Winter on the beach

My lifestyle portraiture always goes a little quieter in the winter - everyone is snuggled up inside waiting for the spring to come. But there is a lovely light to be had on some days and luckily a few Sundays ago was exactly the light I was hoping for when I photographed this lovely lot at the Hot Walls in Southsea.

The Hot Walls run along the entrance to Portsmouth Harbour - in the summer the sun shines on them all day, heating them up like storage heaters. The walls then keep pumping out the heat so you can sit there long into the evening and enjoy the comings and goings of the small boats, yachts and ships passing by.

I love doing portraiture sessions on the beach both in the winter and summer - kids love running and jumping and really come to life. I think the black & white have worked particularly well - what do you think?

Autumn Portrait Sessions

People ask me if there is a good or bad time of the year to take photos - the answer I think is NO! There is definitely a good or bad time of day, depending on how much light you need and obviously the weather is a huge factor. But just take a look at some of these lovely shots I took of 2 brothers (and their Jack Russell, Freddy) recently in the autumn leaves - what more could you ask for!

Where's you Wheely Been?

Finally, after 2 years of talking about it, last Saturday I walked the last small section of the South Downs Way that had eluded me - and not for any other reason except lack of planning. Cheesefoot Hill, just on the outskirts of Winchester, to West Meon. 9 miles of glorious South Downs. We woke to a drizzly, misty morning but within 20 minutes of setting off the sun came out, the skies turned blue, and we were treated to one of the last stupendous days of Autumn. It was warm enough to walk in shirt sleeves, stop for a picnic halfway through and take our boots and socks off to air our toes - it doesn't get any better than that.

The path takes you across Wheely Down with views right across the Meon Valley to Old Winchester Hill. Here the path splits into a footpath or bridle/cycle way - we choose the latter and walked on into Warnford, past the Watercress Farm and across the fields to West Meon with it's handsome church nestling next to trees turning red and gold and shimmering in the late afternoon sunshine. If you ever visit West Meon I can thoroughly recommend The Thomas Lord for a top cup of tea - infact a great pub all round and currently short listed for Best Country Pub in Country Life magazine - results to be announced next month!

A Windy Visit to Norfolk

It's been quiet on the blogging front due to a 4 day trip to Norfolk where I had 5 commissions for family portrait sessions. Fantastic! - or so I thought until I looked at the weather forecast at the beginning of last week. As we all know, Autumn well and truly started, and Norfolk was treated to Force 8 gales along the coast. Sadly, none of my intentions to do at least 2 of the sessions on the stunning, wide, sandy beaches along the north Norfolk coast could be realized and in fact both those sessions had to be postponed until another time. That is the nature of photography when you specialize in a style like mine which means working outside, with the weather. Never mind, it's a great excuse to go back and visit Wiverton Hall Cafe again - great food and spectacular views. I KNOW it would work in Hampshire, in the right place, with the right money...... In the meantime, here's a taster of some the lovely families I met last week.