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.. :)

chapters...

Through social media we always try and keep in touch with all our couples and now we're in our fourth year of shooting weddings we have quite a few couples all dotted around the country.. all enjoying the first few years of married life.  We watch them move house, new jobs and quite often make two.. three. This is incredible to watch and we somehow feel like proud parents having been with them on their wedding day and now watching the next chapter of their life begin.

Ahhhhhhh looooook at theeeeeeem...

It's amazing to see these little carbon copies of two people we love.. looking so much like both their Mama and their Pappa.  We see our Bride's eyes.. our Groom's smile and we want to tell each and every little one how beautiful their Mum and Dad looked on their wedding day.. how they smiled and laughed all day, how they told a whole room full of people just how much they love each other.. and how they danced like fools on the dance floor.  Then I think about in years to come when all these little ones will look at their Mum and Dad's wedding album.. laugh at the funny outfits and Dad's crazy hair and it makes me feel so proud that we are a part of that.

  

To be honest.. I'm not really sure what this is about...



If any more of our couples have had babies and haven't told us about it.. (you do remember what we said would happen if you didn't tell us).. then please send over some piccies and we'll add them to this post..

I just wish you all lived in Birmingham so I could plant a big squidgy kiss on each of those gorgeous cheeks...

my secret..

Anna Hardy Photography

I've actually got a secret.

I constantly avoid shooting.

That sounds crazy right?  I'm a photographer.  I love shooting.. I love being creative.. I love creating images.. I love meeting people.. I love giving beautiful images.. I love telling stories.  But... I avoid it.

This probably doesn't make any sense as we shoot over 30 weddings a year.. but you see weddings are different.  Have you ever had to go somewhere and you were kinda nervous (well, bricking it) about going? Worried about performing well and delivering the goods? Maybe even dreaded it slightly?  Then once you got there it was pretty much the most awesome thing you've ever, ever experienced, you love every second, you love everyone you meet and you wondered how on earth you ever felt worried about it in the first place?!? Well.. that's me.

I'm now kinda used to it with weddings and have to remind myself every Saturday morning how amazing I'm gonna feel in approximately two hours when I'm getting emotional watching my Bride get in to her wedding dress.. and then watching her marry her boy.. (maaaaan it really is the BEST thing in the world).. and what I've realised is that it's just fear.. and it's a good thing.. so long as it doesn't stop you from doing things.

But it has stopped me.  Opportunities to shoot outside weddings.. my first reaction is always.. we're too busy.  Yes we are busy.. and yes we're really busy over the Summer (and we're working on that for next year) but deep down I know that what I'm actually saying is "I'm too scared to shoot you".  I immediately have the fear.. I have to deliver.. I have to shoot well, I have to make them feel comfortable, I have to direct, where are we gonna shoot?, what's the light gonna be like? What happens if I freeze?  What happens if the images are no good? It's then all too easy for me to convince myself that I'm too busy.  It makes my life that little bit easier.

But that's shit isn't it.

And you know what.. the times that I have ignored that fear and said yes.. it's been pretty much the most awesome thing I've ever, ever experienced, I've loved every second, I loved everyone I met and I wondered how on earth I felt worried about it in the first place.

So I'm going to stop closing myself off to things.  I'm going to start saying yes.  I'm not going to be scared to shoot.. I'm not going to be 'too busy'.. because when you open yourself up you experience more, you share, you feel and you create the most incredible memories.. not only for the people you are photographing.. but for us too.

spinnin' around..

I'm not gonna lie.. July was crazy town.  It was probably one of the busiest months we've ever had with weddings that literally book ended the country every week.. up to The Lakes and back.. back up to the Lakes the following week.. down to Rye in Kent.. up to the West coast of Scotland.. then Worcester.. Kent.. Surrey.  We are Service Station connoisseurs.. Premier Inn regulars.

Fridays are travel days.. shoot the wedding Saturday.. drive home that night.. Sunday lie like broccoli amongst camera bags and unpacked overnight bags (literally I am fit for nutin').. then try and cram in culling, editing (a lot of weddings), backing up, emails, enquiries, blogging, invoicing, sending weddings to blogs, meeting couples, Engagement Shoots.. (oh and try to still see friends and not ignore every text that I get - sorry guys).. all before Friday smacks us in the face again. No, but seriously Monday to Thursday reeeeeeeally isn't long enough.. AT ALL.

Oh and let's just decide to sell our house too shall we? In peak wedding season?  With only two weekends off until November?  Ohhhh go on then!

I am officially mental.

Ps. Pete read this post and said that I sound like I'm moaning.. hmmmm.. I suppose I am a bit.. but not with the work.. the weddings have been super duper spine tinglingly awesome.. it's just the distinct lack of enough days in the week that's the problem.

vote for Pedro..

Woop! We've been nominated for Best Wedding Photographer by the lovely peeps at Perfect Wedding Magazine!! (busts some sweet ass moves)

So.. yeah.. this bit sucks balls but would you guys mind if we said.. if you had a spare sec could you vote for us?
http://www.planyourperfectwedding.com/wedding-competitions/perfect-wedding-awards-2013

I bloody hate asking.. like REALLY HATE asking.. but this time I really want to win.  Because of Pete.  That boy gets nowhere near the amount of recognition he deserves for what he does for our little business and if we win I'm gonna bloody hang it round his neck and make up a song and sing it to him.  You see some peeps still think that this gig is mainly just me.. I'm guessing the 'Emma Case Photography' bit doesn't really clear it up much.. but this couldn't be more wrong.  This gig is US.. Emma and Pete... equally. We both shoot.. and I was about to say.. we both email but actually Pete talks to our couples, he invoices, he organises getting to weddings.. schedules.. tax.. invoices.. actually.. sometimes I wonder what I actually do!?!?  One thing I do know is that I couldn't have done any of it without him. He is bloody incredible to work with.  On a wedding day he has my back and makes my job the easiest thing in the world.  In the office he organises shit.  Like everything.  Oh and at home he's also the cook and I reckon the washing up gets done maybe 60 Pete 40 me.  I'm telling you.. this guy is amazing.  He is also THE friendliest guy you'll ever meet.. he hugs everyone and means it every single time and he makes all our couples feel like we've known them for years.  He also doesn't give a shit about all the bullshit.. only has time for the good stuff and cares deeply about giving every single one of our couples the best experience ever.

But because people associate the business with me (again, yep the name'll do it) Pete sometimes gets overlooked.. but he deserves so much more... I just wish 'We are the Smyths' had a better ring to it.. ;)

So I just wanna put it out there..

He's awesome.

..and fit.

the Define School

The Define School is a wonderful online school for evolving photographers.  Their mission? To provide online courses for both professionals and hobbyists. A place for individual artists to flourish.. an online community where evolving photographers could go to connect, learn and grow.  There are a wonderful collection of talented instructors sharing their experiences of running successful businesses in the arts and they are all there to share their story.

But simply imparting information is not the goal.  Students are equipped with knowledge and then encouraged to use it to create their own path.. to achieve total authenticity. And by connecting with other artists, they in turn, learn more about themselves.

The Define School also has a journal with a regular feature called 'What I Have To Say..' I am hugely honoured to be a part of this amazing community and immensely enjoyed writing something that had no real agenda.. just.. simply.. something I wanted to say..

You can read the full article HERE I also recommend reading through the whole of the journal and signing up for some classes.. these are good people with lots of good stuff to say.. :)

love & marriage... 50 years and counting

Hey there,

Its Pete, i'm taking over the blog for a day. Don't worry it won't be me getting over excited about Queens of The Stone Age, or Led Zeppelin or sticks or anything about me at all really.

In the world we live, work, socialise in.... the beautiful all encompassing world of weddings, we are surrounded by the dizzying excitement of the new, the new adventures, the lives ahead of us, the children, the houses, but most of all the new love, the enduring love, the simple heart bursting feeling that two people looked into each others eyes and thought... 'you know what, this person is the best thing that has ever happened to me, I want to wake up and look at you everyday'
After all the noise has died down, the dress is packed away, the flowers wilt, the makeup is wiped off, the shoes are put back in their box. Its just two people with a life of memories to create...

Just over 50 years ago, Diane Blizzard aged 17 from Birmingham was on a girly holiday with two friends, staying for 2 weeks in the English Riviera of Torquay, at the Orchard Park caravan site. They arrived on the Saturday afternoon, unpacked, cooked some dinner and looked forward to the holiday ahead, they asked the owner if there were any other young people on site, He replied, 'yes there's 3 Irish lads stopping' to which Diane said 'Oh we're not interested in Paddys'.....  

On the Sunday morning the girls decided to head for the beach, so went to the nearest bus stop. After waiting for 30 minutes, no buses had been by, then along came the 3 young lads from Belfast, one of them - Des Smyth aged 20 with his blue eyes and thick dark hair started chatting. Of course they had no idea what he was saying, his accent was really strong in them days. BUT, something, somewhere a little spark happened. My Mum tells me now, that she knew almost instantly that he was THE ONE. Whether it was the blue eyed twinkle, the thick dark hair or the charm. My Dad hasn't said much on the subject, he may be a little shy or just felt guilty that his first thought was 'She's a bit of alright!' Turns out the buses didn't run on Sundays, so that day they all walked to the beach and chatted and flirted... 

Diane and Des spent the rest of the holiday hanging out, going for dinner, laughing on the beach and really just falling in love. There was no agenda, they didn't care what they did, so long as they could be together thats all that mattered. At the end of the week, they went their separate ways, Diane to Birmingham, Des to Belfast. They couldn't stop thinking about each other, heartbroken, they pined to be together. They wrote to each other and after only one month, Des moved to Birmingham to begin the age old process known as 'courting' - (ask your parents) Essentially a vetting process by Dianes' family to see if he was ok. There was a lot of anti-Irish attitude in this country back then, so it wasn't an easy thing for him to do. He was a plumber by trade and at the time work was easy to come by especially in the construction industry, he lived in lodgings with fellow workers, at the time all guest houses had signs reading 'NO BLACKS, NO IRISH, NO DOGS' So it was a big chance this young lad from Belfast was taking, all for the sake of a girl.... equally, this sweet young Brummie girl was taking a gamble on a rough Irish boy she had only spent a week with. But you know what, they knew how real their feelings were for each other and they decided to make a go of it...

Last night, our whole family gathered for a massive party to celebrate my Mum and Dads Golden Wedding Anniversary! 50 years of marriage. In this very cynical, disposable and pretty selfish world, they are a shining beacon of love and commitment for life. I am so so proud of them both, the strength and determination they have shown in a pretty tough life together has been phenomenal, a solid team who are each others world. Maybe its a generational thing? but thats exactly the life I want, I hope we see our Golden Wedding Anniversary one day.

As any newly weds or newly engaged young couples start your journeys together wandering about your lives ahead, just remember Diane & Des, and maybe one day you'll make it to 50 years married.

Mum and Dad, we love you so so much.

xxxxxxx

your road...

"Hold the phone! You mean I can do any job I want!?!?"

I sometimes get emails from people who read my blog and although most of them are photography related.. some are a bit more general and are maybe about bigger things.  I received an email last month that got me thinking and I thought it might be nice to actually share it on the blog this time..

I really hope you don't mind me sending you this email.  This is going to sound odd but I am at a bit of a crossroads at the moment and something keeps telling me it's your advice I should be asking?!

Since the husband to be and I first got together we have been steadily building our business.  I am currently working 20 hrs in a part time job I hate and we're considering the possibility of going 'shit or bust' and throwing everything we've got at the self employed work.

My husband to be has been a self employed teacher for over 20 years but the idea of not having a 'wage' or knowing what's coming in each month scares the pants off me.  See everyone in my life has a 'job' and so can't really help me break out of the fear of working for myself.  How did you feel?  Is it as scary as it feels?  Is it worth it?  I feel like I'm holding myself back by playing it safe and it's making me miserable.  I know it's a different field (although still creative) but do you have any advice about starting out and how to give myself the confidence to back myself? Maybe just hearing your 'starting out' story could inspire me..

Funnily enough we tend to get asked this question quite a lot as there seems to be quite a few people in a similar situation.. with a career they don't love, a path they didn't really choose and now too much security to risk...

I'm not sure I can tell you exactly what the answer is as I don't know the ins and outs of your financial situation but for our situation, I'll be honest.. it wasn't too much of a sacrifice in the first place,  Pete was in full time work (not really a career) and I was Acting.. so was self employed already, in and out of Acting work, used to finding in-between jobs and used to not having much money.  So when the photography started.. yes it was extremely hard to start with nothing but at the same time I wasn't giving up a safety net.. I had nothing to lose.  

Having said that.. the reason I had nothing to lose was because since the very beginning I have chosen my passion over that security.  A job that I love over that decently paid, steady job.  I just knew from the start that I couldn't just make do.  I've had brief periods in my life where I have been employed.. 6 months, a year.. but it's just not in my make up.  I had to take my own road.

So I can't really give advice on giving up a successful, safe career/job to do the thing you love.. BUT what I will say is that if you're unhappy now.. I am pretty sure that this will get worse not better.  Realistically you could spend the next 6 months.. or even the next 3 years deliberating this decision and in that time you could have focused on saving a little to give yourself a buffer for when you both decide to take the leap.  When you do you'll probably find yourself with too much work and wonder how you ever fitted any other job in ever.  And when you work for yourself opportunities present themselves if you let them.. you network.. word of mouth.. social media.. all these things help to keep the work coming in.. 

As far as other people go.. it really doesn't matter if everyone around you has a 'job'.. actually what you'll probably find is that everyone will be really interested in the fact you work for yourself doing something creative and can often be quite envious that you're following your dream and making it work.  

I'm not going to lie.. you'll work harder than you've ever worked.  You'll care more than you've ever cared.. and some of the time you'll be making it up as you go along.... BUT what I can tell you is that this road we're on is an incredible one and worth it a million times over.

dave and jenn...

So about 5 years ago.. before I picked up a camera I spent a year working for a Teacher Recruitment Agency in-between acting jobs. Two Canadian teachers came over, Jenn and Dave (aka The Starks) and I would be the one to have to call them in the morning and send them trekking across the delights of Birmingham to their day of supply teaching.  After about a year their time came to an end in England and they returned to Canada and I got an acting job and started to learn Sign Language.

Fast forward a few months.. I picked up a camera.. Jenn did too. After a little while we both started to shoot weddings.. both our businesses grew.. Dave joined Jenn and they became a husband and wife team.. me and Pete did the same.  Over the past 5 years our individual journeys have evolved and blossomed but have beautifully synced and followed a wonderful parallel path.  Along the way we have both discovered similar things about ourselves and our relationships.. been drawn to the same people.. been led by our hearts.. have fallen in love with our couples and have furociously cheered each other on from the sidelines.

So when they said they were coming over to England this Summer to visit Jenn's Grandparents we jumped at the chance to be reunited after 5 years and to actually just hang out.  We laughed, we climbed to the top of a hill,  we cooked (well, Dave cooked), we talked non-stop about what is important to us as people... and I know that for us the internet has been incredible and has made this world a much smaller place.. it's built our business, it's connected us to so many wonderful and talented souls.. but sometimes you have to log out, shut down and just go look at their faces for real.

Dave and Jenn.. thank you for making the effort to come and see us and thank you so much for taking some photos of us yesterday.. it was such a lovely experience to step away from everything and be given the opportunity to reflect on all the things we've achieved together as a couple and just to give us a moment to stop looking ahead for a second and to turn and look at each other.

We love you guys very much.

holiday..

10 things I learnt on holiday.
1. Holidays are good and we should have more of them.
2. If I can't speak the language I either put on a weird accent and/or start using British Sign Language in  an attempt to get my point across.
3. 42 degrees is the equivalent of having a hairdryer constantly pointed at your face.
4. My shins never goes brown.
5. I can actually love Pete more.
6. Some women are made of lava. (One woman sat out ALL day sunbathing in the 42 degree heat. Mentalist.)
7.  Your business will not disappear, fail, crumble, die if you go away for a week.
8. Waiters are people too.  I already knew this but it turns out some other people don't.
9. I'm pretty good at haggling... :)
10. You don't need to look at your phone when you wake up, when you're on the toilet, after you get out the shower, in-between mouthfuls or when you've just finished looking at your phone.

We decided not to take our main cameras as we wanted a proper break and we'd had a few warnings about taking photos in the square so we took a few of our other guys instead..

Say hello to Pete's fisheye..

..my £4.99 point and shoot.. (who I love).. 

..my yummy Cadet (similar to a Diana).. 

..and of course a few iPhone photies too..

 

The (blurred) photo below is of me, Pete, Mohammed (one of our lovely waiters at the hotel).. and a guy called KING TEA! Mohammed took us to meet him and we had the BEST Moroccon tea whilst being taught about an array of spices.. I love King Tea.

 

I think someone definitely missed us while we were away... chatting away and constant cuddles since we returned..