Wednesday 8 September 2010

Wedding of Kari-Vanessa and Matt August 2010


It was a lovely sunny afternoon at St. Elizabeth's Church in Minsteracres, Northumberland. Many guests had arrived by coach from various pick up points that afternoon as the venue was in a fairly rural location. The arrival at the retreat is quite spectacular. It is entered via a single track tree lined driveway after passing underneath an old stone archway. The bride and her sister Justine, (the bridesmaid) her groom and his best man and the bride's parents arrived in classic vintage cars. The church interior was home to ancient stained glass windows and guests were seated on cushions on antique pews which added to the lovely ambiance inside. Kari looked absolutely amazing as she walked down the aisle on the arm of her father Tom, to a waiting and increasingly nervous Matt. After the couple were married they received a lovely blessing from Father Jeroen the priest who conducted the ceremony and then everyone spent some time outside in the lovely church grounds which were surrounded by beautiful lawns and gardens. After we had taken photographs everyone left for the Marriott Hotel near the Metrocentre in Gateshead for the Wedding Breakfast. The meal was delicious, consisting of French onion soup with cheesy croutons, a traditional roast chicken platter with all the trimmings and a fabulous dessert of profiteroles with real chocolate sauce and toffee popcorn. After the cutting of the beautiful chocolate and fruit wedding cake and the speeches, the evening continued with an evening disco and hot buffet for additional guests of the couple who arrived later. We took our leave of the happy couple around 10.30pm, tired but having had a great day!

Tuesday 7 September 2010

Summer Visits to the Alnwick Garden - May and June 2010



When Andrew and I first visited the Alnwick Garden, it was somewhere neither of us had been before and both of us were keen to see. We had often looked at the website and thought that it would be a great place to take some interesting shots, but had never got round to it for one reason or another... mainly due to work and family commitments and the very fact that it was on our own doorstep! Let me tell you we are so glad we did, as it has since become one of our very favourite places to photograph because of the many stunning exhibits and incredible beauty of the place. Visiting at this time of the year during the months of May and June was possibly the very best time to come as the garden was in full bloom. The floral displays were amazing and one of the very first things we noticed was an incredible mass of pink tulips that have been planted there along the incline of the Woodland Walk. I also got to try out my new camera for the very first time and really enjoyed testing its capabilities! The garden is extremely well thought out and there is something of interest to photograph around every twist and turn of the main routes through it. It is set on a gradient so you should take your time and do it in stages to fully appreciate all the variety of plants and flowers you can see. There are plenty of benches on the walk to stop for a breather if you need to though and these are dotted up the incline.
An intriguing Poison garden can be found behind locked gates. It has many deadly plants; some of which are housed behind bars (including cannabis and coca plants). If you should get a chance, go on the informative tour with a guide, it's really interesting to learn about all the facts, science and history of the species kept there. We did and were amazed at the things we discovered! Some of these plants can be found in your own back garden!
The centrepiece of the garden has to be the Grand Cascade, magnificent tiered water feature, also the largest of its kind in this country. The waterfalls are programmed to spring into life for display purposes on the hour and half hour.
When you become weary of all the walking around; and believe me there is some distance to be covered, you can head back to the visitor centre and pavilion where all manner of tasty food and drinks are on offer. Andrew and I spent so long wandering about and shooting pictures that we were starving and feel that the cafe's tuna and cucumber sandwiches on a hot day deserve a mention, (only me as I stole the last one, much to Andrew's disgust!) as do the amazing hot roast pork baps dipped in gravy which we devoured another day when it was wet and chilly! Not to mention the amazing cakes and treats such as caramel shortbreads dipped in chocolate! All that walking deserves treats in my book! There is also plenty of seating and tables to sit down here, which is a definite plus as so often these places are way overcrowded with inadequate facilities. We spent a chilly and wet afternoon inside and a boiling hot June day outside on the terrace, both of which were fun and interesting shooting days. There is a gift shop where we both bought Alnwick Garden mugs with pictures of the Grand Cascade as souvenirs of the day and it has to be said that the toilet facilities are pretty outstanding and state of the art.The garden has many amazing features and we found it to be an awe inspiring place. If you haven’t visited, put it on your to-do list. It’s well worth it!

Dinner at the Treehouse Restaurant Alnwick Garden June 2010 and Night Photography Masterclass












Andrew and I decided to visit the Alnwick Garden again in June after enjoying our previous visits so much, but this time at night to take part in a Photography Masterclass with world renowned Canadian Photographer Linda Rutenberg. One of Linda's specialities is night time garden photography. She uses a technique known in photography as "painting with light" and it was this technique that we were both keen to learn more about, as neither of us had worked this way before. The course began at 9pm to ensure that after some background information regarding shooting in this mode had been covered by Linda , that it would be dark enough for practical shooting in the garden. The class was due to finish at midnight so we thought it a good idea to have dinner first in the amazing Treehouse Restaurant, to build up stamina for trekking around the vast expanse of the garden! We arrived at 6pm on another beautifully sunny evening and were wowed by how stunning the Treehouse looked amidst the greenery in the warm sunshine. It is truly a feat of engineering and design, raised up on wooden and steel posts for legs high up off the ground. It is a large structure housing several small bars and outdoor areas, aswell as the fabulous restaurant itself with dining tables made from huge wooden logs and with parts of the imposing old trees that the structure is built upon reaching up through the floorboards. During the day you can have fun leaping across one of the two rope bridges linking the Treehouse to wooden walkways (we both tried this and found it scarily like being contestants on "I'm a Celebrity" - but didn't want to get out of there!) As evening fell, we marvelled at how cleverly the structure was lit by small fairy lights and torches which guide you up to the main entrance. The whole effect is pretty special, as was the amazing food we had in the restaurant. Service was excellent and attentive. We both chose different dishes from an a la carte menu of local freshly prepared produce and shared a goats cheese starter which was divine! I had chicken breast stuffed with pancetta, ricotta cheese and peppers with roasted vegetables and garlic potato. Andrew had the monkfish in a tomato based sauce which he said was delicious, however his cream linen shirt suffered an unfortunate incident with the red sauce! The waiter attempted to assist with iced water and a napkin, but the fate of the garment had already been sealed! Desserts were to die for... Andrew chose a strawberry shortcake which passed off incident free and I opted for the heavenly chocolate torte with an orange creme fraiche and gingersnap dust, which we both sampled and promptly declared it one of the best desserts we had ever tasted! There is an extensive wine list on offer here, but unfortunately we were unable to sample it fully as Andrew had to drive us home after the masterclass ended!
After dinner, the class began and we retreated to a small snug opposite the restaurant to meet our fellow photographers over a drink from the bar. Linda and her husband explained the evening's agenda and we also met up with the Head Gardener who accompanied us on the practical side of the class for the shoot. He was very knowledgeable about all the plants and flowers we photographed and answered lots of questions we had about the garden itself. All in all, we had a fabulous evening which ended at midnight. We could have spent hours longer as the garden took on a whole new perspective at night, but this is when the gates are locked for the evening and all visitors must leave. We left having shot some interesting images and having gained some night photography tips from Linda, vowing to return yet again after a thoroughly enjoyable night!