pjphoto.co.uk

Success at MPA awards 2010

paulj — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 12:11:54 +0000

On the 6th July I entered some of my work in to the South East regional Master Photographers Ass. awards. These awards are judged annually by one of the top national judges and this year we had Desi Fontaine the President of the MPA and head of judging visted the region where she gave a seminar about her work during the day and went on to do the print judging during the evening at the Holiday Inn at Gatwick.

To the general public the MPA may not be so well known but amongst professional photographers it is a very important organisation whos members are only full time professional photographers. Winning these awards is great recognition for the winning photographers.

Awarded in each category is the winner, an award of excellence and a merit or 1st, 2nd & 3rd places. There was a very good turnout this year with some beautiful work presented.

Here’s my winning entries:

For the Contemporary Wedding Category I am really delighted to have won 1st, 2nd & 3rd places with these photos:
1st Place

2nd Place

3rd Place

My Classical Wedding 1st Place winning entry

Pet Portrait Category. My 1st place winning photo

Olivia & Nick The Old Kent Barn

paulj — Tue, 18 May 2010 20:48:33 +0000

Well I hadn’t disappeared off the face of earth, some of my regular visitors may have wondered ‘how come no posts’. My wife came to work with me last November on marketing and sales for our studio portrait side of the business and she has kept me very busy with portraits; so little time so much to do:)

Anyway I had to post some from last weekend’s wedding at the Old Kent Barn near Canterbury of Olivia & Nick’s wedding. They both were so much fun to photograph and both enjoy playing for the camera. Olivia was keen on doing some alternative backgrounds; something different than just in the grounds of the barn so we went to these industrial units next door for some fun shots and to explor for some photo opportunities without all that greenery of the venue.

I wish Olivia & Nick all the very best for their futures together they are such a wonderful couple.

Shannon at Chilston Park

paulj — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 01:36:43 +0000

Just a quick post of a wedding shot from this weekend. When I took this shot I was really looking forward to processing the image as I felt it would be a cracking shot and am really pleased with it but can’t decide whether I prefer the monotone or colour version. Anyway I thought I’d post both for all to see and you can make your own mind up.

Newborn photoshoot

paulj — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 15:52:42 +0000

Noah came to the studio today at just over a week old. This was my first newborn shoot which I have wanted to do for sometime. Many mums have mentioned to me in the past that feel they should wait a while before bringing their babies in for some photos as they want to wait until they are a few months old at least but I feel they are missing out on some very precious moments to capture. I see it as a great opportunity and the closer to birth the better. This shows what can be achieved and this was the first shoot of such a young baby for me. I hope these photos will help mums decide to come in to the studio in the very first days of the baby’s life.

Ending the decade

paulj — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 17:51:04 +0000

What a beautiful month it turned out to be with all that white stuff! It gave me a chance to get out and capture some photos for my Christmas cards for next year.

My wife is from Prague and so this year it was her mum’s turn to have us there this year. We tend to take it in turns but I’m not that keen on carp for Xmas dinner;) I just bought myself a small compact for taking on hols so I have a pocket camera handy at all times therefore the Pragus shots and the one of my little girl Tiffany were taken on the Panasonic Lumix with it’s Leica f2 lens; I am really pleased with this little ‘gem’.

Unfortunatley I had to leave my wife and daughter on the 28th in Prague and come back to the UK on my own as I had a wedding on the 31st. The couple had managed to arrange to have some shots taken in the V&A which was great.

So happy New Year and hope you enjoy a few shots from the past couple of weeks.

New wedding online portfolio

paulj — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 17:13:02 +0000

I have just uploaded my new wedding portfolio http://www.pjphoto.co.uk/wedding_2010/index.html uploaded today but it still a bit of work in progress and over the next month more work will be added and I will be adding a gallery of venues I often work. I hop eyou enjoy and feedback very welcome please.

There is delay in linking to it from the website but this will be done very soon so use the above link for now.

Paul gets another Gold award in Aug 09

paulj — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 14:13:55 +0000

In the monthly competition of the Society Of Wedding and Portrait Photographers, we get another Gold Award to be proud of. Here’s the picture and our cert:

Outdoor photo shoot in London

paulj — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:56:40 +0000

This week we had the pleasure of photographing Dawn & Bill from the US who were over here on holiday. They found me on Google about 3 months ago and after a few emails sorted out a date. Being October could have been risky with the weather but it was a glorious day.

Well all had a great time, started off near the hotel they were staying in round Leicester Square and spent about 6 hours in total, I thoroughly enjoy do these shoots and hope they will like like what we did which we rushed to them today so they could take their precious photos back with them on Fiday.

wedding lanterns at night

paulj — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 16:21:53 +0000

Chineese lanterns seem to have become quite popluar in recent years and with many couples opting for an extended coverage this year in particular has meant we are around to photograph events after dark on some weddings. I’m really pleased with these two. Digital photography and high iso capability has meant creating such a possibility and as cameras continue to improve so will their ability no doubt at low level light. Of course one needs a good operator as well

Wedding at Marble Hill House in Twickenham

paulj — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 15:55:31 +0000

What a busy, busy time at the moment. Two full days of weddings last weekend and an all day one yesterday. Just had a chance to look at yesterday’s and when I took this one below I got all excited knowing it had a lot going for it; well what I like about a good photo anyway. I love the light striking the faces. For me the light on the groom with his face half lit I find works really well for men and Alice has her face looking towards the window just out of shot which I find beautifying for women. Had I had them look in different direction it just wouldn’t have the same quality. This time of year and the time of day makes for some beautiful light.

Look very carefully at the photographs of photographers and see for yourself whether or not they have an understanding for light or is everything flat lit; the easy way out. Most snaps are just that. It doesn’t take a lot to appreciate this once you get an idea what to look for. The light chisseling the face in a way that compliments I find one of the most perfect lighting situations.
I hope you like it as much as I do.