Its nearly that time of year, the first wedding of the season. This weekend sees the first full wedding photography shoot for Adam Hillier Photography in 2010. The wedding between Mike and Sally at Wasing Park this weekend is sure to be great fun, getting the wedding season off to a great start. The wedding diary for this year is looking very healthy, with bookings for 2011 already rolling in.
Adam Hillier Photography is a photography business based in Thatcham, Newbury Berkshire. We specialise in wedding photography and stunning portrait photography. Being a photographer based in Thatcham near Newbury in Berkshire, we are regularly commissioned to photograph weddings across Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire, Wiltshire and across London. Our flexible and all inclusive service is very popular and therefore sees us being booked to photograph weddings across the UK.
Planning and preparing for this upcoming wedding really got me thinking about weddings, and our wedding service in particular. So I thought I would post a short video clip previewing the Wedding Photography Service provided by AHP, Adam Hillier Photography.
Last week I was offered the great opportunity of photographing the first shoot of this years shooting season. I was invited by Graham Chapple of Rapid Pest Control, Graham is very well connected within the shooting community and has been for years, it sounded great fun but also as something I could add to my commercial photography portfolio.
It was a very pleasant relaxed start in some of Berkshire’s most beautiful countryside just outside of Newbury. The shoot all gathered at 9am and soon off went the beaters into the woods to start driving the pheasant’s into the desired areas in readiness for the poised guns. I shadowed Graham for the morning, and was soon I was introduced to the team who work tirelessly behind the scenes ensuring that the day of shooting is a great success, I never realised how much planning went into this!
From here I then met all of the gentlemen that were actually participating in the day. A very successful businessman from London, making a fair living in the insurance marketplace, had invited and laid on a days shooting for 8 of his clients and associates – all very pleasant guys and keen shooters.
We set off on to the first of four “drives”. A drive is a shoot in a particular spot, the beaters would force the birds down through to the drive, there would be a couple of frenzied and loud minutes of shooting and then that drive would be complete on the sound of a very loud whistle, the whole group would then move to another location/drive and the whole process would be repeated, the beaters would fast set off and start driving the birds in a specific direction and so on. There were to be 4 drives in this morning.
As a local photographer in Newbury, I was aiming on capturing some very traditional shoot photographs, the gentleman poised, gun in hand watching and waiting. I wanted to capture the landscape and scenery at its best. I wanted to capture colour, the beautiful colours of early Autumn as it slowly sets in the greens, the yellows and the orange of autumnal leaves, but also the stunning reds and greens of the male pheasants in contrast to the subtle browns and beige of the hen birds. This was going to be a real treat. You can see the gallery of images from the dayhere
The day was great fun, and it delivered everything I expected. What I didn’t expect was the sheer pace of everything about the day. The speed of the drive, from the moment the beaters drove the birds to and then out of the maize was incredible, the actual shooting action from spotting a bird to firing was a blistering speed, the birds were being driven at us at such a great rate that I quickly gave up even trying to capture them at full speed. Everything was fast, but terrific fun. It was engaging, relaxing and wonderful to be outside, in the fresh air photographing such an event. I can imagine this culture being very addictive, this society of people linked to and included with a shoot, from the beaters, the co-ordinators, the staff with their dogs picking up and right through to the people on the guns themselves were all enjoying themselves so much, you couldn’t help but want to be involved more.
I can’t wait for another opportunity to join another shoot, from the photography perspective whatever your views on shooting, it truly is a wonderful experience. You can see the photographs from the shoot here
Finally after a long slog, the new website is built and live, there is still a bit of fine tuning to do such as spell checking!! not my strongest area, and page titles which are being added by my search engine optimisation experts, Irun Solutions.
Please do take the time to visit the site, any feedback is very welcome.
Photography websites are, and always should be, about the photographs. Having said this, they also need to share information and educate its reader, so I set out to build a website that displayed the images well, had easy to use galleries and images that are displayed at a good size – but that this combined with an informative website that gave its audience the information they needed.
I know it seems early, but this year is going so fast Christmas will be upon us before we know it. The photography diary is now really filling up with people getting family portraits done as gifts ready for Christmas presents. A family portrait for Christmas is a truly wonderful gift to give, it is also a really good idea for that person who has everything!!
Portraits are great at this time of year, children seem to come alive and the excitement and fun really comes across. Whether the photographs are going to be framed, canvases or just a collection of prints they, will make a wonderfully, original and thoughtful Christmas Gift for someone.
Personalised Christmas Cards
Before Christmas, these pictures can easily be turned in to lovely personalised Christmas card to send to close family and friends, with your chosen wording as well. These are great fun and are always gratefully received by all. They come in packs of 20 and come with good quality envelopes.
Canvases
One of my gift ideas this Christmas is a really special Canvas. Canvasses are really back in fashion now and are an ideal gift to give someone. Any of my customers ordering before Christmas can order a Canvas for HALFPRICE alongside their chosen order. Canvases are a great, and very cost effective way of having a large image to put on a wall and therefore a great way to give someone a very impressive present this Christmas.
Gift Vouchers
Another option, as a great gift, is to buy someone the special experience of having a family portrait session – with a Gift Voucher click here to visit the website to find out more. Whats Included…
A beautiful desk frame - with the voucher already inside, it comes to you boxed & ready to wrap.
A full photoshoot (an hour long with as many people as the person wants),
Favourite FREEimage to have put in their frame replacing the voucher.
If the family want to order anything else from the shoot, the voucher also entitles them to a further 10% discount, but there is no pressure to buy anything extra.
This is a great, fun experience, and the voucher is only £35and includes everything mentioned, it is an ideal gift for Christmas or any other occasion – birthday presents, anniversary presents, a gift on the birth of a new baby or even just to give someone a lovely surprise experience. Click here to visit the website to find out more Gift Voucher
Please do feel free to contact me to discuss gift ideas in time for Christmas.
I thought I’d share a few images from a recent family portrait session. The family turned up, mum, dad two year old little girl and six month old baby. Mum and dad didn’t want to be in the shoot at all, leaving me with atwo very young children, one of which couldn’t stand up as yet the other a very young child – perfectly well behaved but children this age are difficult to convey instructions to and even more difficult to hold their attention.
So a really tough shoot, but thankfully with being a father to three young children and doing portrait sessions in schools regularly, this experience really helps get the best from children and results in really natural pictures of them. They don’t need to be sat their all sweetness and awkwardly posed, I want to see the character, their cheeky smiles and their energy (which is always a lot more than mine!!)
On the friday evening, the eve of the Newbury Show, I was fortunate enough to be invited to photograph an amasing spectacle.
I had no idea of what to expect, I was told that the traditional hot air balloons from the Newbury Show would be going off on the Friday night as a display for the President of the Newbury Show. So off I went expecting to be able to photograph these balloons taking off for the President. How brilliantly wrong I was.
One at a time, all of the cars bringing their trailers with their hot air balloons aboard arrived in the main arena on the Newbury Show ground, just outside Newbury. they lined themselves up in two single rows parallel to the President’s tent. The night sky quickly drew in and by the time the wicker baskets were out it was almost dark. Suddenly the dark sky was lit with a huge burst of flames as one of the balloon pilots tested his burner, and again. Soon the chill that had developed and the dark skys overhead were replaced by the warm glow of all of the balloon owbers firing their burners, whilst their crew laid out the huge fabrics of the balloons themselves.
Minutes later it seemed and all of these balloons were fully inflated, still sat and tethered to the ground but jostling for space in the air that was now crowded by these huge balloons. Then, this amazing spectacle started. The burners all stopped and loud music began, then one at a time the pilots seemed to ignite their burners and turn them off again. Suddenly everyone realised what they were about to witness. The balloons were going nowhere, but they were being ignited, lit by the burners all in time to the music. Each balloon perfectly followed a certain note as though polaying that instrument itself. It was breathtaking.
One of my commercial clients, Verbatim, wanted an image library building. First on the list was for imagery for the new website they are building, and they wanted some iconic images of Newbury (where they are based).
The brief was to capture the different sides to Newbury’s character. A very old market town, a town surrounded by stunning countryside, a town on the famous Kennet and Avon canal but also a very modern, growing and emerging town, one that sees the head offices of many leading businesses such as Vodafone, Bayer, Quantel and Styker based there. So there was my challenge, capture all of these facets of one small but complex town.
It led me on a wondefrful journey around the town, a town I live in, a town that I moan about and put down on a regular basis due to road works, building works, poor shops and general lack of entertainment. I suddenly realised how much I take Newbury for granted, photography in Newbury is brilliant. It is a beautiful town that has so many very attractive areas, but is so subtle it is easy to never know these places are there, but they are.
30th September…….The new and improved Adam Hillier Photography Blog launches.
It is my intent to keep this online journal of my photography experiences up to date. I will be adding stories and events that I experience, photography tips and pointers, topics for discussions, my favourite images and much more.
Please do comment on anything you see where you feel appropriate, it is great to have the interaction with people.
Finally after a long slog, the new website is built and live, there is still a bit of fine tuning to do such as spell checking!! not my strongest area, and page titles which are being added by my search engine optimisation experts, 
