Wed - June 25, 2008
Tue - June 24, 2008
Mon - June 23, 2008
 Kate and Steve at Berrydown Barn, Farley Chamberlayne near Romsey
Yesterdays wedding was at Berrydown Barn near
Romsey, a quite stunning venue made even more so by John Meyburgh of Hugo Skucek
Flowers , for the wonderful wedding of Kate and
Steve.I had initially met Kate and
her mum at Yvonne De Mellow's wedding show at the De Vere Grand Harbour in
Southampton in early January and was delighted when she booked us for her
wedding. Both Kate and Steve are lovely people, and this extends right through
their family and friends who were welcoming and accommodating on the day. As is
fairly usual I started coverage with Bridal preparations at Kate's mums house
and was delighted to find that Helen Spenser was busy with Kate. Helen and I
have worked together several times, most recently in late May at Rhinefield
House, and I knew she would do an excellent job. Make-up and hair covered, and
with the details of Kate's lovely dress, and stunning pink shoes captured I
paused briefly to partake of a cheese roll kindly provided by Kate's mum and
left for the barn.When I arrived
John was finalising the flowers and I quickly captured the ceremony side of the
barn, the cake and some of the place settings whilst I awaited Steve's arrival.
I'll add a post dedicated to the venue, flowers and food later this week to
showcase the wonderful designs.The
guys were quickly photographed and this allowed time to record the guests
arriving and then getting the vantage point to see the vintage Rolls Royce come
down the sweeping drive to the barn. What followed was a very moving, funny, and
wonderful service with an incredible reading and some lovely moments which I am
pleased to say I captured from a great vantage point at the front of the
room.Ceremony over we quickly
covered the essential family groups and then took a short walk to the cornfield
at the back of the barn to get the photographs we had initial trialed during our
pre-wedding shoot the week before and then into the barn for a quick fake cake
cut shot before returning Kate and Steve back to John for their receiving line
bang on the 4pm time slot
!Catering was provided by County
Caterers , who did an excellent job as usual, and I was fortunate
enough to sit at a table with John, and some of Kate and Steve's family and
friends for dinner. Whilst this is unusual (I do normally get some food but
usually eat elsewhere) it was very lovely, and it made it easy for me to time
getting ready for the touching, memorable and funny speeches. I have to commend
Adam who's best man's speech was a credit - especially for a young man - and he
suitably embarrassed Steve but without long drawn out
stories.With the 22nd being so
close to the longest day the evening was light, warm and ideal for the guests to
go back outside and I continued coverage gathering candid images of the guests
relaxing and talking, enjoying themselves at this lovely wedding.
As the evening drew on I covered
the first dance, and some of the party before slipping off home to back up the
wedding, and prepare the images for this blog entry - some of which
follow...Helen applies some
lip gloss to Kate during her bridal
preparations The
vintage Rolls-Royce come down the long road to the Berrydown
Barn Steve
just outside the
barn Kate
waits patiently in the back of the Roll-Royce while I shoot her last portrait
before she becomes Mrs
Robinson. Meanwhile
in the ceremony room Steve is reminded by the Registrar to turn off his mobile
phone and
then he gets the opportunity to see Kate enter the
room At
several times the service broke into laughter, Kate here asking the Registrar to
just repeat that last
sentence Steve
and his
friends A
cornfield, a bride and groom and some lovely summer weather - well you just have
to
really..... A
peek at the room, lovely cake and the only real opportunity to get this shot
without being trampled in the guests rush to make sure they record it as well
! One
from the receiving line, as Kate gives a
hug After
dinner we got some fresh air and as we waited for Steve I grabbed another
portrait of the lovely
Kate And
finally a shot in front of Berrydown farmhouse right next to the
barn
Posted at 08:00 AM Read More
Thu - June 19, 2008
Wed - June 18, 2008
 Photographic session - framed print delivered for Fathers Day !
We delivered a lovely framed print to a
client this week, in time for the arrival back from duty of the children's
father. This was not just a homecoming present - but also a belated Father's day
gift. This lovely 16x14" framed print
will take pride of place on one of their walls. In an off-silver with a fine art
deep mount this print looks stunning, and it really justifies the quality
materials we use to frame the prints our clients
buy.
Posted at 09:27 PM Read More
 Featured on the Canon Professional Network website - review of the Canon
flagship camera
Over the past few months I have had the
opportunity to use one of Canon's top of the range digital cameras for some of
our weddings and portraits and the article and images from that time has just
gone live on Canon's website
!Currently selected as the only
Wedding & Portrait photographer across Europe to review this camera I have
been working closely with Canon, who sent me the camera over from the HQ in
Amsterdam, over the last few months to review it in detail in a road-test that
saw me shoot several weddings, portrait sessions and a "trash-the-dress" shoot.
The Canon Professional Network website is designed to be an informative site for
all of the professional photographers who use Canon's cameras, and covers the
whole of Europe.As a technical
article I can't recommend it for any brides, grooms, and potential clients - but
if you are another photographer then feel free to take a look. Suffice it to say
it is a bit of an honour to have been asked - but despite this the review is an
honest and accurate representation of my feelings. I believe I am correct in
saying that I am only the second wedding photographer to have been featured on
the Canon Professional Network site, with one of the top ten wedding
photographers in the word, Jeff Ascough, being the first and
other.I don't know how long the
article will remain live, it is also due to be updated with a part II review -
but for now here is a screen grab of the page as it stands, and a link to
the article
itself.
Posted at 08:13 PM Read More
Fri - June 13, 2008
Another beach portrait session @ Hill Head
We photographed another beach portrait
session at the beach in Hill Head this week for one of our regular
clients.
Having photographed her
children, and a family session in our studio setting with the white backdrop our
client wanted something slightly more informal and relaxed to give to her
husband on his return from deployment. We met at the beach and got a wide
variety of images - groups of the three of them, as well as some individual
shots of the two children. The session lasted about an hour from start to finish
and the images are now up for review on the web for the client to select some
for the gift.
As this is a surprise
'm not going to reveal their identity by posting any images, but I might get a
photograph of the resulting framed print to put up at a later date once the gift
has been received !
Beach sessions
are available throughout the summer in the Hill-Head, Lee-on-the-Solent,
Alverstoke areas as are park and woodland shoots. Whilst the studio is great for
the white backdrop look, we also love shooting families and kids out in the open
air for relaxed portraits. If you'd like to find out more please contact us for
our location photographic session fees and packages and also
availability.
Posted at 11:34 PM Read More
Fri - June 6, 2008
Mon - June 2, 2008
Trash the dress - part II
Yesterday we attended another Trash the Dress
session, and this time we managed to get some images which are in line with our
vision for what our paying clients should expect and would receive. As I have
mentioned in my previous post on this topic we have attended these workshops to
gain important experience in the safety and practical aspects of a shoot in
water, woodland and urban environments as well as to get some reference images
which we can show our clients as they consider trashing their own dresses for
real.DISCLAIMER: The image(s)
shown below were taken at a workshop using a professional model. There were
several other photographers present, and similar poses using the same model may
appear on the internet. I have only posted those where I had some artistic
input, and of course the combination of my framing, lens selection and
post-processing are unique.The
workshop took place in Surrey and not by the sea this time. We had managed to
ensure that the model would be wearing a contemporary wedding gown, in most of
the locations by additionally sponsoring the workshop. The initial shoot was an
urban TTD and featured a derelict building and then a short distance away to an
already destroyed coca-cola machine at which I setup a concept image which I had
pitched to the session organiser, of the bride with a sledgehammer and coke
bottles.The next location was some
woodland nearby which had some amazing natural features, and light and then we
finally made our way to a weir and bridge in a local village much to the
amusement of the residents, and cricketers playing on the green opposite. This
final location had a prom dress being trashed and I have not included it in this
posting.A very big shout out to
Skye
Edwards , our model for the day who was extremely professional and
capable and is highly recommended to any other professional photographers
reading this blog
entry.
Posted at 07:15 AM Read More
Sun - May 25, 2008
Sun - May 11, 2008
Sat - May 10, 2008
Annual tag-along with Peter Prior - wedding at St Cross Church,
Winchester and Berrydown Barn near Romsey
This weekend I managed to arrange my annual
(at least) tag along with Peter Prior one of the countries leading
wedding photographers. Peter is a good friend, and is kind enough to let me
tag-along/bag carry at one of his wedding every year - and more this year if I
can make it. You might have thought that a spare weekend might be just taken off
- but it is a real opportunity to see how another photographer works as well as
get to look at some venues.I'll be
photographing a wedding in June at Berrydown Barn as have not as yet been there so
this was an excellent opportunity to see the venue but also how the rooms are
laid out, and the grounds with wedding guests in them. Of course it was also a
real treat to go to the Hotel du Vin in Winchester for the getting
ready images, and also the amazing St Cross church in Winchester which is a
stunning venue for both a ceremony and some photographs - one immediately added
to my list of venues I'd love to photograph
at.Peter excels in his documentary
wedding images, as well as his rapid shooting of family groups and I always
learn a lot from him in these two areas everytime I go out - as well as his
exceptional technical
skills.Anyway a big shout out to
Peter as always. Alas no images from this wedding as I'm there to watch and
learn and not shoot - but I'll have a pre-wedding shoot and wedding from
Berrydown Barn on this blog in late June.
Posted at 11:56 PM Read More
Fri - May 9, 2008
Mon - May 5, 2008
Trashing the Dress
Trash the Dress is getting more and more
coverage in the UK, and I'm increasingly getting requests to shoot these
sessions, which I'm really pleased about. Timing on a couple of them has been
bad with weddings and portrait sessions conflicting and of course the winter is
not a good time to be getting wet and rolling about on the sand, unfortunately I
had one session cancelled by the client for other reasons earlier this year
which would otherwise have been
completed.When the opportunity
came up to get some hands on practice this weekend then I took it, if only to
scope out some locations, and get some understanding of how dresses behave in
water, and the safety
aspects.DISCLAIMER: The
image(s) shown below were taken at a workshop using a professional model. There
were several other photographers present, and similar poses using the same model
may appear on the internet. I have only posted those where I had some artistic
input, and of course the combination of my framing, lens selection and
post-processing are unique.
The concept is simple. Take
one bride (and groom if desired), after the wedding day - dress them back up
with the guy in just a suit normally and then shoot a post-wedding photographic
session with *less* regard for the dress than on the wedding day. This could be
as simple as sitting and lying down in a woodland or beach setting, through
immersion in water either fully or partially - in the sea or some freshwater
stream or lake, to the extreme which is actually to damage the dress beyond
repair. Normally (unless the damage option is selected) the dress can be
dry-cleaned after this as it would have been anyway and can be boxed for
posterity. Many of the couples who have contacted me are looking to create
something artistic for display, and a celebration of their beauty - often around
the time of their first wedding
anniversary.My vision is to shoot
the images with as much of a fashion and beauty influence as possible
incorporating some of the poses from our very popular and highly rated
pre-wedding shoots and some from the time we spend alone with the bride during
the wedding day and then push them just a little further. I'm not into the
wanton destruction of the dress per se with scissors or blades - but I'm not
adverse at all to wet or dirty ! I want to create something a couple would be
proud to hang on their wall, or have in a smaller album to accompany the main
wedding album.I'm currently unsure
as how I plan to present the work from this weekends shoot as the work on my
site is exclusively from commissioned sessions with paying clients - no fake
weddings, or taken as a guest shots here. But I do need to use them to show to
prospective trash the dress clients the looks I can achieve - so to that aim I'm
posting one or more sample images here for now - and might create a locked or
separate gallery later to showcase more of the work. The images posted here are
limited as we only used a wedding dress for one location, which didn't get close
to water or anything that would get it too dirty, when the prom dresses were
used it was only in shallow water and on the sand. I'd expect a TTD session for
one of my clients to go a little further - but still in the confines of a safe
environment.If you are interested
in trashing your dress in the Hampshire or surrounding area then please contact
us to discuss in more details your ideas and timeframe. We'd love to talk to
you.
Posted at 06:57 PM Read More
Wed - April 30, 2008
Pre-wedding shoot: Julie and John at Rhinefield House Hotel
On Sunday afternoon following Rosalind and
Matts shoot I drove down to the Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest where
I had been two days earlier for Gemma and Kristian's
wedding.Familiar territory for me
of course as one of my most loved and frequent wedding venues, and I challenged
myself to use some different parts of the hotel as well as some old favourites.
I'd like to think I managed that, and have posted a selection of the images on
here, although I have held some back ready for Julie and John's wedding in late
May when I'll be using some of them again, and some with a few tweaks based on
the results from this pre-wedding shoot. As a Hampshire Wedding photographer I
hope to continue shooting at this lovely venue, with great staff, and of course
wonderful couples.....Julie and
John were great fun, and soon relaxed into the shoot. Their wedding is going to
be great fun, and I'm really looking forward to it. It will also be another
opportunity to work with amazing florist Lynda Robson, from Exclusively
Weddings who's work I
adore.As usual here are some of my
images from the day. Hope you enjoy
them.A new location for me
at the recently built complex covered in
mirrors This
stone bench is so cool - I love putting my couples into this area - such lovely
light and great
images  The
fountain - a recent favourite, and B&W which highlights the architecture as
well as making this a timeless
image The
avenue of trees which leads you back up from the fountain and towards the back
lawn - this should have more cover in late May and be a great location for a
walking shot of John and
Julie Another
favourite down at the blue
gates Finally
a panorama with this cool statue looking
on.
Posted at 09:19 PM Read More
Mon - April 28, 2008
Pre-wedding shoot: Rosalind and Matt at Bishops Waltham Palace
Ruins
Sunday saw us photograph two pre-wedding
shoots, this one for Rosalind and Matt was first, in the morning at the lovely
English Heritage property Bishops Waltham
Palace.I met Rosalind and Matt
just over a year ago when they booked me for their wedding which will be in July
this year, and I have been looking forward to this pre-wedding shoot for some
time. Not only because they are a lovely couple, but because this location would
always deliver on my expectations from some great pre-wedding shoot images, and
wedding portraits.So imagine my
disappointment when it was thundering about an hour before we were due to meet
up, and with logistics, and work commitments meaning it would be difficult to
reschedule. Nothing to worry about though, while we waited for the property to
be unlocked we went though the wedding day details in my car, and then ventured
into the palace ruins where it became apparent that Matt had his climbing shoes
on, and we were going to have great fun
!I think we literally walked over
the entire site, and found amazing nooks and views both inside and out. I got
some amazing images, and will have their online gallery up very soon - but for
starters here are a few images from the
session.        Check
back in late July for what promises to be a stunning wedding, and great
images.
Posted at 09:42 PM Read More
Sun - April 27, 2008
Fri - April 25, 2008
Gemma and Kristian at Rhinefield House Hotel in the New Forest
Today we photographed the wedding of Gemma
and Kristian at Rhinefield House. Another stunning wedding, and lovely
couple.We returned to Rhinefield
for our first spring wedding at this lovely and prestigious venue in the New
Forest. Having recently shot Katie and Lee's wedding there in December, and
Gemma and Kristian's pre-wedding shoot earlier in the month the venue is like a
home to us, and we know it well - although constantly finding new places to
photograph and new looks for the images. With lots of time, and a couple that
valued the photography we were able to shoot lots of images both before and
after the ceremony before leaving shortly after the speeches. We were well
looked after by Lee, the best man, as well as Gemma and Kristian and all of the
staff - which of course makes it all the easier to focus on creating great
photographs.Here are some images
from the day.....Gemma puts
on some perfume before changing into her wedding
dress. The
exchange of rings during the
service Gemma
looking simply
stunning This
is one of my favourite areas of the gardens, and I know Gemma and Kristian love
it as
well. The
view across one of the ornamental lakes to the blue iron gates. Looking for the
reflection which works better with them in wedding attire than the pre-wedding
shoot
image A
rare blog post of the cake cutting - but I'm just loving the soft window light,
and the beautiful
moment. The
guests all wanted a shot as well, so I captured them all. Including Lee, best
man, who seemed to think I made a better
subject. Gemma
takes a look at the picture board placed at the rear of the great hall during
the wedding breakfast. I just love the detail on her wedding
dress Kristian
gets a top up having run out of champagne at the end of his speech, and about to
make a
toast.
We are back at Rhinefield on
Sunday for another pre-wedding shoot in preparation for a late May wedding at
the venue, and I'm looking forward to returning so quickly. More on the blog on
Sunday night as we will have two pre-wedding shoots to post.
Posted at 11:48 PM Read More
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About Meonshore Studios
Meonshore Studios is a Fareham based photographic studio specialising in contemporary weddings and portraiture, events and commercial work. Headed by award winning photographer, Mike French, Meonshore Studios prides itself in a high quality modern approach to photography. Please read through our blog to find out more of what is happening at the studio and see some images from our work with clients. Our main website and dedicated weddings site are a short click away where you can find out in more details what we can offer. Thanks for reading !
About Mike French
Mike French is passionate about his photography, although you wouldn't believe it from the serious arty face he is pulling in his headshot above ! His creative eye, desire to learn and relaxed approach have seen him deliver wonderful images to his clients, and receive awards from national photographic bodies. Unless otherwise advised Mike is your photographer.
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Published On: Jun 27, 2008 04:20 PM
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Corporate Event in London for multinational IT company
