Last Print Posting Dates & Christmas Opening

WE WILL DO EVERYTHING POSSIBLE TO ENSURE THAT PRINT ORDERS PLACED ON OR BEFORE 14th DECEMBER 2011 WITH 1st CLASS POSTAGE WILL BE DISPATCHED BY THE LAST ROYAL MAIL 1ST CLASS POSTING DATE OF 20TH DECEMBER 2011. Orders placed after this date will continue to be dispatched as quickly as possible, up to 22nd December 2011 but may not be dispatched by the Royal Mail 1st Class last posting date.

We will close at 4pm on Thursday 22nd December 2011 and re-open at 9am on Wednesday 4th January 2012. Orders placed between these dates will be processed and dispatched as quickly as possible on our return.

May I take this opportunity to wish all our Customers & Suppliers a very Happy Christmas and a fabulous New Year!

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Work Experience Week – Matthew Evans

Tree Bark Detail

I have been at Sally Evans Photography for 5 days now and it’s great! The work is not exactly easy but when you finish all you need to do for the day it is very rewarding.

Ivy Leaf

I have learned a lot of new things about the photography business and about photography generally (it’s very complex sometimes). I now know the uses of loads of buttons and switches on the camera which before would have baffled me and I also know how to lay out all sorts of different photos so the look funky, sad or even perfect (again very complex sometimes). The only bad aspect of running a photography business is all the admin but at least the admin gives me a bit of variety in my work otherwise just taking photos could become very repetative!

Lichen in Woods

Thanks to my mum for letting me do my work experience with her, it’s been very weird thinking that if I do anything wrong, I’ll get fired! Have a great Friday everyone,

Matt (Work Experience)

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‘Wedding Wednesday’ – Tips for Planning Your Wedding: It’s all in the Preparation

Bridal Bouquet, tiara and bracelet. Planning the details of your Wedding Day is all-important

I spend time with couples helping plan their Wedding Photography, meeting two to three times before their Wedding Day talking over style ideas and the planning for the whole day. Why do I do that? It’s simple because I believe that, in order to relax and enjoy the day, the planning & preparation is key. So here are my three tips for how you can help your photographer make the most of your photography on your Wedding day:

Make a collection of Wedding photographs which you like – your photographer should discuss style with you, but even if they don’t you should show them the photos which you have found, maybe cut from magazines, advertisements and supplements. Explain what it is about the images which you like. An experienced Wedding photographer will be able to see the kind of style you like and be able to offer practical advice on how the kind of style you prefer can be achieved.

Talk through the entire schedule for your Wedding Day – while you are detailing the times you plan for the hairdresser, for the Bridesmaids to arrive at the Ceremony, to the time you should be seated for your Wedding Breakfast, you will discover there are small things which possibly had not been thought about. I have helped Brides plan who will walk their Mum to her seat in the Church, who will provide the cake knife – and even appropriate hairstyles which suit them and their planned photography style. Planning the detail does not mean you have to rigidly follow an agenda on your Wedding Day, just that you can relax and enjoy your day knowing all the details are safely taken care of.

Invite your photographer to your Ceremony venue or to the Church rehearsal – your photography may have shot Weddings at your venue on many occasions so they will be able to offer advice on the best places to have your photographs taken as well as offering suggestions for photography in wet or otherwise inclement weather. But they should also want to find out your suggestions and requests for your Wedding photography – and this refers also to the point on discussing your style preferences. You may really like a photograph which is in a certain situation at at venue, but equally you may decide you would like to discuss alternative ideas – after all, everyone is unique and every Wedding is special, and your ideas should be welcome. Your photographer should help you with this. The other benefit is that you can introduce your photograph in advance to key people who will be sharing your Wedding day with you. I have been introduced to the Bride & Groom’s parents, bridesmaids, best man, priest, event planner … and many more important people at meetings before the actual Wedding Day. I always suggest I attend a Church rehearsal, or visit the Ceremony and Reception venue with the Wedding couple where at all possible. We discuss ideas, look at all the areas where we will be photographing on their Wedding Day, and ask any questions which we need to ask in advance. This avoids possible disappointment on the day if, for example, we cannot photograph on a particular staircase which we had planned a photograph for, and it generally helps the whole day run smoothly.

Forethought, planning, & preparation – all key ingredients in planning your Wedding Day. Mix them together, include a large helping of Wedding Photographer – and the result will be a collection of absolutely delicious Wedding photographs!

 

 

 

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‘Sunny Smiles 2011′ Competition Winner – Family Photo Session

The winner of the 2011 ‘Sunny Smiles’ Competition held in conjunction with The Little Clothes Horse Children’s Store in Kenilworth won a Family Photo Session with us. We had a lovely time running around with Jack and his family. It was a lovely sunny day, the photo session was relaxed and fun – we blew bubbles, climbed up climbing frames, slid down slides, kicked a football around and generally exhausted ourselves! The resulting images were natural with big smiles all round. Here are a few of Jack playing hide & seek just to show you how much fun photography with children can be…

Photography with young children should be enjoyable and relaxed, giving great images with natural expressions

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‘Wedding Wednesday’ – Tips for Planning Your Wedding: Bridal Budget Essentials

Budgets are very important and most people who contact me about their Wedding Photography have a budget. You want to have a fantastic day with lovely memories but you would rather spend the next few decades remembering the good time you had on your Wedding Day than wondering how long it will take to pay off the budget overspend – and I understand that totally! Which is why I have two recommendations for how to make the best of your Wedding Photography if you are planning your very special day on a tight budget. Both tips center around making the most of your budget and my recommendation is very simple – leave a small amount of budget to spend on having your Bridal Make Up done for you professionally and make sure that your budget includes Wedding Dress alterations.

Your make up on your Wedding Day will give you a flawless finish – as well as a huge boost of confidence knowing that you look positively radient, your photographs will look fantastic. Professional make up artists know how to give you a lovely style which suits you and your make up will last all day – and they will show you have to make just a small retouch now & again to keep you looking at your best right until your your last dance!

Professional Bridal Make Up will give confidence as well as a flawless finish for your Wedding Photography

The second recommendation is to make sure you have enough of a budget to have your Wedding Dress professionally fitted – especially if you have bought your dress online, or simply bagged a brilliant bargain at an end of season sale. A perfectly fitted Wedding Dress will make sure you feel and look at your best – you want to be feeling a million dollars rather than worrying about whether you will trip over the hem walking up the aisle. Again, just knowing you can relax and enjoy your day will make sure you are confident and happy – rather than spending time on your Wedding Day worrying that you just don’t ‘feel right’.

With just these two ‘extras’ in your Wedding Day budget, you can relax knowing that you look fantastic and enjoy your day. And relaxed, happy Brides are a picture of happiness – literally!

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Business Portraits – Your Image is Our Business

Our Business Portrait service is very popular – many businesses, both small & large, have an online presence so it is important to make sure you stand out from your competitors as well as giving the great ‘first impression’ of your business which you would like new clients to see. Contact us to see how we can help make your business portraits which are appropriate to & show off your business in the best light possible. Literally!

Business Portraits should be appropriate for & individual to your business

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Photography Thought for the Day – Sunday 7th August 2011

Which of my photographs is my favorite? The one I’m going to take tomorrow. – Imogen Cunningham

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Photography Workshops – Camera Skills for Businesses

Products for sale on display

We are really pleased that we have been booked to deliver one of our ‘Fundamentals’ workshops onsite for a client, tailored for their staff’s needs so they can take the photos they need for blogs, business networking, & client records themselves when they are out & about. We can deliver half or full day workshops at your own premises for groups of four or more people – and workshops will be tailored to meet your own business photography needs.

Products arranged for display instore

Small businesses are welcome book one or more of their staff onto our ‘Fundamentals’ workshops in September – come & learn about your camera and how to improve your photo skills so you can take the images yourself which you want & need for business.

Please contact Sally for advice about workshops and how they can help you with your business needs.

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Something for the Weekend – Close Up Photography

Close up of butterfly on flower

Looking closely at the detail of a subject can produce some interesting photographs. Changing your viewpoint from a wide overall view to one where you are close-up with your subject will help you ‘see’ your subject in a whole new way.

Here are my three top tips on giving close-up photography a try:

Get started with the right equipment – use a dedicated macro lens or the ‘macro’ function (normally the little ‘flower’ setting on a compact camera). A tripod will be a necessity in many cases. Extension tubes are a very affordable alternative to a more expensive macro lens for those using cameras with changeable lenses – they come in a variety of fittings each specific to a particular manufacturer. Manual extension tubes are much cheaper than ones with automatic focus.

Small spider on log - shallow depth of field

Work with the depth of field – when using a close-up, or macro, lens or camera function, you will notice that you will have a very shallow depth of field, that is that you will see one very small area in focus in your image with everything else blurred which is in front and behind this small area. You can adjust your F-stops by selecting a larger number eg F16 to make more of the area in focus but generally speaking it will still only be a very small area. You can make this area of focus even smaller by changing the F-stop to a very small number eg F4 or below if your camera & lens will allow you to. You can create some intriguing images by using a very shallow depth of field, so see how creative you can be by working with the small area in focus to highlight just the area you want in your image to be in focus.

Front view of hover fly on leaf - focus on eyes

Learn what to do with movement in your image – Although you may not see it when you are looking at a subject as a whole, when you start close up photography you will see movement in the subject matter which you have not noticed before. A tiny breeze will move a flower, a person walking by may shake a subject on a table, hands holding a camera, or even your finger pressing the shutter button can result in your image not being focused in the place which you wanted it to be (remember that very ‘shallow depth of field’ from the last tip). You can use various methods to help control this movement – a tripod and cable or remote shutter release are very useful, as is thinking about things such as putting a small ‘windbreak’ around a flower outdoors – although insects for example will always be tricky! With small creatures, often the best times to photograph them are first thing in the morning before the sun has warmed them enough to fly, or just before dusk when they are settling in safe places for the night. If you are still getting too much movement in your close up images, also remember to consider your shutter speed – is it fast enough to freeze the movement? If your shutter speed is showing less than 1/125 (1/250 for flowers outdoors, insects and similar), you may want to select a smaller F-stop number which will let more light in and will result in an increased shutter speed. If you cannot do this as you are already on the smallest number which your camera and lens combination will allow, you have two options. One is to increase your ISO which will result in an increase in your shutter speed, or to use better lighting such as moving your subject nearer to a window if you are indoors or by using camera flash – you will really need to be able to use your flash off camera to make sure you have the light in the correct part of your image. On-camera flash will probably result in light in the wrong places so do try it but it will not be your best option for lighting your subject.

Door lock on old wooden door - close up of details and texture of door

Find a subject which you like but would normally only photograph as a whole subject and get closer to it – see the details and see how creative you can be with your close-up photography. It can be a tricky photography technique to master but one which is very rewarding and will give you an different perspective for your images.

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Wedding Planning Tips – Ask Your Photographer!

Wedding Flowers

Experienced Wedding photographers know a great deal about Weddings – their timings, businesses who offer Wedding services or products, venues – so if there is something you are unsure about or you are looking for a particular product or service, ask your photographer for a recommendation. Chances are they will know someone who they would recommend for you!

Wedding Cake

We have been asked over the years for recommendations for bands, marquees, cake makers, florists, makeup artists… even where to find a Wedding outfit for a pet!

Your photographer should be happy to help you as they will want to help you make your Wedding day just the way you want it to be.

Wedding Flowers and Shoes

So, my top Wedding tip is to ask someone who knows about Weddings if you are unsure – and very often that should be your Wedding photographer!

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