Up, Up and Away......

I was up with the Essex Air Ambulance team yesterday. The day started at their airbase in Boreham, where I was then flown by helicopter to New Hall School in Chelmsford. This is where the Essex Air Ambulance inaugural flight took off from 10 years ago.

At New Hall school there was time to meet many of the supporters, staff and volunteers and chat over bacon rolls, Danish’s and croissants. Following breakfast I was then flown to Hylands House to photograph a special celebration Fun Day they were holding to thank the people of Essex for all their support over the years. During the flight to Hylands house I was able to capture some great air-to-air shots of the other helicopter.

The Fun Day was a wonderful success and it was great to be able to meet various people who are connected with this fantastic charity. Walking around in the brilliant weather in shorts and t-shirts was an added bonus. But all of this of course is a typical day in the life of a photographer…. :-)

Thank you to Tony who came to assist me yesterday.

Myself getting ready to board the support helicopter

Trying to get the crew together for a few publicity photos

A photo of the banner that I provided the photography for

4 Weddings and an Oscars Night!

Hi. It’s been such a busy period (hence 2 weeks since my last entry).

Training: I had the pleasure of running a private training session recently for a couple of guys from Blue Cube Studios who provide Architectural visualisation Services. They decided on the training, as they want to provide their clients with photographic services as well.

On Saturday (26th) I ran one of my Intro to Digital Photography courses. It was a great day and the students (see photo below) were really good fun to work with.



Weddings: I love this time of year as the wedding season is now in full flow. In fact I've covered 4 weddings within the last two weeks alone. At each wedding the weather has been great for the couples and guests but I must admit I’m thinking of changing my usual appearance of being all in black to something much cooler! Thanks must go to Jamie, Tony & Tracey who have attended some of the weddings withy me as assistants.


**********************************************************

Oscars Night: My son Adam left primary school last week, along with the rest of his year. To celebrate the event the school had an Oscar’s night for them. It was a great evening with all the boys dressed in suits and all the girls in dresses & gowns (see photos below). The evening included, reception drinks (non alcoholic of course) and an awards ceremony which included ‘Funniest Laugh”, “Most Embarrassing Moment” & “Friendliest Person” At the end of the evenining they had a disco.

28 Foot Banner: On Wednesday I’m covering a 10-year celebration event for the Essex Air Ambulance. At the event will also be displayed the 28” banner of all the staff that I recently photographed. I hope to show you a photograph of it next time.

Essex Air Ambulace Celebrates 10 Years

Hi.

It’s been a busy few weeks recently with Weddings, Parties, Group Training Courses and also the Personal one-to-one Photography Training days.

The one-to-one days are proving to be popular with both individuals wanting to improve their photography skills but also with companies who are find it of great benefit to include photography training as part of employee development.

********************

Last week I was doing some photography for The Essex Air Ambulance. It was an awards ceremony/garden party for all their volunteers to celebrate the Ten years that the Essex Air Ambulance has been operating.

As part of the shoot I had to photograph a group shot of over 40 of the volunteers. The photograph is then going to be blown up and used to fill a 28-foot wide banner at a large even in Chelmsford next month.

Here are a few photos from the event.

Wedding season is in full flow now with myself photographing at 9 weddings over the next few weeks. So that will keep me busy for sure.

Donna & Philip's Wedding - Gosfield Hall

I was photographing the wedding of Donna & Philip yesterday (Sunday 29th) over at Gosfield Hall. What a great day it was.

Gosfield Hall is a wonderful place to get married and a photographer's dream with beautiful rooms and gardens. Donna and Phil were a lovely couple to work with both sharing a fun and friendly personality.
Congratulations to you both.

Rebecca Bradshaw, who recently attended one of my training courses, was assisting me and did a fantastic job. Thanks Bex

Here are a few of the images from the day.

Exciting Times

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I'm re-branding the Photo Shoot Parties division. The main reason being that as the programme continues to expand it needs a separate identity from the other photography that I do.

Expansion. Naomi Lloyd Photography based is Portsmouth is now providing Photo Shoot Parties covering Hampshire.

The plan is to roll out the Photo Shoot Party programme across the Southern region and then up into the Midlands. With interest being shown from photographers around the country who want to be part of this exciting opportunity and provide parties under the umbrella of PhotoShootParty.co.uk I would expect this to happen fairly soon.

Watch this space!

As a famous on-screen business guru once said "This time next year Rodney....." Well, I think you know the rest :-)

*******************

I took my son Adam over near Stansted Airport this afternoon to see and photograph the planes as they came into land.

I wouldn't call myself a plane spotter in any way but I have to say watching them come into land is fantastic. It still blows my mind the way these huge chunks of tin gracefully touch down when they land.

You can click on the photos to enlarge

A photo of Adam

A couple of photos taken by Adam

And... A Couple of photos taken by me of Adam taking photos of the planes!!! Confused?

As I mentioned the other day, I was presenting at a Business Networking Club in Chelmsford.

I think it went well as they were all clapping... Albeit very slowly!!!

A photo of myself in full flow :-)

I'm off to cover Donna and Philip Playle's wedding this coming Sunday over at Gosfield Hall along with Rebecca Bradshaw who's assisting me. I'm looking forward to what will be an exciting day in wonderful surroundings.

The best get together!

I had the pleasure of spending the day yesterday over at Putteridge Burry in Luton with a guy called Jerry Chionis.

Jerry, from Australia, is probably known in the profession as the number 1 wedding photographer in the world, winning Wedding Album of the year award no fewer than 5 times in the last 6 years.

Spending time with some of the best in the business really helps you raise your own game. So, if you’re looking to book your wedding photography with me then you need to do it soon as I feel a price rise coming on :-)

Myself (left) and Jerry
























Putteridge Bury Conference Centre

On Saturday while running one of my own courses I was covering portraits with the students and saying how everyone should have at least one good photograph of themselves and that it seems people are too busy to have a portrait done.
Then I realised that I can’t remember the last time I actually had a professional photographer take my photograph. This reminded me of a builder I knew who did fantastic work but his house always looked like a building site as he was too busy taking care of other people’s properties.

3 of the portraits from Saturday's course

I’m off to do a presentation tonight at a network club on… Lettings!

That’s right, nothing to do with photography this time. I used to own a letting agency for 5 years before selling it a few years ago and they’ve invited me to present. I’ll let you know how it goes

Wedding Course & Fashion Show

I've had another busy week or so in which I've ran two photography courses in the last 10 days.

The 'Introduction to Digital Photography' course continues to be very popular as once again all the places were taken.

Interestingly the 2nd most bought digital camera in the last 12 months was a Digital SLR camera, the Canon 400D. In an consumer market where it is usually dominated by the compact 'point & shoot camera' it's great to see more and more people buying a DSLR.

If you would like more details on the Introduction to Digital Photography Course then please CLICK HERE.

On Saturday (7th July) I ran the 'Portrait & Wedding Photography' workshop. It was a great day which was made even better as we were able to use The All Saints Church in Rayne, Essex for the photo shoot. Special thanks go to all the models on the day which also included real-life Bride & Groom Ben and Sarah.

I must say that the bride looked absolutely stunning while the groom... just looked stunned! Only kidding of course Ben :-)

.
.
.
.





Fashion Show:
I was the official photographer at a fashion show last week that was being held as a fund raiser for the Essex Air Ambulance. It was a great event and extremely well attended.

As enjoyable as it is photographing a fashion show it does have it's problems. The main problem is always the light. With the lighting effects changing all the time and the models strutting along the catwalk at an alarming pace does make it challenging. Which I guess is why I enjoyed it so much

Using a Flash Gun is really out of the question as it just kills the mood of the event. Therefore you have to have a steady hand and take the shots without any flash at all.

Anyway, I must say that it was a fun shoot to do and I hope that it raised lots of money for this very important and life saving charity.

Here are just a few photos from the evening.

Who turned on the rain?

Hi.

Well, what happened to the sun over the Bank Holiday? Let's hope the weather improves during the week.

I had the pleasure on Saturday of photographing the wedding of Scott and Anne-Marie. It was a glorious sunny day with the ceremony being held at St Peters Church in Coggeshall and the reception at Gosfield Lakes Golf Club.

Scott and Anne Marie were great fun to work with and despite having to dodge a few off-target flying golf balls we got some great images.

.

.

I was over at Leez Priory, near Chelmsford, recently taking a look around as I have weddings coming up there soon. It's a really magnificent wedding venue with no less than 5 licensed areas where weddings can be held. One wedding I have scheduled there is to be held on the lawn by the large tower. I can't wait :-)

.

Finally. I'm in the process of having a logo designed for the Photo Shoot Parties that I do.

As the parties are becoming more and more sought after and with parties being booked up to 70 miles away, the time has come to give the parties it's own branding and identity so it stands alone from my other photography work.

As soon the logo etc has been agreed I will post it on here.

When sometimes smaller is better!

I’ve been working on my main website this week www.JeffTurnbull.com. To hopfully make it quicker for people to open but also I've updated most of the pages and now I’m in the process of updating the galleries to include more recent work.

I was over the Regiment Way Golf Club recently doing a corporate shoot for the Chelmsford BNI, who are a group of local business owners who get together weekly and refer business to each other. The shoot was for a brochure they’re putting together so involved individual headshots along with the group shot.

Saturday I was doing another Introduction to Digital Photography course. This was a smaller class as I had put this date in extra, as the others have been fully subscribed, however it was a great course. We got to use the umbrellas again but this time to protect from the rain rather than the sun J

Below are a few photographs that were done during the day.

Sunday I met up again with Scott and Anna-Marie whose wedding I’m photographing on Saturday (24th). To confirm the order of the day and also to go through/practise some of the poses for the big day. Hopefully I'll have a few images to out up for the next Blog entry.

Have a great week.

The Sun Continues to Shine

Well, the weather just seems to be getting better and better, lets enjoy it while it lasts.

It's been a good week. My daughter Holly has been selected to be a Senior Prefect when she goes into Year 11 next year. For those of you from my time, or actually most of the dads, Year 11 means 'The last year of the seniors'

Meanwhile my son Adam was recently selected as one of only two children from his primary school to go attend a Science Masterclass that was being held at Notley High School which he will be joining in September.

I was over at Gosfield during the week. I have 2 weddings coming up over there, one at Gosfield Golf Club and one at Gosfield Hall. I was there to check out the two venues and decide where the photography on the wedding day should take place. It was such a lovely day and to be honest I just took it easy and really stretched out the time I was there.

For those who've not been there before below are a few photos I took at Gosfeild Hall

Yesterday (Mon 12th) I was running an Introduction to Digital Photography course. Once again, a great group people, all from different backgrounds and different levels of experience. If you're the proud owner of a digital SLR camera but you're not getting the most out of it I would really reccomend considering coming on the course.

Following the success of the photo shoot I did with Holly & Adam last week over at Rayne station I took the group there in the afternoon to do the practical work. Below are a couple of photos taken by the two students along with a group photo of them all.

No Malcom. I said

"Look, it's Rayne".... Not Rain!

A Bank Holiday Weekend PLUS Great Weather!

Hi.

Firstly, I hope you had a good BH weekend.

I was over at Xpect, Fitness & Leisure Centre in Braintree during week to do the 'head shots' of the fitness trainers which are to be displayed in the gym.

The lads had no problems being photographed, they saw it as a job to be done and just went for it. As for the girls... Well firstly there was quite a delay as they went off and naturally prepared themselves and then before being photographed they had to put some perfume on!.. OK, can someone please explain that one to me? :-)

I must say however that they really got into the photo session it and were great fun to work with as can be seen in the photos below.

At the weekend I went over to Rayne Station, which is part of the Flitch Way to take some photographs of my daughter Holly (blue top) my son Adam who was also acting as my assistant, (Exploitation? Yeah, maybe lol) and their cousin Jasmine.

The station is popular with visitors who, while we were there, were mainly just chilling out on the grass and making good use of the refreshments bar. But also it's popular for cyclists who were making good use of the Flitch Way cycle track.

I tend not to us flash when doing portraits and use a large reflector instead (that's where Adam comes in). Unfortunately though you can't really do any covert photography this way!

I really enjoy photographing in places like this as there are always great textured backgrounds that can be used to add something to the image.

Click on images to see larger version

4 Birthdays, 2 Parties & A Training Course

Well, I can announce that managed to get through my birthday on Wednesday pretty much unscathed which is great :-)

Last Sunday I was doing a photo shoot party for Elanor's birthday with some of her friends and we even managed to get the adults up to be photographed as well. They really were great fun and we got some great photographs of the family together.





























As a photographer I've learnt that while most parents, grandparents etc would like to have some great photos of themselves with their family, not many of them actually like to be photographed. What I therefore do is to make the photo session as enjoyable as possible and to have them be as natural as they want, which results in great photographs that the family can cherish for many years to come.

Mid week I did another photo party session for Ellie and her school friends along with her brother. "You're not likely to get my son up, he's not always keen on having his photograph taken" the mum had mentioned... "OK, we'll see how it goes" I thought. Well, not only could he not wait to for his turn to be photographed after seeing how much the girls were enjoying themselves, but he didn't want to get off either, lol.






















On Saturday I was running one of my Introduction to Digital Photography courses. I'm pleased to say that the weather was fantastic this time so those attending were more than pleased to be out and about for the practical sessions. It was a great group of people, who really got into the day and I really enjoyed working with them. Thanks everyone.


















All the courses this year to date have been fully subscribed, therefore I'm now adding extra dates, both at weekends, when I don't have a wedding going on etc but also I'm putting in at least one date a month midweek for those who can't attend the weekends. If you're interested in attending one of the courses please Click Here for further information or call me on 01376 323 915

As I mentioned last week it was my daughter's birthday yesterday (Sunday 27th) and so far everything has gone really well. Does this mean that now Holly's 15 she has outgrown the stage where she would milk her birthday for a week?... Only time will tell.