1 ) Snow, you can fall, but only at night
2 ) Clouds, you can go now (5-10 cirrus clouds can stay, scattered across the sky)
3 ) Sky, stay blue.
4 ) In the morning, Sun comes out and shines without melting the snow
5 ) Repeat step 1>4
6 ) Snow, you can stay on the ground and trees for 2-3 days (note: Snow should fall before kids break up from school to give them an extended holiday)
7 ) Temperature, remain at a steady 0 degrees to avoid ice making things annoying.
8 ) Snow, after staying for 2-3 days, you may now leave.
9 ) Repeat if required.
10 ) Summer.

So far in Bristol, pretty good!
Let's just hope it doesn't make things tricky for people.
Enjoy these pictures.
I was shooting around Blaise Castle Estate again as its only round the corner for me.


The ponds of course were totally frozen over.


Perhaps a little over sharpened, but I'm not looking for any awards here. This is just pure beauty don't you think?

I've realised today that I'm not really much of a landscape photographer which is fine by me as I've never claimed to be one.
I can appreciate a great scene when I see it, I just don't know how to capture it.
This is a wedding photography blog though, so just go easy on me, ok?

I don't know if this is sweet or creepy...?

So...yeh, this is a picture of me standing on a POND!!
This is the pond that we overlooked yesterday as seen on the 5th picture down here

Thanks for reading people!
I'd love to do a photoshoot in this snow, so if you're interested in an engagement shoot or a couples shoot, then contact me before the snow goes!

Thanks.
Joseph

Jessica had a snow day, as did most of the country I presume, so we had a nice breakfast and walked up to Blaise Castle Estate.
You'll probably remember Paul and Cassie's Wedding ceremony was held there in the Museum?
It's a beautiful building inside and I'd love to shoot there again.
Shooting at a museum is pretty amazing, but it's in walking distance, that just makes things perfect!

It snowed here in Bristol around christmas time, but my mum was in hospital having two operations and ending up in ICU, not the most fun we, or she's had, so we didn't get to enjoy the snow!
I'm just glad that she's out now, and that things are getting back to normal.

I'd imagine there are hundreds of bloggers who have posted snow pictures. So I'll just copy them!

First get out there and build a snow man, then come back and check out these pictures!

Here's Jessica for those who don't know what she looks like.
Pretty isn't she?


I seem to always take pictures of Beech leaves when I'm out.
I think they're beautiful leaves. Such a warm fiery orange and they seem to take forever to fall off the trees.

So this is the actual Castle. We can see it from our house! Which is pretty cool!

Such an incredible view.


Thanks for reading.
Joseph

Now, blogging is fine when I've got plenty to blog about, but right now, things are still very slow.
I'm getting so many bookings coming in, but I can't post pictures of cheques or bank statements.
Bring on the summer! I really can't wait to shoot loads of weddings this year!

So to keep my goal, I need to find material to blog about.
So here goes...

In September Jessica, myself and some other friends travelled up to the Isle of Lewis for a holiday.

Here are some of the more scenic pictures from the trip.

We flew up to Glasgow, stayed overnight at a friends, then drove up to Ullapool.
Low cloud cover was the visual theme of the holiday and "Wow!!" seemed to be the word that came out of my mouth the most!
Incredible scenery!

Enjoy.


You see some houses and you wonder what inspired them to build there.
Then the answer becomes obvious. They built there because it's beautiful

This was the first beach that we went to. The sand was a mixture of white, with black texture running through it from the pete.
As the black petey water ran into the sea, the sea was also black. Incredible.
Also, this beach was huge, and there were 3 other people on there.

Yes, I did get wet for this shot!


I'll be honest, some of the scenery was a little eerie.
Mainland Scotland was far more beautiful, and had far more trees.
The Isle of Lewis was so windy that trees just couldn't survive. Instead there were rocks


This was the windiest day that I've ever experienced, even windier than this photoshoot
The locals said to us that we were crazy for being out in this weather!
Incredible weather, and literally breathtaking. 


This was an amazing beach. Strange to have surf with mountains in the background.
I used to surf a little when I was younger but I'm not sure if this was normal...
The water was bitterly cold for me.
Thank goodness I had my boxers on!


I was a little short on friends, so I made a new one! Hi!


We visited the standing stones which are... well... stones that are standing.
It was an ancient burial ground.
I attempted a new photographic technique for this shot and was very happy with the shot.
Each of these stones was far taller than me

On the last night, we went for a little star gazing.
Last time I saw a sky like this was in Hawai'i.
We laid on the bonnet of the car and freezed our arse's off.
It was incredible!

We stayed in Ullapool which is on the mainland, this is where the ferry leaves from. This was our view from our youth hostel.
Beautiful.

I hope you didn't mind me sharing this with you!
We had an incredible time!

Now I just have to find more to blog about!
Shall I publicly say on here that I'll try to post 1-2 times a week?

Let's go!
Joseph

Right then...

On Monday, I received a very nice phonecall from Condé Nast publishing, the company who publish all your favorite magazines such as Vogue, Glamour, GQ, Easy Living, Vanity Fair, House and Garden, and also Brides magazine.

The gentleman that spoke to me was the man in charge of Brides Magazine media promotions (or something along those lines)
In the June/July issue of Brides mag, a CD will acompany it and inside will be a well presented list of reception venues, bands and photographers.
I have been officially asked to be the only recommended photographer for my county!
It was such a huge honor to be asked and also to have that level of recognition from a very well known publication!

On a completely unrelated matter, I have politely, but not regretabily declined the offer.

"Why?!?" I hear you shreek!
Well, Jessica and myself were talking about it and aggreed that I don't actually need to be listed on this free CD.
At the moment, we have enough work coming in so that I can give carefull attention to each couple so that I get to know them as people, rather than pound signs.
I feel that each of my couples is now my friend.
You might think that sounds corny, but they've asked me to be present on the most important and happiest day of their lives. To become their friend isn't really an option, it's a necessity. A very easy one at that!

Another reason I declined their offer; they wanted a very large amount of money from me.
Money that if I spent on getting my name listed would indeed be an investment, but not an investment where I was sure of the outcome. I'd rather invest my money in oh, I don't know, Rent??

Another reason.
I googled something along the lines of: "brides magazine recommended photographer" and looked for photographers who had also been asked by Brides Mag to be a featured photographer.
I rang 6 photographers then I gave up.
100% of the photographers I spoke to had indeed all paid very large amounts of money (but funnily enough, all a lot less than what I had been asked to pay)
100% of the photographers I had spoke to had received NO bookings from being featured!
Nothing!
And they were all pretty bitter about it too!

My very nice gentleman friend who had asked me to be featured accepted this shocking revelation and made little effort to defend whoever it was he was supposed to of defended.

So thank you Brides Magazine.
I honestly do appreciate the offer, I felt like just the offer alone of being the only recommended photographer for Avon did my confidence the world of good! And for free too!

And look! I'm going to tag this blog with "brides magazine recommended photographer" so that not only brides stumble across my blog (for free) but also other photographers!

I've admired the work of the many different photographers for quite a while now. Some of which are very big names in the world of wedding photography.
If you're looking for a wedding photographer who can capture the real moments of your wedding, then I highly recommend that you invest in any of the wedding photographers listed on the WPJA website.

On  a slightly related note, on Thursday night, on the way up north to shoot Andrew and Julias wedding, I received a very nice email which went something like this:

"Hi Joseph,

Please excuse our delay in getting back to you. We are in the midst of making three contests live on our site(s): WPJA Q2, AGWPJA Q2 and the annual WPJA/BRIDES Magazine contest.

It is our pleasure to have you as a new WPJA member! Great images in your portfolio!
...
[blah blah blah].
...
Welcome to the WPJA!

David Roberts
WPJA"

So....yeh, I got in!
I've put so much effort into getting into this association and I am SO thrilled to be welcomed in!
I've had allot of backing from brides and grooms, photographer friends and of course so much support from my family and my beautiful wife!
Thank you everybody!

I felt like after receiving that email, I couldn't be in a better place than a wedding!
So I shot Andrew and Julia's wedding, and I shot it good!!!

Thank you Andrew and Julia for being another couple who liked my work enough to let me capture your special day, and thank you also for being a perfect couple. It's couples like you that make my job so much fun!

Why not enjoy these pictures hey?

Thank you Dan for your help!

Now get this, and prepare your saliva glands...
a Krispey Kreme tower as a wedding cake!!!
Honestly, the smell hit you as soon as you walked in the room, it was a beautiful thing!
(my wheat and egg allergies on the other hand....hmmm, not so beautiful)

Andrew and the family had arranged some suprises for Julia, one being the Krispey Kreme tower of Joy, and another was to have an old music teacher play Sax for them during the meal! Lovely stuff Neil!

And Julia was thrilled!



The boys went out for a spot of football, Victorian style by the looks of it!


Not too sure what Julia will think when she sees the state of Andrews shoes!

The Hill girls sure know how to rock a wedding dress don't they? I think Julia looks fantastic here!



The Speeches were sweet...

..and very funny too. Well done Luke!



Congratulations Andrew and Julia.
I hope you enjoy eternity together.