Thursday 29 January 2015

Family Stone | Family Portrait

Back in September I went out to Surprise View with Jude, Nicola and Bump to celebrate impending parenthood. Just before Christmas I went round their house to meet the new little lady. As is ever the case with newborns, we didn't know what to expect and I was met with a very tired little person whose nap didn't seem to have sufficed. We weren't sure she was going to be in the mood but we managed to calm and distract her long enough for a few photos.

I like to collect expressions of babies as they have so many of them ... I'm not sure if these ones look like she's giving us a lesson in dance or a boxing training session. Oh and as I was editing I couldn't help but see some imaginary situations on a couple of the expressions shots which I crudely drew on for my own amusement :). I am definitely a long way from being a graphic artist.

All images ©KateCooperPhotography2014

Saturday 10 January 2015

Reflecting on 2014 | Part 2

It is a useful process for me to look backwards and forwards once a year. Earlier in the week I posted part one of my 2014 refection with personal and portrait photographs. This is part two with my favourite from last years weddings.

This was another year of marvellous couples and their wedding days. I love the creativity people pour into their day and how much friends and family pull together to make things happen. I also really like the couples I get to work with; often laid back, often crafty with an eye for detail, often fun loving with a love of silly and unconventional. I do like being able to reflect back each couple's day to them -- even more so now that the nerves and anxiety that used to plague me has calmed down. Hurrah for that.

2014 proved tricky in keeping up with editing time scales. My business has outgrown the computer I use which wheezes and splutters when I make it cope with the number and size of files it has to digest. It slows the process down so much when I'm left waiting for the computer to function. So this year I am going invest in something whizz-bang to make the process a lot less painful to my patience. 

As ever I will be limiting the number of weekends I do weddings on -- it's the only way to stay sane and connected with the people in my life. It seems to be an unwritten rule of the self-employed that you should take on as much work as you can get. That's never going to work for me and the life I want to lead so it's important that I keep giving myself permission to work in a way that enhances my whole life, not just my bank-balance or sense of busyness. 2015 summer season is already filling up with only a few available weekends left which is a lovely position to be in. But this time I'm making sure there is space for a summer holiday and some do-nothing-time too.

Here are some of my favourite wedding photographs from throughout the year. Thanks everyone for letting me be a part of your day.

All images ©KateCooperPhotography2014