Olan Mills Goes Into Administration (Again)

We have just heard that high street photography chain Olan Mills has been placed in administration and yet again customers have lost money.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7804393.stm

Sadly this is a familar story as the same thing happened in 2006 prior to the current "credit crunch" and the expected recession.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/6183435.stm

We can reassure our customers who have purchased our vouchers for portrait sessions that we are financially secure and have no debts unlike companies such as Olan Mills. If customers of Olan Mills require family portrait sessions we will be happy to help.

Movember - The End Results

The BBC have run a report on Movember that you can view here http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7751206.stm

Visit http://uk.movember.com/ to donate.

Preparing to cut the Mo!

Film Vs Digital - Which is Best?

The Gadget Show recently ran a test of film vs digital cameras for a studio image. Their first show did exactly the same test of film vs digital and back then film came out on top.

http://fwd.five.tv/videos/challenge-blow-up-part-3

This time interestingly they judged the digital camera to produce the best image which was felt to be clearer with better colours and less grain (digital noise). Admittedly the test was based on images blown up to 5m across and in a studio setting but in theory a professional digital camera should perform even better in low light real life situations such as a church for a wedding. Low light shots with the latest full frame digital SLRs like the Canon 5D and 5D Mark2 give options that could only be dreamed of with film and with the flexibility to change settings between each shot if needed.

So is your photographer using digital - if not why not!!

Just So - The Musical

We have worked with Tag Productions to provide photography of their performance taking place at Brook Theatre Chatham from 13-15 November 2008. The musical is based on the stories by Rudyard Kipling and features a local cast bringing the quality of the West End to Kent.
You can book tickets here https://www.medway.gov.uk/theatrebookings/show.asp




The TAG Productions website is www.tag-productions.org for more info about the company.

Suporting Mo-vember

are helping support the charity event Movember which is a moustache-a-thon for the whole of this month for charity event in aid of research into prostate cancer.
Known as "Mo Bros" the men clean shave on 31 October, then they are not allowed to touch a razor until the end of November, apart from to shave off their beards to shape their own moustache.
Jeff Hore who arranged the month-long event said: “Movember is a fun innovative way to raise money for prostate cancer. The “mo” can be any shape, colour or length as long as you’re clean shaven on 1 November and you let it grow for the duration of the month.“The number of hairy faces walking around offices across the country may increase over the next month, but it’s all for a good charity.
The money raised will go towards researching a cause for the disease and we hope to raise awareness for men’s health along the way.”Movember runs for the whole month each year and is an international project for individuals to help raise money for prostate cancer across the globe.
Throwing away the razors at the start of the month

Inspecting the mo's growing!

Family Portrait Photo Shoots in Kent

Most of my family portrait shoots are done at the studio but occasionally I get to shoot in someone's house. Yesterday I visited Stacey & Paul for a shoot with baby Beau who is now 9 weeks old. Their house was south facing with perfect light and some great props to use for the shoot. This is one of my favourite shots from the shoot. I only wish I'd got some shots like this when my kids were this age but time races by and they are now at school!

Video and Still Photography

Hot on the heels of my previous post it looks like the prediction of merging of video & stills was spot on. Vincent Laforet a Pulitzer prize winning photographer from the States has produced a video shot entirely with the new Canon 5D Mark2. The quality of the film is stunning and truly shows the potential that this camera can offer. You can view the film here.

http://www.usa.canon.com/dlc/controller?act=GetArticleAct&articleID=2086

I will be getting a hands-on preview of the camera next week and will post my followup thoughts after that.

New Canon 5D camera to revolutionise wedding photography?

Canon have today announced the much anticipated replacement for their 5D camera. This camera has become the tool of choice for wedding and portrait photographers for its stunning images and low light performance since it was released 3 years ago. All the photographers in the team currently use Canon 5D cameras for exactly this reason.

The replacement 5D Mark2 nearly doubles the sensor pixel count to 21Megapixels and adds even better low light capability. In addition one feature that could revolutionise the wedding photography market is the inclusion of HD video capability in the camera. It now means that as well as taking still photos for your wedding album the photographer can also take short video clips to include in the DVD slideshow of photos. It is one feature that we are very keen on testing and aim to offer in our Kent wedding photography packages for 2009.

We will be testing the Canon 5D Mark 2 as soon as it is available in the UK so watch this space for more news of the advances that it can offer for your wedding photography.

Kent Wedding Photography - Feedback St Botolphs Church Northfleet

The weather for Emily & Matthew's wedding at St Botolphs Church in Northfleet was less than ideal with pouring rain but despite these challenges they still loved the photos of their day. Rain may mean certain shots are not possible but it does bring other opportunities for shots. I always make sure I have the full studio lighting with me so in the event of group photos needing to be taken indoors we can still get the shots.

Emily and Matthew said "Thank you again so so much for capturing our day so well and for helping to make it so special for us. If you have any business cards I would be more than happy to pass them out as I know a few people who are getting married soon!"

Wedding Feedback - Bearsted Church and Ferry House Inn, Sheppey

We recently photographed Daniel and Tamsin's wedding at Bearsted Church followed by the reception at Ferry House Inn on the Isle of Sheppey. Despite some rain as we arrived at the church and again as we left, the sun came out later in the day for some stunning images. We have received some lovely feedback on the images from the CD that is included in our Platinum package. This CD is supplied before we leave in the evening of your wedding and includes a selection of our favourite images from the day. We also sent a few photos by email ready for return from honeymoon.

"We had a lovely honeymoon and really cant stop talking about the wedding. Thank you for all your support. All the photos you have sent so far look fantastic we also love the disk you gave us and much enjoyed sharing it on Sunday with all the guests at the recovery barbecue.

The photos you emailed are stunning , again many thanks for everything you both really made our wedding something we will remember for ever. "

Wedding feedback - Little Silver Hotel Tenterden

We always love to hear from couples once they receive their proof wedding photos from us. We recently photographed Gina and Alex's wedding at The Little Silver Hotel in Tenterden. It was a bright sunny day which creates challenging conditions for photography. As with most of our packages we include coverage of the bridal preparations along with the groomsmen getting ready by using two photographers.

Gina says "I received the disc yesterday, thanks very much. We'll be in touch about which photos we want for our album, but i just wanted to thank you as they are all wonderful! I'll have trouble choosing just 20 for the album!"

The Little Silver is a great wedding venue with the magnificent Kent Hall available for your reception in a secluded garden setting. We have photographed a number of weddings there and always find Oliver and his team provide an excellent service.

This is the gazebo in the gardens where the marriage ceremony takes place.

Deal Carnival Party on the Prom

The annual Deal carnival party on the prom took place last night with the fantastic Dealers making a welcome return to home turf.


After their usual excellent performance in front of an appreciative crowd they were followed on stage by Clacket Lane. The event was attended by the local carnival courts, the Miss European contestants and the Royal Artillery parachute display team dropped in too.

Stunning wedding venue

We had a stunning wedding yesterday working with Alan White at Notley Abbey near Oxford. Wonderful venue with so many opportunities for shots with Clare and Ben. Photos will follow later once I've started editing them but I highly recommend Notley Abbey as a wedding venue.

Portrait and makeover shoot vouchers

We can offer vouchers for makeover or portfolio shoots as well as family portraits. The vouchers can be made out to the value of a specific shoot or if you prefer can be of lower amount such as £25 and used towards the full price of a shoot - the choice is yours!

https://twitter.com/FusionStudiosUK

Battle of the Bands

This weekend is going to be music filled with Battles of the Bands that we are photographing on both Saturday & Sunday.

On Saturday we will be at North Foreland pub in Chatham and Sunday's event is in Rochester Castle gardens. I'll load some images early next week. This is a shot from the Aynsley Lister band concert that we photographed at the Half Moon in Putney recently.

First Blog - Whoo hoo

Welcome to the first blog. I'll try to update as and when there is something of interest photographically or in the general news to comment on.

The most recent news is that Catherine Thomas who we photographed as part of the Miss Euroregion competition 2006 in Ypres Belgium was runner up in Britains Next Top Model. Although Catherine didn't win the final it was a fantastic achievement to be in the final 2 and we predict a rosy future for her.

Our gallery of photos of Catherine Thomas is here

The first camera?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_7753000/7753202.stm