Family Photo Shoot For Christmas – Special Offer

Christmas Special – save over £150.

I am offering a 30 minute studio session, including a 20x16in canvas print, two 10x8in’s and ten 5x7in’s prints of your one favourite image to share with the family this Christmas.

All for just £99!

There is a gift for all your family in this one simple package! Maybe you can have the canvas to hang on your wall at home, the Grandparents can have the 10x8in’s and other family members get a 5x7in. This limited offer applies to anyone who books one of my Sunday studio sessions taking place before Christmas.

Or you could give a Christmas Voucher to someone special as a present.

Treat someone special to this fabulous package and they can book in for a Sunday Studio Session in 2013. Voucher valid for 3 months but must be purchased by 17/12/12.

Offer ends 17/12/12.

Taplow Court

In the studio

Annick McKenzie is an Artist who lives and works in one of the properties within the famous Taplow Court, a very large house in the village of Taplow in Bucks.

Annick is moving away soon and so she invited a few of her friends round, who wanted to wish her Bon Voyage (Mel, Jo, Tracy and I).   Immediately upon arrival, Jo mentioned the memories she had of having the odd sneaky cigarette as a young girl up on top of the 7th century Anglo-Saxon burial mound which is within the grounds of the house.  A brief search on the internet highlighted that the mound was excavated in 1883 and a number of treasures were discovered, unrivalled until the discovery of Sutton Hoo in 1939.

There has been a manor house on the site since before the Norman Conquest in 1066. The manor was owned by the monks at Merton Priory until the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It was then owned by the Hampson family in the 17th century, coming under attack during the English Civil War. In the 18th century, Taplow Court was home to the Earl and Countess of Orkney.

From 1852, Taplow Court became the home of the Grenfell family, in particular William Grenfell, 1st Baron Desborough and his wife Ettie. They hosted an aristocratic and elite group known as “the Souls” at the house. Visitors included Henry Irving, Vita Sackville-West, Edward VII when Prince of Wales, H. G. Wells, Patrick Shaw Stewart, Edith Wharton and Oscar Wilde.

A stické court was built by Lord Desborough at Taplow Court in 1892 and the dimension of this court subsequently became the standard size of the court.  (Stické is tennis to you and me).

After World War II, Taplow Court was owned by British Telecommunications Research a subsidiary of Plessey Electronics. Since 1988, the house has been a Soka Gakkai Buddhist centre.  And very peaceful it is too.

I was very priveledged to be asked round and so I took the opportunity to document Annick and her friends in and around the house and land.  A stunningly beautiful place.  Instead of just including lots of images, I have chosen to put them to music and embed a video for your enjoyment.  I hope you like it and one day have the opportunity to go and visit on one of their open days.

References: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taplow_Court

Monkey Island Party

Hello Dear Readers.

In my last (or should that say first?) blog, I left you with a teaser about some images from Monkey Island. 

Now some of you may not be from around these parts and therefore may be a little unfamiliar with what Monkey Island is.  Let me tell you; it’s not a zoo or an animal enclosure (unless you are referring to party animals), it is actually a beautiful hotel on an island in the middle of the River Thames, near Bray in Berkshire.

To get to the hotel you have to walk across a foot bridge.  The image you see here is lower quality than I usually like but it was taken on my iphone with one hand whilst wheeling my camera case with the other, as I was leaving.

The occassion I was there to record was a 40th birthday bash.  The beautiful Kirsty was celebrating her first 40 years of life with all her dear friends and she wanted to give them something, so a fantastic party was arranged.

The theme was ‘Hollywood’ and the happy guests came dressed for the red carpet.  Kirsty wore a stunning blue outfit and took centre stage for the Oscars Awards.  The event went really well.  Everyone was laughing, then crying, then laughing again.  Kirsty was a real star!

Amongst many of the desreving winners, both Kirsty’s father and son each  climbed the steps to receive their Oscar to raptuous applause.  Her father gave an emotional but hilarious speech, mentioning many of the memories that made him laugh (and cry)!

So as not to be left out, one of Kirsty’s friends who was unable to attend in person, was photographed with lots people using an image of her friend in the background.  Here she is with two of the party animals, striking a pose familiar to the group!  The photo was passed around and used so many times during the evening, with everyone making sure it was as though she was there.  Wonderful!

Kirsty was presented with a stunning cake.  Oscar was there too, standing proudly on the top step of the cake, with sparklers to help light the way.  All in all, I must say that this was one of the best parties I have had the pleasure to document.  The guests were so much fun, as was Kirsty.  I was treated like a guest myself, not one of the staff.  A nice and very welcome treat 😮  Thank you Kirsty, for being such a star!

My next blog posting will feature a slideshow, showing you a Christmas Party for Maidenhead Social Group and how your images can be put to music, like theirs. 

Until then, please enjoy some of my favourite moments from Monkey Island:

Hello world!

Well…where to start for my first blog? Crikey..my first blog!  I have tried to do them before, but never managed to crack it.  So this time I decided to enrol on a blogging course to teach me how.  Time will tell how effectively I listened & studied during the 5 weeks of 2 hour Tuesday evening classes at Windsor Firestation Arts Centre.

I envy those who can articulate their thoughts by writing them for the world to read. They just seem to have a real knack of ejecting a constant flow of letters that seem to dance out of their minds onto the page and instantly make up perfect sentences and paragraphs of words that captivate. 

Me, on the other hand, I just sit and stare at a blank page!  What the heck?  That’s why I love photography; it can sometimes speak volumes without any words at all.

I will do my best to share what I am up to so you can judge for yourself if my photography ticks the boxes for you, especially if you are looking to have your portraits or wedding photographed by me.  You can read a bit more about me in the ABOUT bit.

My next blog will have a few images from a 40th party I was invited to photograph, at the lovely Monkey Island Hotel, in Bray-on-Thames.  A beautiful hotel on an island accessible only across a lovely foot bridge.