blog roll..

Waaaaah! It's a Saturday and we're not shooting a wedding!?!? (Well, we actually shot a yummy one yesterday).. but it's funny.. I always think the air smells different on a Saturday.. like a day that's so precious and one that we don't often get to see.  We rode through our local park this morning and it was buzzing.. it just looked completely different..

So to celebrate the weekend I thought I'd share with you guys some of my favourite blogs to read. Some are more photography related and others more lifestyle and some I like to check in on a daily basis.. some it's more now and again.. but all of them are inspirational, funny, intelligent, thought provoking, stylish.. and generally lovely to hang out in..

Bleubird
So first up is Ms James aka Bleubird. I have followed Ms Bleubird for a looooooong time.  Her wonderful blog about her and her beautiful family is an everyday read for me.  When I first found her she had her own onilne vintage shop and since then I've watched her add the adorable Birdie and the newest addition, Sailor to her beautiful family.  If you haven't come across this little family then be warned.. it's pretty much a given that you'll fall in love with them..

A Beautiful Mess
Next up we have A Beautiful Mess. Elsie and Emma, two sisters who live in the Midwest crafting their own incredible empire. I've followed these ladies for about 5 years now watching their ideas turn in to reality. A vintage shop, online courses, their own fashion line, a book, an app.. the list goes on.  They are total advocates for homemade and vintage and I'll be honest.. I've felt so proud watching them grow and grow..

Design Love Fest

Bri Emery has the wonderful blog that is DesignLoveFest. Inspiration bursting out of every page Bri posts about design, interior, travel, food, clothes.. she creates her own style posts and also runs the incredibly successful BlogShop (a workshop all about photoshop) with her good friend Angela Kohler.  She is a graphic designer by trade but her blog has become so popular that now her blog has become a wonderful combination of everything she's passionate about... (also keep an eye out on BlogShop workshops because they sometimes come to London).. :)

Next up a few of my favourites on home turf..

Just the 6 of us..
I've known my gorgeous friend Zoe since I was 14 years old.  I've seen her have four beautiful children.. find the guy of her dreams and start a wonderful business.  We're two peas in a pod and most people think we're sisters which is fine absolutely fine by me.  She's also a lover of vintage, car boots and general old, pretty stuff and I love her and her family to pieces.  She also has a pretty nice selection of goodies in her shop 'Yellow Vintage' right now.. I say that but take no responsibility for what ends up in your basket.

Seeds and Stitches
Another gem is another wonderful lady who I met a few years ago in my first year of photographing weddings when I photographed her husband's sister's wedding. I remember arriving at Ray's (the Bride) house in the morning and falling in love with the house, their mates, their style.. I would have happily moved in on the spot. I've kept up to date with Hannah and her wonderful little family.. her great bunch of friends and watched in awe at their craft, sewing, cooking and upcycling skills. Hannah recently came up to take photos of our house and office with the lovely Kristy Noble (which I'll be blogging about at some point) and it was just like we were old friends.. non stop chatting.. :)

I don't tend to look at too many photography websites as it can get a bit all consuming but there are a couple that I come back to regularly.  Most of them are ones that I connect with on a personal level, can learn from and am inspired by..

Jasmine Star
This lovely lady is one hot entrepreneur in more ways than one. I've followed her blog for a long time now and admire her for her work ethic and her sheer determination. Her ambition is infectious and the fact that she's honest about her journey and is so open with her experiences and knowledge.. it's an absolute pleasure to watch her grow and become more successful. If you're a photographer she shares so much amazing tips and advice.. both with shooting and running your own business that you need her blog in your bookmarks bar.

Sue Bryce
I haven't been following Sue for too long but in the short time I've followed her blog she has made quite an impression. How Sue started is pretty similar to me and I immediately felt a connection to her journey. She has built her business from nothing and I admire her honesty, her courage and her natural business mind. She knows her shit because she understands her clients and she's not afraid to take risks.. even when there is something to lose. I actually bought her CreativeLive course and Pete said he thought she'd moved in to our house as I seemed to be watching it all the time... :) For me.. we are so busy with the business, especially over the summer months that you tend to be using all your energy on the here and now so it was good for me to be able to step out and just listen for a bit. Even if I already knew bits or felt I was actually doing things right.. you still learn so much and sometimes you just need things highlighted. I recommend having a read of her blog and if you can, watching her CreativeLive workshop too.. :)

Hope there's one here that you might not have come across yet.. :)

all change..

A few weeks ago we had our lovely friends The Starks come and visit us for a few days.  They are both photographers living in Canada and our friendship has been a pretty incredible one that saw us all meet before we were photographers.. and then has grown side by side in some weird and wonderful parallel journey..

The morning they were due to leave they asked if we would mind if they took some photos of us both in our house.  We'd all been talking about what our plans for the future were and both me and Pete had said that we were at a point where lots of things were about to change.  We've been in our little house for 7 years now but we think it's finally time to find a new.. bigger one.  One where we can work from and possibly start a family.

Jenn and Dave have given us something so incredibly special.  We constantly talk about the importance of giving photographs but for us these are so much more.  They show us how happy we are.. how much we've grown.. how far we've come and how excited we are about our future together. They show us in our home.. the home we started this little business.. the home where I got ready on our wedding day.. the home where Maximo was born in the bottom of the wardrobe.

We cannot say thank you enough to Jenn and Dave.. (even though they were super sneaky recording us talking).. we will treasure this gift forever...


emma & pete from Jenn & Dave Stark on Vimeo.

the insignificants..

To a lot of people this is a photograph of just some doors.. an insignificant detail on a day full of so many significant details.  What's the point of including this in a couple's wedding photos?  It has nothing to do with a wedding..

It has everything to do with a wedding.

When you read a story.. or watch a play you are given so much detail but there is also so much that we ourselves create.. we fill, we imagine, we decide, we see.. for us that story is so much bigger than just the lines spoken or the words on the page.

I love this image. Behind these doors is the boy you're about to marry. Behind these doors are the friends and family that all root for you.  Behind these doors is your commitment.. your decisions.. your beginning.. your team.. your future..

Behind these doors is your story..

Now tell me this photograph is insignificant.

what a feeling..

I love this image.. just kinda makes me feel something..

april wish list...

It's officially the first day of Summer! Wahooooooo! The sun is shining.. and 4 degrees is definitely an improvement.. hell that's shorts weather surely?!?  So I'm looking ahead to warmer days, longer evenings, bike rides, walks in the park, skirts without tights and open toe shoes.. blimey I think we're all ready for it..

A) My new Wash bag    B) ONA Camera Bag    C) Just Dandy Skirt  
D) Daisy in Mustard    E) Bella

life lately.. {march}

So March has been a funny old month.. considering last year we were sat on picnic blankets in the park soaking up the warm sunshine.. it's felt a little like groundhog day with the snow looking like it wants a piece of Easter.. seriously now.. when is it stopping?!?!?!

But apart from the apocalyptic weather March has been pretty pleasant..

So the carpet in the house is down and life has gone back to normal after 'decorate all the things' phase. I'm not going to lie.. we have probably finished 80% of it but the 20% that is left to do are the types of jobs that probably never get done.. so hey.. lets see if by October any of them will be finished..

 So it was my Birthday this month and just like Christmas, me and Pete don't tend to do much in terms of present buying for each other so instead I spent the morning in town buying bits of makeup and the nicest navy and white striped dress from Primark.. (I actually saw it on a guest at a wedding recently and asked her where she got it.. this tends to happen at least once at every wedding).. I also got the lovely coral suede shoes from Accessorize (I now just need the weather to go with them).  I also got some lovely surprises in the post too.. the mug is from the lovely Veronica Dearly (I love it as it incorporates two of my favourite things.. eggs and tea).. and a lovely photo album from the Shutterbox kids.. which I decided to fill with all our wedding polaroids.

Me and Pete then headed down to London for my friend Rachel Simpson's new shoe collection launch. We shot her new collection, agnes and norman in Brighton back in February and walking in and seeing all the imagery alongside her gorgeous shoes.. well, it just makes you feel all warm inside.. :)  I'm going to do a full post on the collection soon but, just beware ladies.. and gents.. you're going to want every single pair.  To top it off the launch was at the beautiful shop Lucy in Disguise which was literally the worst place to put me.. ;)  I came out with the most beautiful dress that I literally cannot stop looking at.. and I think it might actually have been made for me.. :)

We also managed to squeeze in a wedding fair right at the end of March and we'd been secretly planning our stand for a while now.. we had a great time at EWE.. the other suppliers were wonderful and we had such a lovely day meeting people.. and the best thing about it?  Oh my goodness.. I HAVE MY FRIGGIN' NAME IN LIGHTS!! Ha ha!  The amazing Vowed&Amazed (we shot their wedding in 2011) have just absolutely blown us away.. they are AMAZING!!! I absolutely love them and they are taking pride of place in our office forever and ever..

 It's been a pretty exciting and hectic month.. here's to a slightly less hectic April..

sneak peek and falling in love..

Saturday morning I'm going to be totally honest.. I had the fear. We hadn't shot a wedding for quite a while and we were about to jump in to a double wedding weekend.. and I knew that the next time we would be coming up for air would be around.. well.. October time.  It felt slightly overwhelming.. and you 100% feel the anticipation and the weight of the amount of responsibility that you're carrying.. I definitely felt it that morning..

48 hours, two weddings and 5000 images later and I am star shaped on my hotel bed.. totally exhausted and indescribably happy.  After Saturday's wedding me and Pete walked back to the car with all our gear and I turned to Pete and said 'I was made to shoot weddings'... coming away from this weekend I can't stop smiling.. we watched two couples so excited about getting married, so excited to have everyone they love around them and all their guests literally giddy to be a part of it.. every single person made us feel so welcome.. we laughed and cried and danced and captured everything.. we didn't want to miss a thing.. and that's the best part.. looking back over the images I can't help but feel so incredibly lucky, blessed.. (whatever the right word is).. to be able to be a part of it.

We hadn't actually met Tamara and Jonno in person before Saturday but looking through their images I can see Tamara.. the way she uses her hands, her mannerisms.. I can see Jonno.. the way he talks and smiles.. I know them.. and in just one day, it might sound silly but we totally fall in love with them... and I know why.. because each and every one of our couples have the most incredible sweet hearts that we just can't help it..

The fear has now been completely replaced with pure giddy excitement and now I just cannot wait to get to know more sweet couples and fall in love with them too...

vsco journal

You know what.. I expect the protocol right now should be that I'm all cool about this but I'm not succeeding AT ALL.. a few days ago I was featured on the incredible VSCO Journal.  The photography they feature totally blows me away every single time and I'm not kidding.. I actually cannot believe that my photographs are on there.. and I couldn't be happier that they have featured my trip to Zambia with Sound Seekers..

Over the past three years there have been a few moments that stop me in my tracks.. where I look around and go 'Shit.. is this REALLY happening?'.  This feature truly means a lot to me and I'm not going to be embarrassed to say it..

And if I could give you one bit of advice... don't ever, ever, ever think those dreams of yours are too big.. because they do sometimes come true...

You can check out the full feature here

 

fearless..

Joanna Brown Photography

It's funny.. when I first started this photography business I felt completely fearless.. I wasn't afraid to do things my way.. to push it.. to choose the opposite road.. to be myself.  But as our first year turned to two.. then three.. and now we're hitting our fourth year.. this fearlessness is harder to hold.  You get comfortable knowing you can do your job.. you know you can do it well.. you know where the shots are.. you know the ebb and flow.. you want to be consistent.. you want to keep being wanted... you're doing well.. why rock the boat?

You're busy.. you shoot things.... you now and then play it a bit safer.. and then you stop.  You tell yourself to open your eyes.. to shake things up.. to be completely fearless again..

Making that leap is always easier the first time.. you've got nothing to lose.. nothing to prove.. the second leap is always the hardest..

It's time to be fearless again..

us...

I love him.... I love him with all my heart.
Today we've been together 7 years....
Seven years ago today... I found Pete on Myspace.. yep.. Myspace.

(images by the wonderful Featherlove)

I was living in Birmingham and only knew my flatmate... I was in between Acting jobs and saw that Pete lived in Brum and had pretty much the same taste in music... and he looked fit in his photo... so I sent him a message and he replied.  We got chatting and he gave me tips on where were the good places to go and we realised we'd been in the same pub on New Years Eve too but never saw each other!  We then exchanged numbers and Pete had played it cool saying if you fancy catching up some time then give us a text... great.... HUGE ball in my court.  So on that Thursday I knew he was in town and I text him (cue wandering around town for a few hours trying to keep busy waiting for a reply). He text back saying that he was meeting some mates and I was more than welcome to join them.. oh christ... have to walk in to a pub on my own, not 100% sure what he looks like and he's with his mates.. also I'd found something to fill some time that afternoon which was actually giving blood (sounds random but I'd tried to go the day before and it was closed) ...so passing out was another concern.

I walked in and stood at the bar, called my mate, saw him walk past (he didn't have his glasses on so wasn't sure it was me) and then plucked up the courage to go over... luckily his mates consisted of another couple so I sat down and we got chatting... we then went to another pub and chatted some more.. we then headed to a club (a pretty dead one) and chatted some more.. then Pete stopped chatting, stared at me for quite a long time (to the point where I actually asked if he was ok) and then he kissed me... all together now... 'Ahhhhhh'... we have been inseparable ever since.

Pete actually sent me a message (via Myspace) two days after we met and I feel the exact same way about the last seven years...

Pete, I wanted to tell you that I've had the best 7 years.
So much fun, so easy and natural..
Your girl xxx

..weekend..

Have a great weekend guys! This weekend we have no weddings so we are GETTING SHIT DONE. (i.e. finish painting the house and all that jazz)..

life lately..

So the past few weeks have been kinda busy.. shooting some yummy shoes and some beautiful stationery, keeping Maximo entertained in the house as he's not keen on this continuous white stuff.. oh and we had a lovely feature about blogging in February's Photo Pro Magazine.. :)  Wedding season is just around the corner and we have some more Welcome Home Workshops coming up in a couple of weeks (they come around fast) so we've been busy getting ourselves ready for the mayhem.  We're also STILL in house makeover land... which is taking much longer than expected.   We've now painted 80% of the house and we should have new carpet and a new kitchen floor (fingers crossed) in the next couple of weeks. The problem we've had is that our house is SO small.. and every time we've painted a room, we've first had to take everything out and put it in another room (and sleep in it).. to then have to put it all back in to paint the next room and so on. I'm actually starting to realise just how much stuff we have and the other night I couldn't sleep staring at all the stuff piled high literally surrounding the bed and asked myself.. if someone took it all away tomorrow and you never saw it again.. would you really care?   If you know me you know that I'm a little bit of a hoarder.. I love a car boot and a charity shop and over the years I've brought home typewriters, chairs, mirrors, plates, lights, cupboards, bikes, clothes, a deck chair (it'll be useful in the Summer!!!).. as I can't bear to walk out of the shop and leave them without a home.. but our home simply isn't big enough.. and do I really need five typewriters?!?! So once the carpet is down and we have some normality back I'm going to sell some bits and bobs and anything we make is going towards our travelling fund.. I think it's a really good exercise as the hoarder in me sometimes needs to be kept in check..

So.. I've just got to decide on what's best.. ebay?, maybe a yard sale on the blog?.. I might even do the Saturday Flea at the Custard Factory where our office is.. what do you guys think?

shouting and hiding..

I'm not really sure where to start with this post.. you know when you get an idea, or something you really want to write about and then you don't really know what to say.. or how to say it.  If we were sat opposite each other right this second I could explain it in two seconds flat.. but writing it is always harder.

For the past couple of weeks I've been reading (like normal) all my favourite blogs.. keeping in the loop, seeing what they're up to and the same themes seem to keep popping up.. shouting and hiding.  The new year always seems to create a surge of renewing.. we get bigger and better.. we get new ideas being launched.. we get projects set.. ambitions declared.. all this amazing stuff happening and we all shout about it.. fighting to be heard.. fighting to stay ahead of the game.  But it is exhausting.. keeping up.. keeping your toe in.. always being heard.  Even the ones that you look up to and always seem to so effortlessly do it are admitting the struggle.. that feeling that everything is kinda going in a direction and actually I couldn't even tell you if it is the right direction because I CAN'T HEAR MYSELF THINK!?!?

I was asked some questions for a book about business recently and one of the questions was 'What are my goals for this year?'  I suddenly felt under pressure.. urrrmmm shoot more weddings.. streamline the business a bit more.. maybe go on holiday?!? What's wrong with just wanting to keep doing what I'm doing.. and doing it well?  I felt like it wasn't enough.. shouldn't I should be setting that bar even higher.. have 10 projects that I'm secretly working on ready to launch.. be reinventing something.. announcing something.. actually, I have got something to announce.. I've started jogging.  It was bloody hard at first and I could run for about 3 minutes and had to stop but the other day I ran for 22 minutes.. 22!  And I'm SO glad I'm doing it because it gives me space.. I get 40 minutes of clarity.. no email.. no tweets.. no facebook comments.. no trying to keep up.. no elbowing, no 'like' checking.. it's absolute bliss.  Sometimes I like hiding.

Chris Barber Photography

There are always other ways to shut out the noise...

* I want to add to this post as I've had lots of comments and tweets from peeps that seem to be having a lot of these feelings themselves.  My friend Lauren tweeted me with a link to a TED talk by Dr Brene Brown entitled 'Wholeheartedness'... I urge you to give yourself some time and to have a watch.. it's pretty interesting...

good times...

Image by Marianne Taylor at the Beloved Workshop

The past few months have been pretty intense.. what with the burglary back in March we started wedding season as if we'd been spun round and let go... but in the past few weeks it feels like everything has started to settle down.  We finally feel (after 3 years) like we're getting on top of things and that we're now driving the business rather than the business driving us.  Where I've seen this the most is with our work/life balance.

For the past few years I'll be honest my work/life balance sucked.  There was no balance. We were both working from home.. sitting in our pyjamas all day surrounded by washing up, most days not stepping out of the front door.. no fresh air, not much real human interaction and then we'd drive to weddings at the weekend, shoot, drive, pack, unpack (sometimes).. Sundays we'd work.. we'd meet couples, shoot, edit.  Through the week I'd start work at 11am and work through til midnight.. we'd eat crap constantly.. anything for convenience.. anything for a little reward for working so hard, we smoked, we occasionally socialised, crowbarring it in between the massive to do list and feeling guilty any time I wasn't sat in front of my computer replying to emails or editing.. we were loving the job but I stopped caring about me.. and that had to change.

Since the office move EVERYTHING has changed.  We get up and get dressed, we come to work, we see real people, we get out in the fresh air, we work normal hours, we're more productive, we now have our home back, I sit on the sofa of an evening and watch a DVD, I sit in my pyjamas on a Sunday when the rest of the world also sits in their pyjamas, we eat healthily, we quit smoking, we book little holidays in peak wedding season, we make time to socialise and spend time with each other, I don't reply to emails after hours, I make time for personal projects and the best thing by far is now we have bikes and we ride to work! Thirty minutes there and back every day that gives me the space to not look at Twitter/fb/emails.. to not only exercise but to really have some time for myself.. and see the world around me.  It might sound crazy but I've never felt so free as I do riding my bike.. it's the best thing I've ever done.. :)

So how's your work/life balance coming along?  What things would you like to change? Maybe writing them down might help to make them happen.. :)

vintage vacations..

Last week we shut our office door, packed our bags and drove down to Portsmouth to get the ferry across to the Isle of Wight.  We had three days.. three precious days in the middle of wedding season to kick back and relax and to have some 'us' time.

A few months ago we stumbled across the amazing Vintage Vacations based in the Isle of Wight.. a site dedicated to holidaying in amazing retro style.  We booked ourselves a gorgeous American Airstreamer for two nights and, along with Lee and Dawn, aka Shutterbox Films we enjoyed a few days of lazing around on the beach, sitting around the fire in deck chairs, eating alfresco, tucking in to hearty cooked breakfasts, staring out to sea and waving to boats on the ferry, a charity shop or two, a sambuca or two and lots and lots of laughing..

We all had such an amazing time.. it sounds weird but I felt totally free.. it's amazing what a bit of the outdoors and getting back to basics can do.. and as you can see from below I think we all really enjoyed having our cameras with us paired with the freedom to just shoot whatever we wanted.  I really recommend making time to just shoot for you.. without it being a job.. I think we all find the busier we get the less we take time for ourselves but it's vital for your creative soul.

Oh and while we're on the subject of recommendations... everyone should have a Vintage Vacation!  The site is amazing, the Airstreamers are incredible and there's quite a few other options of accommodation too including an old Scout Hall!  We will definitely be back.