A very special wedding album. By Cheshire Wedding Photographer Jane Burkinshaw

Chris & Maria's Wedding 22.02.14

Remember when I did my Wonder Woman imitation and photographed a huge wedding (250 guests) with just half an hour's notice? Well, today I delivered the wedding album to Maria and Chris and thought you might like to see it.

Before I do the Big Reveal, I want to share with you a bit about its quite complicated gestation, as it was far from straight forward. My photography of the wedding started at the moment Maria arrived at the top of the aisle on her proud Spanish father's arm. I dashed along the side of the pews, caught my breath and grabbed my camera. From then on in, I captured all the key moments of their big day and really enjoyed watching it unfold. If, like me, you love weddings and didn't read my blog about their wedding you can read it here.

A few weeks later I met with Maria and showed her the photographs. She was thrilled with them and we started to discuss albums, a conversation I would usually have had months before the wedding. Maria and Chris wanted a traditional leather bound, matted album, which of course I was happy to create for them. The challenging nature of this album lay in the fact that I had not been present at all the events that unfolded prior to Maria getting to the church and, therefore, had no images.

We both wanted to have an album that told the full story of their wedding and set about sourcing images from guests. Do you know how many guests take photos at weddings these days? All of them! We were inundated with literally hundreds of pictures, in varying qualities, sizes and formats. Thus began a long job of sorting through them, getting to a short list and then editing them so that they would sit seamlessly alongside my images.

But there were still big gaps - no good shots of Maria getting ready at the hotel with her bridesmaids, none of Chris and the camaraderie between him, the best man and the ushers. Then we had a brainwave! Use stills from the video! We received some gorgeous shots but realised with a sinking heart that they were low resolution and couldn't be printed large. I contacted the album supplier and was advised to get some prints done. Phew! They were fine up to 5"X7" so we were OK.

To cut a long story short, we got there in the end, with a few more edits and reviews than normal, but this hadn't been a normal wedding for me or the bride and groom. From the outset I was determined that their day should not be affected in any way by the no-show of their booked photographer. As I showed Maria the finished product today, I knew that I had succeeded and that she loved the album. I'm quite proud of it myself as I know what hurdles we had to get over to create it.

So here it is, just a glimpse anyway. I like to imagine that Chris has just got in from work and is looking through it with Maria, with a glass of wine, laughing and remembering their wedding day. (Keep that wine away from it though!)

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too!

Wow! Your baby is one! Celebrate with a photo shoot with a difference! By Cheshire baby photographer Jane Burkinshaw

Wow! Suddenly your baby is one year old! How did that happen? And what a year it's been, especially if this was your first baby! A speeding roller coaster of emotions,  a time of learning new skills without any instructions, sleepless nights, joy-filled days, exhausted evenings and magical moments of near disbelief that you created this amazing little person!

Can you tell that I've been there twice? My children are now 11 and 13 - now how did that happen?! Everyone says that the time will fly and you must treasure every moment and "make the most of it"! In reality that's very very difficult to do as you are swept along on an uncontrollable journey. There are no brakes and sometimes it feels as if there's not even a steering wheel and somehow you've reached a destination: in this case that enormous milestone of the First Birthday.

One of the best ways that you can mark this momentous occasion is with a photo shoot - I know, I would say that, wouldn't I?! But really, this is such a wonderful age. Your baby has a sense of humour and giggles and laughs uncontrollably, he expresses his affection in wide mouthed wet kisses and fierce hugs. He has favourite toys and he soon lets you know if he doesn't like what's on the menu at meal times!

I know how fast this time flies by and how these precious moments become memories. Photographs freeze those moments forever and let you look back at them and share them with others. I love to capture all the natural, unposed moments and the real expressions as your baby plays and concentrates fiercely, or looks up to give you a cheeky grin, or bangs his spoon demanding more.

If you'd like to celebrate your baby's first birthday with a photo shoot please get in touch for an informal chat to find out more. Take a look at the Picture It Big website to see my work and check me out a bit! To see a natural, lifestyle baby shoot take a look at Oscar's first five months on the blog.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too! Like Picture It Big on Facebook to see more of my photography.

Baby Photography with a Difference. By Cheshire children's photographer Jane Burkinshaw

This gorgeous boy is Oscar. In the top circular image he is around five months and has discovered the delights of "tummy time". In the shot at the bottom he's around 3 weeks old and is having a cuddle after his bath. These are beautiful shots by which his parents can remember those precious early days.

I first met Oscar's mum and dad when I went to show them how to use their camera to get some great shots themselves. Take a look at my photography courses if this is something that interests you. We hit it off immediately and they booked me to come back and photograph Oscar a week or so later.

I always go to a shoot prepared to do some staged, very cute images with props and hats etc but I often end up also taking lots of pictures that are less formal. This is usually when baby is being settled and cuddled or fed. Many parents prefer these natural, bonding images and this was very much the case at Oscar's session.

I took these pictures when I first got there, when Oscar was wide awake.

Although you can't really tell from these pictures he was being a bit grizzly and unsettled, but really needed a sleep (which is when I usually take the staged photographs). His mum suggested he had a bath (despite it not being bath-time!) and it proved to be a genius suggestion. We got some truly gorgeous photographs of Oscar relaxing in his bath with mum and dad taking it in turns to wash and play with him.

Oscar's parents and family absolutely adore these images as they capture such a special time. Once he was warm and dry, mum asked if we could do some "naked" shots of the three of them. No one was actually naked, except Oscar of course! We did some clever rolling down of dressing gowns and shy dad was coaxed into taking off his shirt! The resulting photos were well worth it and they've ordered the black and white picture of the three of them as a large print on wood (details can be found here). 

With Oscar fast asleep after his relaxing bath I also got the more formal naked baby shots.

But this isn't the end of the story! His parents were so thrilled with how the first shoot went, that they decided to book a Baby's First Year package with me. I went back last month to photograph Oscar again. I did some classic "portrait" type shots - the ones you'd want to frame - but I also did lots of natural pictures of him, including him eating his lunch of swede and carrot (he wasn't very impressed with that course!).

Mum and dad are building up an amazing collection of images for their Baby's First Year album. Time is flying by and it won't be long until I'm next photographing their beautiful baby boy again.

If you are interested in booking a baby photography shoot or one of my other packages, just get in touch. Packages can be tailored to your individual requirements.

By Jane Burkinshaw. Share this post by clicking on one of the Share buttons on the right hand side. I'd love to hear your comments too! Like Picture It Big on Facebook to see more of my photography.