Pre-Wedding Photography: Kylie & Matt – Eastleigh Lakeside Country Park, Southampton, Hampshire

Posted on 06/09/2011 • Posted in Lifestyle Portraits, Pre-Wedding Photography

We met with Kylie & Matt one late afternoon in mid-August at Eastleigh Lakeside Country Park. The weather had been intermittent all day and I had sent a text message to Kylie earlier in the day checking that they weren’t fazed by getting a bit wet – well, a lot wet! Fortunately, by the time we were scheduled to meet, we were bathed in glorious sunshine and set about for an early evening stroll.

I shan’t babble on, suffice to say that this pre-wedding shoot was an absolute pleasure. We had only met Kylie & Matt once before at their wedding consultation so it was great to meet up again, find out more about the family and learn what makes them tick. Their two gorgeous sons were an absolute delight, watching them run freely through the woodland and giggle with their parents was such a pleasure. From chatting with Kylie & Matt previously, I knew that they wanted their sons involved in their shoot and were nervous about the attention being on them…no problem. We took lots of shots of the children, a few of them together and plenty of them all together…we think they look fantastic.

These pre-wedding shoots are such a great opportunity to get to know each other and I left the Country Park feeling like I’d known these guys for ages. We can’t wait for their big day on 1st October! Until then, enjoy their pre-wedding pictures below.

We always appreciate your commments and feedback. You can leave them at the bottom of the page or visit and ‘like’ our Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/TheColePortfolio

Jenna & Lee – All Hallows Church, Allerton & The Suites Hotel, Liverpool

Posted on 19/08/2011 • Posted in Wedding Photography

I’ve been bleating on for the last week or so about getting this blog posted so I’m not going to spend too long rambling away…after all, you wanna see the pics, right? The only thing that I feel I must say is how grateful we are to Jenna and Lee for being the first couple to book us…many, many, MANY months ago. You may recall in my Pre-Wedding blog for these guys (read it here) that they were the ones who had absolute faith in us before we did, not only did this make a massive difference to my self belief but it gave me something to work towards…there was no way I was going to let these guys down.

The Saturday 9th July 2011 dawned, a stunningly beautiful day for a stunningly fantastic couple. Every moment with these two is enjoyable and the same goes for time spent with their relatives and friends – we were welcomed into the fold and made to feel like family. By the time it was time to make our weary way back to Hampshire, we didn’t really want to leave.

Many thanks to Phil for making a very beautiful film of Jenna & Lee’s big day. If anyone is on the hunt for someone to make your day into a magical film, take a look at www.philipwhiteweddings.co.uk. You can see a short version of Jen & Lee’s video by clicking here.

Thank you everyone for making this a fabulous day, not just for the happy couple but for us photographers.

Jenna & Lee, we wish you all the love and happiness in the world, you deserve it completely. xx

Nostalgia – My Sister’s Getting Married

Posted on 09/08/2011 • Posted in Life Behind The Lens, Pre-Wedding Photography

When we were small we did everything together, I mean EVERYTHING. We lived in the middle of no-where and whilst my older sister, Jemma, spent hours listening to Take That, chatting with friends or found herself forced to study for hours, Livvy and I were just kids. We’d play hide and seek in the orchard near our house, cycle to the top of the highest hill and speed down it with our legs waving in the air and spent quiet summer afternoons laying on the lawn drawing and painting. I never believed then that it would ever change.

My sisters are my best friends and as sure as the sea will ebb and flow, they have always been there for me and I for them. Inevitably thought, as we got older, things did change. We moved, we made “proper” friends, spent weekends having sleepovers at other people’s houses and eventually began finding ourselves boyfriends. Though the boys have come and go, the closeness between the three of us has never left, we are bound together intrinsically but one by one we became adults, formed relationships and flew the nest.

Jemma has lovely home with her gorgeous (but mischievous!) son, Joshua who is nearly 7 and Olivia is engaged to Alex and they have a beautiful baby son, Maximilian. My sisters, proper grownups and Mummies no less, I couldn’t be more proud.

It has been a long time since Livvy and I shared bunk beds, giggled at bed time until Mum shouted at us to be quiet or argued over which Barbie was whose but the feelings are still there and I have to admit, I’m still finding it a teensy bit hard to relinquish the hold of my adorable little sister.

Beautiful Olivia, you will always be 5 years old in my eyes. How it can be that you’re getting married in less than 6 weeks time? Jemma and I spent an idyllic childhood of glorious summers and magical Christmas’ with you, we were an indestructible trio. We still are. With only weeks left until your Big Day, I wish you all the love in the world and hope more than anything else that your life with Alex and Max gives you more of the care free, laugh ’til your sides hurt, happiness that we shared in childhood. Here’s to the next step on your big adventure.

All my love.

Debbie & Neil – Part 2: Introducing Alana

Posted on 26/07/2011 • Posted in Maternity Shoots

In May, we photographed Neil and Debbie in all their expectant parent gorgeousness…a few months down the line, we were invited back to photograph the beautiful baby Alana. She is such a delicate little thing, with her tiny hands and button nose – it was all I could do not to eat her all up! She was ever so well behaved and happily lolled around allowing us to photograph her before we relaxed back and enjoyed a lovely meal with her sparkly eyed Mummy and Daddy. Neil and Debbie are natural parents, their love for their little girl is evident in everything they do with her. Even bumping into an exhausted looking Neil a few days ago, he just smiled broadly and said how wonderful she is and how they can’t imagine their lives without her. If there was any doubt that miracles exist, babies are the obvious proof. From their tiny fingernails, eyelashes and toes – they are just perfect and this is a perfectly beautiful family.

Wishing all the love and happiness in the world to our lovely friends and beautiful baby Alana.

Here are a few of our favourites from the shoot.

Wedding Photography: Kate & Wes – The Potters Heron, Romsey, Hampshire

Posted on 20/07/2011 • Posted in Wedding Photography

Photographing Kate and Wes’ wedding was just….Well. It was… Just. There isn’t a word to describe it…! I loved every minute of it. Seeing Kate’s sparkling eyes and hearing her giggle whilst getting ready with Laura was music to my ears. There were nerves, of course but there was nothing to worry about – the day ran beautifully from the moving ceremony to the fantastic speeches…it was perfect.

We were delighted to find such a wonderful group of friends and family surrounding the happy couple. The sound of glasses chinking, chatter and laughter in the afternoon sun was wonderfully atmospheric and after snapping a few group shots, we whisked Kate and Wes off for a few minutes ‘alone time’ to get their bridal portraits. I watched them enviously, remembering my own special day. The way they chatted as they strolled along, their sneaky glances at one another and the little tender moments…I feel very lucky to be the person that got to document that their love on their special day.

I won’t babble on at length, after all – I know you’re all keen to see the pictures. These guys make such a gorgeous couple, I’m sure you’ll agree and we wish them all the happiness in the world for their future together. x

Here a selection of our favourite images from the day, as always, we’d love your thoughts and feedback!

All images shown were taken by Abigail & Geoff Cole & Ric Bailey for The Cole Portfolio

Life Behind The Lens: The Perks Of The Job – Wedding Photography

Posted on 06/07/2011 • Posted in Life Behind The Lens

Love. Obviously! Undoubtedly one of the best things is meeting a couple who are so in love that it makes your eyes hurt a little bit from the brightness of it all. When two people cannot help but hold hands, steal secret looks at each other and share little gestures of affection – I’m in my element, capturing those beautiful, natural, images is simple. Seeing those moments is one of my greatest joys.

Laughing. In what other job do you meet people who are happy – all the time! I’m not saying planning a wedding doesn’t have its stressful times but on our pre-wedding shoots and on the big day itself, couples radiate happiness…how can you not enjoy a job that puts everyone around you on a natural, happy-in-love, high?

Food. Mmmm. Fooooood. One of my other favourite subjects!! Some of the creative dishes our clients come up with amaze me and we are always so grateful when a Bride and Groom offer us a meal. As much as it is a job full of adrenaline, it is always an exhausting and hunger-making day. Not only do we feel very privileged to eat THE meal that they have spent ages sampling and thinking about but it stops us having to worry about leaving the venue, hunting for a pub and getting back in time for speeches etc. Talk about relief!

Prettiness. It goes without saying that I ADORE the pretties that go with weddings. From shoes to stationary and flowers, I love it all. I find myself particularly drawn to the creative people out there – I get really excited by the personal touches and little details that go into making a day truly unique.

Company. Not only the company of the Bride and Groom but those around them – I’m always amazed and delighted by how helpful and friendly everyone’s friends and family are! Crazy, I know. I guess it figures that if the Bride and Groom are amazing then they are bound to have heaps of amazing people surround them – but I still find it uplifting.

Travelling. Ok, so we haven’t quite made the jet-set lifestyle just yet but we are very lucky to have bookings in neighbouring counties – and not so neighbouring ones….we’re off to Liverpool this weekend!! There’s something about being off home turf that makes it somehow extra exciting. If you’re in another country (especially a sunny one!) and reading this…I’D LOVE TO PHOTOGRAPH YOUR BIG DAY!!

Children. Their simplistic view of the world, their exciteable giddiness and the way in which running in a circle around a table can entertain them for hours. Children at Weddings change the whole feel of a day, they soften the edges and remind us of how we once were. This is tinged slightly as I can’t help but recall the embarrassing thought of 4 year old me running around a table playing chase for hours after eating every After Eight mint in sight. Needless to say, I was very poorly. My poor mother.

My husband. I know, I know…how can your husband be a perk of the job? But it’s true. The times when we work together are my favourites because he just “gets me”. He knows what I will want to photograph almost before I do and I love that he sees and loves photography the same way as I do…and he carries my bags! That’s a brilliant husband and friend for you!

A Job Well Done. Seeing the Bride & Grooms faces as they reminisce about their day whilst looking at their final photo selection. It’s not that I like to see my Bride’s cry but knowing that they are that moved by the images means we’ve done something right!

Happy Wednesday everyone!