Pre christmas stress

The great thing about stressy events is that when they happen and everything is great and as planned, or even just OK the feeling of relief is almost worth the angst. Each year christmas seems to get better in some ways and worse in others - it seems to get easier - I think most of my family have agreed a no-presents pact - much to the relief of my mother! The worse part is definitely the lack of feeling, but maybe in this post consumerist era we are entering we may get back to that.

I've just realised that I haven't seen the star... the one on top of Thwaites' star brewery at Blackburn that has miraculously appearred every year I can remember. Maybe I'll see it on Wednesday when I go out delivering. Then it will be christmas.

Sometimes...

Thinking about my friend Mary, hope it goes well.

Thinking about so many people facing uncertainty, through no fault of their own.

Found this great poem:


Sometimes things don't go, after all,
from bad to worse. Some years, muscadel
faces down frost; green thrives; the crops don't fail.
Sometimes a man aims high, and all goes well.

A people sometimes will step back from war,
elect an honest man, decide they care
enough, that they can't leave some stranger poor.
Some men become what they were born for.

Sometimes our best intentions do not go
amiss; sometimes we do as we meant to.
The sun will sometimes melt a field of sorrow
that seemed hard frozen; may it happen for you.

Sheenagh Pugh.

Back on track.

Tuesday after the august bank holiday - somehow I feel we're getting back to normal, a lot of people are back at work, the schools will be back next week. The roads are a bit busier, enquiries are starting to come in again ... I like normal - I like having a holiday to look forward to, and I love being on holiday, but I do like normal. Maybe because I'm lucky to have a job that I genuinely enjoy, even if it is a bit solitary sometimes.

People

Every time I shoot a wedding, I get a bit of insight into the lives of people I probably would not have otherwise met, every time I just love them - most people are so nice, happy and positive and unique, and every wedding is amazing in its own way, so if I seem to be continually going syco I can't help it. Just occasionally I meet people who aren't. This week has not been one of them but I daren't keep going on about how lovely and wonderful everyone is cos it sounds a bit creepy.

I found a really cute way of making evening reception shots look like they have some atmosphere which is usually wiped out by flash. I now need to go back through all the weddings not yet printed and apply.

My super brainy son got his A level results today, and accepted at manchester to study physics! I'm feeling ridiculously proud of him.

The wedding season

Its August, so its crazy, and I love it. On saturday we had a wedding I've been looking forward to all year, ever since I met Sarah. She is one of the warmest, most loving, fun people I have ever met - as her father said in his speech "to meet Sarah is to love her" so it really was a privilege to be a part of their day. Chris is really nice as well, and it was a very emotionally charged event wedding by any standards because Sarah's mum died a few years ago. Anyway, there was so much love it was wonderful. From a photographer's point of view however, the highlight was taking a slight detour after the ceremony at Holmesfield to Burbage Bridge to have a quick photo session. Burbage bridge is a well known viewpoint in the Peak District. The results, if I say so myself were pretty good. Being ever critical, I can see how they might have been better, but I'm still very pleased with them.

Whalley shoot

Had a pre-wedding shoot at Whalley with Chris and Louise...


More stuff online www.jeanettedawson.co.uk/reganpw/index.htm

Digital projector!

At last! I have got a digital projector - I've wanted one for years, and now I can show my images really big! I'm planning to a sameday slideshow at the wedding on saturday - as recommended by Mr Ghionis. That will be fun... hope they like it!

Web day

Had a wonderful day in and out of the web. Still can't get a grip on myspace, the forum area is really sad.

Just for the technorati site:


Technorati Profile

Love on the rocks

Spent quite a bit of time over the last few week looking for a location for a wedding shoot next weekend - and found it, at Burbage. I then had Mike posing beautifully on the rocks as walkers and hikers looked on with some amusement. Sarah, who is going to be the star of the shoot is really excited about it - we had talked about it, but I suspect she didn't think we'd actually find a location which would fit into the schedule.

Had a bit of fun with the key-shifting/off camera flash. I think we've cracked it. Also been doing some practising with the aperture priority/on camera flash. Am I turning into a geek? or a perfectionist?

I also got some galleries up on the website from more recent weddings at Scaitcliffe Hall and the Gibbon Bridge - very pleased with the results, and its really good when I see (in google analytics, bless 'em) people from all over the world looking at them.

Lost

Spent an hour today talking to an estate agent who claims to have an IQ of 164. Its awkward when someone is taking photos of your house with a tiny compact with a built in flash, and isn't even aware of its limitations. I just have to accept that he knows what he's doing.

Couldn't get inspired over the weekend - the rain was torrential. It cleared on sunday, had a pre wedding shoot at Gargrave, really enjoyed it - its like a fix.

The rest of today has been spent on my website, decided that the galleries are too big, and they should show mostly complete weddings, but in album layout format. Thats a lot of work, but I got through quite a lot.

Haltemprice and Howden and Grace Astley

I'd never heard of Haltemprice and Howden until a couple of weeks ago. Then David Davis Davis resigned his seat to force a by-election and supposedly a debate about the 42 day rule. What is he on about? If the police have enough reason to suspect someone of terrorist activities they should have the authority to imprison. I would accept that, in the interest of peace, safety and democracy, if I started behaving in a very suspicious way, that I would be detained, I have enough confidence in the security services to believe that as long as I am a peaceful person its not going to happen.
Meanwhile a friend, Grace Astley, www.myspace.com/graceastley has decided to stand as a candidate in the by-election! So quite a lot of this week has been taken up debating policies and trying to get her to put herself a bit more forward.

Starter for ten

Hello world!

I somehow get the feeling I've been here before. I've spent the last couple of days wandering around parts of the w2 world looking at it from a different point of view, and to be honest its not that different from w1. Its still unpoliced, still unreliable, and still full of waffle. At least so far it does seem to belong to the citizens of planet earth.