Competition Winners

As some of you may know, we held a competition at the Your Wedding Exhibition back in January. The lucky winners (chosen at random by our cat Jacob) were the lovely Lynne & Ashley.

We finally got together with the guys recently and managed to take some beautiful photographs. Don't just take our word for it though, see for yourselves:

Laura and I are extremely excited about photographing Lynne & Ashley's wedding next year. If this photo shoot was anything to go by then I'm sure we are in for another fun-filled day.

Don't be sad if you missed out...

We will be running the same prize draw at the Dedicated 2 Weddings exhibition at the beach ballroom (5th - 6th Oct 2013) and also at next year's Your Wedding Exhibition (18th - 19th Jan 2014). 

Simply come and visit us at our stand to be in with a chance of winning this prize worth £150!! 

Russell.

Lifestyle sessions

 These past few weeks have been incredibly busy for us with family portraits. Laura and I are keen advocates of the "lifestyle" photo shoot. Essentially this means leaving the studio setting behind in favour of a more picturesque outdoor location. You could use a location that means something to you or your family or simply allow us to offer up some suggestions. There are so many fantastic locations to chose from! As you can see from the examples below, a lifestyle session is the perfect way to capture relaxed, beautiful images for you and your family to cherish.

 Enough with the cheesy clichés... here are a few examples of our most recent sessions:

Our week away in Denmark (part 1)

They say a picture tells a thousand words. In that case, here is a small novel about our week so far...

Aboyne Highland Games 2013

The arrival of August heralds the return of the Highland Games season. More specifically the Aboyne Highland Games this Saturday. This year we will have a stall located next to the secretary's tent.

As well as offering FREE 5 minute portrait sessions, we will be offering a fantastic SPECIAL OFFER not to be missed...

Why not pop along and pay us a visit. 

Summer is officially here

Seems hard to believe that we are almost two thirds of the way through the year already. Where has 2013 gone?!

We have been exceptionally busy these last few months. It has been lovely to be able to make the most of this long-overdue good weather. Here are a selection of images from some of our latest weddings:

Eileen & Dave

Ross & Sarah

Colin & Sophia

"If you can't beat 'em... join 'em"

This morning brought, not only the start of another busy week, but also a rude awakening. At 3am we were abruptly awoken by the sounds of an RAF Sea King helicopter circling directly above our house in Aboyne.
Unfortunately a local resident had gone missing the night before warranting a full scale recovery operation. Thankfully the lady was recovered and subsequently flown to ARI, however, it did take 3 hours.

After the first 20 minutes or so, and unable to sleep, I decided to just get up and watch the dazzling display of close-quarters flying demonstrated by the Sea King's crew. I got the binoculars out for a better view and boy did I get it. I could see the facial expressions of the pilot bathed in the green glow of his display. That gives you an idea of how close they were to us.

When it finally got bright enough I took out the camera and started snapping away. Determined to make the most of the early wake up call I managed to get some great shots. I even went as far as to e-mail the photo to the BBC and a couple of local news desks. To my pleasant surprise the BBC news website decided to use my photograph not to mention a few of the local papers showing interest.

It just goes to show what can happen if you are in the right place at the right time. Needless to say I went back to bed for a couple more hours after the excitement of the morning had subsided.

HERE is a link to the BBC article

Richard, rosettes and rasps...

We love our job as photographers, every day is different and we get to meet so many wonderful new people. Monday was no exception to this...

In the morning I met with Richard and his lovely family for a photo shoot at Polhollick and Dallyfour outside Ballater. We had gloriously sunny weather and stunning scenery for our little walk together. When it comes to family portraits, Laura and I feel very strongly about getting out and about on location. Shooting somewhere that means something to you & your family always makes for beautiful images. Richard and his family have visited this area for over 20 years so they knew the area well. Richard's son was fascinated by the wildlife so we also made a special stop to let him see some Highland cows towards the end.

After the family photo shoot was finished I had a few different jobs for the Aboyne Highland Games programme to photograph. First stop was Strachans of Deeside in Aboyne where I photographed the entire Strachan family outside their shop, it was a great laugh and the sun was still shining thankfully. Once I had finished there it was time to get in the car and head straight back to Ballater to meet Rob Walker. A lovely chap who makes sticks and crooks with ram's horn decorations. It was fascinating to see him at work in his workshop (a converted garden shed). We had a good blether about the countless awards he has received and took some fantastic photographs of him in his element.

Unfortunately the sun was still shining when it was time for me to head home and begin the editing process. You can't have it all I suppose.

Russell.