ve planned the route. This is where I’ll be running later today:

I’ve been shooting a fair amount of portraits recently. I’ve done several photo shoots with Laura Britten: an upcoming star in the modelling world (find her at True Model Media). My work with Laura has covered fashion, Trash the Dress (more on that soon), swimwear and lingerie. Every shoot has been a real pleasure with Laura being professional to the core. I should also give a warm mention to Kirsti, who modelled with Laura on the swimwear & lingerie shoot. Kirsti was beautiful and as professional and fun-loving as Laura. Working with the two of them really was a treat. Here are some photos from that shoot:

One thing that is important when working with a model is knowing how to illicit certain responses from them. With Laura I was aiming for sultry, temptress looks and so I needed to find out what makes her tick. For any other photographers reading this who want to work with Laura, I’m about to let you in on a trade secret:

Laura reacts best to “pizza” and “kebab”.

No, really!

OK, so I’m doing Laura a dis-service there, because the truth is that, as I’ve already said, she’s a professional to the core. However this shocking food-based revelation came out during a recent shoot with her, so I promised her that it would make the blog :-)

More recently I’ve shot a more alternative session with Tanya. She stepped up to the plate when I mentioned that I was after someone to do a more alternative shoot, and she certainly delivered. The photos are quite dark and moody, but very sexy all the same (and why, pray tell, does it always sound dodgy when a guy refers to a photo shoot as “sexy”? Also, suggestions for better words in a comment please). The photos from Tanya’s shoot are still going through post-processing, so you’ll have to wait to see the best of those, but here’s a sneak preview:

Before Christmas I took pictures of the local Toy Run. For those who don’t know this is a gathering of local bikers who congregate at one of the village pubs before riding to the local children’s wards, each carrying a toy for Christmas. I was asked to do this for the local newsletter: Village Voice. Little did I know how big this event would be! Hundreds of motorbikes turned out and, given the amount of time I had, I certainly had a tough job on my hands capturing as much as I could before they all rode off. Hopefully Village Voice will ask me back again this year. If so I already have some ideas in mind for some great photos. Now that I know what to expect I’d be working a lot closer with the organisers to arrange some spectacular photos which really give an impression of the size of the event. In the mean time, here’s a couple of shots from the day.

More can be found on my flickr stream.

Of course, shooting portraits and charity events just isn’t enough for me! Noooo, I’ve been out shooting landscapes too. Last November I headed out for bonfire night to capture the local fireworks. The technique for this is relatively simple, but requires a few attempts to get the best results. Essentially you simply put your camera on a tripod, open the shutter using the bulb setting and then hold a piece of card in front of the lens for the periods when the fireworks aren’t happening. You whip the card away for the fireworks and, basically, rinse & repeat. Here’s an example from last November:

Also it would be wrong of me to not make the most of being outside with my camera. I really enjoy playing with low light/night time photography. The results can be quite atmospheric:

More can be found on my flickr stream.

My most recent landscapes were taken just the other week, when I rushed out of the door to catch the last of the day’s light. Sunset photos can be truly lovely, with the rich, warm colours of the evening sky as the sun goes on its way to the other side of the globe. Luckily I managed to get set up in time to capture the last of the light, as you can see here:

As ever, more can be found on my flickr stream.

Finally, no blog post about photography is complete without mentioning the kids. Well, OK, it is, as I’ve proved several times over on this blog so far, but shush :-)

Bethan is now 2 years old, which is pretty amazing stuff. She is getting to know the back of daddy’s camera almost as well as the front of it. It makes life slightly trickier when I want to take a photo of her these days because rather than giving me a big grin and saying “cheeeeeese” she now looks at me and says “want to push the button”. *sigh*. Still, occasionally I get lucky, and I get some gems like this one below:

Harri is now almost 7 months old and is just starting to sit up on his own. He’s a very smily, happy baby who is almost always willing to grin for the camera. I say almost always because he’s not quite as used to the camera as Bethan, so sometimes he gets a little unsure about it and has a bit of a whinge. Bless. Still, he remains a photogenic little man:

More of Bethan and Harri can, naturally, be found on my flickr stream.

Well, I think that’s your lot for now. Don’t forget that if you want hints and tips on improving your own photography you should head over to the Digital Photography School, where I’m about to go to see if there’s another article-writing opportunity. Watch this space!

Ta-ra.

This year’s been full of great experiences for me. I’ve shot, among others, Chris & Charlotte’s wedding back in February, Nicola & Robert’s wedding in July and Jeanette & Mark’s wedding in September. I’ve also shot some weddings as a second shooter with the fabulously talented Clive Blair and the amazing and hilarious Gill Taylor. It’s been a great year so far, and I’ve really relished every opportunity to develop myself. Second shooting is great for that: not only can I cover the areas of a wedding that the main photographer can’t (because they’re with the bride whilst I’m with the groom, perhaps, or because they’re busy covering formal shots whilst I grab those equally important reportage shots of the guests enjoying themselves) but I can also freely experiment and push the boundaries of my photography skills without needing to worry about my commitment to the client. Of course, I still experiment when I can with my own weddings, but obviously it’s vital that I get the core shots first.

Next year’s looking to be a good one, too. I’ve got charity shoots coming up, some portraits and a couple of weddings which should be absolutely blinding. If in the mean time you have a wedding coming up with no photographer, or you fancy a portrait shoot then feel free to let me know.

Coming to a browser near you: something worth reading!

Argos, it seems, have updated their website. Not much to comment about there, right? Wrong. I’m looking at cordless headphones (just to get prices for when Bethan breaks the set I’ve had for the last 6 years). The list, naturally, is sorted by price-descending (ie, highest price first). As I always do, I change that to price-ascending and click “Go”:

We’re currently experiencing a very high volume of visitors to our site. To ensure that everyone can enjoy the best shopping experience, we’re limiting the number of additional visitors entering the site at the moment.

Well, that’s great, except for two things:

1. It’s 20 past 11 on a Thursday evening. If you can’t cope with the traffic hitting your site now, you’re knackered.
2. Apparently, to ensure that everyone can enjoy the best shopping experience, I should be denied any shopping experience. It seems I’m not part of this new definition of “everyone”.

Never mind. I’ll look at Maplin instead.

Update: I just called the number quoted on the page cited above (the one about the best shopping experience): 0870 600 8784. Having spent 2 minutes going through the annoying menu system, I was told (via an automated message) that the offices are closed and have been for the past hour and 25 minutes. I wonder why the phone was “answered” at all then…

This post was brought to you by the letters J, C and M.

Just in case you are having a rough day, here is a stress management technique recommended in all the latest psychological journals. The funny thing is that it really does work.

1. Picture yourself lying on your belly on a warm rock that hangs out over a crystal clear stream.

2. Picture yourself with both your hands dangling in the cool running water.

3. Birds are sweetly singing in the cool mountain air.

4. No one knows your secret place.

5. You are in total seclusion from that hectic place called the world.

6. The soothing sound of a gentle waterfall fills the air with a cascade of serenity.

7. The water is so crystal clear that you can easily make out the face of the person you are holding underwater.

See? It really does work. You’re smiling already…

A man in a hot air balloon realised he was lost. He reduced altitude and
spotted a woman below. He descended a bit more and shouted, “Excuse me ,
can you help me ? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but
I don’t know where I am.”

The woman below replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon hovering
approximately 10 metres above the ground. You’re between 40 and 41
degrees north latitude and between 59 and 60 degrees west longitude.”

“You must be in IT,” said the balloonist.”I am,” replied the woman, “How
did you know?”

“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically
correct, but I’ve no idea what to make of your information and the fact
is I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help at all. If
anything, you’ve delayed my trip.”

The woman below responded, “You must be in Management.”"I am,” replied
the balloonist, “but how did you know?”

“Well,” said the woman, “you don’t know where you are or where you’re
going.
You have risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You
made a promise, which you’ve no idea how to keep, and you expect people
beneath you to solve your problems. The fact is you are in exactly the
same position you were in before we met, but now, somehow, it’s my
f**king fault.”