StillVision Photography Cambridge | Wedding Photography | Portrait Studio | Commercial PR

New Blogging Site

2010-01-18T16:57:00.002Z

From January 2010, all the StillVision Photography blogging posts will be found at the new blogging site:

http://www.stillvision.co.uk/blog

Change those internet bookmarks ;)

Christmas Deadlines

2009-12-07T08:56:00.002Z

Hi all - a quick note regarding my Christmas deadline!

Prints, frames and modern wall finishes usually take 3-4 weeks for me to turn around and for me to have ready for customer collection. In the run up to Christmas I can turn things around faster but my deadlines for guaranteed Christmas delivery are rapidly approaching!

All photography orders (wedding prints ordered online and any studio orders) must be paid in full and placed with me by Wednesday 9th December. Collection of orders from the Cambridge studio can be organised any time before Christmas Eve however!

I hope you all have an enjoyable festive period and look forward to seeing many of you in the studio in the New Year (possibly to collect those not so important orders)!

Kind regards,
Mike Thornton.

Photos Speak a Thousand Words!

2009-11-16T12:25:00.005Z

In an attempt to update the Cambridge portrait photography website, a new portrait photograph of Mike was needed. We could have done it in a boring and simple way but we wanted the photograph to sum up the StillVision Photography studio and what we do best here.

Well, we think photographs speak a thousand words (I guess we would though given that we are professional photographers)....

P.S no babies were harmed in the making of this photograph!

StillVision Photography Ltd

2009-10-16T11:14:00.002+01:00

With the continued profitable progress and growth of my Cambridge photography business, it has become advantageous to operate StillVision Photography as a limited company. From 28th September 2009 my new limited company, StillVision Photography Ltd has been operational, taking over the trade of the existing business. I can now call myself the director of StillVision Photography Ltd (which has a certain ring to it I must admit) and the photography business will continue to operate as it always has from the Cambridge portrait studio.

Thank you for your support as always!

Mike Thornton.
Director StillVision Photography Ltd.

The Wedding of Rob & Megan

2009-10-05T18:11:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Rob and Megan who were married in Royston on Saturday 3rd October 2009. Their wedding ceremony was held at the Methodist Church in Royston and their wedding reception was at Hinxton hall towards Saffron Walden. Hinxton Hall was a surprise to us as it was not a wedding venue we’d come across before. It’s an amazingly well renovated old house and a great wedding location. Today was our last wedding day of the year so we also had something to celebrate - the weather had different ideas however! It was a very windy day with variable cloud and sun moments but it didn't rain so that’s a third reason to celebrate. Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding of Malcolm & Alison

2009-09-22T12:39:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Malcolm and Alison whose wedding we photographed on Saturday 29th September 2009. We thoroughly enjoyed our second glorious, blue sky wedding in a row and the wedding locations really suited the wonderful weather. Our journey started in Cambridge as we headed out to Newmarket to photograph the bridal preparations. All was calm and to time (surprisingly so) and we headed back to Cambridge and to the Catholic Church on Hills Road in very good time. We met the guys and covered the ceremony as usual. The wedding reception was then at Ickworth House in Suffolk which is a really beautiful National Trust property and a fantastic location for a wedding. Although time was tight and the weather had got very hot and heavy during the formal groups we did manage to steal twenty minutes with the bride and groom and used the fabulous wedding location as best we could. We left the wedding party dancing to the Scissor Sisters at about 9:30pm! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding Of Steve & Becky

2009-09-16T09:45:00.004+01:00

We have been very lucky with our wedding weather this year (often shooting a wedding on a nice day between days of rain) but we have yet to cover one of those perfect summers days when there isn't a cloud in the sky this year... well we hadn't until the wedding of Steve & Becky! Their wedding day was absolutely perfect! It was hot, sunny and there was not a cloud in the sky. Steve & Becky were married on Saturday 12th September at the parish church in Comberton, Cambridge. Their wedding reception was held later on at Anstey Hall in Cambridge. Anstey Hall was the perfect wedding setting for such a gorgeous day even if it did get a bit too hot for some of the wedding guests who took shelter on the shady side of the house! The atmosphere was great as it always is on those lovely summer days and we left bride and groom to dance the night away at about 9:30pm. We're sure the wedding party went on for quite a few more hours! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

StillVision Photography Christmas Offer 2009

2009-09-03T11:20:00.007+01:00

That's right! Bookings made in our Cambridge portrait studio from 1st September to 30th November 2009 are completely free (saving you £25)! This means that you can have a risk free studio portrait session with StillVision Photography and you simply pay for your prints, frames and modern wall finishes. Go on, make Grandma happy!

For more information please call Mike on (01223) 711508 or visit the website at http://www.stillvision.co.uk

International Photography Awards 2009 - Honourable Mention

2009-08-19T17:03:00.005+01:00

Tuesday 18 August 2009.
Congratulations. Your entry 'MaiKhanda' advanced through the second round and to the third and final round of the jurying process. Your entry is an official Honorable Mention of the 2009 International Photography Awards.

The set of 5 photographs from Malawi taken on StillVision Photography’s trip to Africa (click to see IPA winners gallery) made an official Honourable Mention of the 2009 International Photography Awards. It was nice to have photographs go through to the third and final stage of this international and highly professional competition and be in the running for the 1st, 2nd and 3rd prizes! Next year perhaps...

The Wedding Of Alex & Kate

2009-08-18T12:31:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Alex and Kate who were married in the Sculpture Gallery at Woburn Abbey on Saturday 15 August 2009. Woburn Abbey is a fantastic looking wedding venue both in general terms and where the wedding ceremony and wedding reception took place. The weather matched the location which was great for the wedding guests and a little more difficult for us as photographers (sun-tanned guests, squinty eye photographs)! We were booked to photograph the whole day so we were witness to some mild panic amongst team Kate when a hair 'kink' was spotted moments before walking down the isle! Team Alex was a little more relaxed but very sweaty in their wedding outfits. All in all it was a really lovely day to be a part of and our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding of Chris & Rhiannon

2009-08-14T18:11:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Chris and Rhiannon who were married on Saturday 8th August 2009. Their wedding ceremony was held at the Catholic Church on Hills Road in Cambridge city. After a slightly nervy start for the wedding party due to some hiccups in the run up to the big day, everything actually went very smoothly and according to plan. After the wedding we headed out of Cambridge and to the Hotel Felix off Hunting Road for the wedding reception. We really have been so lucky with the weather this year (given that the summer has been a rubbish one yet again) and the wedding guests got to enjoy the gardens and plenty of Champaign was being drunk. We decided to shoot some bride and groom photography later in the evening but as with most weddings, time went into a world of its own so we ended up a little behind schedule! This actually meant we were able to be quite experimental with some late evening light, a flash which we attached to a bridesmaid (or 'flash girl' as she become known) and some fantastic fashion poses from Rhiannon - Vogue eat your heart out! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

International Photography Awards - Official Selection 2009

2009-08-12T00:15:00.005+01:00

Monday 10th August 2009.
Congratulations. Your entry is now an Official Selection of the 2009 International Photography Awards. Congratulations once more.
Very Best,
International Photography Awards

Very pleased to say that a set of images of a Malawian maternity ward taken during the StillVision trip to Africa in February have made it through to the knock out stages of the International Photography Awards 2009. Fingers crossed for the next rounds!

The Wedding of Nathan & Rosie

2009-08-07T12:55:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Nathan and Rosie who were married on Wednesday 5th August 2009 (yes, a Wednesday wedding)! It was our second wedding at Jesus College, Cambridge in is as many days but we are such fans of Cambridge college weddings that we enjoyed the double! There were many differences between the two weddings. One was the humidity (it was really very hot and muggy today) and the other was that Nathan and Rosie were actually married in the chapel which was nice to see. We could have done with night vision photography equipment as it is very dark in the chapel but at least it was nice and cool! The Ushers were fantastic on the day and really helped things to run smoothly and were excellent people organisers for the formal group photography. They weren’t on hand to stop the groom from being attacked by a wasp or from stopping ants from invading the wedding dress however! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Weding of Alan & Deborah

2009-08-03T23:03:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Alan & Deborah who had a Cambridge wedding at Jesus College on Sunday 2nd August 2009. We were booked to photograph the whole day and started at Hotel du Vin in Cambridge city centre. We left the bridal preparations for Jesus College, Cambridge where the wedding ceremony and wedding reception were held. It’s always nice to have one wedding venue as it really helps create an atmosphere. The weather was absolutely lovely and very out of synch with the rest of the week! Our wedding booking dates have avoided the worst of the British summer so far (especially given that the weather is shaping up to be just like last year) so we feel quite lucky. Today’s wedding culminated in a fantastic best men’s speech (there were 2 best men) which involved an alternative version of Stealer’s Wheel’s ‘stuck in the middle with you’. Or should that be ‘stuck in this marriage with you’ – funny, touching and definitely wedding speech of the year! our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding of Chris & Kay

2009-08-01T21:20:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Chris & Kay who were married on Friday 31 July 2009. Their wedding took us out of Cambridge and into the West Midlands! The wedding ceremony venue was St Paul's Church in Wednesdbury and their wedding reception was at the Fairlawns Hotel in Aldridge. All the important parts of the day were held whilst the weather was dry but the heavens did open (never to stop) at about 5pm. Luckily there was plenty of space in the hotel for the wedding guest’s to enjoy some good food, a drink, and a dance (we were fairly sure that there was a group of ladies singing and telling jokes even before the wine started to flow)! After an alternative first dance we left the wedding party to dance the night away and we’re sure that’s exactly what they did! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding Of James & Jodie

2009-07-29T17:19:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to James and Jodie who had an Essex wedding (not our usual Cambridge wedding) on Saturday 25th July 2009. Their wedding was a really hot and sunny one which puts their wedding in the minority of weddings this summer (a bit like last year)! As a result, the wedding guests really enjoyed the gardens of Spains Hall in Finchingfield, playing giant Jenga and Croquet. It was harder for us as wedding photographers because bright, sunny weather in an exposed wedding venue can prove quite a challenge! We did however find a shady tree for the family groups and spent a while searching out locations with the bride and groom. All in all it was a great day and everyone seemed to be thoroughly enjoying themselves. Our wedding photography highlights are below:

The Wedding Of Joseph & Lydia

2009-07-22T15:59:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Joseph & Lydia who were married on Saturday 18th July 2009 at Shire Hall registry office on Castle Hill. Bride and groom broke with tradition and met before the wedding ceremony to walk in together which was different and nice to see. After the wedding ceremony the wedding party headed off down castle hill to watch the wedding couple leave from Quayside in a punt. They punted down the river to Trinity Hall College where their wedding reception was held and where they had met as students! The afternoon was delightful and the weather was surprisingly nice (unlike the day before and day after) so everyone felt lucky. Our luck ran out when a glass of Champaign blew over and into our open camera bag soaking the equipment! Once dried off and the panic was over it was reassuring to find out that it was a glass of Dom Perignon 2000 - very nice indeed! Our wedding photography highlights are as follows:

The Wedding Of Simon & Claire

2009-07-15T18:30:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Simon & Claire who were married on Saturday 11th July 2009. Their wedding ceremony was held at the St Mary and St Michael Parish Church, Tumpington. We weren't so lucky with the weather in the early part of their wedding day meaning that Claire arrived to drizzle and left the church, arm in arm with Simon, to drizzle too! Luckily the weather improved when we later headed off to the country side for a rather unusual wedding reception. The groom's family run a farm in the village of Harlton and had kitted out one of the barns with dinning space for 160, a full bar, dance floor and stage. It was quite unusual as a wedding venue but it looked fantastic (as you can see below). We hear they are looking into using it as a wedding venue to hire and we'll be sure to recommend it to our future Cambridge wedding clients! Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding of Crispin & Lucy

2009-07-08T13:28:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Crispin & Lucy who were married at King's College, Cambridge on Saturday 4th July 2009! King's College is one of our favourite Cambridge college wedding venues as it's just so iconic and screams 'Cambridge'! The weather was cooler than it had been (marking the end of an official two week long heat wave) but that was welcome and it turned out to be lovely wedding photography weather. We enjoyed a slightly experimental summer evening photography shoot around the college at about 9:30pm! That really is quite late for a bride and groom photo shoot but it worked and the sky was really beautiful. Everything else on the day went smoothly (apart from a little bit of time shifting early on in proceedings) and we left the bride and groom dancing away to a wedding ceilidh band. Our wedding photography highlights follow:

Happy 50th Birthday to Kate!

2009-06-30T00:08:00.005+01:00

We were booked as official photographers for Kate’s 50th birthday celebrations at Trinity College, Cambridge on Saturday 27th June. Cambridge colleges are great places to photograph any sort of event but Trinity College on a beautiful summers evening is really fantastic. The drinks part of the evening took place in one of Trinity’s large courts and provided us with some fantastic light for portrait photography! Not only was this a bit of a bonus for us but the people were on top form and gave us all the moments, expressions and emotions that make up great event photography! The drinks were followed by a sit down meal, speeches and coffee. We were there to photograph it all informally and in the background. Our photography highlights follow:

The Christening of Baby Alexia

2009-06-15T19:39:00.006+01:00

What a busy day of photography today but what a gorgeous one! We left our Cambridge portrait studio this afternoon to shoot a couple of location photography sessions in Cambridge. After a pre-wedding photography session on Granchester meadows we headed back to Cambridge city for a baby photography session for baby Alexia. Alexia is two and a half months old and today was her Christening at the Catholic Church on Hills Road so we also did some Christening photography for her! She was full of beans (and more amazingly full of smiles) when we arrived at the house and she stayed that way for the rest of the afternoon. We managed to capture some nice portrait photos of her as well as some general photography of the day. Professional portrait photography at a Christening provides a lovely record of a Christening day and one that I am sure will be treasured my Mum & Dad for years to come! Our photography highlights are below:

The Wedding of Ian & Jenny

2009-06-12T12:22:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Ian and Jenny who were married on Saturday 6th June 2009 in Surrey. Their wedding service was held at St Paul's Church in Hook with their wedding reception at Woodland's Park Hotel, Cobham. It has to be said that is was a wet one and the first reminder to us of last year’s terrible summer for wedding photography! The rain didn't actually cause many problems as it was more like drizzle so the bride, groom, most wedding guests and all the children enjoyed the lovely outdoor setting of Woodlands Park Hotel. By the evening the rain had stopped and we were witness to a game of over-sized outdoor chess and plenty of children running wild in the gardens - the weather can't stop a wedding party from having fun! Our wedding photography highlights are below:

Woodpeckers In The StillVision Studio Garden

2009-06-01T21:02:00.006+01:00

As if the lovely weather wasn't reason enough to avoid doing any portrait photography today, our family of Great Spotted Woodpeckers gave us another! The birds are nesting in the grounds of the StillVision photography portrait studio in Girton and are getting very active as their chick gets ready to fledge. The little chick is really rather sweet poking its head out of the hole and it's remarkable how hard it is making its parents work. Perhaps this is an insight to how hard the Mums and Dads of the babies we see in the portrait studio have to work!

We had no photography appointments in the diary and the sun was shining so we thought we'd try a family portrait session with a difference and set up the camera on the woodpecker nest (very Spring watch) to capture some video footage. For those non-birders, Dad has the red hat on his head and Mum doesn't. Dad is also the one who gets attacked by what must be a VERY hungry chick!

Enjoy...

The Wedding Of Stuart & Abby

2009-05-28T11:27:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Stuart and Abby who were married in Scotland on Thursday 21st May 2009. We were booked to photograph their wedding reception/wedding party two days later at the University Arms Hotel in the centre of Cambridge. It was a large party of friends and colleagues and very little family (who had all been part of the actual wedding day). There was an upbeat, party atmosphere to try and capture with photography and plenty of 'moments' to keep an eye on! We took advantage of the late afternoon light and photographed the newly-weds out on Parker's Piece which was a nice thing to do as the couple had not had any bride and groom wedding photography as part of the actual wedding day. Our wedding photography highlights follow:

The Wedding of William & Sarah

2009-05-22T17:12:00.002+01:00

Congratulations to William and Sarah who were married on Saturday 16th May 2009. Their wedding ceremony was at All Saints church in Little Shelford with the wedding reception only a short walk away in the village hall. The wedding reception was actually an afternoon tea party (but with cake cutting & speeches) so was a little different but just as appealing as the more typical wedding breakfast! The weather was much better than forecast (ignoring the strong wind) so there was a lot of weather talk amongst the wedding guests! We left the tea party along with the bride and groom to get some evening photography in the grounds of the church. This was really enjoyable and resulted in some great photography. Our wedding photography highlights are below:

The Wedding Of Tom & Rachel

2009-05-12T17:00:00.006+01:00

Congratulations to Tom and Rachel who were married on Saturday 9th may 2009 at South Farm. It’s a lovely wedding venue and we have photographed weddings there on a number of occasions. It's a real 'outdoor' wedding venue in the middle of nowhere, amongst farm animals and lovely gardens so it really requires good weather. Luckily we got average which meant that the wedding ceremony could take place in the outdoor rotunda (there's no other wedding venue we're aware of in Cambridge where you can get married outdoors but we might be wrong)! In the evening the weather was really stunning (if a bit cold), the pigs were running riot, the peacocks had their tails on display and the atmosphere was really jolly. We left there party at about 10pm to the sounds of Stereophonics from the indie covers band! Our wedding photography highlights are below:

The Wedding of Stuart & Sarah

2009-05-08T22:00:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Stuart and Sarah who were married on Sunday 3rd May 2009. Their wedding was our third in a row and made for a very busy bank holiday weekend for StillVision! It was a fantastic wedding to photograph because it was a Longstowe Hall wedding and Longstowe is one of our favourite wedding venues - it's basically a photographers dream! It’s the sort of wedding venue that needs good weather and although it was a little colder than the previous two days worth of weddings we used the venue to the fullest and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! Before all the action at Longstowe the happy couple had actually tied the knot at All Saints Church in Longstanton and made their exit from the church under an arch of tennis racquets courtesy of the local tennis club. Touches like that are always great to see on a wedding day! Our photography highlights are as follows:

The Wedding Of Will & Karen

2009-05-07T16:27:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Will and Karen who were married on Saturday 2nd May 2009. Their wedding was the smallest weddings we've ever covered with only 13 attendees (bride and groom included)! This meant for a lovely, warm and loving atmosphere throughout the day and also meant that we got plenty of time to play around with ideas. The wedding itself was at Shire Hall but was followed by a blessing service at St Peter's Church on Castle Hill. St Peter's is probably a church that every Cambridge resident overlooks but it really is one of the most picturesque in Cambridge and well worth a visit. The church can only hold about 20 people inside so it was the perfect venue for today’s wedding! After the service we headed to Dedham in Suffolk and to the Sun Inn for sandwiches and Champagne. We left the wedding party as they prepared to sit down for a lovely looking family meal! Our photo highlights follow:

Simon & Claire's Location Pre-Wedding Session

2009-05-06T23:45:00.006+01:00

We don't usually shoot pre wedding sessions on location because of the good old British weather. Sometimes there is a special reason to do so and tonight's shoot (on our second attempt because of that same British weather just mentioned) had one! Simon and Claire are getting married in July and their wedding reception is in the middle of nowhere at the family farm. We really needed to give it the once over before doing the wedding and thought it a good idea to kill two birds with one stone and combine a location scout with a pre wedding shoot! It's a gorgeous location and we can't wait to shoot the wedding. As to whether the dog and the cows will be present at the wedding, we will have to wait and see!

The Wedding Of Gary & Mandy

2009-05-05T18:48:00.011+01:00

Congratulations to Gary and Mandy who were married on Friday 1st May 2009 at Histon Baptist Church. It was a wedding first for us in that the bride arrived in a full sized council dust truck! Mandy's business is the Cambridge bin cleaning company Weelie Fresh Bins so there is a connection for those of you who don't get it! Their wedding reception was held at the Bedford Swan Hotel which is on a very pleasant spot by the river. We got a chance to take a nice stroll along the river in what was actually very reasonable wedding weather for the beginning of May! Our photo highlights are as follows:

StillVision Abroad - Aquaid Lifeline Part1, Malawi

2009-03-13T15:11:00.007Z

The final part of our month in Africa was a visit to the Aquaid Lifeline Fund's orphan village of Namisu near Blantyre in Malawi. The Cambridge based water company and associated charity are coming up for 10 years old and we were there to help them produce an anniversary brochure. Since starting out Aquaid have put over 3 million pounds to good use with their Malawian projects donating £732,000 last year alone! The orphan village is an amazing success and the work being done by the charity owner John Searle is really inspirational.

The number of projects has grown and grown and we managed to visit a good number of them. We also met a number of the people being helped either through schooling, day care, employment, college sponsorship or simply given access to medical treatment.

Hopefully the following images sum up the good work being done and portray the positive atmosphere that exists within the projects, the people that work for them and the children that they help:

THE SCHOOL AT NAMISU

SCHOOL AT LASUNGWE

StillVision Abroad - Aquaid Lifeline Part2, Malawi

2009-03-13T14:34:00.013Z

Aside from the huge amount of energy that goes into putting orphaned children through school, housing those without any family at all and feeding all of the day care children twice a day, there is a lot more that Aquaid funds and a lot more that goes on behind the scenes:

NAMISU ORPHA VILLAGE - views.

WOODWORK TRAINING - cabinets and structures for the building projects, schools and residential facilities.

TAILOR'S SHOP - providing uniforms for the school.

THE GARDENS - Maize and other crops feed the day care children (400 + in Namisu alone). The aim is to make the village self sufficient and provide an income.

FLATPACK WHEELCHAIRS - Self assembly wheelchairs that require only a simple, plastic garden chair!

ELEPHANTISIS - After consultation with the Doctor at Namisu the action decided on was for amputation of the arm.

VILLAGE PASTOR - Pastors hold village communities together and many are sponsored.

MIKE - being funded through university in nearby Zomba.

StillVision Abroad - The Wedding of Sizwile & Gathoni, Harare, Zimbabwe.

2009-03-09T12:12:00.007Z

Another important part of our February trip to Africa was a wedding booking in the Zimbabwean capital of Harare. The happy couple were Sizwile who is Zimbabwean and Gathoni who is Kenyan. Although a little apprehensive about photographing in Zimbabwe (we didn't want to be seen as British media) the wedding was planned and executed to perfection and in all seriousness we could have been photographing in Cambridge! Zimbabwe is a country riddled with problems so we didn't expect to get away without encountering at least one. Our major problem was that the bride's parent's flight was cancelled by Air Zimbabwe on the night before the wedding spreading mild panic throughout the wedding party (the groom was so nervous he fell asleep). All was ok and the parents arrived within two hours of the wedding ceremony!

We thoroughly enjoyed the day and felt as much a part of the evening celebrations (and drinking) as anyone else so we got some rather interesting angles during the conga dancing towards the end of the night... enough said! Here are our favourite images:

StillVision Abroad - MaiKhanda Project, Malawi.

2009-03-06T15:36:00.015Z

So... 4 countries, 1 month and 14 flights later and the StillVision studio has re-opened! There is just the small matter of the 38gb of photography to edit from our mammoth trip abroad! Expect plenty of BLOG entries over the next few weeks including photography of our wedding booking in Harare, Zimbabwe and our photo coverage for the Cambridge based charity Aquaid.

Most importantly and the primary reason for our trip to Africa was a photography commission to produce a comprehensive PR portfolio for The Health Foundation in London. Malawi has one of the world’s highest rates of maternal deaths during childbirth with recent figures showing that 984 mothers die for every 100,000 live births and that 27 babies die for every 1,000 births. The foundation has launched a £2.7 million, three year programme dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare for babies and mothers in Malawi.

The project that was photographed is called 'MaiKhanda' and we had the privilege of seeing everything that has been done to reduce maternal deaths. It was an eye opening experience but a very positive one (not to mention a hard working one too).

Below is a selection of favourite images processed in a more photojournalistic style to those produced for The Health Foundation.

PORTRAITS

KIDS

HOSPITALS

The New Year For StillVision Photography

2009-01-05T15:22:00.011Z

Happy New Year Everybody!

First of all please download the first StillVision Photography newsletter of 2009 and enjoy some of our highlights of 2008!

2009 takes StillVision Photography into a third year and what a third year we intend to have! We've already got big plans for our portrait work in 2009 having upgraded the studio equipment (we can now take 21 megapixel photographs which sounds a bit overwhelming)! A very busy summer of weddings is already in the diary but if you are getting maried in June 2009 and are still looking for a wedding photographer then you are in luck as we do have some dates free.

February 2009 sees us take our first trip abroad with StillVision. This means that the studio will be closed throughout February. We are off to Africa photographing for a charity and are also doing our first wedding of the year in Harare, Zimbabwe. We expect this to be nothing less than an amazing experience both personally and photographically. It's amazing to hear stories of joy and hope from a country that only ever seems to talk about suffering. Expect many blog entries in March when the studio re-opens!

The Wedding Of Rob & Cath

2008-11-24T20:28:00.008Z

Congratulations to Rob and Catherine who were married on Saturday 15th November at Burwell Church. Their wedding was our first and only winter wedding this year and the weather was predictably 'November'! Having said that it could have been a lot colder (it's freezing now only a week or so on)! The wedding reception was held at Tattersall's in Newmarket and the wedding party seemed to take over the place! There were 30 children having loads of fun, a magician and wedding toast master not to mention a lot of yellow and black, Cambridge United themed details. I guess you would be hard pressed to find another excuse for sunflowers at a wedding! Our wedding photography highlights are below:

London Night Shoot

2008-10-26T15:17:00.003Z

We headed to London to meet a couple whose wedding we are photographing next year. It may seem a little premature shooting a pre-wedding portrait for the 2009 wedding season but we had not actually met with Alan and Deborah in person before. We therefore combined our first meeting with a portrait shoot (plus they have plans for their Christmas cards)! They live around Canary Wharf in London so we met up on a cold, autumnal evening for some London night photography and it was great fun! Low light photography is always challenging and is often a very slow affair but Alan and Deborah did really well at standing still and even managed to hold some happy expressions for the duration of the camera shutter (up to 12 seconds)! Our photo highlights are below:

The Wedding of Stuart & JC

2008-10-06T16:31:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Stuart and JC who were married at South Farm on Sunday 21st September 2008! Their marriage marked the end of our summer wedding season 2008 and we were thrilled to photograph a second sunny wedding in a row (particularly given the weather throughout the rest of the wedding season). Although we have photographed weddings at South Farm before and know what the venue is like for a wedding we particularly enjoyed the outdoor feel of the day. We had not before been able to use the rotunda so photographing an outdoor wedding ceremony was very exciting!

Our photo highlights are below and yes the little piglet photograph isn't in there by mistake... Stuart and JC's wedding guests will understand ;)

Baby Selma

2008-10-02T15:25:00.003+01:00

This is our first baby session blog posting for a while! The trouble is that we see so many gorgeous babies in the studio that we feel guilty about picking favourites! Baby Selma came to see us in the studio along with her Mummy and Daddy a few weeks ago and it was her first steps towards a modelling career. Mum wanted to get some portfolio shots for a baby modelling agency that wants to see more of Selma so we tried our hardest to get some nice photos as well as some different looking photos. Dad is from Egypt which helps give Selma her a fantastic, photogenic look and her perfect skin! She was a little camera shy so that's something for her to work on! Our favourite photos are below:

The Wedding Of James & Kelly

2008-10-01T18:24:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to James and Kelly who were married on Saturday 20th September 2008! Their wedding was held at St John The Evangelist on Hills Road and we all moved on to Queens College for the reception. Their wedding was part of our last weekend of peak season weddings and we were delighted that it ended with a sunny one (we've photographed in all sorts of weather this year)! It was so nice to photograph a wedding on a bright, settled day where the weather you woke up with was the weather you went to bed with! It wasn't just lucky for us, the bride and groom must have been thanking their lucky stars too! One could say it was almost too lucky because the bride's car broke down before her arrival ... oh well, it was sunny so who cared!?!

Our photo highlights are below:

Dancer's Portfolio

2008-09-11T16:36:00.008+01:00

We had a slightly unusual portrait session last week with 15 year old Chloe. She is applying for dance colleges at the moment and needs some photos to make an impact so came along for something more like a portfolio session! We certainly enjoyed it and got some cracking photos that are pretty good for our own portfolio come to think of it (even if some of her dance positions make us cringe a little bit - rather her than us)! Our photo highlights are below:

The Wedding of Daren & Bex

2008-09-08T18:25:00.002+01:00

We attended a different sort of wedding this Saturday 6th September to celebrate the marriage of Daren & Bex. They had a very small wedding in a lovely village church near Huntingdon and gave us plenty of time to mess around with bride and groom ideas which is a rare treat for wedding photographers! The weather was hit and miss (a bit like the rest of the last 6 weeks) but we really enjoyed the afternoon and it was all over too fast! A number of Daren & Bex's wedding images will surely be on view in the wedding galleries of www.stillvision.co.uk/weddings very soon!

Stuart and JC's pre wedding session

2008-09-05T16:56:00.003+01:00

As we enter September the wet weather problem is still with us! Stuart and JC's pre-wedding photography session along the river in Bedford had a little more than just a little problem however - within 20 minutes of starting we were in the middle of a thunder storm and then it went dark! It was raining for every photo but Stuart and JC did such a good job of pretending to be in their 'happy place' that we got some nice shots. We also got to know each other better over a coffee and that's one of the main reasons for doing pre-wedding sessions. We are now really looking forward to their wedding on September 21st.

August at StillVision

2008-09-02T23:17:00.003+01:00

Well it's official - the dullest August on record (and don't we know it)! August was another full on wedding month and it rained at every single one! The weather never dampened the wedding spirit however (even if it did dampen our equipment) and all of our August weddings were a pleasure to cover. August also saw us photograph the usual handful of cute babies but the weddings took priority as they should. We did however have the pleasure of meeting Chloe for a slightly unusual photography session in the StillVision studio towards the end of the month. Chloe is a 15 year old dancer in need of a dancer’s portfolio and we really enjoyed her session. Expect a number of her pictures to make a blog entry once she has seen the images herself! With Chloe’s session fresh in mind we are really looking forward to picking up the number of studio sessions this month as we have fewer wedding commitments in September (and the equipment has finally dried out). If you are looking for a baby, child or family photography session in the run up to Christmas then please get in touch on (01223) 711508. We are starting to book up so act fast!

The Wedding of Chiji & Fiona

2008-08-29T16:58:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Chiji and Fiona who were married on Friday 22 August in Kings Lynn. Their wedding day was very quite unique as Chiji is Nigerian and his whole family were present and dressed in traditional Nigerian wedding outfits. He also seemed to invite the entire Nigerian paparazzi who were all over the wedding ceremony like locusts which made us laugh (as one of the pictures below shows)! The weather was really mixed and not really on our side but Chiji and Fiona had decided on a reception at the town hall which is an indoor wedding venue. The family photographs did require everyone to brave the wet and cold (that's an exaggeration but the Nigerian's present wouldn't disagree)! Our photo highlights are below:

The Wedding of Milos and Helen

2008-08-20T18:27:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Milos and Helen who were married in Waterbeach on Saturday 16th August. Their wedding was a nice size with a lovely atmosphere and there were wedding guests from all over Europe! The weather had promised us rain but we saw nothing of the sort and in fact the sun even shone so that was great! Our photo highlights are below:

Hard At Work

2008-08-18T20:04:00.002+01:00

The 2008 wedding season is starting to calm down. It's not drawing to a close just yet but we're managing to finally catch our breath! Thanks to Matt & Jo who were married at Queens Colelge in July for forwarding these shots of Mike in action... no wonder he's so exhausted ;)

The Wedding of Daniel & Miriam

2008-08-14T13:10:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Daniel and Miriam who were married in Cambridge on Monday 11 August. This wedding was quite a unique one for us (it was a Monday after all) and we had everything to photograph from bride's arrival on a punt, a walk through Cambridge city centre and getting to grips with some German wedding traditions (including bride and groom changing their outfits for the wedding breakfast). It was an enjoyable day and we thoroughly enjoyed the music in the service (it was more like a concert)! Our wedding highlights are below:

Rain on Your Wedding Day!

2008-08-07T18:15:00.006+01:00

"Sposa bagnata, sposa fortunata" - A wet bride is a lucky bride (or so says an Italian proverb about marriage referring to rain on your wedding day). The downpour that met Emily on her arrival to St Andrew The Great Church in Cambridge on Saturday was quite spectacular. We were caught right in the middle of it 'trying' to photograph guests arriving and hoping that our equipment would still work for the rest of the day - three cheers for the English summer! Ben & Emily's wedding highlights follow this post.

The Wedding of Ben & Emily

2008-08-07T18:09:00.003+01:00

Congratulations to Ben and Emily who were married on Saturday 2nd August. This was our first wedding in the month of August and it started out as a very wet one indeed. In fact we've never seen rain quite like it upon a bride's arrival to church! Luckily for Ben and Emily the weather cleared up and by the time the wedding reception got going all of the guests were having a lovely time in the gardens of Sidney Sussex College. Our highlights are below:

July at StillVision Photography

2008-08-04T12:10:00.003+01:00

This month has been our busiest yet! We have managed to pack in 6 weddings, quite a few baby photography sessions and a couple of big family groups in the StillVision portrait studio! This helped to break up the routine of editing all of those wedding pictures - it's nice to have the variation. Early on in the month we met with the owners of VUED who sell promotional LCD screens to local businesses and they had not been happy with their original commercial photography so we did some digital retouching work for them and re-shot a couple of products for them. This helped add to the variation but without doubt this month has been a wedding photography month! All of the months wedding highlights are in the stream below as well as a couple of our favourite babies...

Performing At Your Own Wedding!

2008-07-31T18:05:00.004+01:00

We have met bridal parties who do their own hair and makeup, grooms who would prefer to walk than hire a car and brides who want to be given away by their children but this was a first - a groom performing in his own wedding band! Scott and Alice got married on Saturday July 26th (their photography highlights are below this post) and we thoroughly enjoyed watching Scott perform in the evening. The band was from Guildford and we have even photographed two of the members before when covering weddings in Bristol and Guildford (it's a small world)! They were really excellent it has to be said and brought back memories of playing in bands and photographing sweaty gigs in the press pit!

The Wedding of Scott & Alice

2008-07-31T17:59:00.004+01:00

We had a lovely time today with Scott and Alice who got married at Emmanuel College in Cambridge. It was another hot one (two consecutive, 'hottest days of the year so far') which meant the guests were in high spirits! The day was tinged with a little sadness however because the couple are off to live in Egypt at the end of the summer. This made the wedding day an emotional one for all. Some of our favourite photographs are below.

The Wedding Of Mick & Maria

2008-07-31T17:54:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Michael & Maria who celebrated their wedding in the capital of the fens on Friday 25th July! It was a hot one but in the gardens of Peckover House in Wisbech the guests seemed to be having a great time (and quite a few glasses of Pims it seemed)! Here are some of our favourites and we look forward to showing the newly-weds the rest when they are back from honeymoon!

The (pretend) Wedding Of Ronald & Ann

2008-07-25T11:55:00.008+01:00

We had a more unusual wedding to photograph this week - it wasnt actually a real wedding! Ronald & Ann are actually getting married in Hong Kong in October but whilst on holiday in the UK they wanted a set of 'Cambridge' themed wedding photographs! We spent an entire afternoon shooting wedding pictures and a more casual set of pre-wedding photographs with them. We walked miles to take in all the sights of Cambridge and the weather was incredible so we are sure that Ronald & Ann will remember the experience for some time to come. It was great fun for us too because we had the luxury of time! Real weddings often do not so we relished the chance to be experimental with a bride and groom... as you can see below!

The Wedding of Mike & Hayley

2008-07-23T21:05:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Mike and Hayley as they celebrated their wedding on Saturday 19th July! It was a lovely wedding set deep in the Suffolk countryside only a few miles from Lavenham. The weather was mixed but generally kind and helped add to an outdoor, family atmosphere with lots and lots of children. There was also lots of football taking place and yes one did hit us straight in the face! We did get quite obsessed over the fantastic wedding car - as you can see it was spectacular!

Baby Phoebe

2008-07-18T17:33:00.004+01:00

We met one of the cutest babies we have ever had the pleasure of photographing last week! Phoebe is a gorgeous 8 month old with striking blue eyes, lovely chubby features and a personality to match. She smiled, giggled and chuckled her way through her portrait session and gave us the chance to try out some lighting ideas (babies usually get bored after half an hour so we relished this opportunity)! Although a happy little soul, it is the more serious ones that really stand out from her session. We think the dreamy, concentrating faces sum babies up fmuch better than the big happy smiles!

It's worth mentioning again that if you have a cute baby and want some professional photography done then we will give you a FREE portrait session if you mention this blog entry! Just give us a call on (01223) 711508 or e-mail info@stillvision.co.uk.

The Wedding of Matt & Jo

2008-07-18T16:39:00.007+01:00

Congratulations to Matt & Jo whose wedding was held at Queens College on Saturday 12th July. Their wedding was a very well dressed one with lots of gorgeous people which makes a photographer's job easier. I tried my best to blend in with the gorgeous guests and was snapped in some very fetching sunglasses (part of an abstract photographic art project by one of the guests I think)! A big well done to mother of the groom who made the fantastic cake, it was spectacular.

Vicky

2008-07-11T17:15:00.004+01:00

This morning we worked with an amazing model to get some fashion portfolio images for StillVision Commercial photography! Her name is Vicky and she was great fun to work with and we shot for most of the morning with paper aeroplanes and bits of paper flapping everywhere! We think we've created a funky selection of fashion photographs to spice up the commercial photography website a little!

High end commercial photography takes time but we think it was well worth it and because the session was such a success we will be working on a joint art project with Vicky later in the summer. Keep checking back to see the results!

The Wedding Of David & Susie

2008-07-11T13:14:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to David & Susie who had a fantastic wedding at Kings College in Cambridge on Saturday 5th July. The weather was amazing (even though the day started out with rain) and it was one of the nicest weddings to be a part of! Everybody was happy and enjoying the sunshine and we left quite late in the evening and everybody was still dancing away!

Another Cutie

2008-07-08T18:44:00.004+01:00

We met another contender for cutest baby to visit the StillVision studio! Baby Evan is a little 4 month old with loads of character. He was great to photograph and his pictures are lovely (as his he). Remember if you have a cute baby and want some professional photography done then we will give you a FREE portrait session! Just give us a call on (01223) 711508! You have nothing to lose...

The Wedding of Matthew & Julie

2008-07-08T18:36:00.004+01:00

Congratulations to Matthew and Julie who's wedding was on Friday 4th July! As Matthew pointed out in his excellent speech, this day is to celebrate freedom and independence... we will say no more! Their wedding day was fantastic and it had everything from amazing weather to snogging bridesmaids and we think it will be well remembered! We certainly enjoyed photographing it.

StillVision Photogrpahy in June!

2008-07-01T09:56:00.003+01:00

June 2008 is month 1 of the all new StillVision Photography blog! It's been an interesting month for StillVision Photography - last minute wedding meetings, final pre wedding sessions for the weddings we are photographing in and around Cambridge this season. In the studio we have seen our usual mix of babies and have done a number of 'school leaver' sessions which have been great fun.

The stream below are some of our highlights...

Mike and Maria

2008-07-01T09:51:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Mike and Maria who are getting married in just a few weeks! We have the pleasure of photographing their wedding at the fabulous Peckover House in Wisbech and are really looking forward to it. Mike and Maria came to the Cambridge portrait studio for their pre wedding session and being such an incredibly good looking couple, we got some fantastic shots. Hopefully they will be as good on their wedding day as they were in the studio!

Cambridge's Cutest?

2008-06-30T22:13:00.006+01:00

Every now and then we meet a baby in the StillVision Photography portrait photography studio that makes life easy for us! Little Charlotte was one of those babies and her pictures are simply delightful. As Cambridge portrait photographers we love photographing cute babies so if you think you have a little cutie to rival Charlotte then give us a call on (01223) 711508 and we'll give you a free session! You can see some more of our baby work online at www.stillvision.co.uk

So just to recap... poratrait sessions for babies are free if you mention this blog entry!

Downing College Graduation

2008-06-30T21:51:00.005+01:00

We photographed a lovely group of very recent Cambridge graduates on the eve of their graduation dinner at Downing College, Cambridge. With only two days left to enjoy each other's company they thought it would be a good idea to get some professional portrait photography done so we went to meet them.

The portrait session was great fun, the group were all lovely people and they now have some great portrait photography to remember their three years at Cambridge by. Congratulations to all.

The Wedding Of Colin & Charlene

2008-06-30T19:11:00.005+01:00

Congratulations to Colin & Charlene for their wedding day on June 21st! The wedding was at South Farm out towards Royston and although the weather was threatening it didn't actually rain! This wedding had one of the coolest bride arrivals - The Italian Job with red, blue and white Mini's!

Teenagers

2008-06-30T18:51:00.007+01:00

'School Leavers' sessions are always great fun and we've actually done quite a few already this summer. We tend to photograph them outside but not this time! We set the studio up for fashion to photograph these 4 very photogenic girls. They impressed us with their poses (they had clearly been watching America's Next Top Model) and seemed to enjoy the experience. They now have some fantastic portrait photography to remember each other by.

We hope more and more friends will see a professional portrait session as a great way to remember your closest friends (whether you are leaving school, college or university). Good friends are hard to find but even harder to keep!

New Face of StillVision!

2008-06-30T18:00:00.008+01:00

We wanted to change the main wall display in the StillVision Photography studio to an image that is a little more relevant to our day to day activities. It was a shame to see our impressive fashion wall disappear but we felt a cute baby face was in order and that's exactly what we now have. 4 month old Ella-Rose came for her baby portrait studio session and we loved the pictures so much that she now smiles at you when you enter the studio. She's absolutely fantastic!

As you can see the studio wall display is a little different to the original but pink wouldn't go with the grey decor in the Cambridge studio...

The First StillVision Photography Blog!

2008-06-19T13:41:00.005+01:00

StillVision Photography join the modern blogging age!

I guess this will be used as a running commentary on all the weddings, portraits and commercial photography that takes place...

...I think it will be updated monthly as a summary of each month and for everybody to keep up with all that's going on!