Cheshire Baby Photographer – The Hackett Baby

May

2012

by Simon Harding | Comments Off

As a Cheshire Baby Photographer who is also a Wedding Photographer in Cheshire it’s lovely when previous brides and grooms get in touch to say they are expecting their first child and they would like me to photograph the new arrival.

Well this story is slightly different as back in late 2011 I was very pleased to photograph the Wedding of Clare and Damien at Bolton School where during the speeches Damien announced Clare was expecting. A few weeks later after they had seen their wedding photographs Clare and Damien asked me to photograph the baby once it arrived. So when their little bundle of joy was welcomed to the world in May 2012 they included me on their list of people to tell and just nine days after the birth, Clare and Damien visited me with at a Stockport studio to capture those magical images of their newborn child.

A few selected images from the Photoshoot are below and if you are expecting yourself and would like your newborn baby photographs with Cheshire Baby Photographer in Wilmslow or the surrounding areas just like Clare and Damien then please Contact Me as soon as possible to register your expected arrival date as the best newborn photographs happen in the first 10 days of birth.

Stockport Pet Photographer supporting NSBTR.

May

2012

by Simon Harding | Comments Off

As a Stockport Pet Photographer I love photographing animals and the capturing the special bond between pet and owner. Every year for the last 5 years I have supported the Northern Staffordshire Bull Terrier Rescue (NSBTR) as official photographer at their Spring Big Weekend at the Bower House Inn, Eskdale, Cumbria, helping raise funds for the rescue charity. Many of the dogs taking part have been rescued either a unclaimed strays or have been fortunate to find a loving family having been removed from homes where they were mistreated, but with the support of the charity these are the ones who have found good homes.

It is always a delight to meet responsible Staffie owners who clearly care about their dogs and take pride in showing them at the fun dog show on the Saturday and delight in taking part on the sponsored walk on the Sunday.

Photographs of the event by Stockport Pet Photographer, SimonH are available to view and order HERE

Through selling Pet Portraits and photographs at the event over the last 5 years I have helped raise many hundreds of pounds for the rescue but with attendance down this year I was not able to raise as much as previous years. I would very much like to increase this to enable more of the fabulous dogs find good homes so any on line orders received before 30th June 2012 10% of the total sale value will go to the NSBTR to help them keep doing their great work.

Stockport Pet Photographer Offers

To help raise more funds for the NSBTR Stockport Pet Photographer, SimonH is making the following offers where the NSBTR is mentioned at the time of booking.

Book a Level 1 Studio Portrait Session or Level 1 Location Portrait Session before 30th August 2012 the NSBTR will received £5

Book a Level 5 Studio Portrait Session or Level 5 Location Portrait Session before 30th August 2012 the NSBTR will receive £40.

Book your Wedding Photography with Cheshire Wedding Photographer, SimonH before 30th August 2012 the NSBTR will receive £60

Cheshire Wedding Photographers – What to watch out for…

Apr

2012

by Simon Harding | Comments Off

The Daily Mail has today published an article with what could possibly the worst wedding photographs.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2132578/Are-Britains-worst-wedding-pictures-Newlyweds-devastated-photographer-failed-couple-frame-took-blurry-shots.html

Now the big question for any couple currently looking for a wedding photographer is

” How do I assure that I get a good professional Cheshire Wedding Photographer?”

Fortunately this is a relatively easy question to answer and I have produced a detailed guide for choosing your Cheshire Wedding Photographer which I email to all wedding enquiries with my Pricing Schedule.

In the mean time here are just a few things to think about when choosing a Wedding Photographer in Cheshire

1) You tend to get what you pay for – from reading the article it appears that the photographer was charging £750 for all day coverage with 2 photographers including a disc of images. This is definitely on the low side for all day coverage with the disc of images for one photographer let alone 2. Wedding magazines and websites usually recommend that 10-15% of the budget is reserved for quality photography. When you consider that the couple’s budget was £14000 they spent just over 5% on their photographer. Remember that after the food is eaten by your guests, your flowers have long since died and your honeymoon tan has faded it is the photographs which remain to help relive your perfect day.

2) Ask what backup equipment the photographer uses – in the article the photographer used the excuse that “one of their cameras broke”. This would suggest to me that the 2 photographers only had 1 camera each. Part of being a professional wedding photographer is looking at what could go wrong and planning in advance on how to minimise the impact. This is why I always carry a plethora of professional level equipment as well as a complete set of backup equipment to every wedding and all the Cheshire Wedding Photographers I use as seconds have at least 2 professional level cameras each. If you select me as your wedding photographer and choose the option to have a 2nd photographer there will be at least 5 cameras between the two of us.

3) Full time does not mean quality – So many photographers advertise the fact they are full time as an important thing, there are even “professional bodies” which are only open to full time photographers but as this article shows you can’t rely on a photographer’s full time status being a sign of quality. This is especially true in the current economic climate where the recently redundant are setting themselves up as photographers because they think that wedding photography is easy money when the truth is far from it. In my experience whether a photographer has another job or nor does it make a difference to the quality of their images or their professionalism.

Cheshire Wedding Photographer - Click for more info

4) Look at a whole wedding of images – Portfolios and demo albums are only a selection of a photographer’s favourite images they have taken across a number of weddings. The only way to get a true understanding of a Cheshire Wedding Photographer‘s ability is to look at a whole wedding of images. When couples contact me about Wedding Photography in Cheshire I insist on a meeting so that I can show them a number of whole weddings using my iPad.

5) Ask how long the photographer how much experience they have – a quick check on the LinkedIn site for the photographer in the Daily Mail article shows that the photographer in question only started the business in September 2010 and the wedding in question was in August 2011 so simple maths suggest that the photographer had less than a year of experience at the time of the wedding. I have been shooting weddings professionally for the last 4 years and have both shot weddings for my own clients and have also been a paid second photographer to a number of other Wedding Photographers in Cheshire, Lancashire and Yorkshire.

6) Make sure the photographer has professional indemnity insurance – There is not indication in the Daily Mail article that the Photographer was insured and whilst it is not a Legal Requirement all professional photographers should have Professional Indemnity Insurance. The purpose of this is so that in the rare event that the photographer fails to meet their contract you can make a claim.

If you are currently looking for a Wedding Photographer in Cheshire and would like me to show you what I can offer and advise you on more tips on how to appraise another Cheshire Wedding Photographer so that you pick me and get the Wedding Photography you deserve please Click Here to Contact Me.

Wilmslow Baby Photographer – Life Changing Image

Apr

2012

by Simon Harding | Comments Off

As a Wilmslow Baby Photographer I know that photographs are wonderful things; they freeze moments in time, help capture memories, and ultimately document history for future generations. Now whilst this is not technically a photograph nor an image that I took, I’m told that this type of image one of the most is life changing images that 2 people see. So when I saw this image being captured at Stepping Hill Maternity Hospital in Stockport I knew that the feelings of joy, excitement and trepidation I was having must have been had by many fathers-to-be before me and that this image is indeed life changing.

I know that whoever it was who told me that the Ultrasound Image is the most life changing image was right and that my life and that of my partner, Elizabeth, will never be that same again. I am quite sure that come Mid October 2012 the long days of a Wilmslow Baby Photographer and late nights I experience as a Cheshire Wedding Photographer will come in handy practice for the sleepless nights.

Wilmslow Baby Photographer - Ultrasound Image

Wilmslow Family Photographer – Amos Easter Egg Hunt

Apr

2012

by Simon Harding | Comments Off

Traditionally Easter Sunday is a movable feast and marks the day Jesus Christ was resurrected and the end of Lent but in modern life Easter is more commonly associated with the Easter Bunny and the delivery of chocolate treats. This year the Amos Family decided to invite Wilmslow Family Photographer Photography By SimonH to capture fun photographs of their son’s search for Easter Chocolate treats in Grandma’s garden.

With their son being just under two the search was constrained to the garden where eggs of all sizes and other chocolate treats such as bunny faces, chocolate footballs and hollow chocolate bunnies were hidden in various places. Wilmslow Family Photographer SimonH then joined Mum & Dad to capture natural photographs of their son George’s reaction to finding the “brown stuff”, so referred to because even though he is still over a month away from his 2nd birthday he already knows the word chocolate.

The chocolate treats were hidden across the garden, in trees, bushes, on benches and in the flower beds; all places where George could easily spot them. Spot them he did, but it took him a few moments to figure out that the brightly coloured foil contained his favourite chocolate but once he realised what was in store he raced Wilmslow Family Photographer, SimonH to find the next hidden treat and store it safely away in his special red watering can (“away from Daddy, because daddy likes chocolate” apparently). Below are a few selected images from the Outdoor Family Portrait Session showing the fun that was had by George and his family during the hunt.

If you would like Wilmslow Family Photographer, SimonH to capture natural, relaxed and fun photographs of your family over the summer at your own home or in the great outdoors you can Contact Me for more details.