Clare and Ben got married at the Lakeside Hotel, Newby Bridge last Saturday 12th May 2012. As with all weddings I was excited but I was also particularly thrilled to be working at the Lakeside Hotel as it was the first time I had worked with the hotel for a wedding.

We have been looking to collaborate on a little project but you will hear all about that in the months to come

OK, I don’t normally do any name dropping but I just have to say that Clare and Ben’s wedding was brought to us by, in no particular order………………..

Rolls Royce, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche, Jimmy Choo, Louis Roederer Cristal, Montecristo, Jeffery West and many more, it also involved many people keeping massive secrets and virtual strangers offering their services free of charge in order to make Ben’s day even more special, his face when he saw his dream car parked outside the wedding reception was one of genuine WTF , his excitement and astonishment was truly infectious and even I had a little tear in my eye!

Quite a different running order for me and really quite different to many weddings, I arrived just before 12 pm to cover some details and a bit of Clare getting beautified, then it was on to a 2.30 wedding, followed by champagne on the lawn overlooking Lake Windermere. We used this opportunity and the gorgeous weather and backdrop to get a selection of the formal images for the family albums, many photographers now don’t offer such images any more but I think it is vital to help us preserve our social history, also  the fact that many of Clare and Ben’s family and friends had literally flown halfway around the world to be with them for their wedding at The Lakeside Hotel, from Australia and the USA.

Following the drinks reception we moved into the Windermere Suite for afternoon tea, like I say the running order was slightly different but it worked very well, lots more champagne, cucumber sandwiches, without crusts lots of tea and coffee, more champagne and a few cupcakes for good measure.

Ben’s surprise came in the shape of a supercar, well three supercars actually, Ben being a bit of a performance car buff had no idea that Clare had approached the owner of a Ferrari at a petrol station and asked if would perhaps like to come to a wedding and make a groom very happy – a little cheeky she thought but the kind owner said he would be delighted to and also enlisted a couple of mates to drop in as well – it was a cacophonic symphony of beautiful tuned exhaust notes by the lake. Our groom was simply delighted and a little overwhelmed while the owners of the cars were also smiling a lot knowing that their act of kindness had made so much difference.

I noticed the sun, yes sun, we had lots of nice warm lovely sun, dipping behind the hill I grabbed Clare and Ben and we had a wander back to the Lakeside for more Bride and Groom photographs, I also collared Clare’s brother to be my VAL (voice activated lightstand) as the couple were at the end of one jetty and I was on another. I have to say we did have quite a laugh although I was concerned that Gary may actually fall in the lake!

Wedding photographs in the Lake District are so much fun!

It was soon time for the evening guests to arrive and the Lakeside Hotel taster buffet to be served, it just kept coming an amazing spread and everyone was smiling, laughing chatting and eating. Clare and Ben cut the cake which had been perfectly prepared by Clare’s mum and then went straight into their first dance. I slipped away around 11pm and guests were dancing the night away.

I smiled, it had been a fantastic day with a fantastic couple, great guests and a wonderful venue, huge thanks from me to Rhianne, Lakeside’s wedding and event coordinator, very professional, totally chilled and a great help to me as the photographer.

There are a few images below that will hopefully help you get a feel for the day and my work, if you were a guest at the wedding you can log into the gallery, using the password provided by the Bride and Groom, or by using the password hint, you can find the gallery in the ‘client’ area of the Ian Wood Photography website.

If you are getting married in the Lake District please do not hesitate to get in touch, you could ‘like’ Ian Wood Photography on Facebook, telephone 01539 738846 | 07968 791584 or email ian@ianwoodphotography.com I would be delighted to hear all about your wedding plans.

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Katy and Will are getting married in the Lake District however they are  both from Yorkshire, so they thought it would be nice to have the best of both worlds and we arranged their Pre-Wedding session in the Yorkshire Dales. I had a lovely drive into the Dales from Kendal to Sedbergh and then down through Hawes and on to our rendezvous. It really was a nice relaxing drive and very different doing it the car rather than how I used to cover that road – on my Ducati

We had a lovely little walk all the while taking photographs and discussing the final preparations for their wedding in June at the Low Wood Bay resort in the Lake District, I had also just found out that I was to be awarded the +1 Ambassador award from the Low Wood and English Lakes Hotel so it was great to tell them all about it.

A pre wedding session is included in most of my wedding collections and is a great opportunity for you to spend a little time with me, your photographer for your wedding day. Images from the pre-wedding session will be used to create a signature board. This is then brought along to your wedding for your guests to sign – it will them be framed to compliment the decor in your house and returned to you. It is a great reminder of your wedding day and guests.

If you would like to chat about the photography for your wedding day, maybe not even your wedding, perhaps just a ‘couple’ shoot to simply celebrate your love for each other, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

To get in touch you can use the ‘Contact Form’ email me at ian@ianwoodphotography.com, call 01539 738846 | 07968 791584 you can also ‘like’ my page on Facebook and keep an eye out for any special offers.

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Well its seems to have been the month for awards, first the Low Wood Bay +1 Ambassador and now an image of Freddie has placed with a Silver award on the IPPN forum. IPPN stands for International Professional Photographers Network and I have been a member for about 4 years.

Below are the judges comments about the image – I think they just thought that Freddie is a cutie

• One to treasure
• Lovely pic of a special moment
• How can you be objective with an image like this; beautiful….
• An incredibly valuable picture. Personally I’d prefer slightly less muddy processing, but maybe that’s just me.
• This tugs at a mother’s heart. Great focus and beautiful conversion.

If you would like to discuss any aspect of my work, perhaps if you are getting married in the Lake District or you would like timeless images of your children. Please do not hesitate to get in touch I would be delighted to chat.

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Our Good Friday was a great Friday and a great day for Ian Wood Photography. Myself, Rachy and baby Freddie visited the Low Wood Bay resort in the Lake District to collect my award for being nominated as a +1 Ambassador, this post also follows on really well from my previous blog post which you can find here.

I love working at the Low Wood Bay hotel in the Lake District, in this blog post I am simply going to tell you that I am absolutely delighted and very, very proud to have been nominated and gone on to be awarded the +1 Ambassador award from the Low Wood Bay Resort and English Lakes Hotels.

What makes this accolade even sweeter for myself is that I didn’t even know it existed, although the staff at the Low Wood and especially the wedding staff that I often deal with are simply outstanding at what they do and they all deserve every success.

Rachel and I had a wonderful lunch, and we both went straight for the famed ‘Low Wood Burger’ which was just as I remember it – awesome, amazing and, well, simply enormous!

A massive thanks to everyone at the Low Wood, Michelle, Jemma, Dawid, Ria, Nevil and everyone else I come into contact with while covering weddings at the hotel, it really is a pleasure to work alongside them, I see the lengths they all go to to make the customer experience that extra bit special and I am looking forward to being back at the hotel very soon.

As an aside and as I understand it I am currently the only wedding photographer to hold this accolade from the Low Wood – I really am chuffed to bits

” +1 Ambassadors

We do not claim to have the monopoly on +1 activities. Often we are on the receiving end of a service or kindness above and beyond the expectations of English Lakes staff. We have many excellent suppliers, friends and family members who regularly provide excellent service to staff and customers. In recognition of this, we award our +1 Ambassadors with a Certificate and an Ambassador lapel badge with our gratitude.”

If you would like to chat about the photography for your wedding, please do not hesitate to use the contact form or simply call me on 01539 738846 | 07968 791 584 if you are visiting the Low Wood Bay Resort from outside the area I would be more than happy to meet you there for a no obligation chat.

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In my opinion there is quite simply no-where to beat the Lake District, I live here, well nearly, I live about one mile from the border of the Lake District National Park but still in Cumbria. Ian Wood Photography is based in Kendal which has become known as ‘the gateway to the Lakes’, seeing as we are so close and had to piggyback the name somehow

Some couples head abroad for their destination wedding but in reality many hundreds of couples love the Lake District so much they travel here to marry, so in fact the Lake District is just as much a ‘destination’ for weddings as places like Mexico, Greece, Cyprus and lots of other hot countries

Temperature – OK, well the Lakes is renowned for sunshine of a different variety to that of countries with hotter climes, in fact our sunshine is very special, ours is ‘liquid’ sunshine, lovely stuff!

I am always delighted to be asked to photograph a wedding, even though it is my job and it is fabulous to work with hotels and other wedding suppliers whose sole purpose is to make two people very happy, make them smile, make them cry happy tears and make the biggest day of their lives very, very special, most of all ensure that the wedding runs as smoothly as possible.

Having been born in the area I am intensely proud of my county of Cumbria and of course the Lake District, so helping couples out with quality, trusted suppliers when they are coming to the Lakes is always a pleasure, just this week I have spoken to a couple on the South Coast, a booking from another couple based on the South Coast and a booking from a couple from Manchester. Wonderful people, very different weddings in different parts of the Lakes but all are destination weddings.

Wedding tourism is also great for our local economy and this is why it is important that when travelling to the area we as suppliers do our ‘guests’ proud and look after them. I am more than happy to recommend suppliers that I work with on a regular basis and ‘put my name to them’ as it were, as I am sure they will with me from floral artists to hairdressers, bridal houses, make up artists to Scottish Pipers and wedding transport.

Here in Cumbria we are also very proud of our local produce and I know wherever possible many of the wedding venues choose to source fresh local produce from local, quality producers. In fact just today HRH Prince Charles has been to the the Lake District and visited More? the artisan baker and tasted my favourite BEER at the Hawkshead brewery  I know that Prince Charles is a great ambassador for the Lake District.

If you would like to chat about the photography for your Lake District wedding, or a wedding anywhere else for that matter then please do not hesitate to use the contact form on my website, or call 01539 738846 | 07968 791584. You can also find Ian Wood Photography on Facebook.

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Anyone visiting my new look website may have seen a new product named simply 13 | thirteen, with the not particularly nifty catch line…..

13 | thirteen

Its after 12 and before 14, a child becomes a teen.  

A landmark age, in your children’s lives, mood changes should be no surprise. 

Childhood toys are no longer cool, music and fashion make your teen drool. 

A time to cherish, to be embraced, and record the innocence of the young teens face.

I will capture images for your thirteen, natural and as they are – on location, products to love and cherish for generations to come.

Ok humour me on that one, I am no poet but try to be original!

So, Saskia, her mum contacted me shortly after the product was launched to book in Saskia for her 13 | thirteen birthday shoot, some of her friends had also been bought a photoshoot for their 13th birthdays but these were done elsewhere and were studio based, so the 13 | thirteen product from Ian Wood Photography was very different and of course being entirely on location means no two shoots will ever be the same. So if any of her friends book in the images will be shot in a different place, with different weather, season, everything – totally bespoke and original!

We started as most shoots do with a good cup of tea and a whizz through some previous shoots on the iPad, Saskia had chosen some outfits and between us we came up with some looks and we began! In reality I didn’t do any choosing, it was all down to Saskia, it was her birthday and who am I to advise a thirteen year old girl what to wear, old fart that I am

We started the shoot around the house, changing outfits for differing looks and then moved out to shoot some images outdoors – we had a great time, I even managed to fit in a mini photography lesson for Saskia’s mum!

We used a few outdoor locations but being January it was properly freezing and as we were around the Kent Estuary with the tide coming in the wind was howling up the valley and it was biting. We called it a wrap and all are delighted with the images taken on the day.

If you would like to find out more about the 13 | thirteen product just click on the poem and feel free to use the contact form to chat further.

You can also follow Ian Wood Photography on Facebook, if you would like to get in touch please do so by calling 01539 738846 | 07968 791584, email ian@ianwoodphotography.com or use the contact form. It would be great for you to look at other posts on the blog, I am especially proud of this one, charting the pregnancy and birth of our son Freddie.

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Rachel had been a bit weird with me, I wasn’t sure why but I left her to her own devices as I was very busy with my work, a little stressed about various aspects of my business that I was neglecting due to being busy and, well I didn’t want to get into any sort of argument – there was something up though.

It was Friday the 29th of May 2011 and I was sat at my desk in the office, Rachy came home from work, didn’t speak and went straight upstairs, I racked my brains on how I was going to approach her, what was wrong, moreover I was scared that due to running my own business and the scale of my workload was getting to her. I was unable to change my workload, I have to manage that but what if she was sick of it and going to leave – what then?

A few moments later I heard the toilet flush and Rachel came downstairs, a tear in her eye and a smile on her face – all became very clear, Rachel presented me with the ClearBlue pregnancy test – we were expecting a baby. I wouldn’t say it was unexpected, we were not particularly trying for a baby and had discussed that if it happened, it happened – it had only gone and bloody happened !

I can’t really explain my emotions, I think this is a sentence you are going to read an awful lot during this ‘journey’ delighted, extatic, scared, elated – fucking terrified !

I thought about people I was dying to tell of course the Mothers, also my Dad, Fred passed away a few years back now, I wouldn’t say we were particularly close but he was my dad, I wish I could have shared this news with him. He sadly didn’t get to meet any grand children, he died the day before his first one, Chloe was born.

Rachel and I discussed who we should tell, goodness me what is the etiquette ?

We duly made our phone calls, Mum’s were told, tears were shed and the – oh my, we can’t tell anyone else until the scan, Jeeeeez, how hard is it to not tell anyone!

Rachel got booked in at the doctors and as she had done 4 Clearblue tests, he said it was safe to assume that we were really, truly expecting a baby. We got booked in with the midwife and she went through the process and booked us in for our first scan. At 9.34 on the 24th August 2011 we saw our baby for the first time, it was doing little backflips, I think we are growing a real little wrigley one – it was the most amazing feeling seeing baby for the first time and something I will never, ever forget.

Days and weeks went by, Rachel became acquainted to Becks Blue at parties, looked longingly at me while I munched on seafood and blue cheese all the while rubbing her little pregnant tummy. Luckliy so far there has been no real sickness although the aching as her body goes through the changes has got her down a few times.

Our second scan was booked for Wednesday 19th October and luckily for us the Helme Chase unit at Westmorland General hospital were trailing a new scanning machine, bang up to date and the resolution of the screen was simply amazing, once again I struggle to find the words, baby had an enourmous stretch right in front of us, rubbed its eyes and kicked its leg straight out – tears, oh yes, what a stunning little soul!

So, now it is a waiting game…

Ok – babies nursery, I had a spare room from when I lived alone at the house, umm spare room meaning a room full of junk that I had accumulated over the years thinking it ‘would come in handy’ I now know that things that ‘may come in handy’ probably never will and it is a right old pain in the ass to get it shifted – take heed!

Terry, Rachel’s dad had promised to decorate the nursery for us and as we didn’t know what flavour of baby we were getting it would be neither pink or blue. I trusted Rachel completely with the choice of wall coverings and was delighted when I first saw the lovely browny colour with white spots, it looked amazing once on the wall.

Terry and Pat came up and stayed in Staveley for a few days and while Terry spent time in the nursery, he is a perfectionist, Rachy and her Mum spent quality time together, it was great spending time with Rachy’s family and also sampling some of the Eagle & Child’s finest! We are delighted with the nursery and really looking forward to getting the cot and furniture installed.

I am not just sure what date it was, I know it was a Saturday and I was participating in my favourite pastime – procrastination, when I felt the phone ringing in my pocket. As anyone that knows me well will attest that I am a bugger for not actually answering my phone, in fact often not even looking at it when it rings it is normally face down on my desk even! Today I did though and it was Rachel, umm, as she is a hairdresser for her to be ringing me on a Saturday was very unusual. I could sense the distress in her voice as she said….

“I don’t want you to worry – but………………….”

Luckily I had driven into town so was able to get in the car and get round to the salon quickly, Rachel was in quite a bit of pain and the midwife had said to bypass our local unit at Kendal and head straight for the Royal Lancaster Infirmary – lets just say on the way to the hospital we ‘made progress’ arriving in Lancaster shortly before leaving Kendal.

We were seen straight away and lots of checks, on mum and baby assured us that all was in good shape and baby had probably just been naughty and been stood on something it shouldn’t have been.

In all honesty that was the only ‘blip’ we really had during the pregnancy and Rachy progressed really well, baby was a real little wriggler in Mummies tummy.

I have since realised that falling asleep with my hand on babies bump at night was one of the most special experiences that started us on the journey to meeting him.

I am a photographer and as such I have a need to take photographs, I love taking photographs, it is my living, my passion and how I pay the mortgage so there was a need to get some maternity portraits for Rachel, well for both of us but ‘of’ Rachel.

We both wanted some really classy art images of baby bump in an outdoor location and I had built up a mood board with all the colours and textures we wanted in the images, baby due 5^th March so we were hoping to get Spring, springing into the images – sadly though it was deepest darkest Winter and it was out of the question to expose her to the elements in all her glory!

We did get started on some images as bump was getting bigger and used the opportunity of an amazing sunset to take some images to show our child when it gets older, we ended up at Sandside where they have the most amazing Sunsets and where I grew up as a child, actually a place that holds many special childhood memories for me and somewhere our child will spend a lot of time as he is growing up.

Our baby bump was still quite small and I know Rachy did have some ‘bump envy’ as her friends seemed to have enormous bumps but we loved the images we took of her that day in deepest darkest coldest January!

We had a routine midwife appointment and it was noted that perhaps bump was a little on the small size. Rachy is small and I was a small baby so we were not too concerned. First appointment went well and confirmed baby was a little on the smaller side of average and another appointment was made for two weeks later.

We made our way to Helme Chase, went straight through for our scan and baby was kicking away. We went through to see our consultant and Rachel was sent through for a Cardio Tacograph (CTG)  scan and we were told the news………

It was possible that baby would be making an appearance, this was Monday the 30^th January – baby not due until 5^th March – shit, shit, shit, shit. Obviously we had gone for a routine scan, baby and consultant had different ideas…… I had to cancel a meeting in Manchester with a client that afternoon and make various calls, to say I was flapping would have been a very large understatement, in fact I had to stop the car and have a quiet word with myself, it was a kind of hysterics without the crying.

An ambulance was called and Rachy was on her way, I shot home and grabbed a bag that she had started to pack for her and baby (and some camera kit)  - of course Rachy had a long checklist of what was yet to be added to the bag, lots of really important things if you are staying in a hospital, like toothbrush, knickers pyjamas, I managed to add the grand total of one item from her list – Vasaline lip balm, I was not a popular person!

Cutting a long story a little shorter…..

Monday morning – Helme Chase, Kendal.

Monday late morning – Blue Light Ambulance transfer to Royal Lancaster Infirmary – (Delivery Suite, shit, shit, shit, shit)

Monday afternoon Ian comes down from the ceiling.

Monday night – Ian has to leave Rachy at RLI

Monday night – much, much later, Ian has a little can of beer.

Tuesday early morning – Ian waits for coffee in bed, forgetting Rachy was in hospital.

Tuesday morning a bit later -  Ian heads back to RLI, having completed the list of ‘stuff’ that was missed from the bag the first time.

Tuesday – scan, meeting with consultant, sent home.

Tuesday evening – Rachy turns into a Tasmanian Devil and whizzes round the house with the Dyson. Ian drinks a little can of beer.

Wednesday early morning – Ian has still not had a cigarette, it is now over a month.

Wednesday morning – we head back to Helme Chase for some more beepy test things.

Wednesday afternoon – home.

Thursday morning – Head back to RLI, with bags!

Thursday afternoon – Ian you need to go home dude, rather a large day tomorrow!

Thursday night – Ian has a small can of beer.

Friday – Ian has not slept for most of the week, yet is really quite alert.

Friday – here we go, I awoke to a beautiful day in Kendal, so on my way to see Rachel and the morning of the day I would meet our baby I took some images of Kendal, I am a story teller, I tell stories with photographs so this is all part of that story………

Its actually all a bit of a blur, family descended and wished us well and we were set, Rachy was hungry as she had fasted ready for the anesthetic and the Cesearean Section, we set off for the delivery suite with Vicky and Gemma our midwives, wow, what a weird set of emotions.

Dr Wood was given his ‘Scrubs’ and hat ready for theatre and we were go – this is it.

All the way through the pregnancy we had avoided finding out what flavour child we were getting, it couldn’t be avoided for much longer. The anesthetist asked us if we had name choices, we did and she wrote them down. Wow, a theatre is a busy place, we already knew our baby was going to be small and as such we had been shown around the Neo-Natal unit, or Special Care Baby Unit as its can be known.

We had pediatricians on standby in the theatre with a unit called a resucitaire which is like a tall warm cot with all the paraphernalia that may be needed with a small, possibly unwell baby. In what seemed like 2 minutes I heard a faint noise, like a cry, no, surely it can’t be, so quick?

I heard it again and as Rachy was still awake she heard it this time, we both started to cry. We did it, we had our baby, lots of activity from behind the screen and a happy voice shouted it is a boy – Freddie Joseph, I think although could not be sure that it was Gemma, one of the midwives, whose job it was to receive baby from the surgeon and deliver to the baby doctors.

Freddie was taken to the resusitaire and some checks were done before he was brought over to us for Mummy and Freddie’s first cuddle.

This photograph below is the most special one I have ever taken, technically it is dreadful – sometimes the best camera in the world is the one that is with you, thank you Apple!

I asked his weight and was given it in metric, but a quick (wrong) calculation gave me 3 pounds 5 ounces, this was later corrected to 3 pounds 9 ounces when people who knew how to convert properly did the sums

Rachel and I had discussed whom I should go with, should Freddie have to be taken to special care and I let her decide, she sent me to be with our Son. He was wired up to all the things that we were told he might be the night before and everyone seemed happy.

Rachel was sewn up and recovered and brought through to meet her son, we were together at last, not an hour before we didn’t know if baby was a boy or girl, now we had something we never want to be separated from.

In Freddie’s first week he has made some great progress – he has satisfied the staff that he can breath alone, in fact he has had no oxygen at all since he was born. He is now off all his monitors and only the feeding tube remains. – clever Freddie.

I am writing some of this blog post in the family room of the baby unit on Rachel’s birthday 12/02/12 somewhere I have spent quite a bit of time – it’s the coolest place on the unit, obviously the special care unit temperature closely resembles that of a pizza oven!

I have spent nearly every waking moment with Freddie and Rachy since he was born, he is developing such a great personality and so far his stay in the Neo-Natal has been a lot of things, certainly emotional but also very educational for Rachel and I and on this journey we have learnt an awful lot about how babies work, obviously some of this is instinctive to us but it is great to be able to use the collective knowledge of the nurses on the unit about the development of premature babies.

Policy means that no question goes unanswered, well actually that can bite you on the arse if you are not careful, like when you find something in the notes, ask a question and the nurse actually bleeps the Doctor to come and answer the question – heart rate rose a little bit that day!

Today is Valentines day and I had a text message from Rachy telling me where my card was stashed, a great planner that girl and the words were really quite special, little did she know when she wrote the card that our little man would have made an appearance already! I of course had to stop off and get a card from me, a card from Freddie and a card from Rosie, who had been very kindly taken in by our friends Freda and Vince when we first knew that things were in motion, we are hugely grateful!

As of this morning the staff seem very happy with Freddie’s progress and the acclimatisation has started so he can leave the comfort of the incubator and move into an ‘hot cot’ which is simply a cot with a bit of added warmth through the mattress and not the enclosed atmosphere like the incubator. When he first went into the incubator, or Isolette the temperature was set at 36 degrees, it is now down to 28.5 degrees.

He is such a sweet little boy and seems to recognise my voice when I arrive at the hospital in the morning and even if sleeping he appears to open one eye to greet me!

What a great day – Freddie has behaved so well he moved into his cot, even better though is that overnight he was weighed and is back at his birth weight.

Freddie continued to behave himself in the Neo-Natal unit, so well in fact that he was allowed to ‘room in’ with Rachel, no more tubes, no monitors, just mummy and baby, perfect, apart from they were still in hospital.

Up until now Freddie had only had a bath by way of cotton buds and olive oil, yup, official NHS olive oil and while he wasn’t smelly it was time he had one. Premature babies are not bathed that often due to the loss of temperature it may bring on and while they are kept clean, it really is a privilege to have a bath – he wasn’t best chuffed to be honest!

Bathtime Freddie – Uhhhh?

It was Monday the 27th February and as it was Monday it meant a ward round by the doctor, this week was Dr Cade and his sidekick and bloody nice man Dr Shetty.

“Would you like to take Freddie home?”

What amazing words to hear, we were hoping for middle to late that week so his words took us by surprise and I hightailed it back to Kendal to work out how to get the car seat in the car, oh and to tidy the house a bit more I swore a lot at the car seat, also its ‘Tiny Traveller’ attachment which ‘pads’ out the car seat, making it safe for little Preemie babies. Ultimately my frustration was entirely down to male failure and as always just one rule applies RTFM.

So, we are home, I am sat at my desk properly for the first time in nearly five weeks, 1st of March today and Freddie is officially due on the 5th, I am sure we will have a little bit of cake on his one month birthday!

Early on in Rachels pregnancy we dreamed of being able to have our baby at our local unit, Helme Chase at Kendal Hospital, although not the same unit, I was born in Kendal and I am passionate about Cumbria, obviously it wasn’t to be so the next best thing was to register him at our local office, so Freddie Joseph Wood is now officially registered in Cumbria – although they send the paperwork to Lancashire, never mind, perhaps one day our ‘local’ unit will be back to the full strength of a ‘proper’ hospital.

Rachel and I would really like to thank all the many staff that looked after us, both at Helme Chase during the pregnancy and then the various departments at the Royal Lancaster Infirmary, especially the Neo-Natal unit, otherwise known as the Special Care Baby Unit. We were looked after by quite a few different nurses on the SCBU so I will not name them all, suffice to say though they are some of the nicest, warmest, compassionate and caring people I have every had the pleasure to meet. They are looking out for the parents as well as the babies and we couldn’t have wished to be under better care, it was also great to get our bag full of information and goodies from BLISS.

The RLI and UHMBT are getting some seriously bad press at the moment, people, especially the press always look for the worst – obviously not all departments are made the same and these guys need praise and lots of it, working under tough conditions with the littlest lives in their hands, just wonderful and should be applauded, yep applauded just for doing their job.

We will be back to see them at the Scoobies club with Freddie and when the dust settles look into some fundraising for the Special Care Baby Unit Trust, I am sure you will all hear about it when we get something sorted but it seems lots of people I know have had their babies pass through the SCBU so I am sure between us we can do some things to help, I have some ideas but would need to pass it through the official trust.

Last but not least, we have both been completely blown away by the kind words of encouragement, both on Facebook, texts, email and in the many, many cards we have received for Freddie Joe, as yet we have not got around to thanking people as we wanted to leave a lot of the opening until Freddie was home, he is and we again are blown away by the generosity of our friends and family.

PS: Freddie now has his first piece of Ducati merchandise cheers Sharpy!

Rachel and I headed out for her first pregnancy portraits, knowing we were set for a cracking sunset and after trying a couple of different locations we headed down to the area I grew up on the Kent Estuary, so a sunset I was used to seeing as a child. It was cold, oh was it cold, so baby bump was kept firmly tucked away and snug, these images are for us really, it is not a product I really push, but memories are so important and I really want to have lots of photographs to show to baby as it grows up.

Pregnancy portraits were brought to the attention of the general public on the cover of the August 1991 cover of Vanity Fair, the Vanity Fair images were taken by Annie Leibovitz and have steadily grown in popularity.

Hopefully Rachy and I will get back out again soon and create some more pregnancy portraits, in a different style maybe?

In the meantime though, just the one image.

Three rays of sunshine, my forth ray of sunshine was probably snuggled up on the sofa with a chew

If you would like to discuss the photography for your wedding or images of your loved ones, please do not hesitate to get in touch, you could use the contact form, email me ian@ianwoodphotography.com or call me, 01539 738 846 | 07968 791584. You can also follow my page on Facebook.

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So I guess its a bit like when you were young, you would eagerly watch Blue Peter after school and at Christmas you would get the annual, or the Beano, you would get the comic and at the end of the year deep in the Christmas stocking was the Beano annual.

I hope you are equally as excited at reading this photographers post to round up the year, just like Blue Peter and the Beano some of the images you will have already seen in blog posts throughout the year, others have been saved for this round up of the year that was 2011.

OK, its nothing like Blue Peter or the Beano

If last year was exciting then this year has just been mind-blowing, as most who regularly read this blog will know I have been in business for some time but only at the end of 2010 did I make photography my full time ‘job’ – nice one Ian, going it alone in the deep depths of a recession, good move boy. All is good though and the support has been truly sensational.

Inspiration, aspiration, motivation, aggravation, isolation, celebration – I have had it all and loved it all. In life I have learned there is no place in my world for negative people, granted I have had the odd ‘blip’ and reverted back to the corporate world but largely it has all been positive and there is an awful lot to be said for looking for the positives in situations you have no control over, find solutions, smile, laugh say ‘Oh Fuck’ whenever you need to, try and do it under your breath though!

2011 has seen me take up my role as a trainer at Aspire Photography Training with a course I developed and continue to develop, it went live late in 2011 and have various dates booked out for 2012  (Sadly I no longer contract for or endorse this training establishment), I have hung out with great photographers at the top of their game and had a 3 page feature published in my favourite photography magazine. I have to say I have also got into a few scrapes with my mate and fellow photographer Ben Barden, him nearly giving me a heart attack me dragging me up Helvelyn as the boys skied, I photographed, more than one stomach churning moment in helicopters as well, all good fun though

I have met some amazing people on this years journey, those that just get on with it, lead the way and don’t give a toss what anyone thinks, some very strong willed people that make life work for them, others that go the extra mile to help others, friends, I have met true friends, not necessarily my best friends but a group of friends that in a time of need surrounded themselves in positivity to help their friend. I was lucky to have the honour of recording what turned out to be a journey that was so much shorter than anyone expected, a tragic loss.

Rachel – wow the love of my life, a solid pillar of support and we were both ecstatic to learn that we are to become parents in 2012, I have been writing and documenting this as we go along so that blog post will make an appearance, probably in the dead of night sometime in March!

Lots of lovely weddings, babies children and dogs – I love photographing them all and the different challenges each represent – hey, of course its a sales pitch, so here goes………………

If you would like to have a chat about me photographing your wedding, baby or children, maybe the dogs – just drop an email to ian@ianwoodphotography.com, or call me on 01539 738846 | 07968 791584. You can follow on Twitter or ‘Like’ my page on Facebook, I do have Skype although it is rarely turned on there is a contact form in the top menu of this page and with my fingers and toes crossed I will have my new website live by the end of this year!

Sales pitch done – enjoy the images, please feel free to comment or ‘like’ sadly not room for every shoot, others will have been featured on their own posts though!

This post is dedicated to two great people we have have sadly had to say goodbye to locally this year, Nicky Dent whose widow Kelly has kindly allowed a couple of the wedding images to be shown in this post and the legend, or leg-end Drew Quarry, Drew was a man that everyone knew, he made it his business to know you and introduce you to others in business for the gain of everyone concerned. I had the honour of knowing them both – they are greatly missed and both taken too soon.

| personal | professional | passionate | perfect |

I just adore how the wind caught this dress, I believe it is a bespoke item by local designer Ele Horsley, this image was taken on a seminar, anticipation is the key. I am delighted that it now appears in a feature advertorial in the January issue of UK Vogue magazine called ‘Hot Shots’

Such a wonderful day for Nicky and Kelly’s wedding I spent the morning as I always do with the girls, generally being around the mayhem that is a wedding morning.

Little did we know how short the time Nicky had left with us, it was truly an honour to record and be part of  Nicky and Kelly’s special day. Nicky had been diagnosed with Motor Neurone Disease some months earlier and tragically passed away less than a week after the wedding. Please, please if you are local help out the Nicky Dent Fund, or worldwide the Motor Neurones Disease Association.

Beautiful fresh tulips by Philosophy Flowers Manchester for Brian and Trudy’s wedding.

I didn’t really have all that long to take this photograph, it was taken on the reception desk at a hotel in Manchester, to the viewers left were two coach loads of Irish football fans who looked like they had had a little sniff of wine on the way over, waiting to check in. I am sure they did wonder why some long haired oik was taking pictures of red shoes on the reception desk. They were very patient though!

Arran and Sarah were married over in Yorkshire and had their reception at the very wonderful Hazlewood Castle, it has fantastic grounds where we were free to wander.

Just a sign, taken during a seminar with Californian wedding photographer Jessica Claire.

Lavender, I like lavender, it smells nice and makes me feel dreamy

Beautiful roses at Elaine and Martyn’s wedding from Kerry at the Floristry.

I was playing and kind of liked the symmetry, I like shoes as well!

This is not a Bride and again was taken on a windy cold day in Lancashire, could be the Mediterranean though, right?

I just like how the light fell on the chair, its all about the light kiddies!

This year I also ventured over the border into south west Scotland, Marie and Gaz had a dream wedding at Comlongon Castle, piper, medieval keep, suits of armour and best of all we ate Haggis, I do love Haggis!

Flowers, not just any old flowers either. If you have a keen eye you will see these are not real flowers, oh no, theses are made of leather and are really bloody cool. What a wonderful keepsake, all the buttonholes were also matching and made of the same leather. Bloody cool if you ask me!

Yep, its a frock, a very beautiful frock again I loved the way the light falls from the spotlight above. As a wedding photographer moments like this just happen and I have to be ready, 6 inches either way and the light would be gone!

Guess which way the wedding party is? This was a fantastic venue, in that it wasn’t a wedding venue but a large holiday home which the couple had hired out for them and a large proportion of their guests, all the catering prepared in the days leading up to the wedding, plenty of beer and wine and, well they were having a damn good time when I left – perfect!

I have said it many times already but it really is all about the light, oh and symmetry-ish. This image was taken on a very bright day. Bright day + black car and chrome = eek, so underexposing the highlights gave me a pleasing result, just enough reflection, really good, deep black and the Bentley marque clearly visible.Simple but effective, well I think it is anyway, these hydrangeas are from the garden of  William Wordsworth at Rydal Mount and formed a beautiful addition to the flowers from the florist. Simple English country garden beauty.Alex and Lou got married at a beautiful little venue that I have worked at on a few occasions, Marton House, near Appleby, with the reception at home in the little Eden village of Knock. A really great day and when I saw the sun-rays peeping through over the distant Lake District hills we had little time to grab the happy couple from the party, dash across the road and get this image.

Cool shoes -have I mentioned I like shoes Sarahs daughter had a matching baby pair!

Mini Cooper, what a great wedding car, parked outside Marton House.There is something about a casino table at a wedding, some take it really seriously, like they know what they are doing (and lose) and the lady that has had the most wine and is clueless about how it works often wins big – interesting As a wedding photographer you have to be able to use everyday objects and use the light to produce studio style shots, this image taken on a glass table in full daylight in the Bride’s conservatory!A Ceilidh always gets the party going and this was no exception, a group called Fiddler’s Wreck from the Harrogate area, sheer brilliance!
You can either work with disco lights or against them, often I choose to work with them and create dramatic images of a bride and groom, this also helps to disguise ‘Fire Exit’ signs and sprinkler systems while offering something different to the Bride and Groom.

I saw the sign post for the Whoop Hall where I was photographing the wedding, lots of lights on the Christmas tree and wet outside, I love this image.

Using the same principle as above to produce silhouettes for a local family, we got lots of great shots of the kids, both portraits and playing – I love the interaction in this image though.

Cute, cute, cute – we are getting one of them, woooohoooo, can’t wait!5 days old, just so adorable!I often see photographs taken in woods full of Bluebells that have been trampled, I will point out that no Bluebell was trampled in the capture of this image, although there was a fair amount of feet stamping!Butter wouldn’t melt!

A young lady – living her dream!Converse, writing this post it has dawned on my that at this moment in time I own no Converse, this MUST change. although I will most likely go with laces in mine!Twins, we had a great time. Some fantastic portraits at home and then out and about – can’t just remember how this came about but I was probably goading – keep shooting, look at the fun and mischief  in their expressions!A little girl named Polly, a fishing net and Lake Windermere, don’t worry she was safe at all times and Mummy and Daddy were just out of shot, viewer left. Sadly Polly didn’t catch any fish but we did capture some wonderful images for the family.Polly again, I don’t recall the bunnies name, she was more interested in the bugs on the rock though!Mummy and Daddy got married at Comlongon Castle ^^^^^^ baby Haydon whom I photographed last year and who has become one of my signature images is now a proper little grown up, she is so adorable, her and Rachel also get on very well!This is Daisy, again I photographed her a couple of years ago when she was a baby, she will also soon have a little brother or sister and hopefully I will be able to photograph them together.I think this image says it all – just baby cuteness, Sophia was an absolute pleasure to photograph!

Little boys and stones, who needs Nintendo!

This little lady was photographed on a commission in South Manchester and really was a pleasure to work with.

I guess some photographers would photoshop the dribble out, why? Baby, new teeth and Haribo – even us adults dribble a bit where Haribo is concerned Pure love, babies as they are meant to be, looking lovingly into Mummy’s eyes, a bond that can never be broken and now recorded for evermore. Memories few have.A very happy, content little lady – her Mum and Dad are great hosts as well and the French Onion soup that was laid on for me was outstanding

It seems to have been a Spanial and Labrador year – I don’t mind though, gun dogs are great dogs to work with!A black lab is never going to be the easiest to photograph, I think I have nailed my technique though!Not my dog but I have this as a 30 x 20 box frame on my wall at home, I love the image that much.Another Black Labrador, who was very young and had been digging, with his nose in the garden before I arrived – I thought it summed up the character very well!Another Spanial, this time a spaniel of the Punk persuasion!Oh look, anther Spanial – this one is called Paddy and in this image is only 14 weeks old and hideously cute!C’mon guys, give me some space, I need space to look even cuter than I already do, goddam I am cute, dontcha think Twit twoooooo, this lady is really hot, my gorgeous fiancee and soon to be brilliant mummy, she stands by me and supports me all the way. I wouldn’t be doing what I do without the support and encouragement of Rachel, although she does keep quoting Only Fools and Horses…… ‘This time nest year Rodders’James and Sarah modelled on a seminar I was hosting earlier this year at Aspire, great fun had by all and the delegates got a real treat as they were brilliant – good luck in MotoGP for the 2012 season fella, a Cumbrian team, perfect.Right, this shot did nearly kill me, camera left and deep in the valley you can see Ullswater, mountain range in the far distance is the Pennines, skier is Scott Rose, lit by a portable studio style light. When we got out of the car at Glenridding it was -12 degrees, on the top of Helvelyn it had to be under -20 with the windchill, I am in no way fit and shortly after setting off on the walk up pulled the mother of all strops and sat down. My kit was divided up and I was led up the hill, just carrying my own weight was hard enough! Massive thanks to Ben Barden and Alex for the help up the hill and the Lake District Ski Club for making the missed shots happen again quickly On the way back down I fell in a hole and nearly stayed there – be safe in the hills peeps!Windermere Airshow, Avro Vulcan booked, no way I could make it. Umm, plan needed. Using a bit of local knowledge a few bits of radio frequency gleaned form the web, Google earth and a lot of luck I had a plan. 2010 or it could have been 2009 Ben and I went out on the Lake and saw the Vuclcan close up, thing is everyone puts on their biggest lens and gets a close up as they can. I wanted different, we had a Vulcan in the Lakes, with is massive Delta wing I wanted that story, Lake district Vista with the unmistakable silhouette of the Vulcan. – Bingo, everything came together for the shot you see above, no need to see every rivet of the aeroplane, we have the Vulcan, in the Lake District.Following the principle of the previous day, I made a picnic and took Rachy to the same place in the hope of capturing the Red Arrows as I had the Vulcan, pretty happy with the result, lets face it, we know they are the Red Arrows. On the subject of the Red Arrows, they have had a tragic year. I know this blog has been seen by a couple of the guys in the team and I would like to say how valued you are and I for one am so sorry for your losses this year. Fly Free.I want my Mummy!More than one glance towards the Aga from this little one, now a beautiful chicken.The moment our lives changed forever, full story and blog post to come.Baby Wood at 20 weeks, I can’t explain the emotion when we first ‘met’ baby, as soon as the scanner locked on it did a little backflip and Rachel and I were in love with our baby, it continues to due seemingly never-ending backflips, we are around 29 weeks at the time of writing and will soon be venturing out to capture Rachel’s bump shots.

I do so hope you have got this far, if you have thank you for reading and feel free to leave a comment or hit the share button. Your support is appreciated.

Ian

It was all a little bit surreal really………….

A few months ago I was contacted by talented fashion student Laura Griffiths asking if I would be interested in working with her to build a small team for a fashion shoot to kickstart her university portfolio.

All through my life I have been lucky enough to have people give me a break in life, people have helped me along and the same when I first started my business. Every now and then a project comes along that enables me to work in a collaborative manner with other like minded professionals / people.

It was a while in the making, a venue was decided upon and permissions sought. Next up was the hair and make-up, well that would be dead easy of course first choice was my fiancee Rachel Heyworth who is a senior stylist and a very talented wedding hair creator, following the collaborative theme and in the essence of giving back Rachel asked if her assistant that she works with would like to tag along, Ben jumped at the chance and proved a very worthwhile member of the team, as well as having a wicked sense of humour.

Sadly the chosen make-up artist could not make this shoot at the last minute so the task was taken on by Laura who did a great job on our model for the day Charlotte.

The last member of the team is where the surreal bit comes in, Fer Juaristi is a very, very talented Mexican wedding photographer who was in the UK hosting a couple of seminars for the training company Aspire Photography Training, where I am also a trainer.

Fer had only arrived in the UK on the Saturday and through a brief chat on Twitter I invited him along.

Lets just say in the open and exposed Deer Park at Holker Hall our model and our Mexican friend were just a little on the, well, chilled side – it was baltic, proper blowing a chilling wind.

Cold with a chilling wind worked well for the theme of the shoot though as Laura was looking for just that, a cold look to the images – perfect!

While the styling was being carried out Fer and I drank coffee and talked weddings, we scoped out a couple of locations that we had access to and threw some baubles into the trees. Laura had shared a Pinterest mood board with us all, so I had a rough idea of what she was looking for!

We started the shoot, not sure how Charlotte coped in the clothes Laura had designed and made as the rest of us were wrapped up and in theory as warm as toast but it really was a biting wind and certainly my attention span was faltering, it seems Magnesium bodied cameras really hold the cold!

A wonderful day had by all and huge thanks to Holker Hall for allowing us to roam, I was also delighted to see that Red kites had seemingly settled in the grounds, a great site to behold and in the words of the great Fer Juaristi – Faaaaaaraaaaaark man, they must be cold!

Images processed a little differently to how I would normally work, this was a play day though so it allows me to be a little different!

Clothes: designed and made by Laura Griffith

Hair: Rachel Heyworth & Ben Dixon

MUA: Laura Griffith

Model: Charlotte

Images: Me

Guest Starring Fer Juaristi.