I am always conscious that so much social media content is repetitive, so I try to strike the balance between posts just being an update and an acknowledgment of an event- whilst in theory hopefully keeping folk engaged with my work. 
I always attempt to include that little extra information to accompany the images, to make them more personal but there is the obvious pitfall of the likes of Facebook & Instagram being such a visual format that words and especially too many words are naturally are ignored........ therefore I'm taking the plunge and writing this, hopefully this format will allow me to bridge that gap with traditional posts, whilst giving me the opportunity to bring to light other aspects of what I do and stories behind my pictures.

Aside from my ramblings above the real content of my first go at a blog is now we are in August is about the crazy month of July....... expanding on my shameless selfie below previously posted on instagram.


 

Stupidly I usually I keep an eye on the diary as and when I open it, in 2016's there was no real obvious sign of my work load going from comparatively moderate to mentalist overnight. However a couple of late Friday & Sunday bookings made earlier in the year made a big difference to the overall pattern of how made July was going to be and it wasn't till about a month out did I notice.

Now there are doubtless other 'togs out there dealing with a busier a schedule and indeed some people are nurses/soldiers/junior doctors/paramedics/teachers etc so I'm not moaning about hard work or being busy by any means but it was certainly an experience and a first for me with a camera in my hand.

In the past couple of years I'd done 3 weddings back to back twice, but with those one of the weddings had been a smaller requirement and there had been downtime before in order for me be ready- but this July saw 2 back to back weddings on 3 consecutive weekends, throwing in full weddings on the first 2 weekends of the month- culminating in me attending and capturing 8 weddings in total (50% of which saw rain ffs) with a 9th wedding being captured on the last Saturday by my trusty assistant Laura....... in addition to my usual ongoing portrait and commercial work.

I will be honest, at no single point during any of the weddings was I tired or had I had enough. Experience with back to back weddings in 2014 & 2015 had taught me:

1. No attempting to edit a wedding shoot in between back to back weddings
2. No Rioja, Chablis, Malbec, Sauvignon blanc, Pinot Noir, Lager, Bitter, Gin, Special Brew, Meths, Brasso or even merlot on a school night!
3. A bit obvious but If I was tired at night (and sometimes in the day!) I went to bed

Adhering to these rules really helped me physically and mentally and that was vital because although I had 6 weddings in 16 days for each of the couples stood at the altar it was there 'one' special day....... and it honestly isn't sales speak, I do take pride in my work. 

It isn't just the shoot, weddings photos simply don't happen in the 10-12 hours on the day- it's at least the same and more again to get the photos into a finished format, so the 4 or 5 days in between weddings was by no means down time, I had to at least make a start...... to be left with the best part of 20,000 files at the end of the month would be my idea of hell and it wouldn't help with the end product. I was switching the computer off to pick the camera back up and vice-versa.

The completion of a good wedding day shoot is always rewarding but on Saturday just gone when I shook Sam's hand and gave Gem a kiss upon leaving their marquee it was personally extra special. I had survived and through preparation, a bit of self discipline and a few cans of Red Bull I had got to the end of a tough month without compromising my style and most importantly the clients end product.

I had also pushed the bar up for myself personally, no doubt the next time the assignments back up I'll be able to look back on July 2016 and tell myself to man up.