'

2008-03-01T16:26:00.002Z

BLOG ADDRESS MOVED

Please note as from today 1st March 2008 we have moved our blog address onto our main server.
Apart from a difference in how it looks you won't notice any difference. If you have come to this page then please just click on the refresh button on your browser from the page you were on before this one. That will load the new address into the links on your page.

If you have come here via RSS then our new address is http://www.class1weddings.com/blog/

Please note you will have to refresh each of the pages you have previously visited on our site before, to update the menu bar.

Regards,

Carl

2008-02-29T17:03:00.005Z

Awards and competitions.

I think as a photographer it's good to enter competitions and awards to strive to better myself. I am a member of a few professional organisations which run monthly awards for different categories of photography. Here are some images of my submission for February. Please feel free to comment below. To enlarge the image double click on it.

So there you have this months entries, I'll let you know how they rate, but leave a comment on your preferences.

Regards,

Carl

2008-02-26T21:07:00.006Z

Yearly visit to the NEC & Focus on Imaging Exhibition

Well we have just been down in Birmingham for a couple of days visiting the Focus on Imaging exhibition, which is one of the biggest exhibitions for photographers. All the leading companies from around the world assemble there to show the latest software, albums, products, frames etc, in fact everything to do with photography, to the pro & amateur photographers.
We usually go down every year, but have made some good friends and now make it into a yearly get together.

Due to work commitments this year a few of the regulars couldn't make it, but we had a great time nonetheless. Five of us decided to stay overnight and went out for a meal at the pub next door to the hotel, the fillet steak was one of the best I have ever had.

A new attendee was Alfredo. I met Alfredo on a pro photography forum and we have been friends for some months now but this was the first time we actually met in person. He is an Italian photographer currently living in Cardiff. Our regular good mates, Ian & Tracy of Ian Rycroft Photography (Buckinghamshire) made the numbers up, and we spent some good time till the early hours.

Here's just a few pics of the happening last night.

(me, Ian, Tracy, Jenny, Alfredo)

We had a great time, spent some quality time with friends, and picked up some good bits from the show as well.

Regards,
Carl

2008-02-24T17:56:00.002Z

Todays Wedding Fair

Well today we have been at the Derby County Pride Park stadium for a wedding fair promoted by one of our friends, Sue White of White Media. It has been really busy all day and we have had lots of enquiries for dates for this year and for next. A lot of the dates for this year were already taken, but hopefully our conversations with somne of the brides for next year will lead to bookings. Another good thing that came out of todays fair was that we networked with a few other photographers and video companies and have built up new friendships where we can hopefully put leads each other way.

Wedding Fairs are excellent places for everyone in the trade to network with other vendors, regardless of whether you're a photographer, cake maker, card maker or musician. Building a network og friends and colleagues can only be for the better. I always try to make a point of getting to know new people at a fair and then try to recommend them to someone else, what goes around, comes around.

Tomorrow we're off to the NEC at Birmingham for the annual photographic & video exhibition, we'll be staying over for two days so if you ring us you may find you go through to the answer machine. Apologies for that but if you leave details we'll call you back Wednesday.

Okay we're off out now for a well deserved meal at a local restaurant with the kids.

Regards, Carl

2008-02-22T10:31:00.002Z

Blogging!!!

A forum which I visit regularly for pro photographers has a topic where people list their blog addresses with a view for other photographers to visit and make comments. Well there was a list of around 70ish blog addresses, so I randomly clicked on quite a few of them and it was suprising how many have not had updates for months and months!

I posted a comment on a few of the recently updated ones.

An idea I had (for those who visit blogs), is rather than just visit the blog and read it, leave a comment as well. It doesn't have to be an essay, just a line or two. Although I check our stats regularly so I know how many people visit and read, it's still nice for people to leave a comment. That way it inspires you to put more content into it.

I am going to make it a point that i'm going to comment on two blogs a day, preferably different peoples.Why don't you do the same?

Have a good day,

Carl

2008-02-17T13:59:00.003Z

The February Bug!!

Well this week i've been suffering big time. I'm one of those people who doesn't get ill very often, the whole world could be suffering from colds, viral bugs etc and I seem to just shrug it off, but Tuesday night I started with just a bit of a sniffle and sore throat. By Wednesday it was full blown viral bug, headaches, aching muscles, dizzy spells and generally feeling really off it and i've still got it.
Just off to get another lemsip!!!

2008-02-15T11:02:00.003Z

The Wedding of Jenny & Mark

Well Saturday saw fantastic weather and a great day at the wedding of Jenny & Mark.
We started off at Ringwood Hall where Mark and his best man Andy had spent the night and they were busy getting ready on our arrival.

We walked round the venue and got some great shots of them both and then made our way to Jenny's parents house where the normal bridal preperations were under way. The calmest of eveyone seemed to be Jenny

The wedding ceremony was at the Brimington Church and we were given a free reign from the clergy, (if only all of them were this good). The sun was still shining and the sky was a dark blue, after a fun confetti shot we made our way to Ringwood Hall.

After getting all the main bridal party shots and some fun shots with the girls, and the boys it was time for us to go around the gardens with the bride and groom.

We finished off with a slideshow of the highlights of the day.

Congratulations Jenny & Mark, have a great honeymoon.

As always, if you would like the links to Jenny & Mark's newsletter, view their gallery etc please send us an email request. You must include Jenny's maiden name in the mail. We will send you a link with all the details.

Carl & Jenny

2008-02-09T07:34:00.000Z

Today's the wedding day of Jenny & Mark

Well it's 7.30am and i'm just about to load the car up once i've finished this entry. We're off to Ringwood Hall today for the weding of Jenny & Mark. We have had a few weeks off over the winter for a well deserved rest but today is the start of our new season.

We've got some new ideas for this year, so can't wait to get them into action. The weather is looking good for today, it's fine and dry and the sky is looking good, hopefully it will stay like that all day.

Have a great day today, wherever you are and whatever you're doing.

Regards,

Carl

2008-01-26T00:33:00.000Z

My birthday

Well it's the 26th January already and today's my birthday.

This year is going so quick already and it's only just started.
This week Jenny has been at an all week wedding Fair at the Four Seasons Shopping centre in Mansfield and what a nice suprise we have had in the amount of bookings taken. We only have 5 more slots available for the rest of 2008, so if you are thinking of booking us for your wedding then you'd better be quick.

We did our first pre-wedding shoot the other night for our first wedding of the year which is in a couple of weeks, hopefully the weather will be fine. I'm looking forward to this wedding as it's the first of the year and a really nice couple to work with.

Oh, before I forget, Happy New Year to everyone. I know it's a bit late, but I hope that this year is good for all of you.

Regards,
Carl

2007-12-22T15:26:00.001Z

We would just like to wish all our past clients and our new clients a very Merry Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

We are closing from Saturday 22nd December through to Monday January 7th. ALthough our lines will be closed you will still be able to leave a message. We will contact you week commencing the 7th.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!

2007-12-12T16:45:00.000Z

Last couple of days for the canvas print offers

Well a few of you have taken us up on the canvas print offer, more than we thought to be honest, so thank you to all of you who have ordered, we should have them out to you by the middle of next week.

If you haven't yet ordered one you only have until this Friday to take advantage of this great offer (see below posts).

A few winter tips;

make sure you've got your de-icer for the car, and carry a blanket just in case you break down. As I was driving this morning along a dual carriageway, someone had broken down, pulled there car onto the grass verge and was stood out in the cold in just a t-shirt, it was -1 degree C on the car thermometer!

Take care over the winter.

Carl

2007-12-11T22:07:00.000Z

Some images of our time in Venice

Jenny didn't know where I was taking her for her birthday so it wasn't until we got to the airport that she was allowed to open a present from some very good friends of ours Glynn & Julie, the guide book to Venice.

Once we arrived we found our hotel, right in the centre 20 yards off of San Marco's square, it was beautiful, and at €295.00 for a meal, it needed to be!!

Sightseeing started that evening with a stroll around the canals.

The following day we saw some more of the sights unique to Venice

We had a fantastic time, a well deserved break and some quality time together.

Ciao!

2007-12-09T15:22:00.000Z

Busy Times!

Well apologies for not posting any images from our fantastic trip to Venice. The weather was great and we had a brilliant time and took in the region of 500 images using the trusty Canon G7. It's really the first time i've used this camera in vain and i'm really pleased with the results. I promise I will post some stuff but since coming back we've been working around the clock to get all our 2007 weddings finished, we are only waiting now on one return from Graphi, which should be here any day and one customer to approve printing, and four selections for canvas prints ..... which brings me onto a last minute Christmas Special.

Canvas Prints

We have a small amount of materials left to produce a limited amount of 20 x 16 canvas prints. We normally sell these as wedding extras for £125.00. If you order one before this coming Friday 14th December we will give a massive discount and you will be able to purchase one for just £85.00, or two for £150.00. They make great Christmas presents for parents, grandparents or just for each other. But please hurry as we can only produce a limited number. We will guarantee delivery by 23rd December.

For you photographers out there

We are expanding our services to photographers by offering a service whereby our team of graphic designers will edit your images and or design albums for you. This will be done in your particular styles etc.
Look on some of the US forums and you find a great deal of photographers outsource the editing phase and album design phase of their workflow, the idea to free up more of your precious time. We now have staff employed as editors and album designers.

If you would like more information contact us direct. I will be posting a link to a new website offering this product.

Regards,
Carl

2007-11-24T07:49:00.000Z

Vacation time!

Well it was Jenny's birthday on Thursday and as a special birthday suprise I booked a break for us in the most romantic city in the world..Venice, Italy. We are over there until Thursday so if you do try to get hold of us in the meantime you may have to leave a message 'cos we're taking some quality time off together.

The great thing about our business is that we do get to spend a great deal of time together, working in the studio, out on photoshoots, meeting with clients etc, but it's still nice to be able to spend quality time together without the "work" now and again.

I'll post some pics when I can hook up my camera to the laptop.

....off to see the gondala's ".....just a one cornetto.....geeve it to me...!!

Carl

2007-11-18T20:09:00.000Z

Christmas Lights switch on & snow

Well tonight in our home town of Chesterfield it was the official switch on of the Christmas lights, i'm sure it gets earlier every year. Here's a few pics of the sights, spoilt in some way because the rain was coming down in buckets. The fair was on hand, and Santa was there with his reindeers amusing the kids.

Here's a shot along the precinct, although it was wet it didn't dampen the spirits too much!

As I walked past the old Shamble I looked down and saw this fantastic street scene, the lighting was spot on.

We decided to go to the pub for our tea, we couldn't believe it when we came out, SNOW!!

Brad couldn't wait to get home to get the sledge out...not!

He's out there now making the most of it, and i've just had a look out and the road is completely white over, I can't believe it ... maybe some winter landscape shots tomorrow if it's still here!

Regards, and wrap up warm, Carl

2007-11-17T18:19:00.000Z

Great News for clients wanting DVD copies of their wedding day edit slideshows!

As all of our clients know, unless requested not too, we create a slideshow at the wedding reception similar to the ones on our slideshow page. The software we use to create this type of slideshow is designed so that it is only for web use and could not be put onto DVD to play on you tv sets, which was a shame because we have been asked numerous times if it's possible to buy a copy. Well that was until now!!!!!

As from today we can now create a DVD with your web slideshow, just as it is on the website, synchronised to music. If you would like to order one for christmas send us an email with your names and date of wedding and we will get one sent to you.
As a special offer we are offering these at only £15.00 each inclusive of p&p the regular price will be £25.00. You can pay by credit card, cheque or cash.

To guarantee delivery before christmas we must have your order before the 10th December.

Regards, Carl

2007-11-15T22:55:00.000Z

You've all heard of Wedding Photography but Christening Photography?

Just recently we have been contacted by several of our clients from the past couple of years who have just celebrated having their first baby. As all of our clients know we do portrait & lifestyle photography and many of our clients come back regularly for these type of shoots, but we are now getting asked about a fairly new idea to the UK; Christening photography.

Christening photography is well known in the states, and a very new concept in the UK. How many people do you know had professional photographers attend ther children's christenings? Well now, we are adding it to the list of our services. Here are a couple of pictures to give you an idea;

As with our wedding photography, we will attend your home as you are getting ready, cover the christening itself and then come to the reception with you and your guests, whereas weddings tend to include formal shots, we have found already that clients prefer more of a reportage style so we record the happenings of the day rather than create them, of course we will still take formals of granny and baby etc if requested. Your images will be put together in a storybook digital album. We will supply a digital storybook of your childs christening for you to keep as a memento of this special day.

As an introductory special offer price, we will be offering this service for only £350.00 to the first ten clients who respond. We are expecting this new service to really become popular, so be one of the first!

Please call us for further details.

Regards, Carl

2007-11-09T17:48:00.000Z

Amazing day for enquiries today

The past few weeks it's been a little bit quiet on the enquiry front, but today we've had several emails from prospective clients enquiring about availability. It's strange that some days you don't hear anything and then other days you get more enquiries from all over the place!

We are always looking to shoot in new places and venues as it helps to keep the grey matter ticking over. I spend loads of time at this time of year thinking of new ideas which we can incorporate into our styles for next year and coming up with new ways in which to keep our style different from everyone else out there. When I look at the websites of a few of the local photographers it's more than apparent that they have started copying what we were doing last year, even the layout of their websites start to look the same, including in some cases even the text. Whilst they say copying your work is the highest form of flattery it can sometimes be slightly annoying, but then I suppose it keeps me striving to improve and move forward, to keep ahead for the next 12 months.

If you were one of our brides/groom from this year and want to book your free portrait sitting then please contact us soon to ensure we can have your prints back for Christmas. Lots of you have taken up the offer but we still have a few places left. Contact us for more details.

We're off Salsa dancing tonight (week 3) so aches and pains tomorrow no doubt!!

Regards,

Carl

2007-11-07T19:03:00.000Z

Early Christmas Present from us.

As an early Christmas present from us we are offering a massive £350.00 discount (or a free disc containing all the Jpg's of your wedding) to all UK weddings booked for 2008, before the end of November 2007.
For all destination weddings (abroad) booked for 2008 before the end of November we will not be charging for the car hire or accomodation costs, again another great saving.

If you would like to take advantage of this great deal just mention when calling that you saw the "blog offer".

A 10% deposit must be received prior to the end of November 2007 to qualify. This offer is only valid for weddings booked between 1st November 2007 & 30th November 2007 regardless of wedding date in 2008.

Hurry, we have limited dates avaiable.

Regards, Carl

2007-09-28T14:21:00.000+01:00

Take a look at this.

Hopefully one of our clients whose wedding we will be videoing next year may want to consider recreating this idea.

Absolutely brilliant. We love it!

Carl

2007-09-14T09:35:00.000+01:00

Today is the wedding of Sarah & Craig

So, today we will be shooting the wedding of Sarah & Craig. The weather forecast for today was supposed to be fine and sunny, but looking out of the studio window at the moment, it's overcast and drizzle. Hopefully it will brighten up ...verrry sooon!

As always, a slideshow of the highlights will be uploaded to Sarah & Craig's page. If you would like a link to view their slideshow please send us an email (details on opur contact page) and include Sarah & Craigs name, surname and reception venue name.

Hopefully, a great day will be had by all.

Carl

2007-09-02T14:44:00.000+01:00

Blogging time again

Well I must apologise for not updating the blog page since the wedding of Milly & Bren. We have done loads of weddings since then and have just been so busy our priorities have been getting albums designed and ordered and trying to squeeze in a couple of weeks in Spain also.

So now we're back, and yesterday was the wedding of Candice & John at the MountPleasant Hotel nr Doncaster. What a lovely setting it was and great weather. I will post some images in the next couple of days but if you were a guest and would like to see their wedding highlight slideshow as always, send us an email requesting the link, along with their surname.

Hopefully we can get the blog updated as often as before.

Regards,

Carl

2007-07-10T11:12:00.000+01:00

The Wedding of Milly & Bren

So Saturday saw is in the South of the County, St Johns Church in Ilkeston for the service and then off down the motorway right next door to Donnington racetrack.

We started at taking shots wwith Milly getting ready and captured this beautifully lit shot as she adds the finishing touches to her dress.

I love this shot of the ring on the service book, there was a stream of sunlight coming from one of the windows which allowed us to get this stunning shot.

The Bride & groom had 3 rally cars as their wedding cars, which certainly turned a lot of heads as we drove from the church down to Donnington. We managed to grab the shot of the car by hanging out of the window at 70mph as we travelled down the motorway.

Bren and his mates are into sky diving, so we decided to get them to run and jump of the grass bank, look closely and you will see the jet plane in the background which had just taken off from East Midlands airport ... perfect timing!

A fun shot with the girls ...

And finally the bride and groom, now Mr & Mrs.

As always if you would like to see the slideshow and photographs of the day please send us an email with Milly & Bren in the subject line.

Carl

2007-07-04T17:37:00.000+01:00

The Wedding Of Kelly & Mike

Firstly I must apologise for not putting this entry on earlier but Jenny & I have been struck down and bed ridden with a sickness bug that has hit our whole family, anyway we're almost back to firing on all four cylinders.

So the wedding of Kelly & Mike, the weather held off and we had fantastic sunshine as you can see in the shot below. A bit of a panic at the start of the day as the wedding car broke down en-route, so Mike had to get a taxi and the bridesmaids and Kelly were rushed to The Ringwood Hall just in time to meet with the registrars with a minute to spare. After the panic, everyone settled in to enjoy the rest of the day. We got some beautiful photographs in the grounds, but here's a couple of my favourites...so far.

Have a great honeymoon guys.

As always, if you would like to view Kelly & Mikes wedding pictures drop us an email with Kelly & Mike Wedding in the subject line.

Regards,

Carl

2007-06-26T19:48:00.000+01:00

I'm so stoked over this booking.

A few weeks ago we took a booking for a wedding in 2009, Louise & Andy. It was a massive suprise wedding which was going to be announced at their engagement later in the year. However we received a call today from Louise saying that their plans had changed.....passports ready... looks like we're off to Mexico for two weeks to shoot their wedding. They have now let the secret out to friends and family so everyone can make the trip, and they have hardly slept fearing that we wouldn't be able to make it. All that remains is to confirm the actual venue and hotel and get the flights booked. We're so excited about this wedding and already thinking of some fantastic shots to make a fantastic album. Here's a montage image I put together just after the phone call. The images aren't mine but I created the montage.

Vamos!

2007-06-24T23:31:00.000+01:00

Another image from Cara & Marks Wedding day

I didn't have a lot of time when I was uploading the blog from Cara & Mark's wedding so here's another one of their wedding day pictures.

We had this weekend off, which was just as well because we've had nothing but rain so not the best of weekends to get married. Instead of working we got to spend some time with the kids which due to being wedding photographers, sometimes gets in the way, (the photography not the kids) so we have to make up time when we can. We've got a wedding Friday this week and then we're going up to one of our clients from 2005, Sally & John. The plan is for an overnight stay and a big BBQ which we're really looking forward to, they are an absolutely great couple, we spent 3 days/ 2 nights with them at their wedding and had a great time then so this weekend should be fantastic. Let's hope the weather improves.

Carl

2007-06-17T19:03:00.001+01:00

The Wedding of Cara & Mark, Saturday 16th June 2007

Well yesterday we had the pleasure of shooting the wedding of Cara & Mark at the beautiful church setting of Pleasley church, which incidentally was the church where Cara's mum and dad also were married, so it probably brought back some happy memories for them too.
Heavy rain had been given out on the weather forecast and the morning kept dry. It was as though someone had answered their prayers and was looking down on them. The wedding was scheduled for 1.30pm and was a very emotional service. Nervous smiles from the bride and groom led to smiles of relief and joy.

We got all the family shots at church and then Cara & Mark and the bridesmaids made their way to Hardwick Hall ponds where we had scheduled the romantic photo session. We all got out of the cars but after a few moments the heavens opened and we had an almighty downpour. The bridesmaids made their way back to the car but Cara & Mark, with the assistance of a few brollies and the kind help of the driver from Cottam Carriages, braved the rain and we got some stunning shots of the couple. Although it was raining heavily the light was fantastic and in between Matt (our assistant) and the chauffeur, both holding brollies and then jumping out of the shot we managed to get enough images to make a truly stunning album.

At the reception there were tears again as the couple along with their family viewed the slideshow we had put together during their wedding breakfast.

Thanks again to Cara & Mark for braving the rain, we know we had to twist your arms a bit to get you to stay out, but the effort has paid off.

Have a great honeymoon and we'll see you when you get back.

As always, if you would like to view a slideshow of Cara & Mark's wedding please send us an email for the link.

Carl & Jenny.

2007-06-10T16:41:00.000+01:00

The Wedding of Debs & Pete at Kelham Hall, Nottinghamshire

Well yesterday saw us in action at Kelham Hall, Nottinghamshire. As you can see this is a magnificent building and the wedding itself matched it. Deb & Pete made their vows to one another in front of their friends and family in the grand room set aside for wedding services.

After the service everyone made their way into the gardens for the photo session, with the weather really warm, it was nice to get under the shade of the trees.

Deb & Pete started to get into the swing of the photography session very quickly and we captured some fantastic pictures.
Heres a few more of my favourites from the day.

This next one is my favourite, i've had a shot like this in mind for some time, and the venue was ideal to capture the solitary moment of Debs, reflecting on the day's events.

Have a great honeymoon guy's.

If you would like to see more of their images, or the wedding day sedit of the slideshow, please send us an email with "Deb's & Pete" in the subject line.

A general reminder, the images on this blog may appear slightly lighter or slightly darker on your screen than they do on mine & in the final print. They are printed to be calibrated with my screen only.

Carl & Jenny

2007-06-08T00:40:00.001+01:00

A few more fine art prints!

Well i've been busy trying a new look to my fine art prints. For a while now i've been wanting to find a recognisable style for when we do our signature fine art prints. Well I think i've found a bit of a style that i'm going to start to adopt.
Yesterday I gave you a taste of before and after shots, well today here's a few more, but just the final edit. I will be producing at least one large fine art print from each wedding we attend this year, with a view to building my portfolio and to offer a limited number to each set of clients. I really like this style of print and i'm pretty sure that you will too.

Carl

2007-06-07T02:04:00.000+01:00

What do you think?

I got home this evening and decided to have a play around editing a few images hoping to find some new looks.
Most of the preview shots we put up on slide shows, apart from the album layouts themselves, are generally proof images out of the camera, with just a minor edit such as levels, white balance etc. Just to show the difference what a bit of time can make to an image to be printed take a look at tthe two images below.

The first image is a basic edit shot, almost straight out of the camera. Nice, but nothing really to write home about. The second image is the same shot, but this time a full process and edit applied to it. The difference is amazing, what I have created here is a piece of artwork, worthy of being blown up and made into a wall print.If it appears to dark on your screen then that's probably your screen colour set up, here in print it looks great.

Let me know which your preference is, either on here or by email. Hope you enjoy them.

1)Before:

2) After:

Which do you prefer?

Carl

2007-06-02T23:05:00.000+01:00

What a great day we've had shooting Louise & James' wedding.

We have been at Ringwood Hall again today, having the privelidge of shooting Louise & James Cliffe's wedding.
The day ran really smoothly with everyone enjoying themselves and having a great time.

The weather was great, warm with blue skies. We got some really great shots again today and finished off with a wedding day slideshow. Louise & James got to see the first preview, we then went back into the main room where family & friends came in to watch. We had a great response.

If you would like to view the wedding day slideshow, please send us an email with Louise & James slideshow in the subject line.

Here's a shot of them exchanging the rings.

Carl & Jenny

2007-05-26T23:27:00.000+01:00

Today was the wedding of Alicia & Mark

We had the pleasure today of shooting the wedding of Alicia & Mark at the Ringwood Hall Hotel, nr Chesterfield.
We always enjoy attending Ringwood and today was no exception.

The day started off with some shots of Mark and Anthony, his best man, before we went up to get the shots of Alicia, just prior to her leaving the room for the ceremony. We got some great shots of little Yasmine, who was great throughout the day.

After the service we made our way into the gardens and got the formal's of family, and the confetti shot, at which point we had a short light shower but it didn't spoil the day.

We then spent some time with Alicia & Mark in the gardens getting some really nice shots.

If you would like to view a slideshow of Alicia & Mark's wedding day highlights, please send us an email.

Have a great honeymoon guy's.

Carl & Jenny

2007-05-23T23:50:00.000+01:00

If you have booked our services please read this.

We are currently making a few changes to the website to streamline it a little more. You will mainly notice that we are not putting every pre-wedding shoot and wedding on that page. We want the web site to be easier to navigate through and feel that there are now too many different shows on there.

Fear not though as we will still be publishing yours to the website, but instead of it being available on the main site we will pass out the address to respective brides, families & friends. Quite simply, we will be sending out via email, something special to each bride & groom which from the response so far, you will love. Once you have seen it, then all will become self explanatory.

If your friends and family send us an email requesting details of your slideshows, we will send them a lin, saving you the time.

We may still use the odd slideshow here and there to replace some of the older ones from last year, so don't be suprised if you see yours on the page.

This is not something we have decided to do lightly, but hope that it will improve the service we can give to our past, current and future clients.

This weekend we have the wedding of Alicia & Mark, the weather forecast is looking good for Saturday. It 's promising to be a great wedding and we're really looking forward to it.

Last weekend was the wedding of Kirsty & Craig. They are still on honeymoon but guy's if you are reading this check your email, i've sent you a link, your album is now designed and ready to view, it looks great.

Time for bed I think...!!

Carl

2007-05-21T11:35:00.000+01:00

Saturday's wedding.... Kirsty & Craig.

Saturday morning and as we started to load the car up the heavens opened. It looked like we were going to be in for one rainy day. As luck had it, as we got to Craig the sun had started to fight through the clouds. We got to Kirsty and the rain started to battle back, but tby the time we were leaving it had eased off again.
On arrival at the church the wedding in front was running late by about 20 minutes, so I made a discreet call to Kirsty before she left home to tell her not to worry but we might have to send her round the block a couple of times.
The final moment arrived and Kirsty arrived and looked spectacular. I was going to say the service went without a "hitch", but that wouldn't be quite right would it? A loveley service and the sun was out. We did the formals at the church before the bridesmaids, best man, ushers and the happy couple moved on to Hardwick Hall ponds for a photo shoot, the rest of the guests made their way to the reception.

We got some great shots from Hardwick and got to know a bit more about the history of Kirsty & Craig before leaving. A good time was had by all.

To view the slideshow and gallery of Kirsty & Craigs wedding day please send us an email with Kirsty & Craig as the subject line. We will send you a link to their pages.

Have a great honeymoon guy's.

Carl & Jenny

2007-05-05T22:27:00.000+01:00

Today the wedding of Rachel & Jonathan

So today was the wedding of Rachel & Jonathan. It has been a great day and a very emotional one. We had tears when Rachel first put her dress on, tears again when dad saw her for the first time, tears again during the service, the photoshoot and again when we presented our wedding day edit slideshow just after the wedding breakfast. We had a great time meeting some really great people at this wedding, and everyone enjoyed themselves immensley. Here's the slideshow edit we did at the reception;

Congratulations guy's we'll see you when you get back from your honeymoon around the world.

Also, we have added another video highlight, we were asked a few days ago to film a good friend of ours' son and his singing partner, the video footage is of the band Awesome Duesome, this is the first song of their first set, and believe me it just gets better. I am in the process of editing them the full set of their gig and burning it to DVD, it's an exciting and different project to be involved in.
Click here to view it, please be patient whilst it downloads.

2007-04-21T09:56:00.000+01:00

Updated web page at last

Okay, so last night I finally got around to updating one of my web pages, the video information page. It's still got a lot of work to have done to it but at least at the moment i've got one preview highlight video up and running.

My aim is to create a similar page as we have on the slideshow page for the photography section, so as they say in the business, "stay tuned"!

The video preview is the highlights of Claire & Steve as a special treat for something they told me the other day, (you guy's know what that is so here's my treat).

Last weekend we had the wedding of Laura & Paul, at Newstead Abbey, it was a red hot day and we got some great shots.

Today we have the pre-wedding shoot of Kelly & Mike, and then tonight we are at the Cutlers Hotel, photographing the Coldstream Guards annual dinner.

I'll post an update later.

Carl

2007-04-12T17:34:00.000+01:00

Apologies for no updates

Well it's a few weeks since I last updated the blog. Apologies to our regular readers who like to keep up to date, but we have been sooooo busy the last few weeks, I just haven't had much spare time.

I am currently re designing part of the web site which hopefully will be going live soon. We have also been working around the clock trying to get all of our outstanding albums sorted, that along with wedding fairs, video edits, and a few commercial jobs that have come in, we haven't had much time spare. On top of that our internet provider has really been letting us down on a major scale, so much so that i've had enough and have cancelled our account with them which we have had for several years, almost since the internet became publicly available, we have now moved to a new provider and our scheduled swap over date is tomorrow, 13th April! So if any of you try sending an email, although it will be delivered to our server, we may not be able to access it for a few hours, so don't worry if we don't reply straight away. We will get back to you.

Some of the updates to the web site will be a video preview page where we will now start uploading highlights of your wedding videos as well as your photo slideshows. Although we do sell a lot of video packages, we haven't really pushed them, as most of our clients who use us for photography, once they come to our studio and see our work, book us for the video as well. So we have decided that we will now be promoting our video services as much as our photographic packages. We have some great new ideas for the video, which will bring it in line with our contemporary photographic packages with regards to package inclusions.
One of the updates we will be including in the service is a highlight version of your wedding movie actually shown at your reception on the day of the wedding! As well as your photographic slideshow, even more of a wow factor for you and your guests! And also an iPod video package to go along with our iDo iPod photo package Lots more to come.

As they say... watch this space.... now where was I? Oh Yes, "lights, camera, action!"

2007-03-05T00:03:00.000Z

The Lunar Eclipse

Okay, so how many of you braved the cold weather to stay outside and watch the eclipse. I for one did.
It was a really clear night locally and we got a great view of the eclipse with not a cloud in sight. I didn't stay right to the end as it was getting quite late and I got all the pictures I wanted to get.

Hope you like the picture.

Carl

2007-02-25T21:28:00.000Z

FREE DESTINATION WEDDING

As you may well know one of our markets is couples who choose a destination wedding. As we enjoy them so much we have decided to run a bit of a giveaway to two lucky couples.

We'll be shooting TWO destination weddings for FREE this year, ONE in April 2007 and ONE in October 2007. The main purpose is to build our portfolio for this type of market and help a deserving couple along the way.

A few rules:
• You must pay for the actual costs of transportation and hotel and meals (approx 3 nights depending on flight times) for me and a 2nd photographer (Jenny).
• You must be getting married in April or October 2007 outside the UK and have a set location and date.
• You must send us a few lines telling us why you want us to shoot your wedding along with a recent photo of you and your fiancé.
• You must agree to let us use the images for the purpose of self-promotion.

- There's no catch. We will provide you with hi-resolution digital files and online viewing/ordering on our website. You can purchase other products like albums, prints, enlargements, etc. from us but you don't have to... although I would love to design your album ;-)

- After we receive enough requests we will decide based on our availability, location and type of wedding so MAKE SURE YOU INCLUDE DETAILS should you decide to contact us. We'll try to come up with an announcement date as soon as we get a feel on the number of requests we'll be getting.

Email us at info@class1weddings.com with the subject line "FREE DESTINATION WEDDING". THANKS A LOT! AND GOOD LUCK

Carl

2007-02-21T20:54:00.000Z

What a great day today

So today i went up to Scunthorpe to take some promotional shots of the Sheffield Tigers Speedway Team. It was one of their practice sessions before the season starts again in a few weeks. Andy, one of our photographers made the trip also so between us we got some great shots.

A special treat was two riders of world status, Jason Crump, last years world champion speedway rider and John McGuinness who holds the world record for the fastest lap around the Isle of Man TT. Jason asked us not to publish any photos though because he is under contract to wear sponsor's details and he didn't have his new race suit with the new sponsor details. John had a broken finger so unfortunately he didn't get on the bike.

The rest of the riders seemed to enjoy the day as much as me and Andy.
Heres a few photo's from my selection and a link to view a few more, and also a link to watch the slideshow.

Enjoy

Regards,
Carl

2007-02-19T21:26:00.000Z

Busy weekend again!

Well Saturday night saw us at the Baldwins Omega club in Sheffield for a black tie event hosted by one of the biggest solicitor firms in Sheffield. We were hired for the event photography taking everyone's portrait as they came in and then further photographs throughout the evening. A great night was had by all and it was made extra special by seeing some of our clients from the last couple of years.

Sunday we were at one of the wedding fairs we organise, again a very good turnout and lots of enquiries for next year. The fashion show was a success despite a couple of problems where we were let down by a couple of the vendors. The highlight of my day was meeting up with new clients, who booked us for their wedding in July, Jerry & John. We hit it off straight away and all of us were so enthusiastic about their wedding day, I am really looking forward to their wedding as they were on exactly the same wavelength as me for how I love to shoot and design albums. Jerry had brought along her parents and within a couple of minutes I felt as though i'd known all of them all my life. It's going to be one fantastic day, I can't wait.

Regards,
Carl

2007-02-17T00:59:00.000Z

Under the weather

Okay, today i've been a bit under the weather. I haven't felt the best of health today and due to a restless sleep last night i've had to catch up today. I'm feeling a lot better now but the problem is because i've been napping throughout the day i'm not tired now and it's 1am! So, I've just been looking through some images from my travels last year and just found this one which I thought i'd share with you. I took this from my pocket Canon Ixus, it was taken whilst on the Spanish Steps in Rome. I love this shot. The street you can see has probably the most expensive shops in Rome. All the top named brands, Gucci, Versace, Cartier etc are on this street, in fact most of the shops have an armed guard in the doorway. We fell in love with Rome when we visited last January for my birthday, and we can't wait to go back again. Although we only spent four days there we feel like we know every street corner, or should I say Plaza. We threw the coin into the Trevi Fountain, so it's guaranteed we'll return one day, hopefully we'll be able to take a few days there later in the year.

Hope you like the shot.

Regards,
Carl

2007-02-14T23:04:00.000Z

Is everyone this busy or is it just me?

Well what a few hectic days we've had since my last post.
I usually get up around 6am every morning and prepare myself for the day ahead. My day starts normally by making the good old cup of tea, taking one to Jenny just before she gets up to face the world and then sitting down for five minutes planning the priorities of the days workload. Once that's done it's a re-cap on yesterdays work, check for emails that may have come in from across the water (USA), and then start working. I normally take a 10 minute break around 8.30 for a bit of breakfast and another cuppa and then carry on, normally being interrupted every 15 minutes or so by the phone. Before you realise, it's almost tea time, the kids are returning home from school and another day done. Well for an hour then it's back into the office or studio for another couple of hours.

Anyway back to the last few days, we went out for a black tie event on Saturday night which was most enjoyable. The function was held at the Ringwood Hall and a good night was had by everyone who attended, dancing till midnight after a beautifully prepared meal. Of course the camera went with us and we shot a few pictures of the host with friends and colleagues which was appreciated. Sunday we had the Wedding Fair which was very busy, but very worthwhile. Tuesday night we called round to some clients from a couple of years ago, Amy & Garvin. They had a beautiful baby daughter 8 months ago, so we called round to catch up on whats happening in there lives and to see "baby Harris" what a lovely little girl, and they are both so proud of her. We enjoyed spending time with them even though it was only for an hour. It's great to meet up with our past clients, as they are now friends. I think one of the best parts of being a wedding photographer is the bond you form with your clients, and it's great when you can meet up a couple of years after their wedding and you get on like it was last week.

Well the last three days have brought in more orders for canvas prints, reprints and portrait sittings than I could have hoped for. We are having to put a 4-5 week waiting list on some of our portrait sittings 'cos they're getting that popular, but hey, i'm not complaining, give us a call and book one.

In fact one of the new additions to our wedding packages is a portrait for life membership. How this works is that once we have shot your wedding, we will offer you a free portrait sitting twice a year for life (subject to certain conditions of course).
As a special bonus to our previous clients, if you call us before the 28th February 2007, we will offer you the same free membership. Either call us by phone or send an email to our normal address.

Anyway, I hope you have all had a great Valentines day.

Regards,
Carl

2007-02-08T20:35:00.000Z

The new stand in production

So today one of the jobs I had to get on with was to build a new version of our wedding fair display stand. We had one custom built last year but it wasn't that transportable unless you had two really big guy's to lift it, a fork truck to move it and a Pickford's van to transport it! So i've copied the design but made it sectional. Jenny's dad came down to help me, he's the one in the pictures, well you can't take photos and be working at the same time can you? We have almost finished it, just got to go down in the morning and glue the acrylic panels in place.

Also we had our new sofas delivered yesterday, a bit brighter than the black leather one we had before as i'm sure you will agree and an extra seat also. We just need to get our track lighting fitted and some more contemporary framed images and we should just about be finished in the studio. We have just sourced a designer who will print us some absolutely fantastic unique style of prints which we hope to have on our walls in the net few weeks. I'm 100% sure that when our clients see them they are going to go crazy for them.
Anyway heres a shot of our new sofas.

If you are thinking of getting married then come along to our Wedding Fair this coming Sunday 11th February at the Chesterfield Winding Wheel. There will be a fashion show, lot's of different exhibitors catering for all your wedding requirements. A day not to be missed, free entry and open from 11.00-4pm.

Hope your not snowed in wherever you are, we have quite a bit of snow at the moment, hopefully it will have cleared for Sunday. Quite a comparise to last weekends weather.

Finally, do you use Skype? AIM? iChat? etc. Well tonight I recieved a phone call from one of my Uncles who has moved out to France. I asked him to Skype me and he suggested another system, www.jajah.com I visited it and was blown away by the fantastic system it is. All you do is register which is free! If you then want to call someone you just enter their phone number into the panel on the PC screen and a couple of seconds later your home telephone number will start to ring, answer it then you will hear the normal dialling tone, once the other person picks up that's it. You talk using your normal telephone but it doesn't cost anything!!! as long as the other persons also registered. If there not then the rates are very very cheap anyway.
I spent 35 minutes speaking to my Uncle in France and it didn't cost a dime. Check it out and sign up today. It's my favourite find of the week.

Regards,
Carl

2007-02-04T20:32:00.000Z

Another great wedding yesterday

SO yesterday was the wedding of Rachel & John. We started out at Rachels house at 10.25am, only to find she hadn't got back from the hairdressers! After a quick phone call from one of the bridesmaids we suddenly had Rachel run past us up the stairs and no joking within 1 minute was coming back downstairs with the dress on looking great. I must say i've never known any bride, eve, who could put on a wedding dress that quick! A few photos later and we were off to church. The wedding was been held at St Helen's Church, Darley Dale. It was the first time I had visited this church, I was amazed at some of the artifacts around the church yard. There were stone caskets hundreds of years old, a massive tree with a history plaque fastened to it saying it was believed to be at least 2000yrs old! I have made a note to go back on a quiter day to have a good look round. So, back to the wedding, the groom, John arrived a few minutes after me and Jenny, we got some great shots of the "boys" walking up the middle of the road, "Reservoir Dog's" style, that made them feel good.
The bridesmaids arrived on time followed by Rachel and her dad. The ceremony went without a hitch and it was soon time for the confetti shot. The couple had delegated one of their friends to hand out confetti from a large bag at the church gates to all the guests. I don't ever recall seeing as much confetti at one wedding before, i'm still finding it now!!
Off to Ringwood for the reception and main photo shoot. The weather stayed great, clear blue skies and not too cold. Amazing really for February.
We left the party later.
To view a slideshow of just a few of the images click here

We hope you guys had a great day, we certainly did.

Regards
Carl & Jenny

2007-02-01T20:29:00.000Z

It feels great to be alive!

So today, I was up bright and early around 6ish, It was my daughter, Carlene's birthday, 13 today, but I had to be out on the road for a photographic job I had booked. I have now started to carry my G7 around with me instead of my Ixus, mainly because it's a better camera. I looked out of the car window around 7.15am and saw this fantastic sunrise.
I just had to stop and get the camera out!

The start of a new day, and 13 years ago the start of a newborn. I can't believe how the last 13 years have flown by, from someone who was reliant on total survival to someone who excels in everything she does at school, especially sports, and just as a for instance, Carlene has started to play in a Ladies league of netball.. she takes after Jenny for that one... her team (average age of 12-13yrs) in their first match, beat a ladies team 15-3. She has expressed an interest in photography but to be quite honest I dare'nt give her a camera,'cos i need to be working for the next 10-20 years or so!

13 years forward and back to today. I am just in the process of adding some extra pages to the web site. We have been working for the past year on developing some tuition courses, on photography. Some courses aimed at serious amateurs, and others aimed at total novices. I will be listing some courses we will be running later in the year on the web site and here on the blog.
I will also be giving away a FREE online photo course which you can receive by simply subscribing to.

Check the web site or keep checking back here for further details. I should have it up and running within the next week.

To finish, if it's your birthday also today, happy birthday, if not, have a great day regardless.

Until. next time,

As always, warmest regards,
Carl

2007-01-30T21:49:00.000Z

We've got our sign at last

So, today we got a call from the printers to say that our signs were ready to pick up. They'e had a few problems since we dropped off the order which has been a bit frustrating to say the least, but hey, alls well that ends well. So tonight me & Jenny went down to the studio to put up the new signs, it's amazing what you can use a van for, tonight it was a mobile set of ladders. While I was clambering about on the roof Jenny got my new G7 camera out and took a few pics of me fastening the sign up.. the beauty of digital eh?

Were both looking forward to the wedding this weekend of Rachel & John. They're getting married at Darley Dale and then having their reception at the Ringwood Hall, a favourite of ours as that's where we had our reception, but I think i've mentioned that before.

Anyway heres a few pics of the official sign fitting.

Regards,
Carl

2007-01-26T17:52:00.000Z

Happy Birthday to me....

Well today it's my birthday, 21 again (I wish). Had a great day, Jenny has bought me a new camera for playing with, the Canon G7, it's a bit more than a compact but not quite a full blown pro slr. It's being delivered tomorrow morning so can't wait. I normally carry around a small Canon Ixus which is a great little camera but when you take the odd piccie you want to blow up, you are a bit restricted, this new G7 is a brilliant piece of kit, fully manual and also has a video recording facility which gives fairly good reproduction so we can use it for making our small vidcasts we have started doing on location shoots. The kids have got me another couple of the Dan Brown books, check him out if you've not read any of his books...brilliant, I had a pair of NEXT slippers and a cool set of cuff links from my parents, and tonight we are going out for a meal with my sister and brother in law. It was his birthday yesterday so we have booked a restaurant and got 40 of our friends and family coming down for what looks like a good night. Just about to crack open a bottle of champagne to enjoy before we leave...yes we're getting a taxi!

Regards,
...a year older,...

Carl

2007-01-22T16:24:00.000Z

Brrr...it's freezing today.!

Well today I had to go over the hills to Buxton, I couldn't believe the difference in the weather from back here at home. When I left it was glorious sunshine although it was a little chilly, 14 miles later I went over a hill to be faced with a totally white landscape. I couldn't believe how much snow there was. Here's a quick photo i took on my mobile phone, so quality isn't brilliant, but it gives an idea.

Thanks go out to Claire & Steve for our meal on Saturday night, we had a great time and Claire is a fabulous cook.

Going to sit next to a the fire now to warm up....brrrrr.

Carl

2007-01-20T13:15:00.000Z

The wind is settling down at last

Wow, what a few days we've had with strong winds. I spent the other day down at the studio, phones switched off so that I could get some editing done without any distractions. I arrived home around 4pm only to find that 12 6x6 fence panels had decided to uproot themselves and go walkabout. Jenny, and her dad were busy with pieces of wood and bags of nails trying to get everything back together when all of a sudden a gust came and put the roof of one of our garden sheds on the driveway of a neighbour, luckily his car wasn't there at the time! We managed to rescue all but two panels which went into orbit and smashed into hundreds of pieces on re-entry, as if we're not busy enough!!

As some off you know it's my birthday next Friday, i've just had a text from a close friend who has a house in Spain (see previous blog entries), he's kindly invited us over to stay, only problem is we have weddings and wedding fairs arranged and can't fit it in... i'm gutted and to make it worse he said he hasn't seen a cloud in the sky since christmas eve!

We're looking forward to spending the evening with Claire & Steve tonight, some of our clients from last year who have very kindly invited us over for a dinner party.

Okay, back to work, video's & pics to edit.

Regards as always,
Carl

2007-01-15T23:42:00.000Z

So much happening this week!

There is so much happening this week, i don't know what day it is half the time.
Today we have been contacted by 6 brides wanting to book consultations, 2 for weddings this year and 4 for weddings next year. We already have 10 booking for 2008. Tonight I have had a consultation with Rachael & John who have booked us to shoot their wedding on 3rd February. We're really looking forward to their special day, the church is beautiful and the reception venue, the Ringwood Hall is actually one of our favourites cause it's where we had our wedding reception when we got married. Ringwood always has a special place in my heart as I relive our wedding day everytime we go. What a fantastic day that was. I think one of the reasons we love wedding photography so much is because we had such a fantastic day when we got married and in a way we relive it every wedding we shoot. We aim to make every couples day as special as ours felt.

This coming weekend we are taking a night off. We have been invited by one of our couples from last year, Claire & Steve, to their house for a dinner party. Claire sent me a text earlier this evening and I must say the menu looks absolutley great, I can't wait. I'll post some pics up after the event.

I have been planning an event for the following weekend. I am a member of a professional wedding photographers forum, where the majority of members are from the US, however we have quite a few UK members. Well on the 28th we are having the very first UK members meeting and I am arranging it all. We have members coming from all over the UK, on member is flying back from Russia to be with us and we have a very special guest appearance from a famous and much sought after US photographer David Jay. Over the past few monthd DJ (as he is known to his friends) has become a friend of mine and has agreed to come over to give a talk at our meeting. I'm sure it will be inspirational for all of our members. It should be a great night.

Just one last thing, if you were one of our brides/grooms from last year and you haven't yet returned your selection list, can you please get it back to us by the end of this month so we can get the albums printed.

Regards as always,
Carl

2007-01-06T23:33:00.000Z

The Wedding of Beth & Doug

So today we shot our first wedding of 2007, the wedding of Beth & Doug at Whitley Hall, Sheffield. This great couple reside in Philladelphia US and came over to the UK for their wedding. Beth family are from the UK and Doug's from the US, they had a good trip over here, stayed for a few days and will be returning back to their home country in the next few days. A great day was had by all.

Luckily the weather stayed fine, although with it being an afternoon wedding we started to quickly lose the natural light shortly after the service.

Here's a link to their slideshow

Here are a few of my favourite shots from today. If you were at the wedding, or are a friend or relative who couldn't make it, drop us an email requesting the web address where you will be able to view their images.

I hope you enjoy looking at these images as much as we enjoyed taking them.
Congratulations again Beth & Doug and Happy Honeymoon.

Carl & Jenny

2007-01-01T15:26:00.000Z

HAPPY NEW YEAR !!

We would just like to wish everyone a Happy & prosperous new year.

Well last night we went to The Brampton Manor Country Club's New Years Eve Party.
It was a ticket only, black tie event, and a great time was had by all. I would like to thank Craig and Andrea, the owners, for putting on such a great night. It started with being greeted at the door by Craig personally, a champagne reception, and then getting to mingle and talk with the other guests whilst a pianist was playing in the bar area. After a few more drinks it the buffet was opened. Compliments go out to the chef who had prepared fresh salmon, other seafood delights, chicken, beef, etc etc. The cheese board was almost as big as our dining room table. It was an excellent spread. After the buffet it was time for the disco, the dancefloor was full all night. The countdown came and then everyone went outside for a fire work display, and the rain held off.
We left at around 1.40am and the party was still going strong.
We met new friends Lynette & ALan, and met old friends as well, some of them from primary school! We also spent time with a couple from two years ago whose wedding we photographed, Michelle & Keith.
A fantastic night was had by all, and I expect a few sore heads this morning. Here's a few images from the party.

Cheers Alan!

"I only have eyes for you!" Michelle & Keith

Jenny & Auld Lang Syne

Dance the night away! Lynette & Alan

The early hours!

Happy New Year,
Carl & Jenny

2006-12-30T19:00:00.000Z

The pre wedding shoot of Beth & Doug

So, today we got to meet Beth & Doug again, whose wedding we will be shooting next weekend. Beth & Doug live in Philladelphia, US and have decided to get married here in the UK. We were really excited to be selected to be their wedding photographers. We met earlier on in the year when they were visiting and discussed the wedding plans, and today we shot the pre-wedding shoot.

Here are a few images from their pre wedding shoot, and you can also see there pre wedding shoot slideshow here.

We had a great time with Beth & Doug and can't wait to shoot the wedding next week.

Thanks again guy's for allowing us to photograph this special day in your lives.

Carl & Jenny

2006-12-22T10:15:00.000Z

Almost Christmas

Well last night me & the kids went out to our local Tesco store to get the shopping in for christmas. We left it till late hoping that it wouldn't be so busy....I think everyone else had the same idea, I almost didn't even drive into the car park. ANyway after 2 hours we finally got through the checkout, got home and found that the assistant had not put through the checkout several christmas cards and a couple of presents, I imagione the're still on her counter. I wasn't charged for them, but it means i've got to go and do it all again... It's probably a conspiracy sent down from head office to make sure people go back and spend some more money!! I just wished my surname was Tesco!

Anyway, I had an early morning visit today from Claire, one of our brides from this year. We had Claire & Steve's album delivered from Graphi and she had come to pick it up. SHe was over the moon with the album and was off to show it to all her friends and work mates. I must admit I thought it looked fantastic. Claire & Steve more or less gave us a free reign on the locations and poses for their wedding to make it very contemporary, so we decided because they were getting married on market day we would be different and go and shoot some of their pictures around the market and High Street, Yervant & Schembri style. It was a great fun shoot and the trust they placed in us paid off. You can see their slideshow here.

Have a great christmas everyone.

Carl

2006-12-19T21:34:00.000Z

Great to hear from you!

I love getting text messages from you and if you ever wonder if I got it or not - I probably didn't. I will send a reply even if it's just to acknowledge receipt if I am a little busy at the time. My O2 XDA system for text messages is good for people who only get a handful of email/texts a day but I've been getting 200-400 emails a day (only 100-200 that I actually have to respond to. The rest are orders and a lot is spam) so the text messages get buried fast.

I try and respond to all my email but it's easy for it to take over. Today I sent 65 emails which is my new all time high so thanks for understanding if it takes me a little while to respond....and if it's a photography or business related question be sure to type in the subject line PHOTO INFO or WEDDING INFO.

Can you send me your email address please
For those of you who have booked with us, would you mind sending us your email addresses. We have just been going through all our bookings for next year and there are quite a few email addresses we haven't yet got. We are going to be sending out a newsletter (there is an option to opt out) to all our clients both past, present and future and so will require your email addresses. We are just deciding on the format for the email and will be starting to send it out at the beginning of the year. There will be offers, advice etc included in it. Hopefully everyone will benefit.

Credit card payments
Just one last thing, we are now fully set up to accept most credit cards by telephone or in person. Previously we could only accept credit card payments online, but now you can pay by telephone, if you do not trust internet payments. Please call for details etc.

Only a few more shopping days left!!!

Carl

2006-12-14T22:33:00.000Z

I got to meet Rocket Ron

For those of you who are into bike racing (GP) I got to meet one of my idols of the biking world today, Rocket Ron Haslam.

You may remember Ron from a few years ago as one of the leading GP motorcyclists in the world, his son Leon, is taking after him as one of the leading racers in the world. Well today I met both of them. I was asked to meet Ron at his home and take a few pics of him drawing out the winner to a competition, an entry which was submitted at the NEC bike show a couple of months ago. We had a good chinwag about bikes, although Ron did show some interest in my camera also!

I even got to have my picture taken with him.

As we parted Ron offered me a day down at the racetrack, trying out the bikes, I can't wait to take him up on his offer, i'll be giving him a call in the spring. Thanks Ron.

Carl

2006-12-13T08:39:00.000Z

WOW Check this out!
Hey Everyone!

I was just referred to this site by a friend and it is www.pandora.com. Basically it is a free online radio that you can type in a music artist or song and it will not only play songs by that artist but other artists under that similar music catergory. For example if you like Barlow Girl then you type in their name and it creates a station for you playing similar music. When a song comes up that you like and you want to remember it, you can save it to a favorites list, or there are even links to itunes and amazon if you would like to purchase the song or album. I know other sites offer something similar but this seems to be the best yet. At least as far as I know!
Have a look at it, i'm sure you'll be suprised at how good it is.

Comments!
I have a small request, think of it as a christmas present from you to us if you will. I know from speaking to our clients and other folks, that we get quite a few visitors to this blog. It would be nice if some of you guys would just take out a few minutes of your time and post in the comments section. (bottom of each blog is a link). You can comment on what we put in or anything else really that takes your fancy. It would be nice to get feedback on what you think of the blogs etc.

This coming year we will be featuring a lot more on the blog page about you the client. We will be posting more images on here of weddings and pre wedding shoots so hopefully you will refer the blogpage to your friends and family etc. Maybe if they add comments they can give us more info about you guys!

Okay that's it for this morning, it's almost 9am and time to start editing a video.

We shipped out the last of our reprint orders yesterday so you should all have either received them by now, or will have by the end of tomorrow.

Finally, just a picture of me and my daughter Carlene, last night. One great kid!

Have a great day everyone.

Best wishes for the season,
Carl

2006-12-11T22:27:00.000Z

14 days to Go!
Not many shopping days left.

Today Jenny & I went to Meadowhall to get some more christmas shopping done. I bought quite a few new outfits for Jenny, and some great gifts for the kids which have now been sent to Santa, in case they're reading the blog (which I know they do).

I've just uploaded Sally & Mark's slideshow to our slideshow page. Hope you like it guys!

We have now finished taking reprint orders for Christmas. For anyone who has ordered you should be receiving yours within the next few days.

Sally & Mark, Well done. We had a great time shooting your wedding day. Thank you again for choosing us to be part of your special day.

For those of you who are now into the christmas party scene, we hope you have a great festive season, don't drink too much wine or eat to many mince pies! but have a great time.

Seasons Greetings, Carl and Jenny

2006-12-05T23:11:00.000Z

ONLY 19 DAYS TO GO!

Only 19 days left to Christmas day! We put our tree up this weekend 'cos the kids were driving us crazy with excitement. Jenny decided this year she wanted a green tree decorated in silver, so we spent almost £100.00 on new decorations. At least she's happy, and I must say the tree looks great! So much for "the decorations we have are okay"!

I had an early christmas present delivered by accident today... Jenny, bless her cotton socks, had bought me as a suprise one of the new Wacom tablets (editing gizmo!) I have been wanting one for ages now but couldn't warrant spending the amount they cost on one. Bradley (our son) walked back from his grandparents today (they live between school and home), walked in the door and said "dad, your parcel is here", I looked at the box which had sticky tape with an album manufacturer name on it and a delivery label from one of our suppliers. I naturally thought that the postman had left it at the inlaws because I was out... I opened it up only to find my suprise christmas present from Jenny. I was absolutely gutted. I had wanted one of these for so long, and she had ordered me one as a suprise, only problem was her mum knew about it, but her dad was in when the parcel came and gave it to Brad thinking it was something I had ordered. Aah well, it's now under the tree, Jenny has some mega cred points and our clients will benefit from my gift next year.

Finally, if anyone wants to order reprints of any wedding we have shot this year, rather than order via the automated web page, send us an email with your image numbers and sizes required before the end of this week and we will send you an invoice with a massive 20% discount off your order. This offer is valid for orders received between 5th and 10th December 2006 and only applies to orders sent by email. We will send an online invoice which is payable within 24hrs. If you order by the automated web page then we're sorry but you don't qualify for the discount.

We will have all reprints posted out by 14th December as long as we have your order for the 10th.

We wish all our clients, customers, colleagues employees and friends a very merry christmas and a happy new year.

Finally we will not be taking calls or appointments between 23rd December and the 3rd January. We spend all year with our clients, Christmas is quality time we want to spend with our children. We hope you understand.

Carl & Jenny

2006-11-21T15:25:00.000Z

Christmas is coming!!

Have you thought about christmas yet? I have just got back from town, it's Jenny's birthday tomorrow (21 again!) so i've just been to get her some presents and a card. I had trouble finding a card that wasn't a christmas card, only 4 and a half weeks to go! It seems to come around quicker each year, guess that's a sign of getting hold!

For anyone requiring reprints our deadline for guaranteed delivery before christmas is the 7th December.

Are you having a christmas party and if so what about a little suprise for your guests? Don't forget we have some chocolate fountains for hire, a large one for big events and two small ones for small or home parties. The large one is staffed by a uniformed operator, but the small ones are delivered and left with you after showing you how to operate it. We still have some dates left if you want to book them.
Treat yourself!

Happy birthday Jenny Love you loads xx.
Carl

2006-11-18T19:36:00.000Z

The Peak FM Charity Calendar Launch Night
Well last night was the launch night of the Peak FM charity calendar, the second year we have been involved. We photographed all the volunteer models who I must say where absolutely fantastic. We and they had a great time doing the shots and hopefully this year we will sell loads more calendars and try and beat last years record of £23,000 towards charity. The charities again are the Genesis Breast Cancer Appeal, and the Ashgate Hospice, (a local cancer hospital).

I would just like to add a personal apology to one of our great models Becky. For some technical reason her photo didn't appear on the slideshow at the Livingstones release night. Please don't think Becky, it was for any reason. Technical gliches do happen occasionally. And to show how much we appreciate her help in making the calendar possible, here is Becky in her glory.

Here is a link to our models slideshow,

and one to the launch night party.

Thanks to everyone involved, we certainly enjoyed it. Thank you. Carl & Jenny

2006-11-07T20:51:00.000Z

Just got back from Spain

Well we've just got back from just over a week in sunny Spain. We went to stay at a friends villa for a few days in Torreveija and then went to visit some very good friends of ours Glynn & Julie, who live in a beautiful mountain-side hamlet 25 minutes from Benidorm and 5 minutes from an absolutely picturesque mountaintop village called Guadeleste. I have never seen anywhere so beautiful and breathtaking. We took a couple of friends along with us Jimmy & Georgie who are absolutely crazy! Jimmy who has never driven abroad before was doing really well, until half a mile from our villa, he had an arguement with a kerb on a roundabout!!!

We had a great time, and our kids, Carlene & Bradley fitted in really well with everyone. Carlene excelled in the beach 100m sprint race, and I think Bradley enjoyed catching fish and snorkelling in the sea.
Here are a few images of our week away.

Me & Jenny just chilling near the beach!

Glynn & Julie

Tequila sunset!

Benidorm beach as the sun is setting and we are sitting in the bar!

Enjoying the morning sun at Glynn & Julie's

Jenny, Georgie & Carlene fitting in with the locals.

Georgie & Jimmy sample the local winery!!!

We have loads more pictures, but these just sum the week up for me. Can't wait to go again and this time find a place to buy... yes!!

Thanks to Steve for the loan of his place in Torreveija, and to Glynn & Julie for their hospitality at their mountain home.

Carl

2006-10-07T18:41:00.000+01:00

Things are getting back to normal at last!

At last i'm pleased to announce that we are once again getting back to normal. The good news is that Karen has been allowed home and is making a recovery. Although it could take up to a year she should make a full recovery, you can't imagine how relieved everyone is.
I would like to thank all of our clients from this year for your understanding, well wishes and patience during this stressful time. I feel honoured to have photographed such understanding and caring people, everyone of our clients, and you know who you are, have all said, "don't worry about the wedding photo's/video's, sort the family out first" you are the kind of people that we like to photograph...genuine and caring. Thank you.

On to a brighter note, we started shooting the PEAK FM (local radio station) charity calendar Monday. We had a couple of late nights and a very early morning start (5am) thanks Gav, your picture looks great, we are due to finish the rest of the shots next Thursday & Friday. Again thanks go out to everyone who has helped out with props and locations. Last year we raised £20,000, this year we want to increase it. All the money raised from the sale of the calendars goes to the Ashgate Hospice and Genesis Breast Cancer Appeal. We have done some "making of the calendar" shots which will be available to view soon on a web site we are currently setting up. Prints, scrrensavers and possibly phone screensavers will also be available to purchase of the calendar shots, the majority of the proceeds also being donated to the charity.

Check back soon for full details. (I can't publish the pictures yet, until the calendar is released, which should be the middle of November).

Carl

2006-09-18T22:31:00.000+01:00

Apologies for no updates

For those of you who visit this page regularly you will have no doubt noticed that I have not updated the blog for a couple of weeks or so. The reason... my younger sister suffered a brain haemorraghe a couple of weeks ago and was rushed into hospital. She has been operated on but is still in a critical condition having 24hr personal supervision by the nursing staff. We are therefore at the hospital everyday. As a result our post production side of our business has slowed down a little because of the amount of time we are spending at the hospital. Each day she makes a slight improvement but we must take each day as it comes at the moment. If you are a previous/current customer of ours apologise for any delay in producing your album but hope that you can understand the situation. If you have ordered reprints then apologies again, we will get them out to you.

We are hoping by the end of this week that she will have made sufficient enough recovery to be able to be moved onto a lesser dependant ward. Once that happens we can start to get back to a bit of normality.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has sent their best wishes to Karen and for your patience and understanding.

Carl

2006-08-20T10:18:00.000+01:00

Farewell to landscape icon

This morning was the demolition day for a local landmark, the Glass Factory Chimney's just off the A61 at Chesterfield. There were hundreds of people in attendance to see the chimneys come down in almost perfect symetry.
Heres a picture montage of the demolition. If anyone wants an A3+ mounted copy just drop us an email for details. We are running a limited edition of 100 prints.

Carl

2006-08-19T22:17:00.000+01:00

Casey & Ben get wed.

Well the rain held off and a great day was had by all. We have got some absolutely stunning shots and what makes me more pleased than anything is that 3 weeks ago when we met up for the pre-wedding shoot, both Ben & Casey said that previously, they had never enjoyed having photographs taken as they didn't take good pictures. After that session there minds were changed. The pre-wedding shoot made them both so confident. They both looked great and the confidence they both oozed today made our job so much easier. Casey especially has got natural born model talent, I think all she needed was a confidence boost. Absolutely stunning!!

Here's their wedding day slideshow.

Thanks guys, we really enjoyed the day. See you when you get back from honeymoon.

Carl & Jenny

2006-08-19T10:08:00.000+01:00

Casey & Ben at the Crooked Spire

So today we are shooting the wedding of Casey & Ben at the famous Crooked Spire Church in Chesterfield. Hopefully the weather will stay fine, showers have been given out for today but there are patches of blue sky at the moment... fingers crossed it will stay like this. The wedding starts at 3pm then we're off to Baslow for the reception. However it turns out i'm sure Casey & Ben will have a great day and as always we will do our utmost to make it another fantastic album.

I was looking back over the last three years and out of all the weddings we've shot it has only rained on three of them, and two of those it brightened up towards the evening and gave us some great "sky" shots with intense blues.

Okay back to final equipment checks, car loading, and then off to do the preperation shots with Ben and then over to Casey.

I'll post the slideshow as soon as I can.

Carl

2006-08-07T13:34:00.000+01:00

Emma & Steve slideshow

We had a great time shooting this wedding, the shots in the hayfield were my favourite along with some in the ruins of the castle. Okay guys your slideshow is now online. Hope you like it.

Carl

2006-08-06T22:32:00.000+01:00

We are moving premises!

At long last we can tell the world we are moving to new premises. We will be able to move in to our new studio at the beginning of October. We will be moving out of our current shop at The Lordsmill Wedding Shop, Chesterfield at the end of August. One of our assistant photographers, Andy, has finally decided to go for it and is taking the showroom over trading as Lordsmill Photography. We wish you all the best Andy and hope you are succesful in your venture.

If you are a current client of ours we will be writing to you to let you know of our move so please don't think we've run off with your booking fees! We're still here, just in between premises.

The new studio, although we will open at the beginning of Otober, will take a little longer to get how we want it. We have great plans and can't wait to see them through. Any consultations in the meantime will be arranged with you to be mutually convenient.

More info about our new premises can be found here, and here is a picture of the place.

We'll keep you updated with pictures of our progress with it as and when.

We were so stoked when we found out about this place, we've been looking for somewhere like this for some time now and a call from a friend put the wheels in motion. Thanks sam. Just got to save up now for the Porsche to park outside. Keep the wedding bookings coming! (please)!

Carl

2006-08-06T19:52:00.000+01:00

Just got back from shooting Casey & Ben's pre wedding shoot.

We spent this afternoon down at the Queens Park in Chesterfield shooting the pre-wedding shoot of Casey & Ben. Both of them had reservations prior to the shoot about being photographed but as you can see in the slideshow, that soon went by the wayside. You guys are so photogenic it would be hard to take a bad picture. Ben was hoping to get to have a go on the kiddies swings but there were a few too many on them, maybe next time! We are really looking forward to their wedding which is being held at the very famous Crooked Spire church in Chesterfield. It is a real priviledge to be able to get married there as well as photograph it as there are only a handful of weddings permitted each year. We'll see if the myth is true about the spire straightening back up!!

Hope you like the show Click on the image.

2006-07-28T01:30:00.000+01:00

Getting ready for Jennifer & John

This morning we will be heading off to Worksop to photograph & film the wedding of John & Jennifer. Hopefully the weathers going to stay good for them, I just hope it's a bit cooler than it's been over the last few days! This was taken a few minutes ago in our garden and already it's getting quite hot.
Once we've finsished there i've got to race over to Manchester for an overnighter. Jennifer herself is a photographer, specialising in wildlife, I must find out her website so we can all have a look at the stuff she's doing.

I treated myself yesterday to a new mobile phone, the O2 XDA. What a great piece of kit. It allows me to keep up to date with my email, web etc while away from the studio or office and it's a phone as well! I've just got to try and figure out how to load Tom Tom on so I can find all you guys.

Saturday is the wedding of Holly & Nigel at the Botannical Gardens in Sheffield. The gardens are a beautiful location especially at this time of year when all the flowers are at there best. We're looking forward to that one also.

Just like to add, we hope Jenny & Craig have a great holiday/honeymoon in Jamaica. They actually flew us out to Cyprus back in April to shoot there wedding and are now having a real honeymoon without the rest of the family. We had a lot of fun shooting their wedding even though I dislocated my toe the day after, and Jenny twisted her ankle the day before in the tomb of the Kings. We were looking for some nice location shots when she fell down the steps. Luckily she managed to walk off the sprain with the help of ice packs.

Carl

2006-07-26T14:09:00.000+01:00

What a great day!

Today so far has been such an awesome day.
It started quite early this morning around 6am when my alarm went off. I went downstairs to the studio and checked my emails to find that a very well respected Top European business woman has comissioned us to record a photographic documentary of her (more details to follow) which will involve us travelling to Scotland and London. I made the proposition to her about an idea I had and thankfully we've got the job. I can't say too much about it at the moment but I think it will be an amazing project.
I got down to editing Lyndsey & Duncans pictures. Hope you're having a great honeymoon guys.

I then received an email from Emma & Steve (see the hay bales image) who are honeymooning in Rhodes thanking us for the effort and service we gave on Friday at their wedding. Your slideshow will be online very very soon guys.

Later I received a telephone call from one of my clients from last year, a personal call just wanting to catch up on things. We spent almost an hour on the phone and planning on a get together near to their 1st year anniversary. That made my day, knowing we are still in the thoughts of our previous clients, thanks guys.

All this and it's only just after lunch!

Carl

2006-07-25T12:30:00.000+01:00

Okay let's see how this thing works then, here's a layout from Emma & Steves wedding we did last weekend. The wedding was at Bolsover castle, a fantastic day was had by all. As we were driving there we saw this location and just had to bring Emma back in between the ceremony and reception to grab these shots. They have been on my shot list for some time now and either the weather hasn't been right, the location was to far away from the venue or it was the wrong time of year. Everything came together on the day and I think the results speak for themselves. Feel free to comment.

CW

2006-07-25T12:19:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the Class 1 Weddings blog page.
On this page we hope to bring you info on our current jobs, current offers etc etc. We have not had any experience in blogging before but we are keen to learn. Hopefully within the next few weeks we will update the page to fit in more with the look of the rest of the site.
Please bear with us and come back soon.
Thanks for looking,
Carl & Jenny