welcome home..

Next week we head to Dublin for our first Welcome Home Workshop of 2013.. I can't describe how this little family of open, supportive, emotive and kind photographers make me feel.  They make me so proud to be a part of this.. and together we really have created something pretty special.  I can't wait to meet the new bunch of homies and to continue to watch with pride this family grow and grow..

Last year we visited three cities.. three workshops in a week.. our own little road trip.. we met so many incredible people.. and loved every minute..



Shutterbox.. seriously guys.. stop being so incredibly amazing.. this little film makes me cry every time I watch it. Thank you.. thank you.. thank you.. thank you..

We adore sharing this adventure with you..

lauren..

fearless..

Joanna Brown Photography

It's funny.. when I first started this photography business I felt completely fearless.. I wasn't afraid to do things my way.. to push it.. to choose the opposite road.. to be myself.  But as our first year turned to two.. then three.. and now we're hitting our fourth year.. this fearlessness is harder to hold.  You get comfortable knowing you can do your job.. you know you can do it well.. you know where the shots are.. you know the ebb and flow.. you want to be consistent.. you want to keep being wanted... you're doing well.. why rock the boat?

You're busy.. you shoot things.... you now and then play it a bit safer.. and then you stop.  You tell yourself to open your eyes.. to shake things up.. to be completely fearless again..

Making that leap is always easier the first time.. you've got nothing to lose.. nothing to prove.. the second leap is always the hardest..

It's time to be fearless again..

joanna..

This lady rocks my world and understands my soul... come visit again soon Joanna..

the introducing page.. Minna

One of my favourite parts of a wedding is when the Bride is getting ready in the morning.. and one of my favourite moments is when I get to see their dress for the first time... hanging with anticipation ready to be worn and loved and looked at and danced in.. it gives me goosebumps every time.  Over the past 3 years we've been lucky to photograph some absolutely beautiful dresses and back in November one of our Bride's wore the sweetest dress you ever did see.. I had to have a little look myself at who was behind this beautiful dress... and when I found Ms Minna I was blown away.. and I think you guys might be too...

Known for her love affair with lace, Finnish Designer Minna Hepburn launched her romantically bohemian wedding collection in September 2012.  The collection offers a range of affordable (£200 - £500), thoughtfully designed and lovingly hand embellished dresses.  To complete the vintage bridal look, the collection ofers a stunning range of veils, turbans and hair adornments too..

Minna was inspired by her customers wearing her dresses as bridal gowns, thus creating a separate collection to embrace the one-of-a-kind occasion.  She wanted to embody wearability and the eco-spirit within the collection; therefore the versatile dresses are designed to go from vows to cocktails to festivals.. 

The old marital good luck custom can be added to the dresses to create unique embellishments with something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue.  A favourite love poem or wedding date can be hand embroidered to the dress as well and customers have Minna's vast archive of lace fabrics to choose from.  The frocks can be altered according to your specification, and different fabrics can be used for Bridesmaids garments for a complete nuptial-look.  Fabrics used vary from creamy silks to detailed laces and chiffons.  The wedding collection stays true to the Minna brand with a rich palette of natural soft powder, ivory and white colours.. I must admit I'm in love with all of them..

Beautiful... bohemian and affordable... what more could you want!! I have a feeling Ms Minna is going to be a very busy lady... :)  

You can see more of her wedding and non-bridal collection here.. www.minna.co.uk.  There is also FREE worldwide shipping!! I'm going back for another look... ;)  

Oh and here's the gorgeous Lauren in her Mina dress...

favourite..

This might just be my favourite polaroid ever.

brighton rocks..

Three days in Brighton.. and the sun came out and warmed our hearts.

When you work with a group of people that want the same thing.. that are on the same page and are all working together to create something special.. then that's exactly what you get.

I cannot wait to show you more from this shoot...

us...

I love him.... I love him with all my heart.
Today we've been together 7 years....
Seven years ago today... I found Pete on Myspace.. yep.. Myspace.

(images by the wonderful Featherlove)

I was living in Birmingham and only knew my flatmate... I was in between Acting jobs and saw that Pete lived in Brum and had pretty much the same taste in music... and he looked fit in his photo... so I sent him a message and he replied.  We got chatting and he gave me tips on where were the good places to go and we realised we'd been in the same pub on New Years Eve too but never saw each other!  We then exchanged numbers and Pete had played it cool saying if you fancy catching up some time then give us a text... great.... HUGE ball in my court.  So on that Thursday I knew he was in town and I text him (cue wandering around town for a few hours trying to keep busy waiting for a reply). He text back saying that he was meeting some mates and I was more than welcome to join them.. oh christ... have to walk in to a pub on my own, not 100% sure what he looks like and he's with his mates.. also I'd found something to fill some time that afternoon which was actually giving blood (sounds random but I'd tried to go the day before and it was closed) ...so passing out was another concern.

I walked in and stood at the bar, called my mate, saw him walk past (he didn't have his glasses on so wasn't sure it was me) and then plucked up the courage to go over... luckily his mates consisted of another couple so I sat down and we got chatting... we then went to another pub and chatted some more.. we then headed to a club (a pretty dead one) and chatted some more.. then Pete stopped chatting, stared at me for quite a long time (to the point where I actually asked if he was ok) and then he kissed me... all together now... 'Ahhhhhh'... we have been inseparable ever since.

Pete actually sent me a message (via Myspace) two days after we met and I feel the exact same way about the last seven years...

Pete, I wanted to tell you that I've had the best 7 years.
So much fun, so easy and natural..
Your girl xxx

..weekend..

Have a great weekend guys! This weekend we have no weddings so we are GETTING SHIT DONE. (i.e. finish painting the house and all that jazz)..

life lately..

So the past few weeks have been kinda busy.. shooting some yummy shoes and some beautiful stationery, keeping Maximo entertained in the house as he's not keen on this continuous white stuff.. oh and we had a lovely feature about blogging in February's Photo Pro Magazine.. :)  Wedding season is just around the corner and we have some more Welcome Home Workshops coming up in a couple of weeks (they come around fast) so we've been busy getting ourselves ready for the mayhem.  We're also STILL in house makeover land... which is taking much longer than expected.   We've now painted 80% of the house and we should have new carpet and a new kitchen floor (fingers crossed) in the next couple of weeks. The problem we've had is that our house is SO small.. and every time we've painted a room, we've first had to take everything out and put it in another room (and sleep in it).. to then have to put it all back in to paint the next room and so on. I'm actually starting to realise just how much stuff we have and the other night I couldn't sleep staring at all the stuff piled high literally surrounding the bed and asked myself.. if someone took it all away tomorrow and you never saw it again.. would you really care?   If you know me you know that I'm a little bit of a hoarder.. I love a car boot and a charity shop and over the years I've brought home typewriters, chairs, mirrors, plates, lights, cupboards, bikes, clothes, a deck chair (it'll be useful in the Summer!!!).. as I can't bear to walk out of the shop and leave them without a home.. but our home simply isn't big enough.. and do I really need five typewriters?!?! So once the carpet is down and we have some normality back I'm going to sell some bits and bobs and anything we make is going towards our travelling fund.. I think it's a really good exercise as the hoarder in me sometimes needs to be kept in check..

So.. I've just got to decide on what's best.. ebay?, maybe a yard sale on the blog?.. I might even do the Saturday Flea at the Custard Factory where our office is.. what do you guys think?

rebecca and dave {wedding}

Re-living this wedding makes my heart warm and fuzzy and so amazingly full.  This day, this beautiful part of Cornwall.. this gorgeous little family has left an impression on my heart forever and looking at these photographs makes me so, so grateful to be able to do this job.

Their day was exactly what it should be about.. about love.. about them.. and about the family they had made together.  They married at Lamorran Gardens overlooking the sea and then kids with bare feet and sausage rolls squished in tiny hands played hide and seek amongst the huge plants in their beautiful gardens.

We then headed to the beach where trousers were rolled up.. pretty dresses were switched to 'sand friendly' attire and ice creams were licked sat on picnic benches on the top of the hill watching the sea slowly cover the beach..

There was such a beautiful sense of ceremony.. everyone getting ready in their outfits in the morning.. understanding the importance of what was to come.. but at the same time such a wonderful normality where kids were free to play.. bums were soggy from sitting on the sand and because the cafe where we were all supposed to have dinner was closing earlier than we realised.. everyone settled for ice-cream and cake instead.. well.. who wouldn't? ;)

Rebecca and Dave.. you have such a beautiful, beautiful family and it was a total honour to hang out with you all on your wedding day.. we could've stayed all week.. :)

Pete also shot some yummy Super 8 too.. how cute is this!!...


Rebecca&Dave Super8 Wedding from Emma Case on Vimeo.

Oh and this picture was in our thank you card.. Sebastian drew it of us photographing the day.. with the Power Rangers.. obvs..