Just occasionally, the chance to do something a little unusual comes up.  At Donna and Phil’s wedding earlier this month I got chatting with a guest by the name of Martin Nigel Davey, a writer, producer and actor who required someone to photograph the rehearsals of a play he was co-producing.  The play was called “Survivorship – To Cancer & Beyond”, written by playwright Monica Price about five real-life survivors of cancer who’s stories are replayed in monologue.

The cast consisted of five actresses, Jean Boht (most famous for the TV series ‘Bread’), Hannah Waterman (Eastenders and various stage roles), Sarah Manners (Casualty, Doctors), Maggie Service (Edinburgh Fringe) and Finn Atkins (Casualty, Eastenders, Once Upon A Time In The Midlands).  The play also included songs performed by the Malvern St James Singers.

So where did I fit into all this?  Well, photos of the rehearsals were required for promotional use by Macmillan Cancer Support – the charity for which the play had been produced.  It was my job to try to record the various goings-on of the rehearsal day and also the performances of the actresses as they settled into their roles.  Normally plays have extended rehearsal schedules but Survivorship had only two rehearsal days before the first night, so everyone was on edge!

The day began meeting with the producers, writer and director and of course the actresses themselves.  I was then left pretty much to my own devices to document the day as discreetly as possible.

It was fascinating to watch the goings-on of a busy theatre and witness all the hard work that goes into putting on a play.  Everyone involved was really dedicated to getting the show up and running and to be ready for the first performance that same evening, which both Sarah and I attended.

From a photographic point of view the strong directional stage lighting was really fun to try and capture, but in many ways photographing the performances was a bit like documenting the speeches at a wedding.  You try to capture hand gestures, facial expressions – just generally a bit of emotion that makes the photo into an image of a performance instead of just someone up on stage.  The big difference here was that the stage lighting produces a very dramatic effect – giving everything a strong three-dimensional appearance in the photos.  If only all wedding venues had decent lighting!

So here’s some of the pictures I took during the day.

Over the past couple of weeks we’ve been getting bookings finalised for the Spring wedding fayres. We’re currently confirmed for no less than seven fayres spread across the local area.

I’ve set up a dedicated blog page detailing all of the fayres we will be exhibting at. Click here to see the fayre page

So with the first of the fayres just around the corner, I thought it a good opportunity to talk a little about how available we are for the rest of this year.

2009 is getting very busy indeed. For July, August, September and October we are close to capacity for Fridays and Saturdays, although a small number of dates are still available. If you are getting married during these months then don’t delay booking any longer than necessary!

April and May are starting to fill up. Several key dates are still available for March, June, November and December.

Over the last few months we’ve seen an increase in interest for Sunday weddings. Of course, we’re happy to photograph a wedding on any day of the week, but we generally only take on two weddings maximum per weekend.

If you haven’t yet booked your photographer give us a call! We may still be available and will always try to accommodate bookings if at all possible.

Today we’ve been exhibiting at the final wedding fayre of the season, at the Avoncroft Museum Of Historic Buildings near Bromsgrove.

With the dull, wet weather we were expecting a low turnout but were pleasantly surprised by the amount of visitors and were busy talking to potential clients throughout the duration.  This is due in no small part to the promotions run by Observer Standard Newspapers – in particular Vanessa Bradford, whose fayres we always find to be well-run and attended.

We were impressed too by the venue itself and the enthusiasm of it’s staff.  Quite a unique and unusual place to get married, but a venue with lots of charm and capability. A big thank-you to Rachel Shepherd for taking the time to explain how things work.

Our table today was a little cramped but we managed to get everything on show.  Here’s Sarah, working hard!

Rob

The grand main Council House in Birmingham city centre was the venue for today’s fayre – our last before the summer weddings begin. Our new display materials – including the parent book, proof book and mini-albums were all proudly on display and we experienced yet another busy day, with many information packs and demo DVDs given out.

Many thanks to everyone who came to talk to us today, and thanks to Claire Bushell who put together a nicely organised and well-publicised event.

Rob

Unfortunately the blog has been neglected a bit over the past couple of weeks. This has been due to a number of factors, namely that things have been exceedingly busy here for us. Here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to:

New products!
We are introducing a number of new products all of which have been put together, ordered and assessed over the past two weeks. There will be a proper blog entry for all of these as soon as I can get them photographed. All of these products are available now for any of our customers (past and present) to order:

Parent albums: We’ve offered parent albums since we began, but now we’ve got a demonstration book made up by the same supplier as our Deluxe Storybooks. The book can be an exact duplicate of the bride & groom’s album but in a more compact size. A discount will be available if the main album and a pair of parent books are ordered at the same time.

Mini albums: These are really cute, 4.5″x4.5″ copies of the main album but with a paperback cover. They are supplied in batches of ten. Ideal for giving to bridesmaids, ushers and other members of the bridal party.

Proofing books: We have now found a supplier to produce high quality books containing samples of every picture we make available to the couple. There will be six images per page and each image will have it’s filename displayed to make the selection process a bit easier.

Online print purchasing!
We are very happy to announce that from now on, we will be providing the ability to purchase prints online and post directly the buyer. There are a myriad of options out there for implementing online purchasing but we’ve found a solution we’re happy with and which doesn’t take a cut! Different print sizes and postage options will be available and payment can be made either by cheque/postal order, or online with a credit or debit card via Paypal (securely, and at no cost to the customer).

Wedding Fayre at Birmingham Council House – this sunday!
This will be our last wedding fayre before the summer weddings begin so we’ve been very busy making up information packs and demonstration DVDs. We’ve also invested in a new display stand with a multitude of large prints, so these have all had to be prepared, ordered and mounted.

Going on the feedback from other exhibitors who attended this fayre last year, it promises to be a busy event. It’s taking place at the main Council House in Victoria Square, Birmingham city centre, from 11am ’till 4pm. Hope to see you there!

ttfn!

Rob