Archive for October, 2008
Let’s Take it to a Deadlock!
Posted by: | CommentsNo, I’m not referring to the X-Factor’s ‘Deadlock’ red studio situation…c’mon Dermot, its not like its a war room. Instead I’m talking about SCHOOLS. Oh golly this is a real pain. On the one hand we should be so pleased that we have 2 excellent schools to choose from for Evan. One which we can certainly get into and the other we have a 80%+ chance of getting into. So we’re spoilt for choice which is better than many parents I know. They both offer great environments but both have pros and cons that really are about ethos and organisation rather than anything that can change. For instance one is an ‘infant school’ and the other is a primary. One has 60 kids per year, the other 30…the class sizes aren’t different but the 60 kid school offers more scope to change things around a bit. The thought of Evan being in the same class of pupils for 7 years sounds quite scary (or am I being crazy?). One we can walk to, the other is a drive (albeit quite short). We have until the 21st of November to decide. Good times.
This past weekend was the first weekend I hadn’t had a wedding on either a Friday, Saturday or Sunday since the 3rd of May. We made good use of it (well, I didn’t actually as I did a job for Surrey Police that took me out onto the streets of Guildford from 10pm to 1am on Friday night…oh the sights!). I did all those things normal people do…took Evan to Playball, went to Pizza Hut, took Evan and Josh to the police Open Day (another pseudo work event) and then to the park, went to Church, went shed shopping, looked at a replacement car, had lunch at Subway and then took Evan to the park (again), took Evan for a bike ride (we walk, he rides). So all fairly normal.
AVAILABLE 1 x NFL TICKET to this Sunday’s game at WEMBLEY
New Orleans Saints v San Diego Chargers, Kick off 5:00pm
Price: £70 which is FACE VALUE
A few pics of Evan…..
The night before our trip to Disneyland Paris
Guess who is ready for Halloween!
In the speed camera van at the police open day
Only 1 Thing Better than a Bride….
Posted by: | Comments2 Brides! I’ll get to that later!
Last week we went away to Disneyland Paris for a short break. It was a kind of last gasp trip for Evan to be the complete centre of attention before number 2 arrives in January. To say Evan had a good time would be a profound understatement. There is little that compares to the feeling of seeing your kids eyes widen and look in amazement as they first enter “It’s a Small World” or get so excited at seeing Captain Hook or Mickey Mouse or Louis (from Jungle Book). It made the experience just as magical for us as it was for him. The only problem with EuroDisney is that its in….Europe. This means pushy kids always trying to cut the queue. Once you get as ‘European’ as they are it gets better :)
It wasn’t a cheap holiday…but if it got us away from all the ‘global credit crunch’ waffle it was worth it to me. The bankers f*ked up, screwed everyone and got a Ferrari. Get over it, fix the problem and put them on an hourly wage. As you can see, I’m probably never going to be in finance!
Anyway…Disneyland. Of course, poor Nicola, the thrill seeker, wasn’t able to ride any of the serious rides. I was then asked to do this on her behalf and describe them to him. I obliged…all except for the Tower of Terror. I simply don’t like those kind of ‘puke’ rides. If it goes fast, round corners and through loops I’m fine. But up and down or simply round and round and I start getting woosy. I did enjoy the Rockin’ RollerCoaster at Walt Disney Studios. From a standing start to a loop, in the dark, in about 3 seconds. As Thelma says in Scooby Doo…Jinkies! Most of the ‘fast’ rides were empty as the demographic hitting the parks last week were younger kids with families. On the subject of rollercoasters, as a kid I loved them. As an adult, I like them, but as I’m on it I constantly think…”what would happen if this shoulder harness just let go”. I want to see technical drawings showing me how it CAN’T happen.
We had a great time…Evan had a tremendous time. We decided that we’ll start putting the pennies away now for a full blown trip to Disney World in Florida when number 2 gets to 4 years old. Donations kindly accepted :)
In the queue for Dumbo
Getting cheeky with mummy … I felt like a right idiot riding alone in my own Dumbo
However, I did find this. It says, ‘Please wear your seatbelt, watch calmly and NO STRICTLY COME DANCING!’
Round and round (barf)
Evan discovers the joys of a 2 double bed hotel room
Perhaps one of the biggest highlights of his week!
We all rode the tea cups…but we kept the spinning to a minimum
Evan passes his first “American” test. This is his first burger!
As I mentioned earlier, the only thing better than a bride is 2 brides. Saturday, I shot my first same sex civil partnership. As a wedding goes it was no different to any other wedding I’ve shot…apart from 2 white dresses. They both got ready in the same room…sadly the hotel gave them a small room so all of my previous brides will know how much space it takes for one bride…so imagine two. I really enjoyed it and K&L were both fantastic….not an ounce of Bridezilla between them. Thanks for an amazing experience and enjoy Vegas (baby!)
Katie and Lorna — Carys Manor Hotel — Saturday, 11 October, 2008
I’ve always loved the New Forest. When Darren first realised there were wild horses…words can’t describe
Huh…look at that. How did that happen?
Burning hair…its whats made me what I am today!
Katie was a camera phobe….this is her nervous look
Dress after dress after dress after dress
Lorna amongst the chaos
If the shoes go on first…YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!…..
….Dress Diving. I get like one or two a year of over the head….
Both mums help with Lorna’s dress
….and then I get two dress dives in one day!
Katie masters the “whatcutalkinboutWillis” look
Katie’s mum went a bit mad with the glitter spray…at which point the only thing that could save the day was cellotape (scotch tape)
Lorna was less than gracious regarding the cellotape incident :)
Here are two images which exemplify that all light ain’t created equal…here its warm, lush and wonderful
Here its so direct that only a silhouette will do
Double Trouble
Of course the challenge is now to even out the ‘exposure’
Its the first time I really moved much in a civil ceremony
The happy couple shortly before take off
Yes…I know…it ain’t perfect
How to Win Friends and Be Removed from a Christmas Card List
Soft, blurry, out of focus….like I could give a toss!
A new twist on a old idea
Time for the double Bride gives Dad a look during his speech routine
Take 2
October? You must be joking!
The next two are for Katie…who thought my choice of location was silly!
Not too bad eh?
Thank you for obliging me
I find the most interesting places
Lorna knew how to ‘work it baby’
Bling!
Steps have a lot to answer for!
EXPLANATION…for the past few weeks I’ve been graced with Chesney Hawkes ‘One and Only’. Its great because everyone does the whole arms in the air, finger outstretched routine. So I convinced the DJ to play it early…and the whole dance floor emptied. I was mortified. Here, Darren tries to make me feel better.
And a few from Darren, The Boy Wonder
Oh No….Darren hates shoes as well!
Nice catch…just as they walked into the ceremony
Darren learned the mutter those famous words that I say all too often “man, the light in this room sucks”
Pimpin’ someone elses photo…nice!
I set him loose on the cake. Great shot!
Great connection!
Katie’s brother, and best man, gets the Darren treatment
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In a Bind, Way Behind and Looking to Make a Deal
Posted by: | CommentsThis blog entry goes out Sunday instead of Monday. Almost no verbage, just to say hey and hope you like this weeks entry.
Claire and Ted — Rowledge and Bury Court Barn — Friday, 3 October, 2008
It was a little early to start the whole S-Club 7, Reach for the Stars routine!
For those who know I hate shoes…there’s a few in jokes this week
Sensible shoes
Same place, different subject. Claire, bless her, lost her voice. A bit of lemon and honey actually did the trick!
Getting a few of those Thank You cards out of the way early
Oh look…a pair of shoes just happened to be on a door…why, for goodness sakes, would that happen?
Says to herself “you look good baby…uhuh!”
Confused….you should be!
You don’t want to know what might happen if she removes that finger!
Ted and the Best Man privately heckle guests for their interesting head wear (or maybe I’m just making that up)
A shot from my new ‘Vicar-Cam’
Fleur! (or something like that)
One of those “darn, it didn’t quite work” which suddenly went to “oh, baby….that’s so much better!”
Ted seems so very pleased to see me…or what that Claire?
Checkmate!
An Irish Blessing…just awesome
Lucky enough to make it through boot camp, these two were off to impress the judges at Cheryl’s house in…ooops…sorry, wrong blog. (guess who’s NOT watching X-Factor again this year)
I debated including this picture…A LOT!
An understandable reaction to a irresponsible guest throwing confetti in your champagne!
The choruses (is that a word) of “you didn’t waste any time” just kept on coming!
Caption competition…entries by email
The warm sun and Suzanne’s (Bury Court’s owner) spectacular garden
I’m sure I’ve been here before!
Yep…looks quite familiar!
And my secret Bury Court hideaway!
The only toastmaster (Ted’s Brother) to use a champagne glass and a lighter to summon the troops
Ted lines up for a ‘boys’ shot
I know, I wanted to squeeze those cheeks as well…the little one was rather cute too!
Ted does the rounds
One of like, well, one, shots of the outside of Bury Court I’ve ever taken…Can you believe it?….
…clearly not!
Not only was ‘Vicar-Cam’ new this week, but so way ‘Lay-on-Floor Cam’ as well
It did produce some interesting angles
Ted looks a lot (from this angle) like David Cameron…
Just be glad it ain’t Peter Mandelson :)
Charlie Daniels!
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Ode to Darren
Posted by: | CommentsMost weddings I make sure that I post a few images from my trusty sidekick and all around good guy, Darren. Unfortunately I was really up against it on Monday and with his files in various places on different computers it wasn’t possible. So instead, I wanted to post a few more images from Sarah and Jonathan’s wedding which were all taken by ‘The Boy Wonder’.
Sarah and Jonathan — Shot by Darren (aka The Big D and Boy Wonder)
I told him to shoot this…then he said “I already did”
Clearly he hates shoes as well
Ickle moments
He had a thing for Yule as well
This was one of 4 or 5 included in the On the Day presentation
Ahh…I see myself a few years ago in that shot
Gettin’ brave and shootin’ at 1.8….I like it!
I love this…its so random yet meaningful
When I first saw it I said, “but dude, you’ve blown it out” to which he said “I was going for their faces”. OK, I’ll shut up now.
Same here…smarty pants
I bet her hair was lovely after an hour of this
So…I’m in processing the On the Day and Darren says “should I got out to rest of the receiving line”. My first thought was “this should be interesting”. But clearly his story that he looks at the blog every week rang true. I shed a small tear :)
Magic, Magic, Magic! For this you’ve earned an extra can of V next time out!
See…he’s got the ‘eyes’ thing going
This is far better than anything I got during SJ’s mum’s speech
Its all about timing…did you buy a watch?
Nice one D
2 great shots from the first dance
When Darren first started coming out with me (November last year)…there was a certain randomness to what he took. I wouldn’t say I’m the best mentor. I pick him up, we shoot, he carries, I drop him off and his only bit of tutoring comes in a) my blog and b) a few choice one line nuggets of info. But each week there’s something better, something more insightful in his images. Thanks again BW!
