from our hearts...

A little while ago, through Flickr I met Debs Ivelja and Joanna Brown. These two girls are gorgeous, funny, talented and in love with photography just as much as I am. We've got to know each other pretty well over the past few months and we speak regularly offering support and advice to each other and both of them have now second shot for me at weddings.

When photography became my job I stopped taking photos for myself so much...I was so busy that I didn't want to add to the workload.... but I think it's important, not only for your personal development but also to keep things fresh, to try things out and to keep being inspired. With this in mind we decided to organise a regular weekend away and do something together and with that 'From our hearts' was born. It's simply a chance for us to get together, ask questions, support each other and to keep taking pictures for ourselves... which is what we adore doing.

For our first trip we decided to go camping. It was a chance for us to relax, talk and try things without the pressure of it being paid work. It sounded great but when we arrived so did the rain. Literally ALL weekend it rained... did I mention that it rained?... I think it might have stopped twice but most of the time we were just soaked through... so in the end there was far more hot chocolate drinking than picture taking but we still had a ball and it was really lovely to just get away for a few days. We're currently in the process of setting up a blog where all three of us are free to post and we are planning to do our weekend trip every year and maybe upgrade the weekend each time. We're all really looking forward to the year we go to Hawaii.

Over the weekend I decided to do some experimenting on my 5D so this is my little video of our little weekend....(and it includes eggs which makes me very happy)...

From our hearts..... from Emma Case on Vimeo.

another sneak peek! (it's been busy)

Hannah and Alex's wedding was effortlessly cool and wonderfully relaxed... love these two...

michelle & greg

Editing this wedding has been quite an experience. When Michelle and Greg first got in contact they expressed how much they were wanting a low key affair... a gorgeous ceremony then a small reception at Greg's Grandma's house with just close friends and family. It was to be a Jewish ceremony at the London Synagogue and when I arrived my jaw, literally hit the floor. It's a somewhat unassuming building from the outside but it is so, so beautiful inside (hence quite a few pictures of it). I was absolutely transfixed through the ceremony... the whole thing was amazing... the Rabi sang a lot of the ceremony and the traditions were so wonderful to watch... when Michelle entered she had to circle Greg a number of times and then Greg had to stamp on a glass... I was quite emotional through the whole thing.

When we arrived back at the house, at first, I will admit, I was a little taken aback... I was in wedding mode and already Michelle had expressed that she didn't need 'getting ready shots' and here we were with no sit down meal, no speeches, no first dance... you suddenly feel a bit worried... How am I going to take wedding photos?? Well this is one big fat huge lesson learnt... as I've sat editing this wedding I've realised something. You don't need 'getting ready' shots, you don't need speeches, you don't need a sit down meal... you just need people and emotion and however corny it may sound... you need love... and Michelle and Greg have that in abundance. They adore each other.... and Greg adores his Grandma... and that's why they had their reception at her house... they wanted her to be a part of it without having to go too far. I will admit that I don't think I've ever had a game on the Nintendo Wii as part of the reception but why the hell not?? Thank you Michelle and Greg for really opening my eyes and making me think differently. Your wedding was simply beautiful.